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Water leak

scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
edited June 2021 in Rinker Express Cruisers Forum
We have a rinker 390 2006, there is water just below the water holding tank in the middle of the boat, not a lot may be a inch but enough to be annoying. We have filled the water tank and can confirm no leak from water tank.  Where would you start? Any advice to trace down this leak ? 
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    YYZRCYYZRC Member Posts: 4,919 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would start with the shower sump and AC strainer.
    2008 350 EC on Georgian Bay
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    Dream_InnDream_Inn Member, Moderator Posts: 7,561 mod
    So, it could be condensation from the water tank.  Could also be coming from your front air conditioner.  I actually get the same thing on mine (we have identical layouts).  I believe mine is from condensation of the water tank.  Your shower pump isn't even close to the area, so not that. You could check for drips from AC strainer or pump.  My water is fresh, so not strainer or pump or seacock.  I only get it during the warmer days of summer & even with boat on lift.

    Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express

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    davidbrooksdavidbrooks Member Posts: 1,349 ✭✭✭✭
    Water will come in from the anchor locker if you have had a lot of rain. A/C as dream mentioned and port lights if they need to be caulked. 
    It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    Thanks everyone, I will look at all of these , this weekend. “Always have something on a boat, but all worthed :)
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭

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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    I just posted above the water that i see in my boat, it does not get much more than this but its probably because the pump keeps pumping the water out. It s accumulating but bery slowly as well. I have started to look around, this water is definitely not coming from the shower neither from the holding tank. I did not start my A/C this weekend either and it did not rain over the weekend while it was still accumulating water . I am slowly running out of ideas, but someone suggested i take a look at my front truster see if there is any water coming from there, if by looking at these pics, some other ideas comes up , please let us know. Big thanks in advance for the support.
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    Forgot to mention Water tank is not leaking either.
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    suck it all out with a wet dry vac, on a day that it isn't raining and see how long it takes to come back.. there's a few sources it could be. Run your fresh water tank dry.  

    Hopefully it isn't what happened to me... the transom assembly had to come off, transom made flat again and then everything re-sealed. 
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    YYZRCYYZRC Member Posts: 4,919 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would be looking for leaks around the transom assemblies. You can get those blue shop paper towels from Canadian Tire. They work great for finding leaks since they change colour when wet. 
    2008 350 EC on Georgian Bay
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    Thanks J3ff…hopefully it s not the transom. This being said the water seems to come from the front. The floor where the a/c strainer and water tank is seems higher than where the engine room is in the back…not 100% sure but seems to come from the front.
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    davidbrooksdavidbrooks Member Posts: 1,349 ✭✭✭✭
    Look close at the thru hull fittings.
    It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2021
    I had some pretty good leaks where my deck drains were no longer sealing.  That was allowing water into my engine compartment, which then flowed into the cabin mid bilge.  Took me over a season to find how water was getting in there every week. Turns out I have a lot of water draining out of an 80 qt cooler every weekend.  
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    davidbrooksdavidbrooks Member Posts: 1,349 ✭✭✭✭
    I was getting a good bit of water in my mid bilge. also.  I still get a lot in my bilge from rain and it is frutstrating but just a fact of life i guess.I will go away for a week, come back and the bilge has  4-5 gal of water in it.  I finally got my mid bilge dried out though.  Mine was coming in from two main places.  Rain coming in from the anchor locker and also from the oval port lights that needed to be resealed.  When i pulled out the cabin this winter to do the carpeting i could see where some water had been leaking in and down the hull from the port lights.  It was all going down behind vinyl.  So definitely check the stainless rings on the portlights and make sure they are caulked all the way around.  The main culprit for me though was water flowing in from the anchor locker.  The angle of the boat on the lift made it so that every drop of water that hit the anchor or chain that was exposed went into the locker.  Fixing that helped out a lot.
    It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!
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    DanD2DanD2 Member Posts: 847 ✭✭✭
    Have you been using your anchor? Sometimes the anchor locker drains are plugged and water ends up in the bilge.
    No longer a boat owner.....previous boat - 2005 Rinker Fiesta Vee 342
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    Yes i used the anchor and will check the anchor locker as well. Would water from engine room be able to go up to mid bilge. My thought was that it s water coming from the front not from the back as the mid bilge floor seems higher than the engine room floor.
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm not sure of your hull design, mine sits on a trailer all week and I keep the nose up so any water should go to the back where it drains. 

    Even with the hull up on trailer for proper deck water run off at the back  my low point in the hull is mid hull.  

    This is why it took me a year to figure out the rear drains were the cause of my cabin bilge water issue.  

    As others said windows can also be a huge source of rain water.  


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    YYZRCYYZRC Member Posts: 4,919 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My boat is sealed between mid bilge and aft. Makes me wonder if you have two leaks. 
    2008 350 EC on Georgian Bay
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    YYZRC, good point…this might be the case, which make my research even more 🧐 interesting 
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Do you by chance have a bow eye on your hull between the water line and the hull joint? 

    Do you by chance only notice the water after anchoring by a popular beach or boating in wave filled/high boat traffic water?  

    My bow eye was the first known leak I addressed, took me standing on my head under the v berth while my kid used a garden hose on the anchor locker and bow eye to find.  It would only take in water in rough conditions aka any time a loaded wake board boat passed, which is unfortunately often.

    Did I mention I had several leaks i had to repair before finding my main leak?  The windows were the 2nd biggest but i have huge greenhouse style windows.
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    aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,812 ✭✭✭✭✭
    When I first bought my 330 my mid bilge had water in it. Over the off season I removed the seal on my windshield frame and sealed all of the screws under it. My mid bilge has been dry ever since.
    2008 330EC
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As someone else commented, get the blue paper towels, suck all the water out with a vac and then lay them down. It'll show you where it's coming from 
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    kordokordo Member Posts: 230 ✭✭
    scousine, I just noticed in your pics that your bilge alarm float switch is down low in your bilge right next to your bilge pump.  Did you move it there?  On most Rinkers, the bilge alarm float switch is high up on a cross bar in the bilge.  I think it is too high there and plan to move mine to a location lower in the bilge like yours.
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    edited July 2021
    @kordo I just bought the boat last year and this where it was located.
    Post edited by scousine on
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    edited July 2021
    Well aren t we happy when we make progress :) so it was the A/C strainer, , I fixed it and big suprise when i cam back the next weekend , while there was little spot of water on the floor of the engine room as you can see in the following picture which is is the same exact picture i Had shared previously in previous post…it s completely dry :) even in the middle of the boat under the floor trap beside my water tank i can tell there is still a little bit of water but way less, probably condensation as suggestion by @Dream_Inn . Thanks everyone. 
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    I noticed on the picture Above and here that i am posting a small open/space at first i was worried that it was a crack in the floor, but it seems to be just a hole that was always there , i could tell water was getting in there as well , hopefully not an issue but if you have thoughts , always welcome.
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    Finally i continue my journey to find water leaks, this time i notice that behind the water eater and generator there is water after each rain. Any thoughts where this one could be coming , this is above the water lone as they are on the higher part of the floor, on the right side of the boat..
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    YYZRCYYZRC Member Posts: 4,919 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 2021
    Great that you found the problem and a relatively easy fix!

    The half moon hole in the stringer is intentional. It lets water pass through to the bilge pump. 
    2008 350 EC on Georgian Bay
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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭

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    Dream_InnDream_Inn Member, Moderator Posts: 7,561 mod
    The water on the sides behind genny come in the side vents.  Glad to here you are finding it.  I have had some lately in the center area under the water tank. I need to dig into it more.

    Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express

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    scousinescousine Member Posts: 73 ✭
    And our adventure continues , sometime i feel like indiana jones except in this case is looking for leaks not treasure. So at least i am making progress in my discovery. Here is what i have discovered : 1- In our engine room, there is practically “almost” no water coming in when our boat is at rest at our marina. However if we go for a ride and bring the boat on step, this is where the water comes in. ( our assumption is that the water is probably coming in through our outdrive? Thoughts?

    2- in the middle of the boat a little amount is always there so started to look around and looked under the floor under the water tank by using my cell camera…see pictures . Is this hole normal? The fiberglass is wet… any ideas

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