When I fill my water tanks completely I get leakage from under the sink area (port tank). It only lasts until some of the water is used and then subsides. I have not been able to see anywhere that it leaks when looking under the sink or on top of the port tank. Does anyone know the hose routing? Could it be a loose hose from port to starboard (I doubt), to the water heater, or a maybe a crack in the port water tank? Not a serious problem, but annoying when I fill the tanks completely for a trip. Maybe I need to give more information for someone to take a shot at it. Thanks
Water tank leakage - Oday 34
- Thread starter beilts
- Start date
- Status
On Karma, the supply hose from the tanks exit from the bow end of the tank and is low on the tank. The water lines to the galley sink and water heater from the water pump are routed above the tank, however are pressurized so I believe that you would have a continuous leak until the tank was empty.
Based on your description, it sounds to me that you should investigate the water fill hose and connection from the deck fill down to the top of the tank. This hose to deck fill can be accessed from the head's sliding doors, just follow the deck fill down. The connection from the hose to the tank can be inspected by raising the access panel under the port cushion. Perhaps there is a failed or loose clamp at the deck fill or most likely the connection from the fill hose to the tank. When I re-fill my tanks, I put water in until it overflows from the vent or the deck fill. This means that the fill hose has some water in it until I use some. The fill hose is about 1 1/2" in diameter and pretty long, I'd estimate that it's holding over a gallon.
Based on your description, it sounds to me that you should investigate the water fill hose and connection from the deck fill down to the top of the tank. This hose to deck fill can be accessed from the head's sliding doors, just follow the deck fill down. The connection from the hose to the tank can be inspected by raising the access panel under the port cushion. Perhaps there is a failed or loose clamp at the deck fill or most likely the connection from the fill hose to the tank. When I re-fill my tanks, I put water in until it overflows from the vent or the deck fill. This means that the fill hose has some water in it until I use some. The fill hose is about 1 1/2" in diameter and pretty long, I'd estimate that it's holding over a gallon.
Thanks. I will check it out. I could never find where the hoses were.
1982 Oday 34
I filled the port tank today and could see no leakage at the filler or anywhere else I could see. Water did begin leaking out from under the sink, however. I checked everything under the sink and could not find where it was leaking there. It only quit leaking when I emptied the port tank using the faucet.
Does anyone know of a plumbing diagram?
Do the tanks sometimes develop cracks and leak?
Can the tanks be opened for inspection and then repaired (it certainly does not look like it can be removed in one piece and replaced)?
What kind of plastic are they?
What are my replacement options?
I filled the port tank today and could see no leakage at the filler or anywhere else I could see. Water did begin leaking out from under the sink, however. I checked everything under the sink and could not find where it was leaking there. It only quit leaking when I emptied the port tank using the faucet.
Does anyone know of a plumbing diagram?
Do the tanks sometimes develop cracks and leak?
Can the tanks be opened for inspection and then repaired (it certainly does not look like it can be removed in one piece and replaced)?
What kind of plastic are they?
What are my replacement options?
I just experienced the same water tank leak problem on my 1987 272 and asked for help on the general forum. Got some good answers and finally settled on using the West Systems Gflex product. I only applied it this Wednesday afternoon and the repair requires 24 hours to cure. I plan to fill the tank Friday afternoon and see what happens. My 30 gallon tank is easy to remove, under the port settee, but your tank(s) on the 34 may be more work intensive to investigate. Hope you can find some sort of plumbing diagram, as it really would help. Even the smaller boats have lines that are well hidden (icebox drain, in my case).
I expected to find a sharp area under the tank, as the cause of my leak, but no sharps. It appears that the crack/leak was caused by pressure against the tank from a galley sink water line that ended up under the tank. I replumbed the boat about 6 years ago and probably just placed the tank on the line, figuring that nothing would happen. I suspect this because the slight indentation in the tank and subsequent crack is exactly above this galley line. How could this happen?? Beats me, unless the weight of the water in the tank, bearing down on the feed line for 6 years, was just enough pressure to cause the problem. I looked all over my tank for the famous recycle emblem and a material indicator (HDPE, LDPE, etc.) but found nothing. Maybe the tank was made before the emblem/indicator was put into use.
It appears that replacement options are limited to the dimensions of your tank, if you can find a match. I checked Ronco, who has a big selection, but found nothing that would work as my tank is odd shaped, to fit the curve of the hull. Another option would be a flexible tank that would fit in place of the rigid tank.
I'll fill the tank on Friday and repost back if the repair was successful. Good luck!
Rich/Lake Norman, NC
I expected to find a sharp area under the tank, as the cause of my leak, but no sharps. It appears that the crack/leak was caused by pressure against the tank from a galley sink water line that ended up under the tank. I replumbed the boat about 6 years ago and probably just placed the tank on the line, figuring that nothing would happen. I suspect this because the slight indentation in the tank and subsequent crack is exactly above this galley line. How could this happen?? Beats me, unless the weight of the water in the tank, bearing down on the feed line for 6 years, was just enough pressure to cause the problem. I looked all over my tank for the famous recycle emblem and a material indicator (HDPE, LDPE, etc.) but found nothing. Maybe the tank was made before the emblem/indicator was put into use.
It appears that replacement options are limited to the dimensions of your tank, if you can find a match. I checked Ronco, who has a big selection, but found nothing that would work as my tank is odd shaped, to fit the curve of the hull. Another option would be a flexible tank that would fit in place of the rigid tank.
I'll fill the tank on Friday and repost back if the repair was successful. Good luck!
Rich/Lake Norman, NC
Bummer, it does sound like you have a crack in the tank. I don't think that you can remove the tank without cutting it up. Perhaps you can use an inspection mirror to insure that the tank is indeed leaking. Then use the Gflex product to repair. The tanks are simply tabbed in, I suspect that you could cut the tabbing with a dremel tool or some such device to allow you to move it around for closer inspection. On Karma the tabbing has broken away from the starboard tank, so getting it free to move it about shouldn't be too difficult.
I'm going to Karma this weekend and will check out that area on her and share what I find.
BTW, I always empty my tanks by removing one of the hoses from the Y-valve. It saves the fresh water pump and empties very quickly.
Thanks.
I can lift the tank somewhat, and I think I saw the tab on front of the tank. It does look like there is plenty of room to slide the tank forward if the tab is cut. The tank is too close galley bulkhead to do any inspection on the aft side. I do think the tank would have to be cut up to be removed, however. I am still wondering if cutting an inspection hole on the top and trying to repair it from the inside would work (if I could find the leak), then repair the inspection hole.
Many times fresh (domestic) water leaks are from the fittings, much the same as that many electrical issues are from the connections. I hope you take that as the "good news."
Plumbing diagrams may be helpful, but YOU have the boat. I found that when we got our boat the diagram was helpful but not absolutely necessary because I had to follow the hoses around myself anyway to figure out how it worked. Sounds like you've maybe done that by now.
If you ask on the Head Mistress Forum (Forums, Featured Contributors, Head Mistress) Peggie will help you out on what the water tank material most likely was made from, and walk you through inspection hole options, and tank replacement options.
Water tank cracks are pretty rare unless they were left full of water and froze.
Most of the water leaks are from corroded hose clamps and old hoses. In some cases even new boats had leaking hoses 'cuz Paco at the factory forgot to tighten the clamps!!! Your faucet leak appears to imply that the leak is at a hose connection rather than the tank, but you're there on your boat, and we're not.
Good luck, hope it's something simple.
I had a crack in the starboard tank in my 1988 35' O'Day. I was in Cape Coral, FL at the time and found a woman that did plastic welding and fixed my tank. If you have a crack in the tank this would be a wortwhile option to investigate. The person doing the welding has to know what they're doing as there are a lot of variations in materials used. Good Luck
The reason I would like a plumbing diagram is because I cannot visualize the aft side of the tank, and am wondering if there is a connection from there to the sink. It sounds like the best option is to free the tank and slide it forward for inspection.
Any ideas how to 'tab' it back in?
Any ideas how to 'tab' it back in?
There will be no connection toward the sink, unless you have a manual freshwater pump.
There should be only three holes in your fresh water tanks: one for filling; one for venting, these are located either at or toward the top of the tanks; the other one leads to your fresh water pump. On Karma the one that supplies the freshwater pump is at the lowest part of the tank on the side facing forward, this is true for both the port and starboard tanks.
Karma's fresh water pump is under the settee access panel on the port side, same side as the head. This is also where the through hulls are located for the raw water supply to the head and the knot meter.
Tabbing is covered in many fiberglass repair manuals. One of my favorites is Don Casey's "Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair". If you've never worked with fiberglass before you can get someone from your marina/boatyard to assist. Or if you've ever put a model airplane or car together you have the basic skills already, just do a lot of reading on the MAX Epoxies or West Systems web sites. Tabbing would be a good place to do your first bit of fiberglass work as the finish can remain somewhat rough.
Btw, as stated before by other replies, unless you take and post pictures, we're just replying based on the experiences that we have with our O'Days, as old as these boats are there could be modifications done by PO's that don't jive with what we have.
There should be only three holes in your fresh water tanks: one for filling; one for venting, these are located either at or toward the top of the tanks; the other one leads to your fresh water pump. On Karma the one that supplies the freshwater pump is at the lowest part of the tank on the side facing forward, this is true for both the port and starboard tanks.
Karma's fresh water pump is under the settee access panel on the port side, same side as the head. This is also where the through hulls are located for the raw water supply to the head and the knot meter.
Tabbing is covered in many fiberglass repair manuals. One of my favorites is Don Casey's "Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair". If you've never worked with fiberglass before you can get someone from your marina/boatyard to assist. Or if you've ever put a model airplane or car together you have the basic skills already, just do a lot of reading on the MAX Epoxies or West Systems web sites. Tabbing would be a good place to do your first bit of fiberglass work as the finish can remain somewhat rough.
Btw, as stated before by other replies, unless you take and post pictures, we're just replying based on the experiences that we have with our O'Days, as old as these boats are there could be modifications done by PO's that don't jive with what we have.
I have located the fill, vent, and water pump holes. I do have a manual fresh water foot pump. Would that manual fresh water pump be on the aft side? I should maybe inspect my manual pump more carefully to see if it is the cause of the leaking. That would be a much easier fix.
What baffles me is that the water runs out from under the sink (underneath the sink bulkhead). It would seem to me that if the tank were leaking in the settee, it would drain into the bilge. Not so??? I need to look more carefully I guess.
Thanks for the information.
Yes, the way Karma is configured a tank leak would end up in the bilge and not show itself toward the galley side of the galley/settee bulkhead. Sounds like a fitting somewhere under the sink.
Are you sure that the foot pump is for fresh water and not raw water? I find it curious that you'd have both a pressurized and manual pump fresh water system. On Karma there is a thru-hull that leads to a manual raw water pump, which leads to a separate faucet into the galley sink, but that's not in anyway connected to the fresh water system.
Keep digging
Are you sure that the foot pump is for fresh water and not raw water? I find it curious that you'd have both a pressurized and manual pump fresh water system. On Karma there is a thru-hull that leads to a manual raw water pump, which leads to a separate faucet into the galley sink, but that's not in anyway connected to the fresh water system.
Keep digging
Yes, the way Karma is configured a tank leak would end up in the bilge and not show itself toward the galley side of the galley/settee bulkhead. Sounds like a fitting somewhere under the sink.
Are you sure that the foot pump is for fresh water and not raw water? I find it curious that you'd have both a pressurized and manual pump fresh water system. On Karma there is a thru-hull that leads to a manual raw water pump, which leads to a separate faucet into the galley sink, but that's not in anyway connected to the fresh water system.
Keep digging
Thanks,
I have a fresh water pump electric pump to the sink and salt water foot pump and fresh water foot pump, each with separate 'faucets'. I am begining to think it is a connection and/or foot pump, as it does leak under the sink bulkhead and not into the bilge.
Please post picts of your foot pump locations. My raw water pump is a hand pump on the sink and I'd like to change it out to a foot pump.
Scott
Scott
I think I have finally figured out the water leak from my port tank. I poured water over and around the tank and there were no leaks under the sink, as I figured . The water just went into the bilge. The freshwater manual footpump seemed to seep water, however. I removed that and sealed off the hose and it appears the leak has stopped. Need to check it out some more and then replace that foot pump. I have been told that those foot pumps leak after awhile.
Here are pictures of the footpumps mounted under the sink. Not sure where the hoses come from for fresh water (obviously the water tank somewhere) or if it could be teed off the fresh water to the sink faucet (probably not as that is from the pressure system). The pictures are not great, but I also included a picture of the pump from Westmarine. It just screws in under the sink and a hole is cut into the kickplate for the actual footpump to stick out. Intake from fresh water, output to auxilliary faucet by main faucet (sorry...forgot those pictures.....looks like the one pictured from Westmarine)) Hope this helps.
Attachments
On our 272, the 30 gal. white poly tank had a hairline crack running 4 ft. long from aft to forward about 1/4 inch below the top of the tank.under settee on port side of boat..It only became visible when we took the wood cover off and lifted the empty tank. It had been a slow leak for years. Only leaked when we would fill the tank and also when the boat would heel over to starboard as the leak was on the starboard side of the tank..I tried to fix it to no avail..I am going to replace this spring with a flexible tank...don't assume the water all goes to the bilge...It can get to spots where it can lead to delamination of the hull laminate.
Congrats, looks like you found the source of the leak. Thanks for the pics. It gives me some ideas. Looks like you have a hot water and cold water foot pump? Which raises a bunch of questions concerning how that works with the electric system. Must be a bunch of hoses.
- Status