Nick in Manitou
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2019
- Messages
- 140
- Status
- OWNER - I own a Hatteras Yacht
- Hatteras Model
- 53' EXTENDED DECKHOUSE (1983 - 1988)
When we purchased our boat there was a good amount of water in all the bilges. The previous owners didn't worry themselves about it and the bilge pumps functioned as they should when the water levels got high enough.
But since we were new to boating I found this forum and, along with a lot of other things, I learned that bilges on fiberglass boats are not expected to have standing water in them.
Vacuuming out the standing water and replacing a few portlights took care of most of my issues, but even after drying the bilge in the generator space which is connected to the bilge in the v-berth, water kept slowly accumulating. (We were not running the AC.)
I would get all the water out of that bilge, dry up the residue with towels and the next day there would be water around the bilge pump. Not much, but about 2 paper towels worth, just around the bilge pump and nowhere else. I carefully looked for "snail tracks" where a small amount of water might be coming down the walls into the bilge but eventually ruled that out. I even placed a small dehumidifying heater over one of the small hatches into the bilge in that area hoping that perhaps the air just needed drying out and circulating...no luck. I also watched to see if it might be a back-flow caused by the water from the dishwasher coming into the sea chest under pressure and splashing into the bilge pump hose - nope.
It had to be coming from the hose that the bilge pump used to evacuate the water it would pump out (if there was enough to need pumping).
To bring this rather long story to a shorter conclusion, it turns out that there was condensation occurring in the hose and running back down into the bilge.
The hose runs up into the very highest (and most inaccessible) spot and then loops back down to empty into a sea chest along with the galley sink drain and the shower sump pump drain. The sea chest drains out the bottom to a through hull fitting just above the waterline.
My theory is that since we live in a rather cool and moderately damp place (San Francisco Bay), the fact that we run hot water into the galley sink from the dishwasher and other galley operations and the fact that the sea chest is basically open to the outdoors, condensation forms and condenses in the pipe at the upper part of the sea chest which is the line from the bilge pump.
I have tested this over the last week by pointing a fan running on its lowest setting blowing air into the bilge - theoretically keeping positive pressure air moving from the bilge into the sea chest - not allowing high moisture air from coming back into the bilge pump hose from the sea chest. The result has been NO WATER in the bilge!
My plan now is to find a small fan (perhaps like one used to cool a stereo cabinet or computer) to mount into one of the small hatches in the generator space floor and keep a very small out-flowing breeze in that bilge pump line from now on.
I know this explanation is a bit wordy, but I do believe it might help others who might have the same problem.
Nick
But since we were new to boating I found this forum and, along with a lot of other things, I learned that bilges on fiberglass boats are not expected to have standing water in them.
Vacuuming out the standing water and replacing a few portlights took care of most of my issues, but even after drying the bilge in the generator space which is connected to the bilge in the v-berth, water kept slowly accumulating. (We were not running the AC.)
I would get all the water out of that bilge, dry up the residue with towels and the next day there would be water around the bilge pump. Not much, but about 2 paper towels worth, just around the bilge pump and nowhere else. I carefully looked for "snail tracks" where a small amount of water might be coming down the walls into the bilge but eventually ruled that out. I even placed a small dehumidifying heater over one of the small hatches into the bilge in that area hoping that perhaps the air just needed drying out and circulating...no luck. I also watched to see if it might be a back-flow caused by the water from the dishwasher coming into the sea chest under pressure and splashing into the bilge pump hose - nope.
It had to be coming from the hose that the bilge pump used to evacuate the water it would pump out (if there was enough to need pumping).
To bring this rather long story to a shorter conclusion, it turns out that there was condensation occurring in the hose and running back down into the bilge.
The hose runs up into the very highest (and most inaccessible) spot and then loops back down to empty into a sea chest along with the galley sink drain and the shower sump pump drain. The sea chest drains out the bottom to a through hull fitting just above the waterline.
My theory is that since we live in a rather cool and moderately damp place (San Francisco Bay), the fact that we run hot water into the galley sink from the dishwasher and other galley operations and the fact that the sea chest is basically open to the outdoors, condensation forms and condenses in the pipe at the upper part of the sea chest which is the line from the bilge pump.
I have tested this over the last week by pointing a fan running on its lowest setting blowing air into the bilge - theoretically keeping positive pressure air moving from the bilge into the sea chest - not allowing high moisture air from coming back into the bilge pump hose from the sea chest. The result has been NO WATER in the bilge!
My plan now is to find a small fan (perhaps like one used to cool a stereo cabinet or computer) to mount into one of the small hatches in the generator space floor and keep a very small out-flowing breeze in that bilge pump line from now on.
I know this explanation is a bit wordy, but I do believe it might help others who might have the same problem.
Nick
