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S&S Swan Maintenance - Water in bilge..
07 November 2013 - 17:45
#1
Join Date: 19 September 2013
Posts: 7

Water in bilge..
Hello all..well, so far the new S37 is near perfect...the ONLY item I need to look after is very, very slow accumulations of sea water into the bilge (it is not fresh water, so coming from the outside in)...

I have a dripless shaft seal that is DRY...all the area aft of the bilge is dry.

All the area forward the bilge is dry...

The areas to starboard and port appear dry as well as the through hulls...??

So, I can only guess that perhaps the keel bolts are leaking? Is this possible? I am not sure of the construction...

When I say 'leaking', I mean perhaps an ounce of water/day...very, very little...however, a leak is a leak and needs to be addressed..

My next steps are to empty and dry the bilge completely in the morning...work from the boat all day with bilge open and look to see where the water is coming from...but, with my schedule, I am having trouble carving out a day to do this...

Just thought I would ask about the keel bolts to see if the construction is such that a loose bolt would allow water seepage...

Many thanks...!

08 November 2013 - 06:23
#2
Join Date: 25 July 2012
Posts: 30

Hi,

Is it water coming back via the bilge pump?  

When you finish pumping there is always residual water in the out hose.  If the non-return system in your pump is not 100% efficient this residual water will seep back into the bilge.

Just a thought.

David 43/12 

08 November 2013 - 17:49
#3
Join Date: 19 September 2013
Posts: 7

Many thanks for the response David...I can rule out a that as the problem as the water slowly accumulates with seemingly no end..the volume of water in the bilge after 2 weeks exceeds the potential volume of the drain tube...

But, I do appreciate the response and time spend to reply...

08 November 2013 - 19:05
#4
Join Date: 02 January 2008
Posts: 1547

Dear acastell
It is assumed your keel bolts are matted over, but they can still leak slightly, a thin laminate is not necessarily fully watertight. Or it could be the bilge drain plug.
It is suggested you put household tissue paper or similar over the suspect areas, it will show quickly where the leak is by getting wet.
If you find one or more bolts leaking it is recommended that their nuts are removed, and the bolts re-sealed right down to the lead keel, as described in the maintenance thread 15 Aug. 2011.
Would appreciate to hear what you find.
Kind regards
Lars

11 November 2013 - 18:48
#5
Join Date: 19 September 2013
Posts: 7

Thank you Lars!!!! I plan to spend the whole day on the boat this week. I will layer with tissue to find the source..next steps will be planned once I get an answer...

15 November 2013 - 23:46
#6
Join Date: 25 July 2008
Posts: 30

We had water coming in the bilge from the rudder shaft.  This only happened when running on engine above 1.400 rpmn so we did not find it easily.  We renewed the packing and the grease and it si now reduced very significantly.  There will always be a drop but as we know where it come from we are not so worried.

Rumtrader, 47

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