Why do they do it?

[CX54WEK]

After determining that we have a water leak last weekend we set about dismantling the midships in our Sealine S23 to find the cause of the problem, or so we thought. After an hour or so's dismantling all we achieved was being able to hear the water hissing a little louder.

Another hour later and many swear words uttered, we decided to admit defeat and ask for advice from the marina engineer, who just happened to have been working on one that morning. After a few words it was established that the only access to where we needed to be was found by cutting out the sink unit in the heads!!!!

Five minutes later and hey presto, leak found. But why oh why did Sealine not see fit to find somewhere to locate an inspection hatch.

Anyhow, of all the parts located behind the sink, mostly common plumbing parts, the one that has split is one that we cant find in any plumbers merchants and we now have to order it through Sealine. So for now we have no water to the heads until the new part arrives.

And to add insult to injury our firends boat which is exactly the same has exactly the same leak!!!!

 

[sailorman]

After determining that we have a water leak last weekend we set about dismantling the midships in our Sealine S23 to find the cause of the problem, or so we thought. After an hour or so's dismantling all we achieved was being able to hear the water hissing a little louder.

Another hour later and many swear words uttered, we decided to admit defeat and ask for advice from the marina engineer, who just happened to have been working on one that morning. After a few words it was established that the only access to where we needed to be was found by cutting out the sink unit in the heads!!!!

Five minutes later and hey presto, leak found. But why oh why did Sealine not see fit to find somewhere to locate an inspection hatch.

Anyhow, of all the parts located behind the sink, mostly common plumbing parts, the one that has split is one that we cant find in any plumbers merchants and we now have to order it through Sealine. So for now we have no water to the heads until the new part arrives.

And to add insult to injury our firends boat which is exactly the same has exactly the same leak!!!!

Was it Frost Damage ???

 

[thamesS23]

If it makes you feel any better, I think we have the same problem as well. Although we have known about ours for a whole season now. Ours occurs if we ever use the shower / taps in the head, it causes water to appear in the mid-cabin (as you look into the cabin, it leaks in the near left corner). We have never attempted to fix it, we simply don't use the taps in the head and use the taps in the galley, simply because I couldn't see anyway to access the fault.

Did yours leak in the same place then? and if so, is it just a case then of cutting the sealant around the bowl to gain access? Does the bowl then just lift up easily to allow you to see and split pipes or is it more involved then that?

 

[adrianb]

Have you tried Nick at Seabridge Marine for he offending part?

 

[sparex]

Same with ours........

The bowl lifts straight up once you gently cut through the sealant and you then have access to the pipe work.
On ours it was the plastic Tee joining the hot / cold to the mixer tap / shower head, that was the problem.
Very easy to re seal and then fix the bowl back - just apply a little weight on it overnight and it will be as good as new.

Must be fault with a lot of those S23/ 25 as the pipes are very near the hull skin and can freeze. Maybe a little bit of common plumbers insulation i.e. pipe lagging, might just do the trick while your at it. I didn't do it but maybe now that I think of it, should have!

Had trouble getting the plastic tee as Sealine didn't have any at the time - even tried Nick @ sealine parts.

Also our rear transom shower head has cracked again (second one)

Do Sealine supply parts direct (as they did before) or is it only through dealers?

Thanks
Spx

 

[CX54WEK]

If it makes you feel any better, I think we have the same problem as well. Although we have known about ours for a whole season now. Ours occurs if we ever use the shower / taps in the head, it causes water to appear in the mid-cabin (as you look into the cabin, it leaks in the near left corner). We have never attempted to fix it, we simply don't use the taps in the head and use the taps in the galley, simply because I couldn't see anyway to access the fault.

Did yours leak in the same place then? and if so, is it just a case then of cutting the sealant around the bowl to gain access? Does the bowl then just lift up easily to allow you to see and split pipes or is it more involved then that?

We knew we had an issue because when we replaced the shower head the water pump was grunting every 5 minutes or so and you could then hear it spraying water around. The water reappeared through the carpet under the heads door.

Interestingly now we have isolated the water supply to the heads we can leave the water pump switched on all day with no drop in pressure, previously it dropped every two hours or so.

It is just a case of cutting the sealant and the bowl comes straight out. Easy if you know how.

And it is also the black plastic t piece that has split on ours as well as our friends. We will give it a go at resealing i think.

 

[nicks]

We now have got the little plastic 't' pieces made up in brass as the plastic parts and taps are now no longer available (hope no one minds the sales pitch)

 

[JKay]

Naughty
Hope you had a nice run down the Pool on Saturday
Cheers

 

[splosh]

Next time, when the temperatures are low (freezing), ensure your water pump is switched off. Then ensure all your domestic taps are open. In your heads ensure your shower head and hose are at a low position (preferably laying in the shower tray) and open the shower mixer to the central postion on the mixer (equal hot & cold water). Leave all the taps open!
This will drain down most of the water in your taps and pipes to allow for expansion if your pipes freeze again.
The transom shower heads will split if frozen unless they are removed in the recent freezing conditions.
This method has worked succesfully for me for many years now - touch wood!

Even better is to pump out the entire water tank contents, and simply re-fill next visit to the boat.

 

[CX54WEK]

We did remove the transom shower head so that one survived.

The heads issues where of our own making. We normally leave the water pumps off and the taps open to leave room for expansion, however the previous week we had overslept on Monday morning and had to leave in a hurry to get to work on time (a good hour and a half away) by eight o clock. Our own fault and one we shall not be repeating again.

 

[CX54WEK]

I would just like to thank Nick at Seabridge Marine for your swift service. Ordered the parts needed to stop our water leak yesterday and they have arrived on my desk this morning. Thank you very much.