How to trace the leakage?

[peterjaw]

Hi captains,
We had a heavy rainy week and I found a lot of water in the bilge under the cockpit. When I tried to
figure out the source, I found some water dropped from the left upper corner near the transom.
There accumulate about 2 ~ 3 inches of water but the automatic bilge pumps did not triggered on. I have
tried to turn on the bilge pumps manually and they are functional. The water level was not high enough to
trigger them on.

(I don't know how to explain more specifically, sorry for my limited English ability.)

I don't know if the accumulated water is salty (sea water, black water tank leakage ...) or fresh (rain, boat washing,
fresh water tank leakage ....).

How should I trace the source of the water? Thank you in advance.

PS. My boat has a Mercury Verado 300 outboard.

 

[AndieMac]

Hi captains,
We had a heavy rainy week and I found a lot of water in the bilge under the cockpit. When I tried to
figure out the source, I found some water dropped from the left upper corner near the transom.
There accumulate about 2 ~ 3 inches of water but the automatic bilge pumps did not triggered on. I have
tried to turn on the bilge pumps manually and they are functional. The water level was not high enough to
trigger them on.

(I don't know how to explain more specifically, sorry for my limited English ability.)

I don't know if the accumulated water is salty (sea water, black water tank leakage ...) or fresh (rain, boat washing,
fresh water tank leakage ....).

How should I trace the source of the water? Thank you in advance.

PS. My boat has a Mercury Verado 300 outboard.

You would smell the Blackwater tank contents as soon as you lifted the cockpit hatch.
I'm not familiar with your boat, but does the cockpit hatch have any drains on the corners of the recesses? These can block with dust/dirt accumulation and water can then leak from overflowing directly into the bilge.
You could check hose clamps around the boat just to be sure.

 

[peterjaw]

You would smell the Blackwater tank contents as soon as you lifted the cockpit hatch.
I'm not familiar with your boat, but does the cockpit hatch have any drains on the corners of the recesses? These can block with dust/dirt accumulation and water can then leak from overflowing directly into the bilge.
You could check hose clamps around the boat just to be sure.

Thank you very much, Andie.
You provided me some hints about how to trace the leak.

 

[simonfraser]

rain or salty, taste it.

it may be salty from old salt water now dried up.
suggest you rinse it all out with fresh water, dry it and start from there.

 

[Freebee]

rain or salty, taste it.

it may be salty from old salt water now dried up.
suggest you rinse it all out with fresh water, dry it and start from there.

If there is the slightest hint this is blackwater you should not taste it ofcourse. You have not said what the boat is or the layout-could it be leakage from a stored water tank or the pipework to and from the tank?

If it has not covered the bilge pumps then its not enough to worry about......... on the other hand if it was a lot of water maybe the bilge pumps ran and took the level down sufficiently to switch off again. Good luck with your search!

Check your through hull fittings.....also round out drives and through hull bolted things like boarding ladders or anodes.

 

[peterjaw]

Thank you very much for each input, guys.

The water smells so disgusting therefore I won't use my tongue to figure out it is salty or fresh.

My boat is Quicksilver 855 weekend and she is brand new, just received from a dealer on August this year. I need to find out the
source of this and let the dealer to deal with.

If I don't figure out a clear direction, the dealer could just make all kind of excuses to avoid their responsibility.

 

[gordmac]

Haven't tried this myself but I have read spreading something like talcum powder below where you think it is coming in can show where it is if it gets washed away.

 

[peterjaw]

Very good suggestion, gordmac.

Your inspire me something else, maybe I can put some toilet paper near the suspected spots and even they get wet and dried, I
can still track back where is the water from.

 

[simonfraser]

use blue roll paper, that discolors very well when wet.

 

[peterjaw]

use blue roll paper, that discolors very well when wet.

Very good suggestion, thank you very much, Simon.

 

[Mike k]

Baby powder/talcum sprinkled around the suspected area or surfaces leading to the bilge will highlight the track of water- it goes yellow and you see streak lines. You should also be able to feel the inlet and outlet fittings on the backwater tank for any moisture( washing hands of course!!).Check your stern gland that the prop sits in for drips too- the packing inside can need tightening especially on a new boat - only half a turn each side till the drip stops and make sure you can rotate the prop by hand afterwards ( this did happen to me and a small drip left for days builds up). In your case and even if you think you have fixed it , out of interest, I would also take a sample of the water and keep it in a jar-salt crystals should form if salt water after a few days or drop a mild steel washer in and see it rust!! Check around the hatches that sit above the bilge the seating of the hatches should be designed to lead rain water away freely, in my case there are channels that go to the stern and off the back..

 

[J12345T]

Hi Peter,

Not sure if this is appropriate to your boat but a possible path for rain water to get into the bilge is via the protective belting around the outside of the boat. My experience in the past is that the belting is held on with screws that over time lose their sealant. Rain hits the boat runs down into the belting and runs along the inside of the belting and finds its way into the boat via the fixing screws. A surprising amount of water can get in this way. Of course it would be 'fresh' water.

Get a hose and systematically spray parts of the boat and look to see if/when/where water enters the bilge...

Best of luck.

James.

 

[peterjaw]

Thank you very much for all your inputs, guys.

I have confirmed that those are "fresh" not "salty". Thanks God.

I have sprinkled baby powder around suspected areas and hope I can get something recently. There is a typhoon approaching in less than 24 hours and we expect to have some hours of heavy rain.