Wet or dry bilges

[keving]

I've been Reading about the importance of bilge pumps in one of the topics and the importance of having a auto float switch and a manual switch to check the pump is in working order.

Do the modern day hulls leak often. I dare say with the occational bump welds are going to weaken and leaks could happen. Or are the bilge pumps there just incase there's a internal leak from water tanks and plumbing. Are narrowboats prone to leaking. Some of the working boats I've seen with batterd hulls had no leaks and the only water present was rain water from being open topped.

I'd hate to fitout a narrow boat and find it was a leaking. Wood and water don't mix

Cheers kevin.

[NB Willawaw]

On a modern narrowboat, its usually leaks from plumbing, the stern gland or the weed hatch.

Some boats get rain water in their engine compartment.

[Tony Brooks]

I've been Reading about the importance of bilge pumps in one of the topics and the importance of having a auto float switch and a manual switch to check the pump is in working order.

Do the modern day hulls leak often. I dare say with the occational bump welds are going to weaken and leaks could happen. Or are the bilge pumps there just incase there's a internal leak from water tanks and plumbing. Are narrowboats prone to leaking. Some of the working boats I've seen with batterd hulls had no leaks and the only water present was rain water from being open topped.

I'd hate to fitout a narrow boat and find it was a leaking. Wood and water don't mix

Cheers kevin.

 

 

There are two main ways water gets into the bilge. One is rain and the other is from the stern gland. A hull with a self draining front well deck and a water tight bulkhead between a stern engine compartment and the accommodation bilge should rarely get water in the accommodation bilge, especially if you organise plenty of bilge ventilation. The main ways water will gather there are domestic water system leaks, condensation on the hull and window leaks so a pump is rarely fitted here as standard.

 

Back to the aft/engine bilge. If you fit a decent flexible coupling that accepts radial as well as angular misalignment and has a thrust bearing like an Aquadrive, Pythondrive or long Centaflex you should get very little water through the stern gland (on my boat I get none). If the aft area is made self draining with adequate sized drain holes little rain should find its way into the bilge. Even with blocked cockpit drains my cruiser stern only gets about 4 or 5 inches of water in the engine bilge (not the drip tray) after 6 weeks of wet weather and the level is still below the engine drip tray so fitting an automatic pump on a steel boat seems pointless to me unless you intend to ignore the boat for months on end.

 

I would point out that I recently suffered a hull failure around a drain tube and I think upon reflection that it had been going on for years. Even when it got bad enough to prove it was not the stern gland or rain it still came nowhere near overflowing into the engine drip tray.

 

In my view automatic bilge pumps are the refuge of those who do not look after their boat (not on wooden ones - in that case they are vital) and are best thought of a battery destroyers unless you also have a means of keeping the batteries charged.

 

Unless you sponge your bilge dry most will always contain a little water at some time because most bilge pumps can not fully drain the bilge.

[nb Innisfree]

We have a dry engine bilge and the bilge pump has never once had to be used in over five years afloat.

 

Double post edited.

Edited September 4, 2011 by nb Innisfree

[keving]

I'm planning on going for the crusier style. Are you more likely to get water in the engine bilge. With the engine being where it is under the deck.

Yes I bet the weed hatch is a problem to seal there's a lot of force in the water behind the hatch.

You wouldent think with today's technoledgy you would have problems with water getting past the drive shaft seals.

[Guest Quo Vadis]

I've been Reading about the importance of bilge pumps in one of the topics and the importance of having a auto float switch and a manual switch to check the pump is in working order.

Do the modern day hulls leak often. I dare say with the occational bump welds are going to weaken and leaks could happen. Or are the bilge pumps there just incase there's a internal leak from water tanks and plumbing. Are narrowboats prone to leaking. Some of the working boats I've seen with batterd hulls had no leaks and the only water present was rain water from being open topped.

I'd hate to fitout a narrow boat and find it was a leaking. Wood and water don't mix

Cheers kevin.

I seem to have been fighting leaks into the engine bilge ever since I got my first narrowboat last December. When I first saw the boat, the bilge was clean and dry, but when I collected the boat about a month later, it was wet with a scattering of dead leaves. My initial assumption was that it had been left open for some reason, and rain had got in ... wrong! One by one I have found and cured the leaks, and finally have a dry bilge.

Firstly I replaced the hinged wooden engine cover with a solid aluminium one because it was leaking ... guess where ... from the hinge.

Next, I sealed the tube through which the control cables passed down, and last but not least had to have a leaking weld on the stern tube re-welded.

It seemed as though each leak was masking the next one, and having seen lots of engine room photos which featured a bit of water in the bottom, thought that was normal ... we live and learn.

All I get now is the odd drip from the stern gland (caught in a container containing a pump) and a drop of condensation depending on the humidity .... at last I'm happy.

Incidentally, on checking, I found nearly every external window fixing screw 1/2 to 1 turn loose, allowing small leaks.

Before buying, I looked at an 8 year old cruiser stern boat where the back steps where part of the back deck, with no obvious means of draining rainwater. Needless to say, much of the rear panelling was damp, so don't expect the designer or builder to necessarily know how to make a boat waterproof.

Ian

[Tonka]

I was always lead to believe a boat is a vessel with water on the outside, surely a vessel with water on the inside is a saucepan.

[MikeV]

If the aft area is made self draining with adequate sized drain holes little rain should find its way into the bilge.

I agree with Tony that your bilge should usually be dry although I've moored next to boats where the bilge pump run every few hours. The only time I get any water in the bilge is when you get a deluge of water over the counter from badly leaking staircase locks.

 

That's one situation where a bilge pump is essential, and something that can shift a fair amount of water as well. If something went wrong and they couldn't open the lower gates for some reason the drainage channels could be overwhelmed for some time.

 

Steerers of cruiser stern boats of 55+ feet going down the Bingley five-rise always get a soaking, often with copious amounts of steam rising from the hatches as the engine gets wet as well. I have a trad stern so can shut the back doors and keep my feet dry!

 

Worst I've had is about 1/2 inch in the bilge. Still not enough for the pump to work on, but it just evaporates over time to leave the bilge dry at all other times.

[Guest]

Steerers of cruiser stern boats of 55+ feet going down the Bingley five-rise always get a soaking, often with copious amounts of steam rising from the hatches as the engine gets wet as well. I have a trad stern so can shut the back doors and keep my feet dry!

 

 

Yup -

 

 

 

 

The middle lock of the three rise is the worst at the mo mind.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Before buying, I looked at an 8 year old cruiser stern boat where the back steps where part of the back deck, with no obvious means of draining rainwater. Needless to say, much of the rear panelling was damp, so don't expect the designer or builder to necessarily know how to make a boat waterproof.

Ia

 

There must be quite a few cruiser sterns with external back cabin steps. My lowest step is below the water line, so of necessity drains into the bilge. Although there is a cover for the steps, which I fit when leaving the boat, it doesn't keep everything out, and of course isn't on when I'm aboard. So I rely on the bilge pump. So be it. (I expect to hear it cut in anytime now, as it's p***ing down here in Sowerby Bridge.) Only once in 6 years has this arrangement failed, and I found 6" of water in the back bilge, but there's no alternative as far as I can see. So, yes, I'm a wet bilger.

[BlueStringPudding]

I was always lead to believe a boat is a vessel with water on the outside, surely a vessel with water on the inside is a saucepan.

 

[Jamesb4uk]

There must be quite a few cruiser sterns with external back cabin steps. My lowest step is below the water line, so of necessity drains into the bilge. Although there is a cover for the steps, which I fit when leaving the boat, it doesn't keep everything out, and of course isn't on when I'm aboard. So I rely on the bilge pump. So be it. (I expect to hear it cut in anytime now, as it's p***ing down here in Sowerby Bridge.) Only once in 6 years has this arrangement failed, and I found 6" of water in the back bilge, but there's no alternative as far as I can see. So, yes, I'm a wet bilger.

 

 

Similar here with a 1980 Springer with cruiser stern

 

I've just fitted an automatic pump to the stern bilge & have one to fit in the bow bilge the too.

 

 

James

[keving]

What worries me. Even if the water is pumped out with the bilge pumps there is still a lot of moisture down there that can work it's way up into the living quarters. Is there ever a damp or mould problem.

[AlanH]

There must be quite a few cruiser sterns with external back cabin steps. My lowest step is below the water line, so of necessity drains into the bilge. Although there is a cover for the steps, which I fit when leaving the boat, it doesn't keep everything out, and of course isn't on when I'm aboard. So I rely on the bilge pump. So be it. (I expect to hear it cut in anytime now, as it's p***ing down here in Sowerby Bridge.) Only once in 6 years has this arrangement failed, and I found 6" of water in the back bilge, but there's no alternative as far as I can see. So, yes, I'm a wet bilger.

Mine's the same - I've learned to live with it. I just pump it out now and again

[Jamesb4uk]

What worries me. Even if the water is pumped out with the bilge pumps there is still a lot of moisture down there that can work it's way up into the living quarters. Is there ever a damp or mould problem.

 

 

Well I've got a couple of 2 ft 80w tube heaters in vital area's (cloths cupboard & bedroom) & a de-humidifier, though only been a live aboard for 4 months i haven't had a problem with mold or damp yet.

 

Just pesky spiders!

 

 

James

[Mac of Cygnet]

What worries me. Even if the water is pumped out with the bilge pumps there is still a lot of moisture down there that can work it's way up into the living quarters. Is there ever a damp or mould problem.

 

The engine/ stern bilge is completely separate from the cabin and its bilge. The only way water can get into the living quarters is if a large chunk of water, like a wave or a spilt bucket overtopped the threshold of the back door (or of course a plumbing disaster).

[Boatgal]

Howdy,

 

I do have a slightly wet bilge after it has been raining due to water getting in via the hinges on the stern (hatch to the stern gland/greaser). My boat is a 1992 trad.....any tips how to stop this

 

Thank you

[saltysplash]

Howdy,

 

I do have a slightly wet bilge after it has been raining due to water getting in via the hinges on the stern (hatch to the stern gland/greaser). My boat is a 1992 trad.....any tips how to stop this

 

Thank you

 

You should have some drain holes in the channel the hatch fits into, make sure they are clear and free from crud such as leaves and mud.

[alan_fincher]

I agree with Tony that your bilge should usually be dry although I've moored next to boats where the bilge pump run every few hours.

Those are called wooden boats, Mike!

[Neil2]

I'm planning on going for the crusier style. Are you more likely to get water in the engine bilge. With the engine being where it is under the deck.

Yes I bet the weed hatch is a problem to seal there's a lot of force in the water behind the hatch.

You wouldent think with today's technoledgy you would have problems with water getting past the drive shaft seals.

 

I can't remember where but there was a recent thread on this subject. I'll say it again though, if I was buying another cruiser stern the first thing I would do would be to empty a few buckets of water into the cockpit and see how efficient the drainage is. On many older boats it it truly appaling and if you're like me it drives you crazy. I hate the idea of pumping bilge water into the canal as it is bound to be oily/greasy. We ploughed through several miles of oil slick on the Oxford canal last summer, caused by someone who clearly hasn't the same scruples as me. I have to pump the water into a container for safe disposal.

 

If you have a boat with poor drainage most of the time the only real solution is a cockpit cover which I am currently saving up for...

 

BTW the weed hatch should have a cavitation plate and if the hatch is properly sealed shouldn't really be a problem.

 

There are better solutions than the ubiquitous stern gland but as I understand it most are designed to work with "clean" water, not the muddy gritty stuff in our canals.

 

Anyone for an outboard??

Edited October 17, 2011 by Neil2

[BlueStringPudding]

Trad or cruiser stern, if the hatch lets rainwater in, place a rubber mat over it. Simple, cheap, nonslip and removable

[Boatgal]

You should have some drain holes in the channel the hatch fits into, make sure they are clear and free from crud such as leaves and mud.

 

I do have the drain holes but the channels don't go all the way around so, there is no channel where the hinges are to catch the water therefore it runs into the bilge

Edited October 21, 2011 by pamkirbs

[KevMc]

Well I've got a couple of 2 ft 80w tube heaters in vital area's (cloths cupboard & bedroom) & a de-humidifier, though only been a live aboard for 4 months i haven't had a problem with mold or damp yet.

 

Just pesky spiders!

 

 

James

 

I've been told (by several people) that spiders only like dry places so thats probably a good sign