R-25SC v-berth foot-well water leak

[tlkenyon]

We have the R-25SC that was the floor demo at the 2015 Seattle Boat Show, so it is brand new.

We have a recurrent water leak that is showing up on the floor in the v-berth foot-well. Sometimes there is as much as 2 inches of water. By direct observation, the water is coming from the horizontal seam in the bulkhead just below the step down into the foot-well. The leak only seems to occur when we are on the trailer and going downhill. We park the trailer in our yard and it is downhill getting down to the parking area - but not THAT steep.

I have been communicating with Kenny and he thinks that the fresh water tank may be leaking thru one (or more?) of the fittings on the tank. Incidentally, the fresh water tank is kept full Keeping it partly empty might be a short-term fix, but is no a long-term option. Obviously, access to the tank is pretty much non-existent. Pulling the fridge has been discussed, but I want to avoid that at nearly all cost.

Having thought about this for a while, I am considering installing 4" inspection ports in the areas both above the step and below the step. This will allow for a more complete inspection as well as access to perform any fix that is needed.

Question - how much room is there between the front of the water tank and the athwartship vertical bulkheads above and below the step? Are there any wires routed in this area? I do not want to drill into anything or cut any wires.

Anybody got any other ideas?

We are located in South Dakota, so from a warranty standpoint, would seem to be kind on our own.

Thanks in advance....TK

 

[South lake]

You may be in South Dakota but I'm sure Ranger Tugs can find an airline that can get them to you. A brand new boat with that kind of issue warrants some attention from the manufacturer.

Based on their past performance I would expect the Ranger Tugs folks to step up and deal with this to your satisfaction. I would certainly be asking them to.

 

[Brian B]

I would certainly pull the fridge out before drilling inspection holes. I've had my fridge out on our 2010 25SC and it is not that hard. Remove the door first, bolt on top and bottom of hinges, 4 screws around perimeter of fridge, might have to cut through any silicone sealant used, wires plug into the motor note their positions. Fridge can then be maneuvered out of the hole. I think you may also be able to view the fill line and check the clamps.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Tim,

First of all, we are sorry for these problems. I've asked Kenny to see if you have any shop recommendations for us to get in contact with to arrange for them to come out and repair. The good news is all of the fittings on your tank are on the top and not below like some of the older models. Unless for a tank defect, I would doubt for this to be a fitting leak.

We are currently on the Poets Cove cruise in Canada so the best method of contact is by phone right now. No need to do any work yourself, we will handle.

Thank you,

Andrew Custis

 

[Andrew Custis]

One more thing. The refrigerator is quite simple to remove and we can easily instruct someone to do this. To get to the water tank fittings, this the only route. Again, please call us directly and we will address the issue.

Thanks again,

 

[tlkenyon]

I am going to mostly empty the water tank and expose the boat to the same conditions to see if the water reappears to confirm the source. Will pull th fridge if confirmed. Probably something I need to know how to do. Will keep y'all posted. BTW, all the other systems are performing without flaw. Getting lots and lots of comments as this type of vessel is very unusual on the prairie lakes.

 

[BeaconBluff]

Tikenyon:
I had also noticed water in the bow berth floor area after trailering. I found that rainwater had made its way into the bilge and came out the weep holes in the bow berth floor. Check to see if it's bilge water. Hope this works for you.
Rodney

 

[tlkenyon]

Good idea... But how is it that the bilge water is not removed by the fwd bilge pump? Before the last episode, I ran both bilge pumps manually and there was no discharge, but it indeed had rained a lot. Incidentally, how does one access the fwd bilge pump? I will put some food color in the bilge as a tracer. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Brian B]

Good idea... But how is it that the bilge water is not removed by the fwd bilge pump? Before the last episode, I ran both bilge pumps manually and there was no discharge, but it indeed had rained a lot. Incidentally, how does one access the fwd bilge pump? I will put some food color in the bilge as a tracer. Thanks for the idea.

This very well could be bilge/rain water. The forward pump is located near the front of the engine, higher than the rear pump, it would take a lot of water to activate it. The rear pump does not pump the bilge dry. Do you remove the hull drain plug when you retrieve the boat onto the trailer? I would remove it and leave it out until the next trip, do whatever is necessary to remind yourself to put it back in or the forward pump will come on 🙂 When the boat is parked on the trailer raise the bow so that any rain water can drain out the hull drain and not accumulate in the bilge.

 

[knotflying]

Here is another thought. Prior to doing anything, put some dye in the water tank and fill it up. Then see what color the water is that accumulates on the floor. If it has the dye color then at least you have narrowed it down to the water tank. Also, if you top the water tank off and not use the water, does the gauge show the tank emptying? You said that when the boat is tilted forward you are having this issue. To me it sounds more like water may be coming in from drain overflow in the cockpit during rain and is then running forward rather than at the low end of the bilge.
I think you definitely need to do a little more benign investigative work before holes etc are done.

Let us know how things are progressing.

 

[NorthernFocus]

That's a lot of water from the description. If the plug hasn't been pulled while on the trailer it is most likely water in the bilge. Particularly from the description of only appearing when the boat is pointed downhill. I don't know if the cockpit hatch arrangement is the same on the SC as on the R25. But if so, it will leak through the generator hatch if the boat is leaned forward or to port. If it rained significantly while hitched to the vehicle(and therefore bow down), water can enter through the described location and run forward rather than to the pump.

The previous owner of my boat had this problem so installed a third bilge pump up forward (yeah don't ask me how). I posted a question on another thread about whether the gen hatch leak has been redesigned. No response there but I think this thread gave me a clue.

This theory is easy enough to test by hitching up and letting a garden hose run in the cockpit.

 

[tlkenyon]

Thank you all for your great ideas and thoughtful input. Here is a little more information than I included in the OP...

We were taken by surprise the first two times we encountered the water on the v-berth sole. I thought that the water might be from rains that had occurred, or at least bilge water that had run forward while going downward across my yard. BTW - the slope on the yard is generally about the same slope as a not-too-steep boat ramp. I also thought that the water might have been the result some slopping around during the "Ranger-bump."

The next time, I made sure the aft bilge was dry while the boat was still on the ramp, and manually actuated both bilge pumps, with no discharge. I put my GoPro in the footwell. Of course, no water entered the footwell. The water tank was almost full, but not topped off. It had not rained recently.

The next time, the water tank was at about the same level. I again checked the bilge while on the ramp. No GoPro this time. When we stopped in the yard, there was about 1 inch of water in the footwell, and there was no obvious route of entry.

The most recent time, we drove outbound (140 miles) thru some very heavy rains, but then spent two nights aboard. I topped off the water tank prior to leaving home, so we had about two days of usage gone from the tank when we got back home. The water tank gauge was just discernibly down from full. When we left the ramp, the bilge was mostly dry, as dry as the pump could get it parked on a pretty good aft slope. I did not pull the plug.

On the way home, it did not rain. When we stopped at the top of the slope to go down into the yard, we checked and the footwell was dry. The Admiral sat on the v-berth while I drove down the slope and observed water coming in thru the horizontal seam in the fiberglass just beneath the step down into the footwell. The water ran down the bulkhead and flowed along the edges of the teak/holly insert and accumulated in the fwd end of the footwell - about 1 inch deep. What I cannot figure out is that if the tank is leaking, why the leakage does not run into the bilges instead of into the footwell?

My conclusion in all this (and please point out where I may be mistaken or where there is a hole in my logic), is that water slopping around during the "Ranger bump" is not the source. Given the visible absence of significant amounts of water in the very aft portion of the bilges while on the boat ramp, bilge water is not the source - this assumes, of course, that all the water int eh bilges actually flows aft and is not trapped somewhere forward. The only remaining source appears to be the water tank.

Last night, I ran about half of the water out of the tank. Today (or tomorrow), I will drag the boat around the yard, suitable equipped with the GoPro (the neighbors are gonna think that I am truly crazy). I will dump some pink-antifreeze into the bilges, and see what happens.

When we pull from the water at the end of the weekend, I will do the pink antifreeze thing again and see what happens.

Thank you all again for your great ideas. I hope to get this solved and maybe also someone can use this to help solve their problems.

TK