Is my boat leaking? help

[dongo12]

Hi guys,
i just bought a 2nd hand boat, i took it out to the canals near my house, trip was about an hour long, its a 2007 4.6m runabout, i undid the bung after the trip and about 2 litres came out. Is this normal??

Also, when flushing the motor, is it really fussy about how the rabbit ears are positioned on the intake? how about the water power from the hose? because when i was flushing it no water was coming out of the exit hole thing, unless i was squeezing the rabbit ears together. Should i tighten the rabbit ears a bit more or something??

im quite worried about the leaking, dont know if its normal as this is my first boat. any help would be much appreciated

thanks!

[purnong]

What sort of boat is it mate, Glass or Ally?
Look for the simple things first, Bung plug too loose, Is the seal on the plug, Is it in good condition (The seal)
Did you do any swimming or wading through water and then get in the boat? Wet people can bring a bit of water onboard
As far as the muffs, Yes make sure they are tight, fitted correctly over the inlet screens and you have decent water flow
Does it pump plenty out of the pisser when it's in the water?

[shano]

yeah ya muffs probably are not the right ones for the motor. i flush mine in a bin now that way i know it will get a proper flush,
yeah what sort of boat d you have? and also adding to purnong's post when you bring in the anchor will bring in water, but no there shuldn't be any water in the boat if you have not done any of the above mentioned things.

[dongo12]

Thanks for replying mate!
Its a aluminium boat, i have looked at the bung itself and its brand new, the seal and everything is in good condition. I have been reading it could be a problem with the bung socket?
Do you think 2L after an hour in smooth waters is not normal?
And i didnt bring any water onto the boat, so i dont think it would be that.

With the muffs the water intake was really fussy, there was a constant stream at once stage, i thnk the muffs mightve been a bit loose, ill try again tomorrow.

thanks again

[purnong]

Yeah the bung socket could be the culprit so have a good look at that as well, especially the seal of the silicone around the outside of it
The other cause could be leaking through the bolts holding the outboard to the transom these can sometimes be tricky to seal properly on tinnies
The other option you have is to put around fifty to a hundred or so litres of water in the hull and raise or lower the boat front and back to see if you can find water leaking out anywhere

[frankgrimes]

Hey Dongo - Put your bung(s) in, and start filling the boat with water while still on trailer - You should find the culprit pretty quick.

Did the same with my old tinny and found a couple of holes.

Mick

[dongo12]

alright frank, i might have to try that. The boat has a floor but theres a little hatch at the back ill prob try put a hose down there and see how it goes. is leaking a serious problem? how is it fixed?

[frankgrimes]

Certainly is a problem mate - You don't want to sink. Depends where the hole(s) are dictates how it's fixed.

Ally welder's the go if it's a hole in the hull.

[Dean1]

Yeah i 2nd filling the boat with water this is how i found a hole in my last boat( plate alloy).

Try your motor in a drum of water to see if the pump is working..

Deano

[Angryant]

Just on the off chance - the boat wouldn't already had water under the floor before you took it out. Is it stored in the weather? Has it rained recently and the bungs have been in?

[shano]

yep fill the boat with water look under find where it is leaking if it is a crack get a marking pen and circle it, then you contact someone like me and i weld it up for you. :)

[shano]

oops noticed you are at the goldy , bit far for me to fix it for ya!

[Steeler]

Check to be sure its not freshwater like angryant says.no point getting in a pickle if its just from its last hose down or rain out in the weather.

Steeler

[purnong]

Yeah it's a very good point, Forgot all about rain
Haven't seen any down here for a while :wink:

[dongo12]

thanks alot guys. yeh im almost certain that its not water from weather or from someone bringing it onto the boat.
Im quite suprised because its is a nov 2007 brooker 460 runabout, and its still really new.
Im hoping its just the bung or the attachments on the transom thats leaking a bit.
I just went to look at it then. It has a bilge pump, but im not sure where the water is pumped out to. its looks like theres a pipe thats attaching the pump to the outboard. I wonder if water might be coming back through there.
Anyway this is my first boat so i dont know much about how everything works.
I will try and fill it up with some water tomorrow. hoping its just a seal problem

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Flooding hulls to find leaks is not the best solution, especially if it is pin hole on a weld. Air testing the hull is better than flooding and the place where you get it done can probably fix it as well.

The water intake for the time you spent on the water is excessive. I wouldn't get that much on board in two days outside.

Things I need to know to help:

Are you sure the water came from the bilge and not from a fuel cell or a transom pod?

Were the bungs in for a long time before you put it in the water (i.e. could the water have already been there before you went out)?

Was the water purely salty, partly salty or fresh?

As for muffs, the things don't work too well if perished or hardened. Buy two new sets of muffs. There will be a flow side and a blocked side on each. Rip out the blocked side of one and put in the flow side from the other. You now have equalised pressure on both sides of the intakes but split in two so it doesn't want to push away.

Now buy some hose and fittings so that you can make up a "Y" joint and connect it to your tap or hose and you are in business.

If you have really good water pressure and the muffs still want to push off turn down the tap. As long as there is enough water to flood the intake chambers you are OK.

Regards,

White Pointer

[Angryant]

If there is any water left in the bottom of the hull I would still recommend that you check if it fresh or salt water. That should be a good indicator if the water is coming from above (weather) or below (leak).

[dongo12]

Alright i was hoping for a few litres to be a normal occurance. apparantly not :(
My boat has a rear bench, and behind that is a small hatch in the floor that i can open up. I saw it with water while i was out there. I didnt get a chance to see if it was salty or not. it was clear, so i guess its not fuel? how do i know if it came from the bilge or the transom pod and what is the transom pod? How do i do this air testing?

As for water being in there already. i know there was no water in there when we first started off.

[Angla]

What sort of plug is it? Is it a little one, around 20mm or is it a bigger one , like 40mm? The 20mm ones come in 2 thread styles. One is a square thread and the other is more triangular like a standard bolt. See if you can inspect the socket for which one is the right plug. This could be the only problem you have with the water topic.

Cheers
Chris

[Angryant]

Not to press the point however I know with my boat if the front of the trailer is not raised water will sit in the hull and can not be seen via the inspection hatch (behind the bench seat). When I raise the front of the trailer the water will then move to the bungs. Was the jockey wheel raised when you checked the hull to determine there was no water in it?

[White Pointer]

Alright i was hoping for a few litres to be a normal occurance. apparantly not :(
My boat has a rear bench, and behind that is a small hatch in the floor that i can open up. I saw it with water while i was out there. I didnt get a chance to see if it was salty or not. it was clear, so i guess its not fuel? how do i know if it came from the bilge or the transom pod and what is the transom pod? How do i do this air testing?

As for water being in there already. i know there was no water in there when we first started off.

G'day again,

Water gets into boats through (a) poorly sealed deck plates, including into fuel tanks cells that don't leak into the hull (b) defective seals around bungs (c) hull perforation which can be (i) damage (ii) poor welding (iii) electrolosis. The amount of water you are taking in is of concern but not a disaster. It is possible that owner maintenance hasn't been up to scratch and can be corrected.

I doubt that you can do an air test on your hull. This is best left to a boat builder with lots of compressed air and the skills to identify the faults.

Can you bring it to Brisbane?

Regards,

White Pointer

[goanna1]

filling it with water works a bit of talcum powder puffed on the wet spots will help determine from exacatly where. bear in mind that a litre of water weights 1 kg your trailer will only stand so much weight,

[dongo12]

Yeh i picked up the boat 2 days ago, i test drove it then with the guy who sold it to me. after then even about 2L came out because i unscrewed the bung, the guy said it was from the other day when he was cleaning the inside.
So i took it out again today, had in the back of my mind to check if any water was gonna get in, hoping to god it would be dry. another 2L came out. Both of these were on inclines.

Just looked at the bung, the seals look all good, the bung is a 20mm one, and has square threads, not pointy/triangular threads? it looks as though the bung is the right type to fit the socket.

Thanks whitepointer, yeh brisbane is quite far. I might call up marine tune here tomorrow and see what they can do. Also i might try and fill it up with a few litres just to submerge the bung and socket, just to be able to rule out that as a problem.

Honestly the boat looks right out of the shop, still brand new looking

I appreciate the help

[goanna1]

a pin hole will take a long time to put 2 litres of water in.

[goanna1]

One boat i had the dealer installed the tranducer wire through the transom whoops no sealant. it only leaked at rest not on the plane. hull cracks can be very hard to spot I have had one of those also, putting water in the hull worked well.

[goanna1]

check the pop rivets on the bungs also

[frankgrimes]

Hey Dongo - One other thing I neglected to ask - Do you have plumbed livie well/Similar?(If you do, check she's all sealed correctly/no cracks in pipes etc) - This is where water was ingressing into my current boat

Mick

[purnong]

I'd put my money on the lower outboard bracket bolts not sealed correctly
I had a similar issue recently with my new Brooker funnily enough and around the same amount of water leaking in
I found it by the water in the hull method and tilting the boat right up on the trailer
When I rang the dealer and told him the hull was taking on water he told me the likely cause was the lower bolts before I could tell him I'd found the problem
He fixed it no problems, Not a disaster on an ally boat but if it was glass I would have been angry

[Axl]

Alright i was hoping for a few litres to be a normal occurance. apparantly not :(
My boat has a rear bench, and behind that is a small hatch in the floor that i can open up. I saw it with water while i was out there. I didnt get a chance to see if it was salty or not. it was clear, so i guess its not fuel? how do i know if it came from the bilge or the transom pod and what is the transom pod? How do i do this air testing?

As for water being in there already. i know there was no water in there when we first started off.


Mate the guys have given you some good advice so far but it seems to me that you need a few pointers.

Not all alloy Brookers have a transom pod I have a 2009 5m discovery c/c and it doent have one.

The bilge pump should discharge out the side of the boat near the back you should see a discharge hole normally with a stainles steel fitting.

Can you post some pics of the back end of your rig this would give the guys a better idea of what the issue may be.

I am leaning towards leaking lower motor support bolts.

[Crunchy]

Maybe one of the experienced lads on here from the Goldy could go around for a quick look?

[Kewy]

Dongo12,

PM sent

Cheers,
Kewy

[scuttlebutt]

Any swivels/sinkers that find their way under the floor are a death trap. Doesn't take long for them to eat a hole in ally.

I had a swivel get under the floor on my old Stacer and ate a pinhole through. Went out for a day and came back to find hundreds of litres of water under the floor. Took it home and found it by partially filling the hull with water.

Easily fixed by an ally welder.

Being a second hand boat it might be worth pulling up the floor and having a good look under there just for peace of mind even if that's not the current cause. Pay particular attention under the ribs where they cross strakes etc. You don't know what little time-bombs could be ticking away under the floor.

[Cheech]

With the water pressure problem, I made up a set of double sided muffs. buy a second set of muffs just to get the inlet muff.

A Y connector, a bit of hose from the Y to the muff, mirrored on the other side, and you will be way better water to the impeller as the water is coming in from both sides. Works well even with low pressure.

There was a thread on it a few years ago, but probably difficult to find.

[Cheech]

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=69259&highlight=muffs

Actually, found the thread, but the picture may have been pre server change and not carried over.

[Seahorse]

i got a 5m stacer runabout.
it was leaking and about 10 litres after a full day out.
tried everything, for weeks.
then i noticed on a trip that the carpet was bit wet in back corner.
what it was, was when i last hosed out inside the water runs out a small hole in each corner inside the boat, out through a pipe and out the transom through 2 rubber seals.
what was happening was that the water was not sealing off on back of transom and was coming back up the pipe.
i put tape over the hole in transom and problem solved.

[White Pointer]

Yeh i picked up the boat 2 days ago, i test drove it then with the guy who sold it to me. after then even about 2L came out because i unscrewed the bung, the guy said it was from the other day when he was cleaning the inside.
So i took it out again today, had in the back of my mind to check if any water was gonna get in, hoping to god it would be dry. another 2L came out. Both of these were on inclines.

Just looked at the bung, the seals look all good, the bung is a 20mm one, and has square threads, not pointy/triangular threads? it looks as though the bung is the right type to fit the socket.

Thanks whitepointer, yeh brisbane is quite far. I might call up marine tune here tomorrow and see what they can do. Also i might try and fill it up with a few litres just to submerge the bung and socket, just to be able to rule out that as a problem.

Honestly the boat looks right out of the shop, still brand new looking

I appreciate the help

G'day,

Yeah - do that but make sure that when they find the fault they have really found it and are not doing a suck and see at your expense.

The bung plates and any screwed in floor plates on your boat should be removed, cleaned and inspected and put back with new sealant each year. The bung inserts should have a bit of lanoline grease on them to maintain the threads.

Just do it for peace of mind.

What is the boat?

Regards,

White Pointer

[finga]

G'day,

Flooding hulls to find leaks is not the best solution, especially if it is pin hole on a weld. Air testing the hull is better than flooding and the place where you get it done can probably fix it as well.


How do you do an air test on a hull that has not got a sealed floor??

You don't need lots of air as the test pressure should not be more then 1-2-3 lbs as it could cause more damage by stressing the hull from within.
Ability to adjust the low pressures is a lot more favourable then lots of air...especially if it's only a pin prick.
I have done them with a very small compressor that I can chuck in the back of the car.
There was a thread years ago and has a lot of very helpful hints and tips.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=107155

[Spaniard_King]

How do you do an air test on a hull that has not got a sealed floor??

You don't need lots of air as the test pressure should not be more then 1-2-3 lbs as it could cause more damage by stressing the hull from within.
Ability to adjust the low pressures is a lot more favourable then lots of air...especially if it's only a pin prick.
I have done them with a very small compressor that I can chuck in the back of the car.
There was a thread years ago and has a lot of very helpful hints and tips.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=107155

Scott I was wondering how long it would take for someone to ask this:wink:

Keen to hear his answer myself:cool:

[Jurkyjj]

yep fill the boat with water look under find where it is leaking if it is a crack get a marking pen and circle it, then you contact someone like me and i weld it up for you. :)

Great plug there Shano!!

Jason.

[Louis]

Sadly alluminium boats often get cracks and leaks as a result. If your new to boating another thing to watch out for is electrolisis. The dropped sinkers or swivels of today which have been long forgotten about into the future and left to lie on the floor somewhere, may result in an electrolisis hole in the hull in the near future.

The curious thing is that that hole could very likely appear in a totally diferent area of the hull.


Louis