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Water in bilge.


fudd

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Morning.

I keep getting up to 2 litres or water a day in my cabin bilge. The shower tray doesn't leak, I've been right through the whole plumbing system, no leaks and no signs of damp anywhere and the pump never cycles. Its not rain or weather related. It's doing my head in. I thought about introducing some sort of dye at various places to try and eliminate each part. Condensation could maybe part of the problem I know, but up to two litres at any one time does seem quite a lot.

Steve P

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Hello. It makes no difference if I'm moving or not. The well deck is drained and most of the time I have the crates cover down. It's definitely not weather related and it's not dirty water.

Leak from water tank? Is the water the whole length of the bilge or does it start at some point back from the bow?

It happens with a near empty tank and sometimes even with a full tank it stays dry for a couple of days.

Hello. It makes no difference if I'm moving or not. The well deck is drained and most of the time I have the crates cover down. It's definitely not weather related and it's not dirty water.

 

It happens with a near empty tank and sometimes even with a full tank it stays dry for a couple of days. All th plumbing pipes are accessible and there's no sign anywhere of a leak.

Cratch not crates.

Edited by fudd
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How long has this been going on for, when did it start?

Is it really two litres?

Have you recently made any changes to your routine that could significantly increase condensation?

 

...............Dave

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Condensation is possible.

Sources are

- Cooking, especially boiling stuff puts water in the air.

- People, just breathing etc.

- Drying washing - if you weigh a pair of jeans dry and later wet you will see how many litres of water will evaporate out.

- Portable gas/paraffin heaters - these release as much water into the air as fuel burnt.

 

Do you have adequate ventilation?

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No. It's happened for quite a while now. Sometimes it's a lot more, if I leave it a few days.

 

Monitor it for a few weeks to make sure its not related to rain, remembering that it might just take a little while for the water to find its way to the back of the boat (assuming that's were you're taking it out.)

Could be a slow plumbing leak, have you got any plastic shut off valves? these can leak as they age, especially if you never use them. Inspect as much of the plumbing as you can. A very slow leak will not cause a noticeable increase in pump running.

 

Could be water tank, is it integral or stainless? Stainless appears to fail much more than integral.

 

It could well be condensation but it is more than I would expect. On my boat condensation kicks in some time in November and stops in March. Varies very significantly from day to day with weather conditions, and also boat location!!... I assume some bits of canal are colder than others.

 

................Dave

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If your floors are all lift'able you should be able to trace it back. It will probably even leave a visible track.

 

Have you checked your pump and pipes while it is running? The increase in pressure could be allowing a dribble to get through a joint or maybe the impellor housing on the pump itself.

 

Although the water might appear clean, I once had a pinprick hole in a weld where the base plate meets the footing. It never became any more than a dribble and stopped after docking and a fresh coat of bitumen.

I only found it because before refloating, the water inside exited the way it had come in and I spotted the bitumen blister filling up with water on the outside.

 

Being that low in the water the water wasn't filthy and looked quite clean.

 

These things can drive you totally crackers.

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Surely that would reduce the likely amount of water ?

It all depends. If you hang wet washing to dry in the boat the boat will get wet, but if you put your washing into a tumble drier that vents outside then it will possibly reduce the dampness inside the boat as it will extract damp boat air via the drier to the outside world.

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Thanks for the replies.

Stainless tank. I have the problem with a full or empty tank.

Ventilation

Yes plenty.

Cooking. I don't think I would create that much moisture, maybe if I emptied the pans on the floor.

I've checked all the plumbing and there are no visible signs of leaks anywhere.

It's definitely not weather related.

Last year I had a period of about three months with a dry bilge. If I had a leak from outside I would assume it would be constant.

I have checked everything when the pump is running. The only place I can't get to is under the shower tray, but the water is clean, no evidence of soap or bodily detritus ?

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Last year I had a period of about three months with a dry bilge. If I had a leak from outside I would assume it would be constant.

 

Not necessarily so, the tiniest of holes can get blocked with vegetation or other flotsam & jetsam.

Another likely blocker could be a flake of newly formed rust.

 

When did you last dock and black?

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Did you check for leaks with the engine running ? Some only weep with vibration. Also double check the PRV and it's run off pipe are functioning properly so eliminating leaks caused by high expansion pressure on the hot fittings. If those are fine my money is still on a shower leak.

 

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Last year I had a period of about three months with a dry bilge. If I had a leak from outside I would assume it would be constant.

I have checked everything when the pump is running. The only place I can't get to is under the shower tray, but the water is clean, no evidence of soap or bodily detritus

 

So was this dry period during the summer? and was it 3 months? could it have been 5 or 6 months? (time flies when your having fun on a boat).

 

Could be a bad case of condensation, do you have a lot of exposed bare metal?

 

..............Dave

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