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E 38 water leak

dwigle

Member III
I recently became owner of a 1980 Ericson 38 which has a few problems, but my major worry is a deck leak on the port side behind the dinette. It is what I consider a major leak, about a gallon between the hull and the wood, and some had gone on to the bilge after five days intermittent rain. There are no signs of water leaks on the interior above this area, roughly under the forward fixed port and the trail of dampness seems to follow the wood on the inside of the storage area rather than the hull. Unless someone has major insight it seems like I have some disassembling to do, which I'd really like to avoid.

Don Wigle
Wiggle Room (soon)
Pt. Richmond, CA
 

footrope

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Some ideas

Congratulations on the boat!

Are you finding the water behind the seat backs or under the seats? I don't know exactly how the wood strips behind the dinette shelf are attached to the hull, so there's a question there. They must be on firring strips or standoffs of some kind, so water might go down unnoticed against the hull. There must be a way for rub rail leaks or for rail jib track leaks to get down behind the dinette. I've just never been back there.

If you have a zippered headliner above the shelf (under the side deck) you should check above there for wetness. There's an inboard jib track (on deck) against the house. The U-bolts for the shrouds come through in 8 places. Stanchion bases...

Forward or aft of the dinette, there is nothing to prevent the water from trailing aft or moving forward and being found under the seats. I think. But I'd be surprised if water moves forward or aft very much unless it goes right along the underside of the deck.

In the head, through the storage doors, you can get to most everything on the underside of the deck for a couple feet. Bring a light. There is a waste fitting on deck just forward of the dinette. And a little cowled vent for the holding tank just below it - going through the hull. Forward of the shower is a problem for access - I haven't been there yet either.

I think there's a zipper to get into the headliner in the nav station. That area doesn't seem to me to be a likely source.

That's about all the easy checks that I can come up with (if the zipper pulls aren't corroded - but there's a handy, helpful thread on that, too). I hope you find an easy repair.
 
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Chris Miller

Sustaining Member
Check the hatch areas

Hi Don,
I had a similar incident with water leaking in large quantity and did a simple re-bedding of the hatches that fixed it. If the boat is new to you, that might be a good project anyway as old sealants tend to break down or get brittle. Just don't use 5200 on them :scared:
Chris
 

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
I agree with the above, but one extra suggestion to find the major leak. A package of food colouring with four colours is very handy. Wait until it rains, or rig a hose to make rain, then drip some of each colour at likely entry points, and wait until one of the colours starts dripping through.
It worked for me - told me without a doubt that everything was leaking.
Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972
 

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
No problems with staining, it was a good period of rain, so it all got washed away fairly quickly.
Yes, one of the leaking sources was a chainplate. When I went to rebed it, I ended up replacing seven feet of deck - welcome to being an Ericson owner.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972
 

Art Mullinax

Member III
Blow it up

One of our club members used a leaf blower and a spray bottle with soapy water to find water leaks. He closed the boat up with the exception of the top drop board. He made a replacement drop board using pine(?) with a hole the same size as the blower. Started it up and sprayed the suspect areas. We laughed but it worked.

Art M
:egrin:
 

Geoff Nelson

Member II
E-38 Leaks

My 82 E-381 (6 months owner) has just decided to show her leaks along the jib tracks on the stbd side with all this rain. Was fairly obvious after taking the headliner off... the water went straight down the bolts and then ran down inside the liner. Am looking forward to a great time removing/replacing all those bolts and rebedding that. Anyone have a suggestion for a bedding compound and tips on how to apply (5200 has been voted out even though I just used it last night on the bailers of my 5o5)!

Cheers,

Geoff
 

escapade

Inactive Member
sealants

Geoff;
I have had real good luck using plain old polysulfide caulk. It allows you to disassemble at a later date, lasts for several years, & stops the leaks. Do NOT use it on ABS or other plastics, only on gelcoat, aluminum, stainless, & wood. The chemicals in polysulfide will attack some plastics. For these items 4200 seems to work best. I would only recomend 5200 for an item you NEVER want to remove again. That stuff is a real good adhesive/sealant.
Have fun & sail fast
Bud E34 Escapade :)
 

footrope

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
BoatLife - Life Caulk

Geoff,

I agree with Bud - I used the BoatLife Life Caulk on my forward hatch a few weeks ago, and on my tortured chainplate u-bolts a week ago (almost ready to connect the shrouds and close that thread). It comes in a tube like ordinary house caulk and cleans up with mineral spirits (turpentine) when wet. When cured it rubs or scrapes off. It takes about a week to cure in cool temps.

I think the most critical instruction is to leave the hardware a little loose at first - don't tighten anything down that last 1/4 or half turn - until the caulk has cured. That leaves a thin gasket between the parts. When you tighten down the rest of the way you'll probably get a little more squeeze out.

If you have room underneath the mating surfaces, when the bolts go all the way through the deck, you could bevel the edges of the deck holes a little bit, with a file or with a drill bit, by hand. That helps force a little of the wet caulk down around bolt shanks when you put everything together to cure. I've seen that advice in these forums and heard it from Brion Toss, too. Makes sense to me.

Today I'm taking advantage of the dry weather in Seattle to finish rebedding my main hatch. Good luck.
 
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