Sundancer wet carpet

D

Dan Gaffney

New Member
Jun 23, 2012
7
St Lawrence sea way
Boat Info
1998 250 sundancer
Engines
350 EFI
I own a 1998 250 sun dancer. The carpet/floor being so close to the bottom of the boat, gets wet. I don't use the fridge, NO AC, do not use the shower, head floor drain is dry, no holding tank.
Windows seem good. I was thinking because the fuel tank is low (1/4) maybe the bow is sitting low enough for the water to collect in the front rather than stern. Stern is bone dry.
Please help, I'm desperate. How do i keep the cabin floor dry. The cabin stinks of wet musty mold and I am unable to use it.
What should I trouble shoot? I think I'm going to have to remove the rug, its nasty.
Dan
 
Have essentially the same boat, Dan.

The windows tend to leak and the water will eventually work it's way into the forward bilge. Also, if the boat is stored with a low attitude, the water will not drain from the forward to aft bilge.

We keep our boat on a trailer, and have only had issues this past winter when I left the mooring cover off and did not tilt the boat up enough to allow proper drainage.

We had water dripping in from the portholes, and fill the forward bilge, causing the carpet to get soaked.

Opened the boat up this spring to find mold over everything. It took 2 days of cleaning the headliner, hard surfaces and carpet to get it mold free. I used a bleach solution to get everything clean, along with a lot of Clorox bleach wipes. Used a soft brush to clean off the upholstery followed with Lysol and Febreeze antimicrobial. Any removable upholstery was cleaned and placed outside in the sun to aid in the mold mitigation. Once everything was spotless, used several large size desiccant containers to remove any remaining moisture from the cabin.

If I were in your situation, I would fill the freshwater tank and put in some more fuel to try to get the boat to sit a bit aft heavy in the water, and get a carpet cleaning company to come out and clean the carpet. I would have the carpet cleaning company also do the upholstery, and then would wipe down everything on the inside of the boat that is not fabric with Clorox wipes. Use lots of the RV sized desiccant buckets or a de-humidifier to make sure everything stays dry. Tightening the hold-downs for the porthole windows also seemed to help, but not eliminate the water intrusion on ours. Since the cleanup, everything is great, but man it was a lot of work.

Good Luck in getting your boat back to normal, and hope you figure out the source of the water.
 
Obviously Pirate has experience with your issue. His clean up advice seems sound to me. Having said that, I am going to suggest you identify the source of the water. I have not had the poblem with my 98 250 but I've read more than once about the port lights, especally starboard side, and the bow rail stanchions. Take a quick look in the anchor locker too. A clogged drain there could allow water to sit where it shouldn't sit & drain where it shouldn't drain.

Good luck, keep us posted & BTW.....Welcome to CSR!
 
Do you have a shower in the boat? I had a 260 DA and found that the float on the shower sump was not working. Water was not being pumped out and was overflowing the reservoir then getting the carpet wet. Just a thought.
 
The shower sump is usually my first thought too but the OP stated that he does not use the shower and that the head floor drain is dry. I agree with you that the sump box can get nasty & gunked up if you use the shower.
 
The sink drain in my head is connected to the same sump box the shower is (to avoid grey water discharge, then the sump box pumps to the holding tank) - do you use the sink in the head a lot? My first guess would be leaking windows, they can be very easily re-caulked. Let us know what you find.
 
The following are definitely ruled out because they are not in use. Shower drain, shower bilge pump, head sink, fridge, AC, waste tank, anchor storage drainage holes. None of these are a factor. My best guess is with a empty fuel tank and an empty holding tank, the boat sits lower in the bow under these conditions. i will fuel it up this weekend, keep the fuel topped off as well as fill the water storage tank to add some ballast weight to the stern. Regardless and independent of the water infiltration source, this condition still exist. Adding 700 pounds of fuel and water to the stern I hope will correct how the boat sits in the water. I ran it low to increase fuel economy, but its not worth wet moldy carpet.
Windows and railing plates seem tight, but as I said i have not spray hose tested this. i have heard that the port holes do at times leak.
Does anyone know if the stern bilge is connected to the forward bilge? i would think yes, but not 100% sure.
Adding this insight, i hope helps others too, but i am still very interested of knowing common water infiltration sources that were discover to help me add to my trouble shooting approach.
The boat is new to me, I love boating its in my blood. I'm just anxious to get this problem diagnosed as quickly as I can.
Thanks
Dan
 
The bilge pumps are separate, and the unfortunate fact is that the float switch on the forward pump does not activate until there is a couple of inches of water present. Have thought about changing to a different pump setup to try to activate before the water gets that high, but I don't want to have to pull up the steps and working thru the hole in the step is a *****.

Be sure to share your findings, and again, good luck.

Andy
 
Hi Andy,
The B Pump under the step/garbage can is enclosed exclusive to the head drain. Its enclosure is separate from picking up water from the forward bilge area. (I'm pretty sure I'm correct, otherwise if not water from the shower floor drain would run into the forward bilge)

Are you saying there is a third B Pump located in the forward bilge?

I thinking the issue its a design engineering bust, when the boat is dry, the stern floats too hight, causing the bilge water to migrate forward. Just a hunch.
Dan
 
My boat is nearly identical to yours. I agree with Pirates Booty, you are getting water infiltration from a leak. I don't think that your theory about the boat leaning towards the bow is accurate. Once the boat is dry you need to use a hose to find where the water is entering the cabin at. Most likely from a porthole or a stanchion.
 
On my 98 270 there is a drain on the starboard side about even with the helm. If this is plugged as mine was, water could back up if uncovered and make its way to the cabin from topside. However I think its time you removed the portholes buy a bunch of Boatlife sealant and get to work resealing and replacing the gaskets. After 14 years they must be due. I did mine while it was on blocks last fall. It's not a big job but it will eat up a day. I would not consider doing it unless it was high and dry. If you do a search here there is a great write up with pictures.
 
All great information.
My thinking is the stern would be the lowest point of the boat, regardless of the water infiltration source, just like all the boats i have owned in the past.
With the stern bildge perfectly dry and the forward bildge having water deep enough to wet the carpet tells me, #1 - that the forward bilge/bow water is either not able to reach the stern, or #2 - the stern is sitting higher than the bow.
I'm going to try the port holes this fall anyway and the damp rid now, Its all fantastic advise, and I very apprecetive.
Thanks to all.
Dan
 
I use the moisture absorbing canisters as well & they work great for us. However, I don't think they would have a chance against carpet that gets wet.

Dan, Can you tell me where you are actually seeing the water?
 
When i lift up the step, pull out the garbage can I see water in the bilge. Refer to my 9:58pm post of Yesterday, where i ruled out specific possibilities.
Thanks
 
Yep, that is exactly what I would expect based on what you have described so far. I don't know that I would call that the "bilge," that is more like the cabin floor. There is no connection between the bilge and the cabin floor. I still believe that you have a leak into your cabin - most likely from a porthole or a stanchion. Can you find dampness anywhere else? Is the carpet below the portholes wet? Is the carpet around the stanchion bolts wet? Is the bottom of the hanging locker wet?
 
I'll check the bottom of the hanging locker.Only the lowest level of carpeting was wet, i.e. floor of the cabin. Boat is completely covered with a mooring cover, i know its not 100%. The lowest carpet level is only a couple inches above the inside of the hull (I'd call that the forward bilge area). My questions was, is the inside of of the aft/hull connected to the inside of the forward hull (or forward bilge and aft bilge) , being the lowest part of the boat where the two sides meet the keel, running full length of the boat. i am assuming yes.
 
If you look into the engine compartment toward the bow you are looking at the rear wall of the aft cabin. If you look at that fiberglass wall you can see where the plumbing for the head penetrates that wall on the port side. On the same wall on the starboard side you will see where the plumbing and electrical penetrate that wall headed to the galley. Note that those entry points are higher than the engine. There isn't anywhere for water to traverse from the back of the boat to the front of the boat below deck without mostly submerging the boat.

I need some clarification on the mooring cover. If the boat is "completely covered" you have in fact ruled out porthole and stanchion leaks. Is that what you mean or do you have a cockpit cover?

By it's nature the water is eventually going to make it to the lowest point in the boat - or the floor of the cabin. If you haven't looked at it right after a storm the area where the water came it is most likely dry.
 
Dan Gaffney said:
Hi Andy,
The B Pump under the step/garbage can is enclosed exclusive to the head drain. Its enclosure is separate from picking up water from the forward bilge area. (I'm pretty sure I'm correct, otherwise if not water from the shower floor drain would run into the forward bilge)

Are you saying there is a third B Pump located in the forward bilge?

I thinking the issue its a design engineering bust, when the boat is dry, the stern floats too hight, causing the bilge water to migrate forward. Just a hunch.
Dan
Click to expand...

Dan,

At least in our boat, there is a forward bilge pump in addition to the sink/shower sump. There is a path that the water can follow to move from the aft bilge to the front, but the water would need to be several inches is depth to make it into the "channel" under the fuel cell that connects the 2. However, I have found that if I put the nose up on the trailer, the amount of water that is collected/retained in the forward bilge area under the step, is dramatically less.

On my windows, the water coming thru the portholes was actually coming between the window and the window seal. It was most obvious when we are out on the boat in the rain. That's why I suggested tightening the window hold-downs, although I have seen reports on other threads about leaks between the window frame and the top deck.

In response to one of the other posters, this forward area would not be considered a "bilge", per se', but in this situation, the definition matches the reality, if the boat is indeed sitting in the water "forward heavy".

bilge (b
ibreve.gif
lj)n.1. Nautical a. Lowest compartment on a ship where the two sides meet at the keel

b. The lowest inner part of a ship's hull.

In our boats, the area under the step where the water is collecting, matches the definition. :lol:

Andy
 
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