Best way to find a leak??

[fighterpilot]

Boat is a 1986 Trojan 10 meter express with tower and twin Cummins. Knew from reading forum it was a boat that got rain water in the bilge, but haven't had rain for most of the month and still have water. We turned off bilge pumps and noted water buildup in the bow area with it really noticeable at the foot of the stairs. Boat was sinking bow down. Looked in the easy to get to bilge areas af around the engines, and shafts,

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t but even that area aft of the generator and the fuel tank is covered up to some extent. A bilge pump aft of the generator appears to have been place in a cut out hole on the bilge floor there and is set down about 2 inches. The bilge pump at the foot of the stairs gets the water first. Any suggestions about how to go about finding the leak would be appreciated.

[Reel Easy]

Start by drying everything out. Make sure fresh water is disconnected, drain fresh water tank, water heater and waste tank. once it is dried look to see where it is coming from. If it hasn't rained it's likely shaft packing, rudder packing. But check every below waterline thru hull. If you still don't have water then reconnect fresh water and continue your search.

[prowlersfish]

Look real close at the shaft and rudder packing . Look at all the thru hulls and hoses . And look around at the exhaust

[davescarrs]

I had a leak problem some years ago and ended up finding it was coming thru where the strut comes into the boat. Could see it dripping from inside the boat where the backing plate is. Easy fix, but a lot of detective work to finally figure it out

[fighterpilot]

Appreciate the suggestions thus far. Should have noted just had new shaft packing installed. Went from a dripping dripless to a dripping type system that doesn't drip when not turning. Did check that to see if they were dripping and they weren't. Maybe a thru hull along the sides since there are so many. Haven't been able to see them all for a check. Water system not used since October and haven't noticed any water from tank or heater and have been down in the hole quite a bit working on the engines. Finally realized there was some small amount of water coming from somewhere, since bilge pump forward of generator would come on an pump, even when no rain. We have only had 4 to 5 days of ran for the month of May and despite repeated pump out with a stand alone pump seeking out any place we could get to water, still note some small amount still showing up down in the deepest part of the hull. Note a hole in the starboard stringer just forward of the engine and before cross bulkhead, which doesn't let water pass. Is that a "false" pass thru or ??? Will check rudders which haven't done and intend to aggressively pursue checking all the thru hulls. Thanks

[RWS]

Rudders are above the waterline - not an issue

At rest, in the water, the forward bilge is the lowest point on this vessel

This is the point where water will accumulate

in addition to the above, suggest you close the 4 thru hull fittings first - 2 engines, one genny one HVAC and monitor the situation.

RWS

[prowlersfish]

You also said water is building up at the foot of the stars . Is the forward bilge pump not working ? look at you AC water lines too and the strainer . I assume your not running the AC all the time ? You would be surprised on how much condensation you will get .

[RWS]

On the express cruiser the AC condensate hose is routed into the shower sump.

The shower "pump" gets it out of the boat.

A number of owners, including the first owner of my 10 meter, moved that hose directly into the bilge.

I have relocated it into the shower sump which incidentally, has an overflow pathway into the bilge.

It should be noted that on this model the forward bilge is connected to the aft bilge via the keel - under the liner.

There is no liner in the forward bilge.

RWS

[fighterpilot]

Thanks for the additional replies. Believe we may have found the problem. On the boat the drain hoses for the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink are thin black hoses. Touching the one under the bathroom sink and it crumbled into pieces. Removed the cover plate on the toilet side wall to look in and noted hose also broken where it attached to thru hull. Removed the refrig. and the sink hose there crumbled when moved as well. Replace both of them, but the bathroom sink one was a challenge. I note the bilge pump hoses are different types, but are there any other thru hulls with that black, thin wall hose??. They, apparently aged out. Also found the bilge pump forward of Genny had failed as well. Have replaced that. As of today, very little water seems to be coming in, but don't want another fragile type black hose to show up. Thanks

[fighterpilot]

One more infor-not running A/C. Have dehumidifer dumping in kitchen sink down new hose to thru hull. Still have refirg. out and did check on that connection etc. It is good. We are working some issues with the Cummins engines. Blew hose in fresh water tank on first trip, and other engine got hot on second trip and ignited excess spray can paint on exhaust back to Turbo. This all confirms what we knew when we bought it-- it was a project boat. After 5 previous boats we wanted the Delta Conic hull and Cummins engines, and we found it only 30 miles away after searching for a year. You all know what BOAT stands for.

[RWS]

Watch out for MALERON plastic fittings at the water line.

After decades in the sun, they can easily break apart.

Bronze, baby, BRONZE !

RWS

[El L Sea]

Bronze below the waterline, stainless above.
Plastic sucks.
Don't be the guy in the picture. (just happened to touch it after we hauled out and it came off in my hand)

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Watch out for MALERON plastic fittings at the water line.

After decades in the sun, they can easily break apart.

Bronze, baby, BRONZE !

RWS