Skin Fitting Leak !

[patprice]

Help please!
Before launching Penelope recently I tried to remove the external strainer on the engine raw water intake. I used, unsuccessfully, an impact screwdriver on the screws.

Result, a weep, about 2 litres/day, coming from the skin fitting. From under the nut/flange.

I am not keen to try and tighten the nut! Could make it worse?

Any thoughts on a temporary fix? We are living on board so can monitor the situation until we can get to a slipway.

Thanks for any advice.

Pat

[atoll]

have a soft wood plug handy!
how big are your tides?
i have in the past replaced fittings between tides leaning up against a wall.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Yes, this one's a bit scary. BTDT, or close to it anyway. The question does arise, who'll be there to check on things frequently come Monday? And how worried about things will you be while at work?
The problem is semi-emergent now. But could easily become full blown emergent at any time. And hiring a Travel-Lift at 0300 is both difficult, & expensive.

NOTE: Firstly, tie a couple of softwood plugs to the through hull, or some hardware in it's immediate vicinity.

If you feel that you must do something yourself. You might add a doubler around the current through hull mushroom, & try & reseal things using 5200 Fast Cure.
- Grind off the paint/gelcoat in the vicinity of the current mushroom's nut.
- Put a plunger overtop of everything on the outside of the hull to act as a cofferdam.
- Machine a doubler in the shape of a donut out of FRP plate. Band saw it in half.
- Loosen the nut on the mushroom & slip the 2 donut halves underneath of it from either side. Bond the donut to the hull, using something like Splash Zone, or an epoxy that cures under water.
- Once the donut (doubler) has cured, rebed the mushroom's nut using 5200 Fast Cure, Butyl Tape, or Dolfinite, etc.


Get hauled out as soon as you can & replace everything with a proper seacock. Including a doubler, etc.


EDIT: I suppose you could encase the entire through hull mushroom in a giant blob of underwater setting epoxy, after roughing up the boat's surface around the mushroom.

[patprice]

Originally Posted by atoll

have a soft wood plug handy!
how big are your tides?
i have in the past replaced fittings between tides leaning up against a wall.

We are in the Med, Ionian Islands, currently at Poros. Tide about 250 mm.

I do not expect the leak/weep to increase and the volume of leakage is minimal, just annoying. We are living on board.

[patprice]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Yes, this one's a bit scary. BTDT, or close to it anyway. The question does arise, who'll be there to check on things frequently come Monday? And how worried about things will you be while at work?
The problem is semi-emergent now. But could easily become full blown emergent at any time. And hiring a Travel-Lift at 0300 is both difficult, & expensive.

NOTE: Firstly, tie a couple of softwood plugs to the through hull, or some hardware in it's immediate vicinity.

If you feel that you must do something yourself. You might add a doubler around the current through hull mushroom, & try & reseal things using 5200 Fast Cure.
- Grind off the paint/gelcoat in the vicinity of the current mushroom's nut.
- Put a plunger overtop of everything on the outside of the hull to act as a cofferdam.
- Machine a doubler in the shape of a donut out of FRP plate. Band saw it in half.
- Loosen the nut on the mushroom & slip the 2 donut halves underneath of it from either side. Bond the donut to the hull, using something like Splash Zone, or an epoxy that cures under water.
- Once the donut (doubler) has cured, rebed the mushroom's nut using 5200 Fast Cure, Butyl Tape, or Dolfinite, etc.


Get hauled out as soon as you can & replace everything with a proper seacock. Including a doubler, etc.


EDIT: I suppose you could encase the entire through hull mushroom in a giant blob of underwater setting epoxy, after roughing up the boat's surface around the mushroom.

I am loath to do anything like loosening the nut in the water. I do not consider we have a major problem while living on board and monitoring the small weep...that is all it is.

Under water epoxy may be possible. I have never used it but will investigate. But...availability?

Thanks for your ideas.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by patprice

We are in the Med, Ionian Islands, currently at Poros. Tide about 250 mm.

I do not expect the leak/weep to increase and the volume of leakage is minimal, just annoying. We are living on board.

ah! well at least the water is warmish if you have to go for a swim!
only looked at the location Tasmania in your signature,which is tidal i belive.

if you have the tools and parts to hand replacing the fitting is really quick,and a sealant like sikaflex 291 will cure very quickly,so you could probably do it hanging in the slings,and only pay for one lift

ps a disk grinder with a thin stainless cutting disc is the fastest way of removing the fitting if it is seiezed,and hoseclamps

[patprice]

Originally Posted by atoll

ah! well at least the water is warmish if you have to go for a swim!
only looked at the location Tasmania in your signature,which is tidal i belive.

if you have the tools and parts to hand replacing the fitting is really quick,and a sealant like sikaflex 291 will cure very quickly,so you could probably do it hanging in the slings,and only pay for one lift

ps a disk grinder with a thin stainless cutting disc is the fastest way of removing the fitting if it is seiezed,and hoseclamps

Hi Atoll...yes Tasmania does have tides but not swimming. That is why we are in Greece for the winter.

I have a friend down in Katakolon, not far away, who has a crane and maybe can keep me in the slings overnight and I can do a proper repair.

[Suijin]

It's not scary at all as it's not going to get worse and it's pretty minimal.

If it were me I would leave it until haul out or whatever opportunity you have to fix it properly. Any sort of "quick fix" you do now is just going to make the proper fix more complicated than it needs to be.

[boden36]

If the skin fitting is in good condition you could try to gently tighten the nut if you can do so without spinning the fitting.
Make sure you have some tapered plugs handy in case the thing breaks.
You are going to have to pull the boat anyway so if you make it slightly worse not a big problem from my way of thinking.

Regards,
Richard.

[patprice]

Originally Posted by Suijin

It's not scary at all as it's not going to get worse and it's pretty minimal.

If it were me I would leave it until haul out or whatever opportunity you have to fix it properly. Any sort of "quick fix" you do now is just going to make the proper fix more complicated than it needs to be.

Originally Posted by boden36

If the skin fitting is in good condition you could try to gently tighten the nut if you can do so without spinning the fitting.
Make sure you have some tapered plugs handy in case the thing breaks.
You are going to have to pull the boat anyway so if you make it slightly worse not a big problem from my way of thinking.

Regards,
Richard.

Hello Richard. I do not think tightening the fitting would cause a catastrophy but it might make it worse. I might try doing that at a lift out point as a temporary measure before I do a planned liftout in September.

[zeehag]

my engine intake leaked and i replaced in water when i had my ericson.
it took 2 divers and a runner.
runner for parts and 2 divers to keep water out as one replaced the thru hull fitting and the other manned the plunger keeping out the ingress.
i found the weepy original fitting just before having to leave boat for 4 days--i wanted to ensure i had one to return to when i was done with 4 days in emergency room . no time for haulout--there was a 2 week waiting period, busy season, so i had it done by reputable divers successfully/.
boat did not sink and i got to work on time and i had a new thru hull complete with seacock and less antique uselessness hanging around waiting for failure. this was 2004 and the original parts were 1979 installations.
best of luck with whatever method of replacement you choose.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by patprice

Hi Atoll...yes Tasmania does have tides but not swimming. That is why we are in Greece for the winter....

Nonsense. This is why cold water sailors have a wet suit or dry suit on board. It is basic safety equipment.

[Kenomac]

See if this product can help you. Seabung

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JpdhmEH5DWQ

[patprice]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Nonsense. This is why cold water sailors have a wet suit or dry suit on board. It is basic safety equipment.

Yep that will fix the cold water. What about the shark?

[Symphony]

subscribed to this interesting-problem thread.