Drummer Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 I suspect I may have some leakage in the through-hull fittings for my live well. Is the best way to access these via the sea chest? If yes, what's the secret to removing the cheese grater without damaging it? Thanks. Certainly someone has done this successfully! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin-addict Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 Should be able to just unscrew it unless a sealant was used, if so good luck and be easy with it. May try some acetone to soften it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 If it hasn’t had anything done to it since 2000, you shouldn’t have any problem backing out the screws.....in all likelihood it will just fall off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummer Posted February 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 Screws came out nicely, looks like grate is sealed in. Is this the best (only) way to check the through-hull fittings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 I would have confirmed that a leak was coming from the sea chest thru hulls first by dropping the boat in the water and immediately looking and feeling all around the thru hull(s) and any protruding screws in the bilge. It is pretty easy to confirm a leak if you see water or feel water on the thru hull from inside the bilge. This is exactly how we found a leaking thru hull on a buddy's new 2016 Pathfinder 2400, which MBG fixed under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captpn Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 Like mentioned above, find the leak first. There's nothing in my sea chest, just the flange side of a few thru hulls. All work needs to be done in the bilge. Sure maybe some sealant went bad on the flange side, but you still need to get in the bilge to access fittings. Fun times. Could be a simple livewell issue overflowing at the cap, or a easy leaking hose connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 Very true. If you haven't confirmed where the leak is coming from, water flowing over the live well tubb where it butts up against the underside of the deck is a VERY common issue.......much more common than a thru hull leak. In fact, I just sealed my Pathy a couple of weeks ago trying to stop that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justfish Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 I’d bet almost anything it’s not your intake fittings, but the screws themsleves. They only go through hull and strait into bilge. After that long, they have likey wollowed out and are letting water in. Heres what I found when I filled bilge tryjng to track down same problem. Looked like water was coming out of though hills but when I pulled strained, 3 of the 6 screws holes were were leaking and intakes were dry as a bone. Horrible design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted February 13, 2019 Report Share Posted February 13, 2019 It may be worth some inspection. The sea chest has a lot of angles - and a lot of angles means the area can be prone to voids when the fiberglass is laid up in the mold. I just got off the phone with the shop that is putting my boat back together. While addressing the crack on the strake, they saw a void in the corner of the sea chest. The more they ground it down the further it extended along the edge, turned out to be a pretty good sized void. No doubt I was getting some leakage in that area. It wasn't structural, but clearly not a good thing. It's been ground down, repaired, and re-gel coated. Anytime you have angles, you are more likely to have voids. If you have leakage, it may be worth looking at. If you find something that looks like the pics below, it may be worth having a fiberglass shop fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justfish Posted February 15, 2019 Report Share Posted February 15, 2019 Informative pics Gus. While pulling my hair out trying to find and fix the leak, I always wondered exactly what the back side looked like. To the original poster. If that is indeed your problem, I went round and round with sealants and bigger screws...before I finally spent the time to clean all the sealant off, drill out holes big enough to have clean material and stuffed them full of epoxy. I then used lots of sealant around new cheese greater and very short screws into the new material. One sea trial proved it to seeming work, then boat was stolen so I can’t speak to longevity of it. I would likely do the same again tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummer Posted February 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2019 On 2/12/2019 at 6:12 PM, justfish said: I’d bet almost anything it’s not your intake fittings, but the screws themsleves. They only go through hull and strait into bilge. After that long, they have likey wollowed out and are letting water in. It is the screw holes. Finally and gently pried the cheese grater off. Through-hull fitting (one live well) is perfect. Now to fix these danged holes once and for all. Any tips appreciated! Thanks for the comments, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted February 16, 2019 Report Share Posted February 16, 2019 BTW, 10 bucks you are leaking through your trim tab screws too. I will post a pic and show you what we found in my boat, but you have about 16 screw holes penetrating the hull. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeviam Posted February 16, 2019 Report Share Posted February 16, 2019 On 2/12/2019 at 6:12 PM, justfish said: I’d bet almost anything it’s not your intake fittings, but the screws themsleves. X2. My grater plate was installed with screws piercing the through the hull, into the bilge also. I wasn't real happy about that and the fact that the factory installer broke off one of the screw heads and didn't remove the broken screw, so the threads were exposed about 3/16" above flush in the sea chest. The installer drilled another hole right next to the broken screw and mounted the SS grater plate against that broken screw and filled it with caulk. The SS grater plate was slightly buckled and did not fit flush inside the sea chest. When I replaced the SS grate with the custom Lexan cheese grater plate, I removed the broken screw with vise grips (not too difficult), and up'd the diameter of the screws for more tightness (#8 instead of #6 - I think), and used 3M 4200 around the screw holes on bilge side and outside of the hull. If it ever leaked and I had to do it over again, I would mix some epoxy resin with some fiber-filler, to make a thicker paste, and build up the bilge side where the holes are, so the screws would not break through. At that time it would probably be best to fill the holes on the outside too, and drill new holes altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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