Capt. Bill1
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- RO Number
- 2017
- Messages
- 6,127
So I'm sitting at the dock in Nassau yesterday on this 2003 68' boat build by a well known builder, who will remain nameless to protect the guilty, and alarms bells start going off.
I check the bilge pump indicator lights panel and sure enough not one but two of the bilge pump running indicator lights are on, both of which are located forward.
Now we had seemed to have been using or losing a lot of fresh water once in a while on this trip but with two bilge pumps running and high water alarms going off indicating that the pumps aren't keeping up with the flow I'm starting to think we're taking on salt water at a rapid rate and may be sinking at the dock.
After ripping up the carpet in the fwd master suit with the owners help to get to the bilge area access there, and discovering it's wet under the carpet, we can see down into the bilge area and one of the pumps. Sure enough there is plenty of water in the bilge and it's fresh as is the water under the carpet. Now the one pump I can see is running but not pumping anything over. Its air locked. As I guess must be the other pump that the indicator panel claims is running.
Of course the space to access the pump is limited so I stick my leg down and press down on the float switch which shuts the pump down. I release the float and the pump catches prime and pumps the water out of the bilge, alarms stop, one problem solved.
OK, now we start checking to see why the carpet is all wet and where all 150-200 gallons of fresh water that we had in the tank at the time was escaping from.
Turns out it's coming from behind and under the washer/dryer unit located in the master state room flowing under the carpet and leaking down into the bilge via the access floor panels.
Next problem, there appears to be no access to the space behind the washer/dryer area without removing the washer/dryer. 30 minutes later, a little cursing, a fair amount of grunting, removal of the doors and panel that hide the unit and the owner and I have the unit out as far as we can without pulling the hoses off the back of the unit.
We look behind and guess what? There is a fairly large area back there with not only the washer/dryer water and electrical connections but there are two large thru hulls along with the shower water lines and on/off valves as well! With no other access than to remove the washer/dryer!
Can you say, "Man the life raft, we're going down and I'm afraid I don't have time to remove the washer/dryer!". And that's if you even knew what was behind it. Unfrigging believable!
But wait! It gets better!
I send the chef/mate who's much smaller than me behind the washer unit. He sees the cause of the leak. The pressurized water line to the washer has come off the hose barb on its on/off valve. (It must have been leaking all along before it finally popped off and that's why we seemed to be using/losing fresh water every so often.) I ask him if there is still a hose clamp on the line or if the hose is cut. He says there is a clamp and the hose is fine.
He comes out after cutting some wire ties so we can move the unit farther out so I can get in.
I take a look at the hose barb and it's immediately apparent why the hose slipped off. The guys at the factory had put white silicone on the hose barbs! I guess to either make it easier to slip on the hose or they thought it would seal the hose to the barb or both. What it really did was fill the ridges on the barb, make it smooth and then easier for the hose to slip off!
So I cleaned off that barb and reinstalled the hose, doing the same to the hose barb for the shower on/off valve that was located next to the one for the washer that had silicone on it as well. Dried out the area and tightened all the hose clamps to all the hose fittings in that inaccessible area that I could get at. Along with picking up 110v wiring that went no where and was just lying on the floor with uncovered ends, tested the water lines and reinstalled the washer/dryer, sans dryer vent line which had pulled off as we pulled out the unit because it was to short to reconnect without leaving the chef/mate in the hole after hooking it on.
(Can't do that his food is way to good.
)
Carpet and padding is now dry and back down and the washer unit seems to be working and we aren't losing fresh water any more.
But we still have an area with water lines, electrical lines and connections along with thru hulls that can not be accessed quickly in an emergency. Along with the fact that I have no idea how many more hose barbs are covered in silicone.
And this is not the first time I've seen this, poor or no access that is.
How in the world can builders still keep doing this!
The owner, who's new to this boat, is a well know trial attorney and knows boats. He took one look, shook his head and said if we had sunk because of this lack of access it would be a slam dunk case against the builder. And he's right!
I'm beginning to think that might be what it's going to take to stop this kind of BS from happening over and over.
Rant over.
On to Harbour Island.
I check the bilge pump indicator lights panel and sure enough not one but two of the bilge pump running indicator lights are on, both of which are located forward.
Now we had seemed to have been using or losing a lot of fresh water once in a while on this trip but with two bilge pumps running and high water alarms going off indicating that the pumps aren't keeping up with the flow I'm starting to think we're taking on salt water at a rapid rate and may be sinking at the dock.
After ripping up the carpet in the fwd master suit with the owners help to get to the bilge area access there, and discovering it's wet under the carpet, we can see down into the bilge area and one of the pumps. Sure enough there is plenty of water in the bilge and it's fresh as is the water under the carpet. Now the one pump I can see is running but not pumping anything over. Its air locked. As I guess must be the other pump that the indicator panel claims is running.
Of course the space to access the pump is limited so I stick my leg down and press down on the float switch which shuts the pump down. I release the float and the pump catches prime and pumps the water out of the bilge, alarms stop, one problem solved.
OK, now we start checking to see why the carpet is all wet and where all 150-200 gallons of fresh water that we had in the tank at the time was escaping from.
Turns out it's coming from behind and under the washer/dryer unit located in the master state room flowing under the carpet and leaking down into the bilge via the access floor panels.
Next problem, there appears to be no access to the space behind the washer/dryer area without removing the washer/dryer. 30 minutes later, a little cursing, a fair amount of grunting, removal of the doors and panel that hide the unit and the owner and I have the unit out as far as we can without pulling the hoses off the back of the unit.
We look behind and guess what? There is a fairly large area back there with not only the washer/dryer water and electrical connections but there are two large thru hulls along with the shower water lines and on/off valves as well! With no other access than to remove the washer/dryer!
Can you say, "Man the life raft, we're going down and I'm afraid I don't have time to remove the washer/dryer!". And that's if you even knew what was behind it. Unfrigging believable!
But wait! It gets better!
I send the chef/mate who's much smaller than me behind the washer unit. He sees the cause of the leak. The pressurized water line to the washer has come off the hose barb on its on/off valve. (It must have been leaking all along before it finally popped off and that's why we seemed to be using/losing fresh water every so often.) I ask him if there is still a hose clamp on the line or if the hose is cut. He says there is a clamp and the hose is fine.
He comes out after cutting some wire ties so we can move the unit farther out so I can get in.
I take a look at the hose barb and it's immediately apparent why the hose slipped off. The guys at the factory had put white silicone on the hose barbs! I guess to either make it easier to slip on the hose or they thought it would seal the hose to the barb or both. What it really did was fill the ridges on the barb, make it smooth and then easier for the hose to slip off!
So I cleaned off that barb and reinstalled the hose, doing the same to the hose barb for the shower on/off valve that was located next to the one for the washer that had silicone on it as well. Dried out the area and tightened all the hose clamps to all the hose fittings in that inaccessible area that I could get at. Along with picking up 110v wiring that went no where and was just lying on the floor with uncovered ends, tested the water lines and reinstalled the washer/dryer, sans dryer vent line which had pulled off as we pulled out the unit because it was to short to reconnect without leaving the chef/mate in the hole after hooking it on.
(Can't do that his food is way to good.
)Carpet and padding is now dry and back down and the washer unit seems to be working and we aren't losing fresh water any more.
But we still have an area with water lines, electrical lines and connections along with thru hulls that can not be accessed quickly in an emergency. Along with the fact that I have no idea how many more hose barbs are covered in silicone.
And this is not the first time I've seen this, poor or no access that is.
How in the world can builders still keep doing this!
The owner, who's new to this boat, is a well know trial attorney and knows boats. He took one look, shook his head and said if we had sunk because of this lack of access it would be a slam dunk case against the builder. And he's right!
I'm beginning to think that might be what it's going to take to stop this kind of BS from happening over and over.
Rant over.
On to Harbour Island.