below water leak - eeek

ChattingLil

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 Feb 2009
Messages
3,395
Location
Boats in Essex and London
Visit site
I've sprung a tiny leak. Water is beading around where the transducer is. I noticed it last weekend, mopped up and checked it last night - there was about 1/2 pint in 5 days.

Is there any short term fix recommended - ie a sealant that can be applied on a damp surface? Perhaps something like plumbers mait (I've used that on leaky radiators at home!).
 
B & Q sell a couple of sealants that say they actually work if applied underwater - I have a couple of tubes on board, but have never had to use them, so dont know if the claims are true.

Cheers

Richard
 
Personally I would have her lifted out and the penetration redone, wouldnt take long. Why is it leaking? presumably you dont know till its removed.
 
If you have a small leak like that then its not worth bodging. If it is leaking then find out why, is the fitting loose? If so try and tighten it, GENTLY!, Is it condensation? Its no good slapping gunge on to stop a tiny leak, the fear is that it could turn in to a catastrophic one, if it is capable of doing that then a bodge inside wont stop it!
Toilet paper, gently mop, trace from where its coming from, then act
Stu
 
Is it the log impeller?

Worth checking the cap is not cross threaded? In Paul Heiney's talk on his single handed transat he describes that happening in mid Atlantic /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
First think I would do is try and establish if its the transducer or the hull fitting thats leaking.

The transducer can presumably be removed while afloat for cleaning - mine can - and I even have a blanking cap - so I would see if this was the cause. If with a blanking cap fitted it showed that the skin fitting was leaking I'd have her lifted and sort it - in case a slow leak suddenly became a faster one !
 
[ QUOTE ]
Personally I would have her lifted out and the penetration redone, wouldnt take long.

[/ QUOTE ]Aha! A Rich Person! - Would you like to buy some go faster antifouling?
 
Lisa,
you have a Mirage, so I presume its Bilge keel.

Make sure it is not seeping from the cap seal first. If it is, then ......
Go stick on a firm bit of Medway and let the sea drain away.

Replace the cap seal. Done.

or, if not,

then remove the whole fitting and rebed between tides. Should not tak emore than an hour. Pleanty of places on the Mudway to carry that out, like at Upnor for instance?

I place my money on the cap seal, as the log tube fitting should not really move during its working life.
 
Worth checking the o-rings are clean and not perished etc. Depending on what style of log it is.
 
Hello, Doom & Gloom here: /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

If it is a plastic fitting, beware that it might have split[1], hence any attempt to 'tighten things up' could result in the whole lot coming off in your hand. Have a bung handy, just in case.

Andy

[1] for example if it has been strained mechanically during craneage, or has a wooden backing pad that has got wet and swelled up, but in the past, log fittings have failed after apparently sufferering from the plastic weakening due to chemical attack if installed with the wrong type of sealant. (There have been very lengthy threads on this in the past which I have no desire to rekindle - information offered for the sake of interest, only).
 
Top