A25 engine pan drain

[kerrye]

Got a couple of feet of snow last week. Boat was not covered since I'm working on it. Water got into the cockpit. Most drained out the keel drain hole. Some water got into the engine compartment. However it did not drain because it is not open to the bilge. This seems like a poor design to me. When the boat is on the hard, you want the engine pan to drain to the keel drain hole just like everything else. Has anyone drilled a hole to allow this? If so, where?

[DesertAlbin736]

When the boat is on the hard, you want the engine pan to drain to the keel drain hole just like everything else.

I don't think so. It's built that way on purpose so oil or fuel leaks from the engine won't end up in the bilge and get pumped/drained overboard. It's a $5,000 fine if you get caught causing an oil spill. Just a few drops of diesel will put a sheen on the water. Water should not have gotten in the engine compartment anyway.

We heard about that snow storm. That's why my motto since moving to Arizona from Upstate NY has been "I don't do winters". If I want to visit snow I can drive two hours up the hill to Flagstaff. You're probably getting the effects today of the cold front that blew through here yesterday and dropped our temps form 85 down to 65. We have still not had a drop of precipitation here in Phoenix for over 60 days now, and January through March is what's supposed to be our winter rainy season.

[kerrye]

I wasn't intending to leave the hole open when on the water so that problem won't happen.

[NickScheuer]

Didn't know about the keel drain in an Albin-25. How do I find it?

[Jeremyvmd]

I would find where the deepest accumulation of water is that you can get to and drill there. Seal the hole well and the fasion some sort of plug. how much water you talking? Like a 1/4" layer or like inches of water?
Also did you leave something open that allowed the water to collect in there? If not you might want to track down the source of the leak, on the hard it's easy to deal with but I would hate to see something happen to the boat while in the water!

[kerrye]

Looked at it today. Looks like a hole in the front bottom of the engine pan will drain it into the forward bilge. Hard to see it but I stuck my phone up inside the forward bilge facing astern and took a picture. Water got in because the old enclosure leaks like a sieve. I'd say any 1973 A25 without a waterproof enclosure will get water in the engine compartment if it rains. Don't see how it can be avoided since the back edge of the engine compartment is just about even with the back end of the wheelhouse roof. I had about 3 or 4 inches from the recent snow which I pumped out. Got a few more inches of snow in the last couple of days and I had another couple of inches of water in there again today. My drain is on the port side of the keel about 6' or so forward from the prop. It's a 1/4" pipe plug right on the side near the bottom.

[Jeremyvmd]

Ahh that makes sence. I was figuring if there was zero drain it would have to be a pretty watertight compartment. Since there is already a forward drain I don't think there would be an issue adding a second drain in the rear of the compartment.

[kerrye]

There isn't a forward drain in the engine compartment. That's where I intend to put one. There's a forward bilge in the boat but it has a pipe which runs under the engine compartment to connect it with the stern bilge. The watertight engine compartment sits above it.

[Jeremyvmd]

Ahh I misunderstood sorry

[kerrye]

An update: I haven't drilled the hole and I now doubt I will. Further investigating seems to have revealed that the area under the engine pan is completely sealed off from the forward and aft bilges. I'm concerned that drilling a hold in the engine pan angled towards the forward bilge will enter the void (if it is a void and not filled with something) under the engine pan before going into the forward bilge. If that were to happen, water could get under the engine pan and there would be no way to get it out, which is worse than having standing water in the engine pan. Does anyone know for sure what is directly under the engine pan? It's definitely an area sealed from the forward bilge and reaching down in the aft bilge it seems sealed at that end also. The pipe connecting the forward and aft bilges travels under the engine pan and exits about a foot aft of the back of the engine pan.

[Northern Spy]

There's a guy named Henrik I think on one of the European boards that pretty much good gutted an A25 and had good pictures maybe you can search for that one.

[kerrye]

I'm not familiar with the European boards. Do you have any links to them. That lead sounds useful.