Rain water entering

[ssousa]

Hello all,

I am the proud new owner of a 1985 390ec. I took delivery of the boat yesterday from previous owner. Today it rained like crazy, while I expected some port leaks, I did not expect a leak that is not from a port. It is in the mid state room just below the top bunk, after investigating it looks to me like this is the connection point for the hull and deck... Is this the case? If so, could this leak be from the rub rail? Any help would be greatly appreciated! My wife does not take such things in stride
sean

 

[Crave1957]

Watch the sliding window gutters. In the rain water on mine runs toward aft and ends up overflowing in the head!

 

[Ka1oxd]

This past winter I found where the leaks were in mine. The windshield wiper wires come through the corner of the windshield down through the deck, and behind the cabinet over the galley on my boat. Go to the link in my signature and go to past projects. Lots of pictures and discussion on what I found. The project you want to look at is the 2011/2012 project!

 

[ssousa]

My first thought was window also, but the window is dry and 8" above the leak. I am guessing that the deck/ hull
Connection is at the rub rail, but I have never had a boat to leak from the deck/hull attachment point. I have plenty of leaks at the helm, but that is to far aft to be this leak. I figure someone here with a 390 hashad the same problem.

 

[Lazy Daze]

It's not a "common" place for a leak, but it's not uncommon, either. Since it sounds like you're sure it's from rain, it won't be the actual deck to hull joint since that fits like a shoe box with an overlapping lip. Instead, it'll simply be some combination of the rubrail (the SS insert) screws and the vinyl (whitish color) piece that is actually mounted to the boat. The vinyl piece is first mounted to the boat with screws, and the SS piece is also mounted with screws.

Resealing is pretty straight forward, and doesn't take too long, either. Remove the screws from a section of the SS and remove - be careful not to bend it. Depending on where the leak is, you may not have to entirely remove the SS - just peel it back. But, support it with tape/rope/bunjees/whatever to the rubrail. Next, back out the screws from the vinyl - about 2' to either side of the leak. Clean and reseal all the holes as you reassemble. There's a number of good sealants out there - but DO NOT use 3M5200.


However, in saying all that, remember that water can come in one place, then travel and show up another place.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Our 1985 270DA had water coming in through the rub rail attach screws. Both with rain and when occasionally "stuffing" the bow in a wave. I'm not sure what type of rail yours is but ours is an aluminum channel with the rubber insert. Either way water can enter through the screws. I used 3m 4200 UV on all the screws when re-installing. I also put a nice bead along the top and bottom of the rail. No more water.

 

[Phlorida]

Our 1985 270DA had water coming in through the rub rail attach screws. Both with rain and when occasionally "stuffing" the bow in a wave. I'm not sure what type of rail yours is but ours is an aluminum channel with the rubber insert. Either way water can enter through the screws. I used 3m 4200 UV on all the screws when re-installing. I also put a nice bead along the top and bottom of the rail. No more water.

Thanks KC. Did you remove the rub rail to do this or did you remove and re-install the screws?

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Thanks KC. Did you remove the rub rail to do this or did you remove and re-install the screws?

No the rail was not removed.
I stand corrected, looking back at pictures I took refreshed my memory:
It was pop-rivets that hold my rail on, not screws. I drilled out loose ones and replaced, I also added a few more to pull the rail tight to the deck.
Sealant was only on the bottom of the rail originally. This created a gutter with water that entered between the rain and deck. I removed the silicone, cleaned the rail and added sealant to both the top and bottom. Last step in my case was installing the new replacement insert.
I also made sure the drain holes in the rail near the transom were cleaned out.
Pictures are shown below with descriptions - I hope this helps:

Original silicone along bottom of rail - gutter effect. Unsure if this was done by previous owner or not?

No silicone along top - original

Dico "plastic" wheel used to removed old silicone and clean the aluminum rail.

A few Pop Rivets were added in areas not pulled tight against hull. I did follow-up with a dab of 3m 4200 to seal the hole in the center of the new pop-rivets.
Here you can see the cleaned rail with added bead of sealant along the top and bottom.

 

[390x]

Lazy and I agree and disagree on this. Your rubrail will be black, not white, and I believe in using 4200 or 5200, but he doesn't.

 

[Hampton]

I'll add a vote. 5200 is for items which are to be held permanently. 4200 is for items that may need to be removed and re-sealed or replaced.

 

[ssousa]

Thanks for all the input guys. I have not run the boat but about 15 miles from the previous owners house to the marina where I put her on the hard to check the gear. I am bringing her 225 miles home on the 5th of July up the Atlantic intercoastal. I will work on her once we are home. I'll let you all know what I find. Lots of work, but what else am I going to do with my spare time?