Floor leak?

[mekatherine]

Hi

I moved onto my first boat a month ago, and today noticed water stains on some of the floor boards. The stains are above the area I think the water tank must be, so I think they are probably related. As I am pretty new to this I am now panicking with no idea what to do next - all advice gratefully received!

 

[b0atman]

The water tank is usually in the pointy section of the boat called the cratch the water filler will indicate this to you by being in that area .

these water stains are they wet and could they be from condensation or rain getting in,

Generally below the floor boards is only a couple of inches and then it is the base plate or bottom of boat metal.

[mekatherine]

the water filler is indeed in the pointy section, so I think you are right and the floor boards are not above the tank.

the water stains are damp, and located around the joints of the floorboards. (i'd upload a photo if I could work out how to do it on the forum) and are just in a specific area, not over the whole flooring - i don't know if this has any bearing on whether it is condensation or from rain leaks.

[bigste]

Have you looked under the floor, is the bilge dry.

[DeanS]

Water in a boat, comes from various sources.

 

1. Condensation in winter if the inside of the boat is warm and the outside is cold. In the mornings, it's common to see drips from windows, and on the water tank (if visible from inside the boat)

 

2. Leaks...windows, water pipes etc

 

If your water stains are near the bow side of the boat, it is probably not a build up of water under the floorboards, as water normally flows down to the stern side.

 

If you have a water pipe leaking, your water pump would be on permanently or going on/off without you running taps etc.

 

eta..I see you've discovered the floorboards arent over the water tank..so as someone suggests....drill a hole in the floor, stick a wooden spoon handle down the hole and see how much water is under the floor.

 

hope that helps.

Edited December 15, 2014 by DeanS

[mekatherine]

thanks for the replies so far - i have looked at the bilge under the engine (which looks normal and pretty dry) but haven't found any obvious way of doing that any other point along the boat - is the only usual way of doing that to drill a hole?

the water pump does not seem to be going off when the water isn't running - does this mean I can rule out a water pipe leak?

thanks again for the help

[pete.i]

thanks for the replies so far - i have looked at the bilge under the engine (which looks normal and pretty dry) but haven't found any obvious way of doing that any other point along the boat - is the only usual way of doing that to drill a hole?

the water pump does not seem to be going off when the water isn't running - does this mean I can rule out a water pipe leak?

thanks again for the help

The water pump should stop when you turn off your tap. If it keeps running, as you have implied, then you have a leak somewhere in your water pipes.

[jollymoggy]

I had this exactl problem when I got my boat. If I were you I'd make a hole in the floor ASAP to inspect, even a crap hole with loads of drilled holes to pop it through. Because if you have a leaking water pump etc and the water level rises to much it can ruin your entire floor once it rises enough.

The engine bilge is normally separate from the cabin btw.

 

And like others have said your water pump will continue to hum if you have a leaking pipe. If its not that then inspect the water pump closely to make sure its not that leaking.

 

thanks for the replies so far - i have looked at the bilge under the engine (which looks normal and pretty dry) but haven't found any obvious way of doing that any other point along the boat - is the only usual way of doing that to drill a hole?

the water pump does not seem to be going off when the water isn't running - does this mean I can rule out a water pipe leak?

thanks again for the help

Edited December 15, 2014 by jollymoggy

[Neil Smith]

Can you tell us if the damp is at the front or the back of the boat.

 

Neil

[David Mack]

Another possibility is that your shower drain is leaking. This would not cause the pump to run in the same way as a leak on the clean water side.

[DeanS]

as it's been mentioned, looking under your engine and seeing no water doesn't mean that there is no water under your non engine area flooring. There is a plate which seperates engine stuff, else you could have fuel, oil etc flowing out of the engine bilge. If you have an interior engine, you probably have a door out of the engine area into the living area, ...make a small hole in the floor thereabouts. Chances are condensation has been building up a long time, and never been drained out...

[Texasboater]

thanks for the replies so far - i have looked at the bilge under the engine (which looks normal and pretty dry) but haven't found any obvious way of doing that any other point along the boat - is the only usual way of doing that to drill a hole?

the water pump does not seem to be going off when the water isn't running - does this mean I can rule out a water pipe leak?

thanks again for the help

Please clarify...Is the pump running continually or intermittently when the taps are on.Or running when the taps are off?

[bizzard]

When you fill up with water what happens when it's full up? Does water overflow overboard out of a hole in the bow, or does it just overflow from the filler hole. If no water overflows overboard the overflow pipe-tube may be disconnected, rusted through, missing, leaving a hole where the pipe is attached to the tank or filler neck. If so water will overflow into the bow section and possibly over the floor inside. This really applies to a separate tank not an integral one depending on how things have been installed.

[pearley]

Just because the water pump is not running doesn't mean that the pu!p itself is not leaking. Twice now the diaphragm on our pump has failed (3 1/2 years between each time which is probably pretty good for a liveaboard) and the first we knew each time was 3 inches of water in the dry bilge at the back of the boat. As had been said, cut a hole in the floor as near to the bulkhead separating the engine bay from the rest of the boat.

 

Have made a note in the diary to change the pump after 3 years to prevent the problem in future, it ta!ung longer to remove the water than changing the pump.

[Markinaboat]

If a pipe leaks on the low pressure side of the pump (from tank to pump), the pump will not run. Make your hole close to a bearer, you may see fixing points in the floor, also keep it to the side (if the boat lists to one side, make it that side). Then after you've made your hole, further inspections can be made as well as installing an additional bilge pump by cutting a larger, neater inspection square hole as an inspection hatch. Even if not near a steel bearer for support, you can just screw and glue timber edges (2 x 1 timber) under the floor so that they protrude into the cutout area which you can then screw the hatch down onto. Hope this makes sense!

Edited December 15, 2014 by Markinaboat

[mekatherine]

thanks for all this - I have just had a look at the water pump, and it seems the leak is coming from there, so am going to get a new pump and see if that does the trick.

The damp flooring is at the bow of the boat (it stretches approx 4ft from the front door) - in terms of drilling an inspection hole to check the amount of water that is in the bilge, am I better off drilling it near this area or towards the back of the boat nearer the engine room? (am very nervous about the prospect of drilling a hole in my beautiful boat - DIY has not played a large part in my life so far, but I think boating is about to change this!)

[Neil2]

Katherine - this is important - is your water pump running ie making a noise even though all the taps etc are turned off?

 

Is there a switch to turn the pump off?

 

.

[mekatherine]

It was making a noise from about 5 seconds after the taps were turned on till about 10 seconds from after they were turned off.

I have since turned off the water, and the electricity to the pump until I can get a replacement sorted (there was a very obvious dripping from the connection to one of the pipes when I had a look at it)

[pete.i]

thanks for all this - I have just had a look at the water pump, and it seems the leak is coming from there, so am going to get a new pump and see if that does the trick.

The damp flooring is at the bow of the boat (it stretches approx 4ft from the front door) - in terms of drilling an inspection hole to check the amount of water that is in the bilge, am I better off drilling it near this area or towards the back of the boat nearer the engine room? (am very nervous about the prospect of drilling a hole in my beautiful boat - DIY has not played a large part in my life so far, but I think boating is about to change this!)

Before you start drill holes in the floor you might just be lucky and the boat builder may just have had the foresight to have made panels that you can lift to inspect the area underneath the flooring. This is not always done but the bilge areas should be inspected every so often on any boat to ensure that leaks, condensation and other nasties can be sorted out and the aftermath cleaned up especially where water is concerned.

[jollymoggy]

Ok so it is the water pump then. In that case you should make a hole nearest to the back of the boat and suck up all the water before the wood starts soaking it in even more.

 

Making a hole in the floor isn't so bad, just something big enough to stick a wet and dry hoover down there and some toilet rolls to soak up any extra damp.

 

I imagine you have quite a bit down there.

Edited December 15, 2014 by jollymoggy

[tree monkey]

Ok so it is the water pump then. In that case you should make a hole nearest to the back of the boat and suck up all the water before the wood starts soaking it in even more.

 

Making a hole in the floor isn't so bad, just something big enough to stick a wet and dry hoover down there and some toilet rolls to soak up any extra damp.

 

I imagine you have quite a bit down there.

once you have the majority of the water out, use nappies to do the final soak up

[Phil Ambrose]

The water pump should stop when you turn off your tap. If it keeps running, as you have implied, then you have a leak somewhere in your water pipes.

I read that differently the water pump is not going off ie running/operating, so that's a good thing.

Phil

[Loafer]

I read that differently the water pump is not going off ie running/operating, so that's a good thing.

Phil

 

The pump might keep running for up to 10 seconds after taps turn off, if the system has an accumulator. No fault there.

[Kwacker]

Look under your back steps for an access panel into the bilge, my boat has a small removable panel under there (the lowest point of the forward bilge) with a hole just big enough to get your finger into to lift it out.

 

why did posting this make me smirk?

Edited December 15, 2014 by Kwacker

[aread2]

I've got a three inch hole in the floor in the wardrobe at the back end of the cabin so I can see the cabin bilge to check it's dry.