Drying out Ballast

[Fruity]

I recently discovered a slow leak, from a water pipe on the flow from the pump, up the sharp end. I've fixed the leak but it's plainly been happening over a sustained period as there has been a significant amount of water under the floor. I'm pumping this out every day through a hole near the rear bulkhead.

 

I have drilled 70mm holes in the floor: up by the water tank, by the rear bulkhead and also behind the fridge to encourage air-flow.

The brick ballast is saturated throughout. The bricks are packed in tightly and inhibiting the flow of water from the front to the lower back. What would be the best way to dry this all out?

 

Thanks in advance to my helpful heroes...

Edited July 15, 2015 by Fruity

[Robbo]

Airflow is best, perhaps using ducting and fan so air is pulled through the bilge.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Robbo

[Traveller]

That is one of the problems I always worry about. Leaks/water ingress and tightly packed ballast. The two make very uneasy bedfellows that can only result in corrosion?

[NB Watersnail]

We had the same problem, but with gravel ballast. Nothing holds water like tightly packed gravel! Plenty of ventilation saw it dry eventually. A few years later when we ripped the floor up there was corrosion on the base plate, but it was dry and looked to have stopped when the moisture disappeared. Very little metal had been lost when surveyed. It's a worry, granted, but dried out over time, I wouldn't loose sleep over it!

[bottle]

Do not be tempted to use heated air as this will cause condensation and increase the water down there.

 

Otherwise as others have said ventilation, ventilation,ventilation.

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

More holes,

Then If possible, you could try a Vacuum on 'Blow' !

[Jess--]

12v computer type fans sucking air out from one end of the bilge (with only a hole at the opposite end of the bilge allowing air in), should dry it out fairly quickly

[dor]

12v computer type fans sucking air out from one end of the bilge (with only a hole at the opposite end of the bilge allowing air in), should dry it out fairly quickly

Exactly what I did when I had a leak that left my bilge wet. The fan was running for several days, but only drew 100ma so no big drain. The fan was left over a 100mm hole in the floor at the back of the cabin.

Edited July 15, 2015 by dor

[Neil Smith]

What about a big dehumidifier and empty it daily.

 

Neil

[dave moore]

I've used a dehumidifier in this situation, fortunately I was able to run it from an independent 240v supply. If I recall correctly, it took 5 or 6 days before things dried out, this was ballast being a mix of engineering bricks, impervious to water, with painted 12mm steel scrap. Other materials may need longer. Good luck.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[blackrose]

When it happened to me from a leaking washing machine in the bathroom, I cut a series of inspection hatches in the floor along that side of the boat and took the wet ballast out. In my case the spread of water was limited to about 3m2. If it's a bigger area it's not really practical to get the whole floor up.

 

A limited amount of water can only create a limited amount of corrosion, so the most important thing is to fix the leak and prevent further leaks as much as possible. Always switch your water pump off when you leave the boat for more than a short time.

Edited July 15, 2015 by blackrose