[C320-list] My leak stop kit...

[danny jensen]

Jeff,
I really like your kit. I friend needed one of these a week ago when he
almost sunk his boat fixing a drain clog.


Now that we have our leak kit we need a few more things.
1) To know when we have a leak
2) To know where the leak is - Easiest to find when the boat is dryer and
not a foot deep in water.
3) To have time to fix the leak if our boat is sinking before it sinks.

I needed to address 1-3 above with a project. Like most of you I have a 5
GPM automatic pump. I didn't have a high water alarm system.

Read on if you want to find out how to solve 1-3.

here is a link to the project details:

http://www.catalina320.com/mediagallery/download.php?mid=20141021083025421


BACKGROUND:
I often single hand my boat as much as 20 miles off shore.  I currently
have an electric diaphragm 5 GPM
Jabsco pump and a 28 GPM Whale manual pump.  If I’m driving the boat , it
is not likely I would notice a
big leak until it was too late. If I did have a big leak in the boat, my
current electric pump would not be
able to keep up and it would not be possible for me to operate the manual
pump *and* fix the leak at
the same time.  An independent $50 high water bilge alarm in the cockpit
would alarm me at sea and
my dock neighbors while on docked that my primary pump is not able to keep
up with my pumping
capacity.

It is often the case that leaks occur over a long period of time and go
unnoticed because automatic bilge
pumps pump the evidence overboard.  This evidence pumped overboard is often
an indication that
some maintenance is necessary. Pump cycle counters give you issue
recognition.  A pump counter costs
under $50 and is relatively easy to install.

My existing 5 GPM pump works great at removing almost all water from the
bilge.  Installing a high
capacity secondary pump with an independent float switch would provide for
backup of my primary
pump.  The backup pump should almost never cycle.

Required Reading:
All About Bilge Pumps by David H. Pascoe, Marine Surveyor
http://marinesurvey.com/yacht/bilge_pumps.htm

Requirements:
1. Install an high water alarm under locker in cockpit
 a. The high water alarm will have an independent switch level above the
primary pump
    switch.
2. Install an electric bilge counter on my current primary electric pump so
I will know when the
   primary pump has been cycling. This will give me advance information
about any leaks I may
   have before they become big leaks.
3. Install high water  submersible Rule 3700 as secondary high water  pump
 a. Switch and pump will be slightly higher than existing. Build a
starboard bilge shelf to
    suspend new pump and high water switch.
 b. Install new 1.5 inch hose and new through hull.  No check valves will
be used.
 c. Wire high water pump/alarm  to battery via an existing 24hr fuse box
already feeding
    my Xantrex battery monitor independent of my battery switch.  I will
use a heat shrink
    connectors with terminal blocks dipped in liquid electrical tape to
make the new pump
    terminations.  My bilge is very dry all the time thanks to gortex
packing material.


On Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 3:27 PM, Jeff Hare <Catalina at thehares.com> wrote:

> So, here's an inexpensive tip for plugging a hole in an emergency.
>
> Go to your home center and get 2 or 3 toilet Wax Rings.  Put them in a
> large
> Ziploc bag and warm them to room temp or slightly above.  Squeeze them all
> into a big ball.   Then squeeze all the air out of the Ziploc bag, roll it
> up tight.    Now, next time you have a problem with a big leak, open the
> Ziploc bag, turn it upside down over the hole and press/knead the wax into
> the leak.  It should stop, just like that, and probably stay stopped.
>
> If there's still some of the thru-hull left, drape the Ziploc over the
> thru-hull and zip-tie it to help hold the wax it in place (may not even
> need
> to).  Also keeping a few 4" wide strips of old bed sheets can give you
> something to wrap around the wax it and tie off.  Like a big sticky
> Band-Aid.
>
> Put the bedsheet strips in a large Ziploc with a handful of zip ties, a
> roll
> of Rescue Tape, a box cutter and the other sealed Ziploc containing the wax
> ball and you have a nice portable leak stopping kit.  The Wax is pliable,
> waterproof, sticky and should easily fill oddly shaped leaking areas.  The
> rescue tape will work when you have some hose that burst or is leaking, and
> the zip ties can be used to hold it in place or joined together for
> wrapping
> around something larger
>
> That's my tip of the day.  :)    Hope I never really have to use it
> however,
> but I made a couple of these back when I was more paranoid.  The wooden
> plug
> thing doesn't seem appropriate to me for plastic thru-hulls.
>
> -Jeff Hare
> #809
>
>