I am the third owner of a freshwater '78 CD25... Somewhere along the way an owner added a depth finder/sounder and a speedo. Of course, both of these required additional thru-hulls. I don't have records on what year they were added, nor am I experienced enough to comment on the quality of their installation. This is my 3rd season with the boat and though she was given a clean bill of heath by a professional surveyor prior to purchase... I'm starting to think that the speedo might be "weeping" a miniscule amount of water. Heavy rain sometimes slips in via the forward cabin hatch and ice in the cooler melts to the bilge... but I've been surprised by the inches I find after a couple of days away... Is there a foolproof way to diagnose this? Do the sealants/glues used in these installations have an expiration date? I'm nervous about cranking down and tightening the speedo cap as I've heard stories of stripped threads...
Thanks again for the help-
Steve
satirelounge@yahoo.com
leaking thru-hull??
Moderator: Jim Walsh
-
Boyd
Re: leaking thru-hull??
Hi Steve...
You didnt mention which brand of speedo you have. The ones that I am familiar with use a bronze thru hull fitting which has a large nut on the inside. The speedo sending unit slips into the thru hull and has a couple of large "O" rings to seal it. You may have leaks at either location. Since this leak seems small I would suggest that you do what is necessary to eleminate all other sources of water from the bilge first. One trick I have used in the past is to dry the area around the suspected leak well.. then dust it with any convienent non toxic powder.... wait and look for the streaks. I am assuming you have a good working bilge pump.
If it is the "O" rings the fix is simple. There is usually a blank plug with the boat that comes with the speedo. You can very quickly remove the speedo unit from the inside and reinsert the blank plug into the thru hull. There will be a considerable amount of water getting in but not enough to cause problems. The key is to make the swap fast. You can examine, replace if necessary, and grease with silicone the "O" rings and then do the wet swap again.
If it is the thru hull itself then you need to haul the boat and reset the thru hull. The sealant on the thru hull should last a very long time if put in correctly.
Check carefully and if you need more help post again or e-mail me.
Boyd
s/v Tern
CD 30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla
boyd@wbta.cc
You didnt mention which brand of speedo you have. The ones that I am familiar with use a bronze thru hull fitting which has a large nut on the inside. The speedo sending unit slips into the thru hull and has a couple of large "O" rings to seal it. You may have leaks at either location. Since this leak seems small I would suggest that you do what is necessary to eleminate all other sources of water from the bilge first. One trick I have used in the past is to dry the area around the suspected leak well.. then dust it with any convienent non toxic powder.... wait and look for the streaks. I am assuming you have a good working bilge pump.
If it is the "O" rings the fix is simple. There is usually a blank plug with the boat that comes with the speedo. You can very quickly remove the speedo unit from the inside and reinsert the blank plug into the thru hull. There will be a considerable amount of water getting in but not enough to cause problems. The key is to make the swap fast. You can examine, replace if necessary, and grease with silicone the "O" rings and then do the wet swap again.
If it is the thru hull itself then you need to haul the boat and reset the thru hull. The sealant on the thru hull should last a very long time if put in correctly.
Check carefully and if you need more help post again or e-mail me.
Boyd
s/v Tern
CD 30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla
steve wrote: I am the third owner of a freshwater '78 CD25... Somewhere along the way an owner added a depth finder/sounder and a speedo. Of course, both of these required additional thru-hulls. I don't have records on what year they were added, nor am I experienced enough to comment on the quality of their installation. This is my 3rd season with the boat and though she was given a clean bill of heath by a professional surveyor prior to purchase... I'm starting to think that the speedo might be "weeping" a miniscule amount of water. Heavy rain sometimes slips in via the forward cabin hatch and ice in the cooler melts to the bilge... but I've been surprised by the inches I find after a couple of days away... Is there a foolproof way to diagnose this? Do the sealants/glues used in these installations have an expiration date? I'm nervous about cranking down and tightening the speedo cap as I've heard stories of stripped threads...
Thanks again for the help-
Steve
boyd@wbta.cc
-
Ken Coit
Re: leaking thru-hull??
Steve,
In addition to the usual thru-hull problems you might encounter, there is also the possibility that the sensor cartride is damaged. We found one such case on Parfait and had to replace the entire unit.
Keep on sailing,
Ken Coit
CD/14 #538
CD/36 #84 Parfait
Hailing Port: Raleigh, NC
Sailing from: Beaufort, NC
parfaitNOSPAM@nc.rr.com
In addition to the usual thru-hull problems you might encounter, there is also the possibility that the sensor cartride is damaged. We found one such case on Parfait and had to replace the entire unit.
Keep on sailing,
Ken Coit
CD/14 #538
CD/36 #84 Parfait
Hailing Port: Raleigh, NC
Sailing from: Beaufort, NC
steve wrote: I am the third owner of a freshwater '78 CD25... Somewhere along the way an owner added a depth finder/sounder and a speedo. Of course, both of these required additional thru-hulls. I don't have records on what year they were added, nor am I experienced enough to comment on the quality of their installation. This is my 3rd season with the boat and though she was given a clean bill of heath by a professional surveyor prior to purchase... I'm starting to think that the speedo might be "weeping" a miniscule amount of water. Heavy rain sometimes slips in via the forward cabin hatch and ice in the cooler melts to the bilge... but I've been surprised by the inches I find after a couple of days away... Is there a foolproof way to diagnose this? Do the sealants/glues used in these installations have an expiration date? I'm nervous about cranking down and tightening the speedo cap as I've heard stories of stripped threads...
Thanks again for the help-
Steve
parfaitNOSPAM@nc.rr.com
-
Bill Armstrong
Re: leaking thru-hull??
I was about to enter a post regarding the same about the speedo. Checked mine and would like to know how you can tell if the O rings need replacement or silicone lubrication. What would be a good lubrication?Boyd wrote: Hi Steve..
You didnt mention which brand of speedo you have. The ones that I am familiar with use a bronze thru hull fitting which has a large nut on the inside. The speedo sending unit slips into the thru hull and has a couple of large "O" rings to seal it. You may have leaks at either location. Since this leak seems small I would suggest that you do what is necessary to eleminate all other sources of water from the bilge first. One trick I have used in the past is to dry the area around the suspected leak well.. then dust it with any convienent non toxic powder.... wait and look for the streaks. I am assuming you have a good working bilge pump.
If it is the "O" rings the fix is simple. There is usually a blank plug with the boat that comes with the speedo. You can very quickly remove the speedo unit from the inside and reinsert the blank plug into the thru hull. There will be a considerable amount of water getting in but not enough to cause problems. The key is to make the swap fast. You can examine, replace if necessary, and grease with silicone the "O" rings and then do the wet swap again.
If it is the thru hull itself then you need to haul the boat and reset the thru hull. The sealant on the thru hull should last a very long time if put in correctly.
Check carefully and if you need more help post again or e-mail me.
Boyd
s/v Tern
CD 30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla
steve wrote: I am the third owner of a freshwater '78 CD25... Somewhere along the way an owner added a depth finder/sounder and a speedo. Of course, both of these required additional thru-hulls. I don't have records on what year they were added, nor am I experienced enough to comment on the quality of their installation. This is my 3rd season with the boat and though she was given a clean bill of heath by a professional surveyor prior to purchase... I'm starting to think that the speedo might be "weeping" a miniscule amount of water. Heavy rain sometimes slips in via the forward cabin hatch and ice in the cooler melts to the bilge... but I've been surprised by the inches I find after a couple of days away... Is there a foolproof way to diagnose this? Do the sealants/glues used in these installations have an expiration date? I'm nervous about cranking down and tightening the speedo cap as I've heard stories of stripped threads...
Thanks again for the help-
Steve
I do like the powder idea to ascertain a leak. Bill
meislandbill@yahoo.com
-
Randy Bates
Re: leaking thru-hull??
Dive shops sell a very good silicon grease that is used to lube the seals on underwayer cameras. I use it on ALL the seals on "Seraph" including the glass/bronze ports. It'll extend the life of the rubber for a very very long time.
randy.bates@baesystems.com
randy.bates@baesystems.com
-
steve
Re: leaking thru-hull??
Folks-
Thanks for the great advice... I went down to the harbor last night and finally figured out how to hook up the float on the bilgepump (piece of mind) and tried the dry/powder suggestion with some success... Good news: I don't think it's the speedo... the bilge is bone dry from v-berth to the center cabin bilge point. so whatever is in the bilge isn't coming from the speedo. Checked all other thru-hulls and seacocks (which have 1 year old hose)and I'm rather certain that these are not suspect... I'm starting to think it has something to do with the water holding tank... the hose runs from the tank -along the portside to the sink- and I found a fair amount of moisture at about center of the cabin under this hose... a point that feeds directly to the bilge... I'll replace the hose this weekend, but if it's not this- then I'm right back to square one...
Thanks again,
Steve
satirelounge@yahoo.com
Thanks for the great advice... I went down to the harbor last night and finally figured out how to hook up the float on the bilgepump (piece of mind) and tried the dry/powder suggestion with some success... Good news: I don't think it's the speedo... the bilge is bone dry from v-berth to the center cabin bilge point. so whatever is in the bilge isn't coming from the speedo. Checked all other thru-hulls and seacocks (which have 1 year old hose)and I'm rather certain that these are not suspect... I'm starting to think it has something to do with the water holding tank... the hose runs from the tank -along the portside to the sink- and I found a fair amount of moisture at about center of the cabin under this hose... a point that feeds directly to the bilge... I'll replace the hose this weekend, but if it's not this- then I'm right back to square one...
Thanks again,
Steve
satirelounge@yahoo.com
-
bill
Re: leaking thru-hull??
Steve,steve wrote: Folks-
Thanks for the great advice... I went down to the harbor last night and finally figured out how to hook up the float on the bilgepump (piece of mind) and tried the dry/powder suggestion with some success... Good news: I don't think it's the speedo... the bilge is bone dry from v-berth to the center cabin bilge point. so whatever is in the bilge isn't coming from the speedo. Checked all other thru-hulls and seacocks (which have 1 year old hose)and I'm rather certain that these are not suspect... I'm starting to think it has something to do with the water holding tank... the hose runs from the tank -along the portside to the sink- and I found a fair amount of moisture at about center of the cabin under this hose... a point that feeds directly to the bilge... I'll replace the hose this weekend, but if it's not this- then I'm right back to square one...
Thanks again,
Steve
There is a good chance that your water holding tank is leaking. It's not difficult to remove the tank itself and check for leaks. Mine had a leak in top, so when full and sailing in rough seas it leaked into the bildge. The weak place on these tanks is around the outlet for water line and vent line. It's a relatively easy fit. Check back on this board for more info. I repaired mine by melting (welding) the crack with a soldering iron- using a plastic milk jug for extra material to fill in the crack.
Good luck,
bill
wawillis@toad.net