Water Leak - Zodiac Pro

[seanavent]

I was incorrect about water potentially entering the hull at the bolt rope slots. It seems that Zodiac (mine is a Hurricane from Canada) put a sleeve inside the bolt rope slots and formed the fiberglass around the sleeve (picture a 3/4 PVC tube with 1/4 of it cut out lengthwise and the fiberglass wrapped around it. It seems the joint between the sleeve and the actual fiberglass is separating in a couple places, but any water that might get behind the sleeve never actually gets into the hull. Water must be entering a the rear end of the slot where the bolt rope does not fill it in all the way. Here comes the silicon to fill it in. And a new drain plug.

[Maqqu de Boo]

Gents... am recent addition to Ribnet forums but couldnt help noticing this thread. Am owner opf Zodiac Pro12 RIb and there was a recall on water ingress from transom area where the through holes are machined to fit self balers. The holes were machined such that the wall thickness with double bottom was compromised. Repairs were completed FOC under warranty

I am attaching a documented procedure for rectifying the issue.

Good luck to all

[DonPeterD]

I'm curious to bring this back to life, for a solution, as I read there really isn't any conclusion?

I have a strange water in hull problem.
Bought a Zodiac 12 MAN PRO used, launched it with new drain plug installed, no engine on, took it back up 10 days later - no water inside.

Took it apart, repainted it completely, put on a 60 Mariner Bigfoot EFI, laughed it, and 10 days after I had it out of the water on a crane. 3-4 mins of water pouring out the drain plug! Saltwater!

Hanging on for dear life out over the stern in the crane 6m above the water, I checked the plug, cleaned it, seal that is new, looked flat perhaps.
And now it's docked next to my window, I can just see that the engines ventilationplate comes from 2" above water when trimmed all the way up, to getting closer and closer to the water, every day...
I simply can't believe that a faulty o-ring can bypass 20-40 liters every day!!?! There must be something else at play.

[martin p]

Yeah I did find the problem. I took the tubes off and there was a small cracking in the channel which the tube goes into. It was far enough up the channel to not get wet when the boat was unladen but when laden was below the water line and slowly let water in.

I dug it out with a demel and filled it with epoxy and fibre. Fixed the leak and didn't have a problem afterwards. Tubes are easy is to get on and off (I did it on my own) just use lots of fairy liquid to get them back on! Let us know how you get on.

[kubcat]

Originally Posted by martin p

Yeah I did find the problem. I took the tubes off and there was a small cracking in the channel which the tube goes into. It was far enough up the channel to not get wet when the boat was unladen but when laden was below the water line and slowly let water in.



I dug it out with a demel and filled it with epoxy and fibre. Fixed the leak and didn't have a problem afterwards. Tubes are easy is to get on and off (I did it on my own) just use lots of fairy liquid to get them back on! Let us know how you get on.

I had exactly the same problem as Martin did and used the same fix.

[DonPeterD]

And how exactly did you figure out the crack was there? And both sides?

[kubcat]

Mine was only on the port side.

We filled it with water with the transom bung in and that is where the water leaked out of the boat.

Once the tubes where off, the separation was obvious.

[DonPeterD]

On a heavy duty trailer or?
If you fill it up on a normal trailer, the thing is gonna break. I thought of that, but that’s never gonna go good here. Thought of placing it supported on the ground, but then I think the engine has to come of as well.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by DonPeterD

On a heavy duty trailer or?
If you fill it up on a normal trailer, the thing is gonna break. I thought of that, but that’s never gonna go good here. Thought of placing it supported on the ground, but then I think the engine has to come of as well.

Surprised if you can’t tilt engine far enough to clear the ground, especially if you were to put the hull on some old tyres or similar. I think most trailers would be ok with a hull void full of water sitting stationary - the dynamic loads of hitting a pot hole or speed bump at 20-30mph are much more dramatic than just sitting at rest. You can test by pumping air into hull and soapy water testing everywhere too, although it may be less obvious for a hidden leak.

[kubcat]

We don’t fill it to the top of the tubes, just high enough cover the rigid part. Played with the jockey wheel to adjust the level.

The trailer was fine.

[totallydave]

I Have similar problem on my 550 Open Pro. I've not got round to doing extensive testing yet but my guess is that the deck-drain tubes (which link between deck and transom) probably leak water in from the outside.

I figure the only way to check this is in the water with a camera and light on a stick. Boat now tucked away for winter, so this will have to wait till next season.

[office888]

FYI, Sikaflex only has a life of about 10 years. It should be scraped off, cleaned, and rebedded at least every 10 years, or shorter...

[DonPeterD]

Thanks guys, it's helpful! Ill try to dick around with some water and the jockey wheel.

[ShinyShoe]

I am a big fan of compressed air if it should be an air tight space.

I had a persistent leak in a new boat - back and forward with discussions with builder about where could be leaking. Replaced hatch seals all sorts. nothing made any difference.

Connected harden hose to a car tyre compressor, connected to boat via the train hole (lots of insulating tape on the pipe. Set to work with soapy water. Was getting nowhere - every seal I'd already examined was inevitably fine. About to give up, I went to take the pipe out and noticed the bubbles around the drain hole. Not from the pipe - but from the drain its self... It had been a show boat - builder had fitted the drain in a hurry before the show and had not bothered to sikka it.

Removed, sikka'd, replaced. Been dry as a bone ever since.

[beamishken]

Need to be very carefull with airlines in voids that are not designed to take pressure if the pressure was to build up inadvertently you could destroy a good hull with relatively low pressure due to the surface areas involved

[ShinyShoe]

i was using a 12v car 'electric tyre pump' i'm 99% certain id have burned it out before i got the pressure high enough to damage the boat. or my ears would have given up with the noise.

i agree i'd be cautious with either a high volume pump or compressor that is used for air tools - although i doubt my tubing would have stayed in place (weakest point will fail first)

[jonp]

Wasn't going to comment due to this being such an old thread but what the heck.

My zodiac 550 pro had a similar thing happening after a day on the water ( from new). I simply replaced the brass drain plug and insert with plastic and haven't had a drop of water under the floor since (two years on 500 engine hours).

Cost of the plastic plug and insert $6.

[DonPeterD]

I have that exact plastic drain plug. I very much suspect it to be the sinner. And have bought a stainless now I’ll fit instead.

[DonPeterD]

The plug was leaking, like a drop every 3 sec, when we just got it out of the water.
When I pulled the plug, it ran for 20... twenty minutes!!

I get it's the lowest part of the boat, under water and what have you, but on 12 days give or take, is it plausible that this is the main problem?

I'm asking because, I do not have the option to put it on a trailer and play around with it, it needs to go back in the water tomorrow.

[office888]

Originally Posted by DonPeterD

The plug was leaking, like a drop every 3 sec, when we just got it out of the water.
When I pulled the plug, it ran for 20... twenty minutes!!

I get it's the lowest part of the boat, under water and what have you, but on 12 days give or take, is it plausible that this is the main problem?

I'm asking because, I do not have the option to put it on a trailer and play around with it, it needs to go back in the water tomorrow.

Attachment 122539
Attachment 122540

YES, THAT IS A PROBLEM.


Underwater, it is under about 0.05 to 0.1 bar of pressure because of water pressure from the depth...it will leak even worse.

1 drop / 3 seconds
~0.25 ml / 3 seconds
5 ml / min
300 ml / hr
7.2L per day