Find and repair leaks

J

jjconcepts

New Member
I sailed my 1977 laser for the first time oct 5th. out for around 2 hours... she is fast! has original finish.. never been painted. The rudder and drain have either been replaced or repairs - the have silicone around them. there is a patch under the mast and appears to be in good shape as does the rest of the boat, I have not figured out how to inspect the keel area - . The boat stayed upright - barely up on a rail - 5-10 knot wind.

We picked up approx. 2 quarts of water over two hours.. not devastating, but enough to be concerned with as we expect to take the laser across long island sound sometime.
 
Vacuum cleaner + drain hole + soapy water all over the hull/deck = found leak

(Vacuum cleaner reversed so it blows air out)
 
What it the best approach to see that the hull is sealed and any cracks repaired. There are no obvious items, other than I don't believe silicone to be the ideal sealant.. there are small epoxied areas on the deck. Racing is not an intended use, but heavy use and teaching the art of sailing to my fiancee, daughter and nieces and nephews will put unusual strains on the boat.

With your help, I would like to come up with a cost effective way to find/repait the boat to bring it up to a good condition where it will be heavily worked as it will on occasion be asked to haul 400 lbs worth of precious cargo.

thank you in advance for your time, ideas and help.
-joe-
 
jjconcepts said:
that sounds easy... than i imagine hit the leaks with a china marker... do I epoxy them?
Click to expand...

Yeah, mark them somehow and then it depends on the size/nature of the leak as to how you will fix it. For small stuff, 5200 will do the job.
 
Last night I began the process fixing up a couple of old Lasers my wife and I picked up. I've started with hers, which leaks more. So went the soapy water test....

One thing I noticed after she went sailing when I went to drain her boat was air rushed out when I unscrewed the drain and before the water came out. That told me there was only one primary source for the leak (cockpit drain). I know that because I eliminated another source prior (autobailer screw hole) and at that time when I drained her boat air had not rushed out.

So I embarked on searching TLF and read many posts, which revealed the primary sources of leaks in no particular order:
- Maststep (leak can be discovered by simply pouring water down there and watching)
- Cockpit drain
- Autobailer screw hole
- Centerboard trunk
- Anything that screws into the deck that's poorly bedded.
- The perimeter of the boat under the outside of the rail where the deck and hull join. (from what I read it seems to be a rare source of leaks, but should be checked)


So soaping the entire boat may not be necessary, I'd start with the above mentioned spots. Perhaps you can soap the whole boat up once you've eliminated the usual suspects.

Also a vacuum is not necessary, your lungs will work fine. Just soap up the probable leak sources and take around 10 good puffs into the hull through the stern drain hole. Then check the areas you placed the soapy water for bubbles, they won't go anywhere after you stop puffing. Prior to my soap test I suspected the drain hole as the culprit, so that's where I first put soapy water, after 10 puffs sure enough there was a pile of bubbles telling me "here I am".

Note most Lasers have a pressure relief hole just behind the mainsheet block under the hiking strap. You should tape over that hole before the test to better reveal the problem. If the boat doesn't have one I suggest drilling one (after for find the leak source), the wife's boat doesn't when I'm done working on hers I'll be drilling one.
 
That sounds like a great way start thank you for the list and the soap trick.. should the silicone around the hardware be removes and replaced even if it is not leaking? is silicone an appropriate sealer for saltwater?
 
jjconcepts said:
That sounds like a great way start thank you for the list and the soap trick.. should the silicone around the hardware be removes and replaced even if it is not leaking? is silicone an appropriate sealer for saltwater?
Click to expand...

I plan on replacing all of the silicone and again every couple years being that I'm sailing on sweet water. Silicone doesn't last forever, but is easier (than say 5200) to clean up should you choose to upgrade or replace hardware.
 
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