wolfgang
New Member
Jeanneau SO 379 ordered
Posts: 2
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Post by wolfgang on Jul 28, 2014 20:07:27 GMT
Dear all,
I've seen that the fridge and also the water heater drain into the bilge of the SO379. Therefore I assume that the bilge will never be completely dry by design. How much water in the bilge is acceptable (if it is hot and the fridge is running)? Sorry for the maybe stupid question, but is it ok if I see approximately half liter of bilge water per week?
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Post by jlasail on Jul 28, 2014 20:53:59 GMT
Wolfgang,
I am not an expert myself, but I can tell you that on my SO 409 I have similar amount of water in the bilge, so I am inclined to tell that what you are observing is normal.
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Post by rene460 on Jul 29, 2014 10:34:26 GMT
Hi Wolfgang,
My preference is to keep the bilge completely dry, otherwise water inevitably gets to places you don't want it when sailing well heeled. Also it can't be good for the keel bolts and other metal or electrical components located below the floors.
Our fridge came with a plug at the bottom which means that draining to the bilge is optional. We mop it out with a sponge rather than allow it to drain to the bilge. If you normally use ice, there are plenty of little hand operated or 12 V pumps available to make pumping out easier.
The hot water system most commonly leaks when there is a fault in the pressure relief valve, or possibly due to a fault in the accumulator that is part of the water pressurising system, or the more obvious cause, pipe fitting leaks. If you search this forum you will find many posts on the relief valve leakage, it is a common enough fault which is more prevalent if your water supply is hard (contains high calcium levels). Several forum members have fixed it by cleaning the valve or replacing it.
We also sponge out all the water that enters when we swap between the log transducer and the blank plug. So far we have kept the bilge dry for over four years, and with luck we will continue to do so. It is easier to find and track down a problem that causes water in a normally dry bilge than it is to notice a problem that causes a little extra in a wet bilge.
rene460
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Post by optimystic on Aug 7, 2014 14:34:09 GMT
I leave the plug in the base of the fridge and defrost it once a month using a towel to remove the melt water. Our bilge is bone dry. There are lots of potential items that could leak. Check your cockpit shower fitting. It is a known culprit as the shower head cracks when it freezes.
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Post by sitara on Aug 7, 2014 21:44:54 GMT
I traced water in the bilge to a loose connector on the shower unit in the head. Quick tighten and no more problems. I always keep the fridge plug in - keeps the cold air in the fridge as well.
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Post by zofiasailing on Aug 11, 2014 2:28:16 GMT
Hi Wolfgang, My preference is to keep the bilge completely dry, otherwise water inevitably gets to places you don't want it when sailing well heeled. Also it can't be good for the keel bolts and other metal or electrical components located below the floors. Our fridge came with a plug at the bottom which means that draining to the bilge is optional. We mop it out with a sponge rather than allow it to drain to the bilge. If you normally use ice, there are plenty of little hand operated or 12 V pumps available to make pumping out easier. The hot water system most commonly leaks when there is a fault in the pressure relief valve, or possibly due to a fault in the accumulator that is part of the water pressurising system, or the more obvious cause, pipe fitting leaks. If you search this forum you will find many posts on the relief valve leakage, it is a common enough fault which is more prevalent if your water supply is hard (contains high calcium levels). Several forum members have fixed it by cleaning the valve or replacing it. We also sponge out all the water that enters when we swap between the log transducer and the blank plug. So far we have kept the bilge dry for over four years, and with luck we will continue to do so. It is easier to find and track down a problem that causes water in a normally dry bilge than it is to notice a problem that causes a little extra in a wet bilge. rene460 |
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Post by zofiasailing on Aug 11, 2014 2:54:30 GMT
We have a 42 SO DS. We also like a dry bilge. We do get some fresh water from the hot water overflow trickle into the bilge sump. The overflow has a pipe directly into it. We have not ever thought of this a fault but will look into it. When our boat is left in a Marina we turn off the HWS so the sump remains dry in our absence. We check it when we return to the boat.
We also keep the bung fitted in the bottom of the fridge. Would not like any food-contaminated water channeling around creating smells. Similarly we sponge out the bilge and sump after swapping the transducer blank.
We always check the water on the tip of our tongue to check if it's sea or fresh water. This immediately lets you knows if there is sea water ingress and can half the possibilities.
It's worth checking all the bilge cavities. Their path to the bilge sump are not identical. For example, the area beneath the motor has a direct and rapid path to the sump. We learned this when, after a motor service, the elbow bend for the exhaust had been knocked/dislodged, thus breaking the seal. It would be useful to have a map really. We once read of a cruising couple who, during their initial shakedown with a new boat, deliberately flooded each of the bilge compartments (even adding a bit of food dye) so that they could exactly know the drainage path for each section of their yacht!
cheers
Eva and Brian
SV Zofia
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Post by optimystic on Sept 4, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
Why do you take out the transducer?
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Post by rene460 on Sept 4, 2014 10:42:46 GMT
Hi optimystic,
I take out the transducer when away from the boat because I find that it only takes a couple of weeks before some little critter finds the paddle wheel housing makes a nice home. About three weeks and the merest traces of weed start growing. Next thing the log does not work. Also the longer I leave the transducer in, the harder it is to get out. Never-the-less if I was using the boat once or twice a week, I would be less inclined to take it out and would check the effectiveness of a water based antifouling around the transducer, and I would be a bit more liberal with the Vaseline. However as I am normally away for three weeks or more, I always take it out when leaving the boat for more than a week to avoid fouling problems.
But I would still take it out before lifting out to avoid sling damage to the transducer.
rene460
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Post by optimystic on Sept 4, 2014 15:52:14 GMT
Good to know.. With winter approaching this might be a very good idea.
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Post by Tafika II on Sept 4, 2014 16:28:48 GMT
We have a SO42DS and the bilges are 99% dry. The drain from 2 AC units & the refrigerator all have hoses that route to the bilge pump sump and is pumped out as the float rises. This is the only roughly 10" x 10" x 12" deep area of 1.5" high of standing water in the bilge. We do not plug the refrigerator. If the hot water heater is dripping, fix the fitting as it is not suppose to drip. If the pressure value is leaking, clean it or replace it.
You don't want water around electronics or the keel bolts in the bilge.
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Post by Don Reaves on Sept 4, 2014 20:18:05 GMT
We have a SO42DS and the bilges are 100% dry. The drain from 2 AC units & the refrigerator all have hoses that route to the bilge pump sump and is pumped out as the float rises. We do not plug the refrigerator. If the hot water heater is dripping, fix the fitting as it is not suppose to drip. If the pressure value is leaking, clean it or replace it. You don't want water around electronics or the keel bolts in the bilge. This sounds kind of contradictory. How can the bilge be 100% dry if the AC units are putting water in it? Don |
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Post by Tafika II on Sept 4, 2014 21:52:48 GMT
For this who are anal in being 100% accurate, I have corrected the text
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Post by zofiasailing on Sept 4, 2014 22:43:17 GMT
Trafikaii, thanks for heads up that HWS should not overflow at all. We have always assumed that a small amount of overflow from HWS when we've done long runs with motor was normal. Would happen with a home HWS for example... They always have an overflow valve. The overflow doesn't run all over the bilge though, it feeds directly to the sump so keel bolts not affected. We are also a SO42DS.
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Post by sailjudge on Sept 8, 2014 19:22:35 GMT
The only time my bilge has water in it is when I use ice in the refrigerator. (My 379 is on a mooring). When pumped out and the refrigerator remains empty (of ice) the bilge is completely dry even after a heavy rain.
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Post by sailbleu on Sept 9, 2014 5:17:23 GMT
Are we talking about the bilge as a whole or are we talking about the collector where the suction is located ?
In my view you cannot keep that collector completely dry because there is always the backflow , one liter or so , that runs back to the collector.
I've installed a checkvalve to solve tha problem but did not succeed to my fullest satisfaction
Anyway , plugging the fridge will worsen the icing of the evaporator . I prefer a wet bilge collector.
Regards
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Post by JEF on Sept 9, 2014 9:04:42 GMT
Agree with last comment, we always make sure the collector is clean and retain some water in collector box just enough to cover the bottom of the bilge pump suction pipe strainers.
We recently have had some problems with water running back into the collector box, mainly due to non seating of the suction non return valves. This was caused by small chips of gel coat material etc and residue left over in the bilges from the time of build. Our SO379 is now two seasons old an I guess this residue has in time just worked its way down to collector box and therfore been drawn into the bilge pump strainers.
As a regular check we now always test both the bilge pumps operation , in manual and automatic mode, make sure the collector box is clean of residue etc & flush the bilge pump system with fresh water thus making sure the system is fully operational primed and ready should it be needed.
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Post by Anwen (Deep Joy) on Sept 10, 2014 21:35:40 GMT
In addition to all of the excellent advice above, another possible source is the cover for the fresh water pump filter. There is a separate post about these - on the 379 they are liable to crack and leak.
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