Andy Rogers
Member II
I know this topic has been raised dozens of times on various different discussion boards and mail lists, but I never felt satisfied with the conflicting information I received. I now have a maintenance question about my '84 E-38 so I'm hoping to get some answers from 80's vintage Ericson owners.
In the one season I've owned Nirvana there has always been a couple inches of saltwater in bilge. I'm not certain how long it takes to fill as our bilge pump doesn't get it dry, but I do know that when spending a weekend aboard we don't hear the bilge pump running frequently (or at all) so I don't think we have a particular fast ingress of water, but it does require some pumping on a weekly basis.
I've looked at the stuffing box and various through hulls and all seem to be dry which leads me to believe that the water is rising up through the keel bolts. Also, there is a rust colored spout of 'goo' that collects on some of the bolts which disperses quickly with a touch. Rubbing any dirt off the bolts exposes a shiny bolt head underneath.
So my questions are:
1. Should I be overly concerned about having persistent standing water in the bilge?
2. Will tightening the keel bolts help? Also, what are the procedures and tools required for tightening the bolt correctly? Should the nuts be replaced? Does anyone have the correct torque figures?
3. What is the best method to seal the hull/keel joint? The PO seems to have sealed the joint with some rubbery-like caulking compound. Should I replace this? Glass it over?
Thanks,
Andy
In the one season I've owned Nirvana there has always been a couple inches of saltwater in bilge. I'm not certain how long it takes to fill as our bilge pump doesn't get it dry, but I do know that when spending a weekend aboard we don't hear the bilge pump running frequently (or at all) so I don't think we have a particular fast ingress of water, but it does require some pumping on a weekly basis.
I've looked at the stuffing box and various through hulls and all seem to be dry which leads me to believe that the water is rising up through the keel bolts. Also, there is a rust colored spout of 'goo' that collects on some of the bolts which disperses quickly with a touch. Rubbing any dirt off the bolts exposes a shiny bolt head underneath.
So my questions are:
1. Should I be overly concerned about having persistent standing water in the bilge?
2. Will tightening the keel bolts help? Also, what are the procedures and tools required for tightening the bolt correctly? Should the nuts be replaced? Does anyone have the correct torque figures?
3. What is the best method to seal the hull/keel joint? The PO seems to have sealed the joint with some rubbery-like caulking compound. Should I replace this? Glass it over?
Thanks,
Andy