Salt Water in Galley Bilge

[Morningstar4207]

Hi, I have a 1986 Carver 4207. We took a 55 NM trip two weeks ago to get a bottom job. Once at the dock, we noticed our galley bilge full of salt water. Clearly, our float switch isn't working, thankfully the hard-wired breaker switch on the electrical panel is working, and when in the on position it empties the bilge. We had the bilges checked at the haul-out marina and they found no compromises. When they put us back in the water the bilge filled again and we had to manually turn the bilge pump on again to bail it. We made the trip home with no water in the bilge but now back at our home marina, the galley bilge is filling (like with 300 gallons, up to the wooden platform) again every 7 hours with salt water. Any idea where it could be coming from? Thank you!

[km1125]

First... WELCOME ABOARD!!

Sounds like you have a couple issues!! I would check EVERY through-hull and seacock, both shaft seals and both rudder packings. I'd also check any exhaust hoses to see if they might have been compromised by a critter or two. 300 gallons in a few hours is a VERY serious leak!!

Not sure on that boat how (or even IF) the bilge is compartmented to keep water on one section but not another. Other boats of similar vintage would have had some bulkheads but depending on the design they might have limber holes though them to allow water passage.

I'm curious when you say the "hard-wired breaker switch on the electrical panel". Are you talking about the DC breaker panel
or the helm? If you're referring to the breaker panel, is that "hard wired switch" really just the breaker for the bilge pump? There should be two... one for the automatic circuit and one for the manual circuit. There should be manual switches for each bilge pump at each helm. Post up some pictures if you want some additional clarification on this.

[bud37]

Welcome.....that is a pretty bad leak.....float switch must be bad, that should have been activated with a level that high.

I would dry the bilge and keep watch, constantly check all bilge areas with a nice bright light to see where the water is coming from, might take some time but the alternative is sinking at the dock .......a big leak should be fairly obvious.

[Morningstar4207]

km1125, thanks so much for your quick response and for welcoming us aboard! Our bilges are compartmented. I am talking about the DC breaker panel, the switch for all my bilges is on that panel but we've always kept them turned off there.

Thank you so much, for reminding me that we have bilge switches at both helms too! The lower helm has the automatic bilge switches and they were turned off, maybe our mechanics did that when it was on the hard? We normally kept those on and didn't even check them until you brought them up again. I just flipped them on just now and the galley pump engaged.

Now, we can sleep easier until we find this leak.

[Morningstar4207]

bud37, thank you, yes, that's our plan. Our neighbors are heading over now and the four of us will use flashlights and take a quadrant and keep our eyes peeled until we see something.

[km1125]

QR_BBPOST km1125, thanks so much for your quick response and for welcoming us aboard! Our bilges are compartmented. I am talking about the DC breaker panel, the switch for all my bilges is on that panel but we've always kept them turned off there.

Thank you so much, for reminding me that we have bilge switches at both helms too! The lower helm has the automatic bilge switches and they were turned off, maybe our mechanics did that when it was on the hard? We normally kept those on and didn't even check them until you brought them up again. I just flipped them on just now and the galley pump engaged.

Now, we can sleep easier until we find this leak.

Unless something was done by a prior owner that changed things, you'd want to leave the breakers on the D.C. panel turned on ALL the time except when the boat goes into storage. This would be especially important for things like bilge pumps. Typically at the helm(s) the switch will toggle between "auto" and "manual", so you can activate the bilge pumps manually if you choose, but then put them back in to "auto" mode for normal operation. "Auto" will only work though, if you have good float switches and there is power to that circuit (which is usually supplied by a different breaker either in the panel or near the battery switch).

[Viper]

Welcome aboard. When the galley bilge is full, does the bilge in the engine compart have just as much water? If not, the two bilges on either side of the bulkhead are isolated. If that's the case, focus on items forward of the bulkhead. If I recall, the bilge area forward of the engine compartment is where the air conditioner/heat sea water pump is located. Check for leaks at the pump and supporting hardware. Short of that, as others have mentioned, it's a process of elimination. Don't forget to check for leaks from the engines, generator, etc. Anything in contact with seawater is suspect.

[Morningstar4207]

Thanks so much, everyone! We found the leaks while checking the packing on the rudders. All 40 screws on our trim tabs were either missing or falling out. We didn't get to see the bottom job before it went back in the water & the marina that did our bottom did not notice.

[km1125]

Thanks for coming back with the update!

Were you able to get new screws in there, or did you do something to stop the leak until you can permanently resolve it?

[Morningstar4207]

km1125, we had to haul out and replace them. And it's been suggested that the next time we haul out we have an extra large zinc wired in place between our rudders to stop electrolysis since we're in salt water full time.