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Old 02-12-2008, 15:52   #1
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Water in the Bilge

Since I bought this boat two years ago I have been finding water in a section of the bilge where the rudder post comes thru the hull. There are no limber holes in this section of the boat so I need to crawl in to the lazaret and empty sop it up with a sponge. I've looked all around the area and can't seem to find any leaks. My latest plan is to take a dry erase marker and draw a line on the hull and around the rudder post to see if the line gets washed away. If it does get washed away then I'll look in that area for leaks. Does anyone else have an idea on how I should track down where this water is comming from?
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Old 02-12-2008, 15:58   #2
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Toilet paper. If you carefully plan how you lay it out and/or wrap it, it will show you where the water's coming from.
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Old 02-12-2008, 16:09   #3
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It may have a packing gland that needs adjusting. If this is above the waterline when at rest it might only leak when under way or when there is some wave action under the stern.
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Old 02-12-2008, 16:38   #4
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Fresh water or raw?

Our lazarette seals leak like seives. New bulb seals are on the to do list but for now everytime it rains we spend 15 minutes sopping up what doesn't get to the bilge.
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Old 02-12-2008, 17:08   #5
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Dust the whole area with talcum powder. You might be able to see where it's coming from. This method is good for diesel or oil leaks too.
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Old 03-12-2008, 13:49   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hud3 View Post
Toilet paper. If you carefully plan how you lay it out and/or wrap it, it will show you where the water's coming from.
Great Idea Hud. TP will work in some spots.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Baier View Post
It may have a packing gland that needs adjusting. If this is above the waterline when at rest it might only leak when under way or when there is some wave action under the stern.
I didn't know that they had packing glands on rudder posts. Makes sense though. I will ask some of the other Sceptre owners

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Fresh water or raw?

Our lazarette seals leak like seives. New bulb seals are on the to do list but for now everytime it rains we spend 15 minutes sopping up what doesn't get to the bilge.

I will taste it and see. I didn't even check. Obvious as the nose on my face. Glad you htought to ask.

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Dust the whole area with talcum powder. You might be able to see where it's coming from. This method is good for diesel or oil leaks too.
I'll try that for my diesel tank leak. Pretty sure it is coming from the access ports that I put in.

Thanks for your help everyone. I'll let you know later how it worked out. Heading for San Diego tommorrow ona business trip and get to stay on the boat.
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Old 03-12-2008, 14:31   #7
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Cracked Exhaust Hose

In the event the exhaust hose from you engine passes through the space, there may be a crack in it that only reveals a leak when your engine is running. We discovered exactly this situation on our boat after doing the TP around the rudder-post packing gland and several other tricks for tracking down leaks that revealed nothing until I happened to be reaching for something in the locker while the engine was running and got a nice squirt of hot water from mid-way up the exhaust hose loop.

FWIW...

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Old 03-12-2008, 14:45   #8
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In the event the exhaust hose from you engine passes through the space, there may be a crack in it that only reveals a leak when your engine is running. We discovered exactly this situation on our boat after doing the TP around the rudder-post packing gland and several other tricks for tracking down leaks that revealed nothing until I happened to be reaching for something in the locker while the engine was running and got a nice squirt of hot water from mid-way up the exhaust hose loop.

FWIW...

s/v HyLyte

Thanks Hylyte:

That is one of those little things that I never would have thought of. I will check the engine hoses as well.
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Old 03-12-2008, 18:24   #9
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After buying my boat I discovered my rudder post has a trickle. I had some water getting past a clamp in the exhaust line and I had a line from a bilge pump leaking slightly at the thru hull. Everyone of these leaks left some sort of trail. The exhaust and rudder post have are leaving a slight stain.
The bilge line was leaving an obvious path that was cleaner than the surrounding hull.

I also found unexplained water in other places and in each instance I determined it was coming from a loose bolt on a cleat. Don't overlook the fittings attached to the overhead when sleuthing out leaks.
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Old 05-12-2008, 06:22   #10
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Charlie, It looks like you have enough to keep you busy for a while.
When you've traced your leak you might let us know where it was?

If you don't find it you might post a picture or two of the rudder post inside and your rudder from the outside when the boat is taken out of the water.

I've come across a similar situation and the leak was in the skeg.
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Old 05-12-2008, 06:51   #11
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I ordered a cheap webcam from Ebay, and use it to look around in spaces I can't get my fat head into. This one has a built in LED that comes on in low light, so I just tape the little eye on the end of a stick, and plug the cord into a usb port on my laptop. I could even record the images for later study. I was able to find a frayed portion of a pressurized line with it.

I think I paid $14 for it with shipping. It has a manual focus lens so I can adjust that (with multiple trial and error) to get a fair picture of what I need to see.
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Old 05-12-2008, 07:10   #12
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I ordered a cheap webcam from Ebay, and use it to look around in spaces I can't get my fat head into.
I do the same using my Sony digital camera and TV. GREAT!
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