Water under aft mattress - 280 EC

Dude_Himself

I have a 2007 280 EC, and I've noticed water under the aft mattress, right in the center, against the bulkhead. It doesn't appear to be coming from above or below: both bilges are completely dry after running the boat hard for 4 hours. The water tastes salty to me - I'm pretty sure it's not a freshwater or rainwater leak. And water isn't on the sides as much as the center.

I don't see any water along the freshwater hoses to run to starboard (where they head to the head) and I don't see any water near the water heater at all. The engine compartment is dry everywhere I can get to.

I have the Kohler 5ecd generator, and it appears to have a vacuum breaker installed up above where the greatest concentration of water is, with a (dry) clear hose running out of it.

Any ideas?

Dude_Himself

Crawling around the engine room in unnatural ways:







Didn't look wet and salty, but I imagine that's not right.

Dude_Himself

No one else ever experienced this? Bummer.

Anyone ever replace this? Is there an easy way to do it?

wmoconnor

I have a 2008 280 EC that had a similar issue. I traced it to the weep hole on the base of the radar arch where it meets the cockpit deck. Where there was a driving rain, or a lot of splash. there was a dripping into the boat. The water ran down the wiring to a loop and dripped to the bulkhead. I sealed the weep hole and have not had any water on the mattress since.

bazza

I have also 2010 280 EC water just as you said under mattress I found the port hole window needed to be re seated with silicon sealant can be done from inside sorted the problem 
good luck
Bazza.

J3ff

Same problem on my 2004 270.. seemed to becoming from a window on the port side of the boat. 

Dude_Himself

It's definitely salt water. And we weren't in chop/wind that sprayed the port holes that day.

Has to be coming from the genny, more I think of it.

J3ff

ah, mine was fresh.. honestly I tried to recaulk the window and did a terrible job, it seemed to not fix the problem but then it went away randomly after my trip to cape-cod and back so I'm sitting here adhering to the "if it isn't broken don't fix it" thought. 

J3ff

Dude_Himself said:

Crawling around the engine room in unnatural ways:







Didn't look wet and salty, but I imagine that's not right.

Just fyi, you are trying to use google photos right? I ran into this as well.. for some reason google photo's will show up for a day or two and then no longer work... have to use the built in photo upload on the various websites or a different service like tinypic.. google photos seem to change the link after a set amount of time and it doesn't work on ANY forum I'm on. 

Even if these photos are displaying for you right now, they aren't for us...and I notice it in all of your posts. 

Willhound

Hey Gang
Large photos are a bust, especially if on mobile. And links to Google Pics or whatever are always a problem, again, especially on mobile.
And I'm sure a lot of us use our phones for pics, so may I suggest an app called Photo Resizer that works great on my Android, might be an Apple version I'm sure Cuts a pic to small upload size, but keeps them a reasonable size for download.

Handymans342

Does it work for videos?

Dude_Himself

Thanks, it shows up fine on my devices. Not sure why. 

Dude_Himself

Solved!

When installing the new AC unit the hose from the AC output to the thru hull connection, at the thru hull, wasn't sealed all the way. Water would run back down the hose until it contacted a wire bundle, then follow that wire bundle to the firewall. The mid-cabin sole (floor) was installed with the carpet glued down, so it's carpeted under the walls and against the hull. This carpet would wick the water up, and while the wall is solidly resting on most of the floor, the back corner of the wall is cut slightly rounded (likely to facilitate an easy fit when putting it together). This is where the water was coming under the mattress.

The thru hull doesn't have enough room for two hose clamps, but really needs them. The upgraded hose I used is thicker rubber, and doesn't compress enough to properly seal. I swapped out with a piece of the older thinner-walled hose, tighten it up, and no more leak!

Handymans342

Great find