Poxy Leaks ARRRGHHHH!

A

alb40

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2003
Messages
732
Location
River Medway, Kent
Visit site
Well, its bloody peeing hard with rain at the moment, and ive got a leak right where my head goes on my bunk! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I had a leak here before, and resealing the window above did the trick. Now its leaking again!

Ive Sealed the window, expoxied the deck, Filled a small crack in the wood (spline fell out over summer), put a new roof on the cabin this year, and the bugger still drips!!!!!

Anyone got any ideas for advanced leak finding? Before I set fire to the boat as im losing the will to live!

Many thanks, Alex /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Oh, at least the bilge is dry. It needs dusting! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Tell me about it! At least im largely weathertight now apart from the one or two other leaks ive found in the wetter weather recently. Good old Capt. Tolleys stuff fixed alot of others.

It just with this one, ive sealed everywhere i can see in the vacinity that could be a possible route in, to no avail!
 
It is amazing just how far water will run along a seam or ledge to find the pillow!

Try water with a bit of food dye which can be wiped up afterwards to try and locate the actual leak.

I once had a leak which ran nearly 8 feet before dripping out into my pillow!
 
I have a cover that takes care of a number of my leaks. It runs along the bottom of the boom back to the backstay. It's shaped like a tent & comes down to the upper lifelines. It is one of the best things I've done for my boat. The varnish lasts longer, it stays drier below, &, as a result of that, she holds her paint better.
 
[ QUOTE ]

Try water with a bit of food dye . . .

[/ QUOTE ]

Be carefull of your choice of colour. Explaining that damp greeny-yellow stain on the bedding to SWMBO takes a bit of aplomb.

On some of Mariposa's leaks I used epoxy with slow hardener. That, and a hot air gun to make it runny, stopped most of the leaks (and resulted in some interesting epoxy stalagmites (or is that stalagtites) down below). Where cracks / shakes were visible on vertical surfaces I "sucked" the epoxy through using a vacuum cleaner.
 
Not mine - my 3 year old spent the whole summer complaining of 'drip-drops' on his head! His younger brother and sister woke up screaming a lot (drip-drops), and both my wife and I kept waking up too! And on a boat with epoxied decks...
 
i feel so much better now, i guess it's part of the '' challenge '' of owning these historic craft ! a bit like owning an old british motorbike and constantly trying to stop oil leaks, at least you don't get bored !
pete
 
I have no leaks despite having 45 year old teak decks. 10 years ago they leaked all over the place. All you need is patience, a magnifying glass and check the deck for damp patches after a shower. When I do get a suspect spot for a leak spot I stick duck tape over it and see if it stops.. If it does use sikaflex, personally I found epoxy is to hard and moves after a while even for tiny cracks. If your windows are chrome frame type I found it was the joint where the frame was joined together that leaked not the joint to the boat. You could take them apart and stick them back together but I found it didn't last for more than 2 years so had modern alloy copies made.
 
My windows appear to simply be 'glued' to the wood using some kind of sticky stuff, like sikaflex. They used to leak like buggery till i resealed them. Anyone ever come across this method of installing windows before? Seems a bit cack handed to me, and liable to leak quite a bit if they get bumped?
 
My windows were done like that and used to leak. I have now replaced them using sikaflex - not really sure how else to do them if your windows just rest on a wooden rebate. If bedded in well they wont leak. I've done the hose test, but yet to dip my the rail under to really check!

The biggest improvement I have made to leaks is moving the chain plates outboard - A suggestion from this forum!
 
Another rascal for these leaks is anything which is throughbolted or screwed to the deck. Check to see if your stanchions are set up on pads, and if not look at the screwheads and around the base of them. Also check anchor windlasses, mast boots, anything that penetrates the deck. Oh check the deck house as well...and any other deck structures. Sometimes it will rot underneath the trim right at the deck join and you'll have a veritable gutter draining water down below, and you won't be able to see it unless you get on your hands and knees with a good flashlight and screwdriver.
 
I would suggest a length of guttering over the pillow area with a down pipe to the bilge, but that would get the dusty bilges damp - so perhaps best not. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif


(I'm not jealous at all - only one leak and a dry bilge - are you sure the boat is not in a barn somewhere?)
 
I get about 10mm sitting in the bottom, but thats it. Once a month, I can bail out a couple of buckets full, most of which comes for the shaft seals as its salt water.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Lucky for me my boat only leaks on SHMBO! Even if we change sides during the night.


[/ QUOTE ] ... following a quick check of the tide tables to see what time the boat will swing round? /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
I spent the better part of two years doing up a boat, (well my cheque book did anyway), and at the end she was a picture, but I sold her because there were two leaks, one in the saloon and one in the wheelhouse. It's easy to tell where it's coming out, but where's it going in?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top