Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Mark
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:08 pm
Location: NSW

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Mark »

Update: I have sailed twice this week and the repairs I noted here seem to have done the trick, no leaks. Lets see how it looks after say 6 months and 1 year.

Cheers

Mark
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 »

Update:
The bolts on the bottom pintle simply rotated in place and so presented a real challenge to repair. In the end I avoided the problem by simply applying liberal amounts of marine quality Sikaflex all over the pintle which was firmly attached to the boat.

After my recent voyages between Werribee and Queenscliff I can say the only place the water is getting in now is when we ship green over the bow and that's a different topic.

Peter
Pip #127
Peter
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neilmac
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Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:15 pm
Location: Elsternwick Vic

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by neilmac »

It appears as though I also have a leak through the centre plate- their was more water on the nut side - about a litre after a 4 hour sail. I've read most of the comments and it seems what I need to do is:
replace rubber washer, put epoxy around the nut - tape up thread and cover completely with epoxy - such as west system. Some mention "bog" - what would that be?


I'm also putting in an an electric bilge pump. I'm thinking of taking the outlet up through the existing pipe of the manual bilge pump rather than running a seperate hose. The manual pipe line is small - garden hose size. Is this a good idea.
Neil
Compass Rose, Elsternwick Vic
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Raya
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Investigator Boat Name: Tme Out
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Raya »

I worked on my centre board leak last week. After mucking around in the bilge, I now think that the leak wasn't coming from the keel and the the rot in the bilge was the result of water being there for years, probably decades. I did find another weird leak though. It looks like water had gotten into the starboard buoyancy tank, probably through the cockpit hatch floor, and was weeping back into the bilge through a small hole. The tank is filled with foam but there is obviously some cavities that can hold water. I drilled another larger hole at the bottom of the tank and water slowly drained out for a few days. I'll leave it for a few weeks then fill in the holes. I had previously fibre glassed over a crack in the locker floor, not realising at the time that water was leaking in there.

For the bolt, I made up a large perspex washer and used perspex adhesive to fix it to the centreboard casing where the bolt comes through. I used the bolt and washer to lightly clamp the perspex while the adhesive dried. This gave me a clean flat surface for the rubber washer to seal against. I just used a bit of silicon grease on the rubber and backing washer. I used a loc-nut to hold things in place.
I'm confident that it won't leak but haven't put it to the test.

Two part filler that is used to fill and smooth out dents is referred to as bog. I'm not sure that it would be a suitable material for your purpose.
Attachments
centreboard bolt.jpg
Ray
Investigator #39
neilmac
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Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:15 pm
Location: Elsternwick Vic

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by neilmac »

Hi Ray
I'm pretty sure water is getting into the bilge through the CB bolt. (There was salt water in both wells - Also is there is a bit of movement in the bolt)
I like what you have done and will do the same on the nut side. I would like to do similar on the bolt side but it would mean taking out the bolt which I'm not sure about as I worry about getting it back in again.

I have got some pipe caps from a plumbing shop which I intend on filling with sikaflex and placing over the nut and bolt. One thing that puzzles me is that water has not drained out of the bilge.

I also painted the bilge with "bilgecoat" - not cheap but may help with further sealing. I do get rain water in the bilge under the cockpit sole. This I believe comes in after a heavy rain through the hatches - the rubber seals are knackered. I will also look at the cockpit drain holes.
Neil
Compass Rose, Elsternwick Vic
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Raya
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Investigator Boat Name: Tme Out
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Raya »

Neil,

I've been out in the boat since I redid the keel bolt. It didn't leak a drop.

If you want to take out your centreboard bolt completely, you could try pushing a short bolt through from the nut side as you remove the original bolt so that you don't lose the alignment. It might be helpful to pack up the centreboard from under the boat to take a bit of weight off the bolt. Just a thought.
Ray
Investigator #39
neilmac
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:15 pm
Location: Elsternwick Vic

Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by neilmac »

Hi Ray

in the end I decided it wasn't worth removing the bolt. I just split some rubber washers and applied lots of sikaflex plus caps. All good, although it seems I have a small issue with water coming through cracks in the cockpit floor (sole) Have done some work on it but more needs to be done.
Neil
Compass Rose, Elsternwick Vic
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Ozzie
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Re: Leaking bilge and centre-plate

Post by Ozzie »

I note this thread now has 5000 views. Clearly those of us with leaky bilges are not Robinson Crusoe. It gets googled quite a bit .

Lots of good solutions to the same problem anyway.
Ozzie
Investigator #143 "SPRITZIG II"

The Mariner - “It’s too strange here. It doesn’t move right." ...
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