fixing a leak

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FishingCop

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In May while in Bull Shoals, we discovered a leak in the boat - later, with the opinions of our members, it was determined that it was probably the drain line for the live well. Yesterday, I was able to disconnect the hose from the underside of the live well and the rear drain hole. I tied on a rope and started to pull it out. Of course it got stuck halfway - wouldn't go forward or backward (stuck at a hole in a support wall under the floor. After some consternation by others watching/helping, I decided that we needed to tear up the floor :cry: After removing four seats and pulling back the carpet, we drilled out all the rivets for a rear section of flooring. At one point I figured I'd just cut an access hole and see if we could get at the hose without taking all the flooring up. We found the joists (if you will) and I cut out a section. We were then able to pull the hose all the way though. I was stuck because it was weaved around a little and went through a few holes in the support joists.

So.... Now I have it out. Going to try to find replacement hose. Found the leak too. The hose is very stiff, hard wall reinforced rubber and had two indentations from where id sits under the 13 gallon gas tank. Upon bending the hose at the indentation, is was found to be split and therefore, was leaking. The new hose will have the same problem unless I downsize a little and put adapter (reducing couplings) on the ends so it will fit back on????

As an afterthought I took a few pics. One of the rear bilge area, showing the drain hole and connector through the transome. One of the live well area up front. A couple of the torn up floor with the drain hose still in place, but un-stuck.

Wish me luck getting it all back together again - Also hope the pictures worked???

IMG_11652.jpgIMG_11662.jpgIMG_11672.jpgIMG_11682.jpg
 
Glad you found the leak problem! :)

...The new hose will have the same problem unless I downsize a little and put adapter (reducing couplings) on the ends so it will fit back on????

Is there anyway to go around/over the fuel tank instead of under it as the original was?
 
Not without pulling up the entire rear floor, which also means pulling the carpet off the sides to - more than I want to bite off right now....
 
Waterwings said:
I can understand that. Any boat repair/marinas close-by that might have the smaller diameter hose and the appropriate fittings?
Got three marinas withing 20 miles - I'll be checking with them later today....

The problem is the fittings at both ends are hose fittings. I would have to clamp on a short length of larger hose, then put on a fitting , then a reducing coupling, then a samller fitting, then the smaller hose - at both ends. All in very tight quarters (as you can see by the pictures) with hardly any room to work.....
 
FishingCop said:
Waterwings said:
I can understand that. Any boat repair/marinas close-by that might have the smaller diameter hose and the appropriate fittings?
Got three marinas withing 20 miles - I'll be checking with them later today....

The problem is the fittings at both ends are hose fittings. I would have to clamp on a short length of larger hose, then put on a fitting , then a reducing coupling, then a samller fitting, then the smaller hose - at both ends. All in very tight quarters (as you can see by the pictures) with hardly any room to work.....


I had to do the same thing with the pool hose....I found all the coupling and connectors at home depot (for once I found everything with one trip).
 
From the pics showing the very limited space and your description, it sounds like the only solution (w/o doing a major carpet/deck removal job :shock: ).

Any members out there have any other tips/suggestions?
 
Jim said:
FishingCop said:
Waterwings said:
I can understand that. Any boat repair/marinas close-by that might have the smaller diameter hose and the appropriate fittings?
Got three marinas withing 20 miles - I'll be checking with them later today....

The problem is the fittings at both ends are hose fittings. I would have to clamp on a short length of larger hose, then put on a fitting , then a reducing coupling, then a samller fitting, then the smaller hose - at both ends. All in very tight quarters (as you can see by the pictures) with hardly any room to work.....


I had to do the same thing with the pool hose....I found all the coupling and connectors at home depot (for once I found everything with one trip).

I'll have to check there but I don't know what "pool" hose is, how strong, etc.
I need some opinions on the hose. What I took out was 1 1/8 ID (1 3/8 OD) and was very hard reinforced rubber. I don't know why? Why wouldn't a smaller diameter, softer rubber work? There is no pressure, it's just a drain. If it were just a little smaller, it would fit under the gas tank without being squished (is squished a word??). Something like automotive heater hose would seem to be sufficient? I can probably work out the coupling and size problem if I could use a different hose??? - More flexible and easier to get under the gas tank and in place.
 
They noramlly have all kinds of different size hoses at hardware stores,seeing as it's a drain hose I can't see why a smaller diameter would hurt.I'd probably try that route but that's just my opinion.
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3838&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
I think it's the third picture,that type of hose comes in all sizes and pretty flexible.
 
A smaller hose for the drain should work fine but I would pay close attention to it's material.

I'm sure the rubber compound of the hose you removed was probably spec'd out for the environment in which it lived and type of abuse it could potentially see, not to mention the potential contaminants that it could come into contact with.

Boat hulls are usually going to see gas and oil at some point in their lives and not just any rubber will stand up to the exposure of those (or even the elements). Since that is a potential leak path as you found out (luckily not a catastrophic one like it could have been), it was probably overengineered. My boat has one heck of a drain line on it as well.

Catastrophic failure of an 1 1/8" hose a long way from the launch could make for a seriously bad day.
 
Quackrstackr said:
A smaller hose for the drain should work fine but I would pay close attention to it's material.

I'm sure the rubber compound of the hose you removed was probably spec'd out for the environment in which it lived and type of abuse it could potentially see, not to mention the potential contaminants that it could come into contact with.

Boat hulls are usually going to see gas and oil at some point in their lives and not just any rubber will stand up to the exposure of those (or even the elements). Since that is a potential leak path as you found out (luckily not a catastrophic one like it could have been), it was probably overengineered. My boat has one heck of a drain line on it as well.

Catastrophic failure of an 1 1/8" hose a long way from the launch could make for a seriously bad day.


You make a good point - if the hose failed, I would fill up with water pretty quickly from the drain exit. As it was, the small leak put several gallans of water in the bilge overnight. When I filled the live well with dyed water and plugged the drain hole, it was a continuos trickle - about a gallon every 2 hours or so. A major break in the line could sink us quickly????
 
Well, found the correct hose at a boat sales/repair place about 12 miles from here. $1.99 a foot. We installed it yesterday, replaced the cut section of floor, re-glued the carpet down re-installed the seats, bouys, fire extinguisher, etc., etc. Whole job from start to finish (removal of hose to finish) was about 6-7 hours, much of which was thinking, looking, having a beer and figuring out what to do next. Putting it all back together only took about 2 1/2 hours. Pulling the hose through from the center worked very well.

Took it out on the water this morning - no water in the bilge - no apparrent leaks :D :D :D

A do-it-yourself project that worked out well.... saved a bundle I'm sure if I had a dealer replace the hose. They probably would have removed the entire floor, rather that cut a section out???

In any case, thanks to all of you for your help and advise - we have a great group and, without your initial advise and subsequent thoughts and opinions, we would still have a leaky boat and wondering what to do??
 

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