Above waterline leak at cabin corner and walkway

[dmorlo52]

Hello All,

I have the Wine Down 35TE and moisture meter showed very wet in the subject area. Meeting glass guy this Saturday to evaluate. This tested dry when boat was shrink wrapped and after a few days of rain (on the hard) it checked wet. I will investigate the window frame as possibility also. Trim Tab connection locations checked wet also.

Anyone else have this issue??

David
Wine Down 35TE

[jleonard]

I have a moisture meter and use it quite often.
They do not always indicate wet core. Make sure your glass guy uses some other method to verify the readings before he starts tearing into the boat.
Just my experience.

[RobS]

If metal is present within the penetrating range of the meter it will cause false readings that mimic water.

[Pitou]

If metal is present within the penetrating range of the meter it will cause false readings that mimic water.

Sitting at my desk and a moisture meter within reach I just had to test this. Bingo the meter went off the chart .. never would have guessed that one. Thanks for the nugget!

[dmorlo52]

Thank you all for feedback. I will have glass guy recheck all areas and I will look for any metal that may interfere with meter reading. I will post what we find. Lokking forward to meeting some of you in Greenport.

David
Wine Down 35TE

[RobS]

... Looking forward to meeting some of you in Greenport...

Just some of us?

Good luck with the new boat.

[dmorlo52]

Good one Rob, I just assumed not all the Albin owners will attend. I do look forward to meeting all of you that are on the AOG. Going up to Danverse, MA in the a.m. where the boat is to install hull zincs and put thruster prop back on. First mate wants to spit shine the living quarters. Also have to replace the engine room vent house that was torn during last 8D battery install.

Hope to cruise her down to New London by mid May (the boat not the first mate) cruise her all the time. Thanks again for your advice.

David

[dmorlo52]

It was raining when I went into engine room and water was streaming in on port side where the fuel fill goes through the gunwale. I traced it back and found there is caulk missing where the top of the gunwale is screwed down. (not sure of terminology here) I managed to get some tape to stick to stop the leak and will re-caulk this weekend. I think the glass guys moisture reading in this area was due to missing caulk and the water wicking up the side of the cabin.

What is the best caulk to use for this and I also want to re-caulk around the fuel tank cover in the deck.

David
Winedown

[RobS]

Not sure I fully understand the exact locations you are referring to but here's a general rule:

Metal to fiberglass: Life Calk (no plastics)
Plastics involved: Life Seal
Permanent or nearly permanent: 5200 or 4200 (no plastics)

If you're talking the fiberglass deck section that covers the fuel tank I would go with Life Seal. I did mine in 2008 with LS and she has held up great. You never know when you may have to pull that section again and I would not want to have to deal with 42 or 5200 at that time.

[Nancy]

If you're talking the fiberglass deck section that covers the fuel tank I would go with Life Seal. I did mine in 2008 with LS and she has held up great.

We're about to re-caulk ours and we happen to have a lot of Life Calk on hand. Do you see a big down side in using it instead of Life Seal?

[RobS]

If you're talking the fiberglass deck section that covers the fuel tank I would go with Life Seal. I did mine in 2008 with LS and she has held up great.

We're about to re-caulk ours and we happen to have a lot of Life Calk on hand. Do you see a big down side in using it instead of Life Seal?

Either would work for that application, Like Calk is actually stronger, but I would go with the Life Seal as it is very easy to work with. The Life Calk is messier and takes longer to cure (but you can wet it down to accelerate the cure time) The Life Seal will not yellow, I am not sure if the same holds true for the Calk as I only use the Calk to bed hardware.

[Nancy]

Thanks, Rob. Any idea what the shelf life is on the two products (unopened)?

[RobS]

Thanks, Rob. Any idea what the shelf life is on the two products (unopened)?

FWIW I found this on Jamestown's website about the LifeSeal but nothing about the LifeCalk:

PACKAGE STABILITY 12 MONTHS at 75 F, & 50% relative humidity. Longer at a lower temperature and/or humidity

[dmorlo52]

I sealed the area that was leaking with 4200 and I also need to reseal the cockpit floor panel above the fuel tanks. I will use the life seal based on Rob's recommendations. A fellow boater told me he puts heavy tough string or thin gage insulated electric wire down in the groove and then caulks over it. When you need to remove the caulk to access the tanks later you just remove some caulk until you find the string or wire and pull it up and supposedly the caulk comes up with it. Might be worth a try. Rob, what do you know about the valve issue with the 6LPY2A?

David
Winedown

[dmorlo52]

Rob,

I meant the 6LY2A-STP.

David
Winedown