Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Dr. Peter
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Dr. Peter »

Finally slung the boat up in the air. Using a hubcap remover tool we encouraged the centre-plate to drop. A little work on bolt tension saw the plate fall past 45 degrees on a regular basis. It appears that the plate was stuck due to new paint not being quite dry. I was happy to see Matt had obviously replaced the D shackle, wire and spectra used to raise and lower the board.

On a related matter our bilge was filled with water although I never checked it or emptied it often enough to know how quickly it filled.

After removing the sealastic around the nut side of the bolt it was noted there was a little bit of delamination in this area. I decided to backfill with West System after using plenty of masking tape around the nut.

This will make changing the bolt more difficult but some work with a chisel will soon expose the nut.

I need to get Pip in the water to see how these repairs have worked out.

Peter
Peter
Pip #127
Yara50
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Joined: Mon May 25, 2009 7:10 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Yara50 »

Its a shame we lost our previous site, although most of the posts are still there if you have the patience to trawl through: http://inv563.multiply.com/
The issue of leaking centreboard pin was discussed and someone recommended coating the ends of the bolt with Sikaflex, and than using the end of a plastic bottle to make a transparent cover, also sealed with Sikaflex or Silastic, which makes a second seal, and also you can see if any leakage is occuring past the first seal.
bolt.jpg
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Ian B
Ex Investigator 563 #50 Yara
Dr. Peter
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Dr. Peter »

As it happens, my technical advisor and I came up with a similar idea of a cap and Sikaflex but the delamination was such that I wanted to deal with that too. So I proceeded the way I did. I'll describe it here - who knows it might be useful to someone one day.

First, I got rid of all the silastic on the nut side of the case; there was plenty of it! An hour with a hot hairdryer to dry the space and a bit of hand sanding to provide a cleaner bonding surface and I was almost ready to go. I used plenty of masking tape to protect the threads on the nut and bolt. Then I used an old foam sanding block to create a 'dam' and backfilled the space with West System (I had done a similar operation on another boat before and was pleased with the result - no leaks). I mixed three batches of West System the first, about 300mL was thickened extensively with the microball filler whilst the second (300mL) and third batches was less so. I mixed these thoroughly in the well. The total amount of resin used was about 750mL. A little did escape under the foam block - I should have used some masking tape to stop that. On curing the resin did expand slightly.

Fingers crossed that the centre board will still behave itself. And that I don't have to repeat the operation on the other side. Although I am happy to deal with a slight leak.

I'll write a follow up once I've tried it in the water.

Peter
Peter
Pip #127
Olmate-sail156
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Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Olmate-sail156 »

I had the problem of water in the bilge (and keel) for a very long time and reglassed the keel and sealed the centreboard swivel bolt to no avail until Ozzie from Lake Macquarie said to look at the cockpit drain hole sealing. He was right. These are tubes that bridge the inner and outer hull laminates and water leaking past them fills the keel. Sealing them with something like Sikaflex and a yearly seal of the centreboard swivel bolt with All Clear seems to have solved the problem.
Graeme. Olmate.Sail 156
Mark
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:08 pm
Location: NSW

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Mark »

Olmate-sail156 wrote:I had the problem of water in the bilge (and keel) for a very long time 156
I have been having a similar issue and took up the suggestion here to seal those drain tubes around the edges with silicone sealer, it seems to have abated the water ending up in the bilge also.
Dr. Peter
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Dr. Peter »

Olmate-sail156 wrote:look at the cockpit drain hole sealing. He was right. These are tubes that bridge the inner and outer hull laminates and water leaking past them fills the keel. Sealing them with something ..... seems to have solved the problem.
Graeme. Olmate.Sail 156
Graeme,
Thanks for that tip about the drain holes I will seal around the tubes just on general principles. It can be quite a wet area. The drain holes are too small IMHO and it takes too long for the cockpit to drain.
Peter
Peter
Pip #127
Dr. Peter
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Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Dr. Peter »

Repairs appeared to be reasonably effective in calm conditions. Some ingress but very manageable. In the rough stuff (see my report on the Queenscliff to Geelong event) I think more water came in via the topsides. Still I might West System the other side of the keel bolt and go for electric bilge pumps. Has anyone done that?
Peter
Peter
Pip #127
Mark
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:08 pm
Location: NSW

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Mark »

Peter

I have a small amount of water which enters the bilge, can't determine issue as I have sealed the topdeck and a number of other measures. I investigated bilge pumps, the only place you can fit one is rear bilge behind of the step, as most bilge pumps won't fit in the bilge area forward of that ie the section divided into two which takes up the centre-plate. Regardless I installed one in the rear position and only used it once prior to all my sealing, the water was result of excessive rain at that time. I worked fine.

However this does not solve the issue of the forward bilge. I found in a store a small hand electric pump ( I think its used to pump out aquariums) which just fits and I use this when that area fills with water although this is not very often now, then i use a sponge to remove the last remnants of water. Regardless water must be sitting elsewhere in the bottom of the boat as I have had my boat in storage for past 7 weeks and on my return noticed a smal amount of water back in forward bilge, yet boat was covered during storage.

I have decided to live with it and I will monitor after each sail to see if the issue is increasing. I often wonder of the leak is to do with the centre-plate bolt and associated small cracks in that area but don't want to have to hard slip it just to see.

Cheers

Mark
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Ozzie
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Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Ozzie »

Hi all , glad the drain tube fix is helping others. It bugged the @&$!? Out of me till I fixed it in Spritzig II . As I am moored a nice dry bilge is important to me as a storage area and a reassurance that my unattended boat is not going to sink between uses. Other areas you may want to check are all deck fitting, especially the chain plates and the windows. I did this when I had the boat stripped out, which I always do at annual haul out . Sit inside and have someone blast all fittings and windows with a hose or better still a pressure cleaner. Only use down ward force near the hatches to simulate heavy rain (it's not a submarine). This should give you some indication if water coming in somewhere unwanted.

I've used the technique of filling up boats with water and food coloring to find leaks. If you think you have a c board leak this may work. The plastic lid seals I suggested on the old forum have worked for me. Not that I've had any water in them but they give me a sense of peace of mind on the mooring.

My only water problem now is the port side cockpit locker. I have sealed around the groove with compressible screen door foam tape but it still lets in rain. It's not an issue as I only keep plastic buckets, brushes and ropes in it but it still bugs me somewhat. The other locker is dry ..always? I had some issues with heavy rain entering around the top of the veritcal hatch slides but I solved this by adding some thick timber on the top board and shaping it more closely to the profile of the sliding horizontal f /glass hatch.

Ps if you try the food dye hose it off quick, it may stain glass if it's old or chalky.

Good luck
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
Enola - “Helen said that it’s only land sickness."
Waterworld (1995)
Dr. Peter
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:19 am
Location: Zeerust Victoria

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Dr. Peter »

Dr. Peter wrote:Repairs appeared to be reasonably effective in calm conditions. Some ingress but very manageable. In the rough stuff (see my report on the Queenscliff to Geelong event) I think more water came in via the topsides. Still I might West System the other side of the keel bolt and go for electric bilge pumps. Has anyone done that?
Peter
I did west system the other side and I now have two small blocks of resin over both ends of the centre-plate bolt. Tested at Gippsland Lakes over seven days and still found some water still in the bilge each day. Very small amount and very manageable. At no point did we have a wet cabin floor. About three minutes pumping with a high volume plastic pump ($19.95 at Bunnings) cleared most of it and if the crew was feeling keen any remaining water could be got at with smaller version of the plastic pump.

On pulling the boat out at the end of the trip I took advantage of the sloping ground to pump the bilge dry before going home. About five minutes work for both sides.

So - the water ingress has slowed right down but not stopped. I suspect the bottom rudder pintle based on the fact we observed more water after sailing in a following sea and some water even when moored. We were heavily loaded and the pintle was only just above the water line. I have inspected the area and Sealastic has been used there before but there does not seam to be a continuous amount. There is some slight cracking of the gelcoat around that spot too.

So what's behind there. Is it just a matter of unscrewing the pintle, cleaning up the old sealastic and re-attaching again this time with a liberal use of Sikaflex?

Peter
Peter
Pip #127
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