I am the new owner of a Beneteau 36CC. The boat has been in the water the whole winter. Now that the ice is away I have discovered that there is a spoonful of salt water in the sump. When I dry up the water the sump will fill up with another spoonfull of salt water. Is this normal ?
Wet Sump
- Thread starter carlager
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You may have some water that is trapped between the hull and liner that has thawed and is now slowly leaking into the sump. Check the thru hull for the speed paddle as well. There could be some residual water from the last time it was removed/replaced. The hull liner used in Beneteaus can hide all sort of water which can take some time before all of it finds it way to the sump.
Don,
The shaft seal is Volvo Penta. (I am not quite sure whether it leaks? Do you have any experiences with ?
The shaft seal is Volvo Penta. (I am not quite sure whether it leaks? Do you have any experiences with ?
carlager, if it is your Volvo shaft seal be careful with the hose and nipple on top of the assembly as the nipples corrode and can break off easily. Once that happens you have to have something to wrap around or plug into the hole as there isn't a shut off for the water inlet. Check for water in the small sump under the seal. If there's water in there sponge it out. You may need to reach well under the seal to get it all. If it refills then either the shaft seal or nipple the likely culprit. One other place to check is the swim platform shower hoses, if you have them. If they weren't winterized properly some of the plastic bits and pieces in the control valve or shower head will split and begin to leak. The water finds it way down the stern bulkhead and under the shaft seal and engine. This usually shows up in the spring after everything thaws. Ask me how I know 
Mike,
There was 2-3 spoonfulls of water in the small sump under the seal when we had the boat out for for a 6 hours sail using the engine . I doubt this would be enough to find its way to the large sump in the center of the boat. Where is the nipple located ? is the water in the shower hoses salt water ?
There was 2-3 spoonfulls of water in the small sump under the seal when we had the boat out for for a 6 hours sail using the engine . I doubt this would be enough to find its way to the large sump in the center of the boat. Where is the nipple located ? is the water in the shower hoses salt water ?
2-3 spoonfuls of water under the seal is nothing to worry about. It will likely dry up over time as long as there no issue with leaks. I agree it's doubtful that's the issue since you would have a lot of water in that area before it spilled over into the bilge system. The nipple is on top of the seal assembly. There should be a small hose attached to it. The nipple is supposed to be change every 4 years or so. Mind you it has to be done with the boat out of the water or you'll get a flood of water come through the opening. The shower hoses would be fresh water. It's tapped off your house water system. I forgot you said it's a salt water leak so you can eliminate that for a potential source of the water. Looks like it's from some other source than any of the above. Is there any sign of a leak around and of the keel bolts? Are any of the bolts extremely rusty? (more so than the others) Is the bilge pump hose back spilling into the sump after it gets done pumping? (some backflow is normal) It'll be a process of elimination to find the problem as there are a number of possibilities. Keep us posted.
Yesterday I managed to take out 150ml water from one of the holes in the line. And today the line was as dry as a desert
(guess your first assumption of water moving slowly from one point to another was right)
That's good news. Hopefully the bilge will stay dry. The hull liner grid may serve some good purpose but it can hide quite a bit of water. I've been dealing with the same issue in our 2008 43 and at this point it's dry. I've rerouted the air conditioning condensation hose directly to the bilge sump. I believe this has been the major source of water but time will tell as the boat is currently on the hard. The real test will be when she's back in the water.
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