Persistent rainwater leaks

MJ24

MJ24

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 Apr 2012
Messages
362
Location
West Wales
www.markjohnsonafloat.org.uk
VMy Sadler 32 leaks rainwater on the port hand side, filling containers on the shelf above the double bunk.

I have sealed the windows, sealed the main hatch cover, put creeping crack alongside the Genoa/sheet track, and it still leaks loads of water. I know the water comes in from the middle of the boat as it drops of the inner cabin lining,thus not the deck hull bond. The deck fittings have also been sealed.

Has anyone had similar leaks and have found their source?

Of course if we had a proper summer (dry) problem would be halved.

Mj
 
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Leaks can be far away from where the water appears so start at the bows and and work back tipping some at a time. Use something to block the water running back down the scuppers towards the stern, so each small area can be tested one at a time. Please let us know how you get on.
 
I had a bad leak on my Sadler 29, though this is rather different from the 32. Re-seating a window didn't make any difference until I used creating crack cure on the window. It was between the "glass" and the frame and a couple of applications did the trick.
 
Our trick is to stick numerous individual pieces of toilet paper to all likely and less likely locations and then spray the outside with water using a hose.

We had a particularly difficult one recently which turned out to be water tracking down one of the push pit down tubes into a socket in the capping rail.
There was a gps wire running inside the tube but the grommet was badly seating.
Water then traveled along the wire through the capping rail following the wire and dripping off 4ft forward behind a locker I guess 12ft away from the GPS wire entry point.
Easy fix but a bugger to track down.
 
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Thanks for comments and suggestions.

Despite having "sealed" the windows, it is the window that is leaking dammit.

Happened to be in the boat when it was raining hard yesterday, and the water was seen to be flowing in. It must have a big catchment area as the volume of water is quite significant!.

Paid good money several years ago to have windows reset etc....

Will try creeping crack again, but if thst fails I will take them to bits and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for comments etc.

Mj
 
MJ24 said:
Thanks for comments and suggestions.

Despite having "sealed" the windows, it is the window that is leaking dammit.

Happened to be in the boat when it was raining hard yesterday, and the water was seen to be flowing in. It must have a big catchment area as the volume of water is quite significant!.

Paid good money several years ago to have windows reset etc....

Will try creeping crack again, but if thst fails I will take them to bits and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for comments etc.

Mj
Click to expand...

If that fails consider coming to where we haven't seen rain for months.
 
MJ24 said:
Thanks for comments and suggestions.

Despite having "sealed" the windows, it is the window that is leaking dammit.

Happened to be in the boat when it was raining hard yesterday, and the water was seen to be flowing in. It must have a big catchment area as the volume of water is quite significant!.

Paid good money several years ago to have windows reset etc....

Will try creeping crack again, but if thst fails I will take them to bits and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for comments etc.

Mj
Click to expand...

I think you need to get the area (and cracks) really dry before trying Cpn Tolleys. On my hatch it did not work until I had the sun on it from outside for a few hours and a fan heater (on low temp) on the inside for the same time. I then let it cool off for half an hour and kept putting Cpn Tulley in there until I got really bored. Since then (touch wood) it has been totally sealed in all weathers.
 
Now that makes a load of sense.....

It is certainly a consideration, and having visited the Algarve a couple of years ago, its quite a pull.

Its been raining here for about 4 days non stop.:nonchalance::nonchalance:
 
Lots of good reports about using Butyl tape for re-bedding windows.

I had a small self tapping screw through the side deck, leaking, once. It let in buckets full till I realised what was happening.
 
MJ24 said:
Thanks for comments and suggestions.

Despite having "sealed" the windows, it is the window that is leaking dammit.

Happened to be in the boat when it was raining hard yesterday, and the water was seen to be flowing in. It must have a big catchment area as the volume of water is quite significant!.

Paid good money several years ago to have windows reset etc....

Will try creeping crack again, but if thst fails I will take them to bits and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for comments etc.

Mj
Click to expand...

Sounds like the same issue as I had on my Rival assuming you have aluminium framed windows. The glass was sealed inside the aluminium frames with a rubber seal on the inside and what appeared to be a double sided sticky tape on the outside. The aluminium channel was mostly space inside filled with air, no sealant as such. The channel itself was corroded right through in the base/side walls/corners, about 2 to 3 mm holes. The rain came through the failed seals, filled the frame and cascaded out the holes. No amount of resealing the frames to the hull would have prevented this leak and no amount of Capt. Ts or any other stuff forced into the frame would have worked. I had the frames spilt and the glass removed. The frames were refurbished and the glass bedded into the frame with the whole frame filled with a Sikaflex glass sealant. They are now as good as new, in fact better than new/original design and totally waterproof. The frame flange was bedded onto the hull with a bedding tape and not sealant.

Hadlow Marine Services sorted my frames for me and supplied all the bedding tapes http://hadlo-43547-001.dsvr.co.uk/Pages/Introduction.html No connection except as a customer.
 
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MJ24 said:
Thanks for comments and suggestions.

Despite having "sealed" the windows, it is the window that is leaking dammit.

Happened to be in the boat when it was raining hard yesterday, and the water was seen to be flowing in. It must have a big catchment area as the volume of water is quite significant!.

Paid good money several years ago to have windows reset etc....

Will try creeping crack again, but if thst fails I will take them to bits and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for comments etc.

Mj
Click to expand...

I once had a boat next to me on a pontoon with leaky windows despite rent rebelling. The skipper (not the owner) reckoned the hole boat was flexing breaking any seal.

The best flexible sealant I've yet come across is butyl tape, which was designed for ( you probably guessed) sealing windows. Try rebidding with butyl tape
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Sounds like the same issue as I had on my Rival assuming you have aluminium framed windows. The glass was sealed inside the aluminium frames with a rubber seal on the inside and what appeared to be a double sided sticky tape on the outside. The aluminium channel was mostly space inside filled with air, no sealant as such. The channel itself was corroded right through in the base/side walls/corners, about 2 to 3 mm holes. The rain came through the failed seals, filled the frame and cascaded out the holes. No amount of resealing the frames to the hull would have prevented this leak and no amount of Capt. Ts or any other stuff forced into the frame would have worked. I had the frames spilt and the glass removed. The frames were refurbished and the glass bedded into the frame with the whole frame filled with a Sikaflex glass sealant. They are now as good as new, in fact better than new/original design and totally waterproof. The frame flange was bedded onto the hull with a bedding tape and not sealant.

Hadlow Marine Services sorted my frames for me and supplied all the bedding tapes http://hadlo-43547-001.dsvr.co.uk/Pages/Introduction.html No connection except as a customer.
Click to expand...

+1 for Hadlow Marine Services as a very satisfied customer
 
Hi Mj
Your windows have two means of letting in water, via the frame flange to hull seal and via the frame to glass seal, plus a third via your S32 inner lining/hull/window frame junction. This junction, if unsealed, will allow any stray water to get into the general frame area and leak.

At 20 odd years old your flange sealant may be shot, but if not then your window two pack butyl sealant almost certainly is - try Eagle Boat Windows for either supply of new two pack butyl for glass re-bedding and arbomast br for reseating the flange, or save yourself an awful lot of time by getting them to redo the windows so you can concentrate on taking them out/re-installation, which will still take you about 4 days.

Look at your largest windows and notice they have a curvature which matches the S32 hull- only created when installing. For this reason I suggest you install small rubber spacing pads, maybe 3-4mm square, bedded in arbomast br the day before installing the frames again. It will prevent all the mastic being squeezed out again.

First, check your chainplate covers are sealed (arbomast br or sikaflex) so theres no possibility of leaks from there and check the mast base doesn't provide any points of entry for water.

Notwithstanding the above, my money is on the glazing butyl as being the cause of your woes.
 
Also check any fixings through the perspex eg. hadles/hinges.

If you suspect the frame then sticking some tape round it on the outside and putting a hose on it should be telling.
 
Again thanks for comments.

Money is on the outer frame, as I saw it coming in in bucketfulls...

So I will await until we get some dry weather (ha ha) and take outer frames off, and reseal with butyl tape.

Then sail of to Portugal......

Mj
 
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