Help! Wet Carpet outside head on a 340 Sundancer

[CaptainSandBar]

Hi All,
I have an 07 340 sundancer. Over the last few weekends my cabin carpet has been getting progressively soaked as the weekend progresses. Specifically from the fridge then aft to under the stairs. Dry when we arrive at our weekend dockage, no rain etc.. so it is not an outside rain / port issue. The boat is always bone dry in the bilge and bone dry carpet during the week when not in use. Carpet only gets wet when we are living aboard. We are careful to close curtain when showering, and the carpet that is immediately under the door that runs on the wall is dry. Below head sunk carpet , dry. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[KevinC]

Hi All,
I have an 07 340 sundancer. Over the last few weekends my cabin carpet has been getting progressively soaked as the weekend progresses. Specifically from the fridge then aft to under the stairs. Dry when we arrive at our weekend dockage, no rain etc.. so it is not an outside rain / port issue. The boat is always bone dry in the bilge and bone dry carpet during the week when not in use. Carpet only gets wet when we are living aboard. We are careful to close curtain when showering, and the carpet that is immediately under the door that runs on the wall is dry. Below head sunk carpet , dry. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Check your galley sink drain. If that is dry pull your bottom galley draws out and check if wet below. If not you might need to pull the fridge and check behind. That's where the main drain junction and thru hull is.

-Kevin

 

[CaptainSandBar]

Thanks Kevin, I’ll give that a try today. Keep you posted.

 

[CaptainSandBar]

Just took out the drawers and fridge. Ran galley sink for a few minutes, no visible leaks and carpet behind drawers and bulkhead were dry. Drain junction and thru hull dry as well. The wettest area is immediately outside head door at bottom of stairs. I feel as if the water spread forward and aft from that general area. Could it possibly be the water supply to the bowl? Any other suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Do you shower on the boat? It could be the shower floor drain. I'm not 100% sure on your boat, but in many Sea Rays, the carpeted "kick panel" immediately below the head door is only held on with a couple screws - the screws are hidden/buried in the carpet - start at the corners and feel for the screw heads.

 

[Jon Paul]

Hi All,
I have an 07 340 sundancer. Over the last few weekends my cabin carpet has been getting progressively soaked as the weekend progresses. Specifically from the fridge then aft to under the stairs. Dry when we arrive at our weekend dockage, no rain etc.. so it is not an outside rain / port issue. The boat is always bone dry in the bilge and bone dry carpet during the week when not in use. Carpet only gets wet when we are living aboard. We are careful to close curtain when showering, and the carpet that is immediately under the door that runs on the wall is dry. Below head sunk carpet , dry. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

If you use your built in coffee maker, it could have a leak. We had the exact same issue and finally found it was caused by a leak from the back of the unit. when coffee was made.

 

[CaptainSandBar]

All 5 of us shower in the boat so if it was leaking that certainly could be the culprit. I’ll take a look later today. Thanks!

 

[CaptainSandBar]

If you use your built in coffee maker, it could have a leak. We had the exact same issue and finally found it was caused by a leak from the back of the unit. when coffee was made.

Thank you for the suggestion, we don’t use the coffee maker though. I use a k cup up in the cockpit.

 

[CaptainSandBar]

Do you shower on the boat? It could be the shower floor drain. I'm not 100% sure on your boat, but in many Sea Rays, the carpeted "kick panel" immediately below the head door is only held on with a couple screws - the screws are hidden/buried in the carpet - start at the corners and feel for the screw heads.
All 5 of us shower in the boat so if it was leaking that certainly could be the culprit. I’ll take a look later today. Thanks!

 

[KevinC]

Just took out the drawers and fridge. Ran galley sink for a few minutes, no visible leaks and carpet behind drawers and bulkhead were dry. Drain junction and thru hull dry as well. The wettest area is immediately outside head door at bottom of stairs. I feel as if the water spread forward and aft from that general area. Could it possibly be the water supply to the bowl? Any other suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

Water generally runs towards the rear of the boat however the carpeting could certainly be wicking it forward. Are you getting water running into your sole storage rear of the shower sump. If the drain is leaking it would probably show up in there near the emergency/overflow pump too.

Where on LI are you located? Since you are local if you want you can always grab my info from online and give me call.

-Kevin

 

[CaptainSandBar]

Water generally runs towards the rear of the boat however the carpeting could certainly be wicking it forward. Are you getting water running into your sole storage rear of the shower sump. If the drain is leaking it would probably show up in there near the emergency/overflow pump too.

Where on LI are you located? Since you are local if you want you can always grab my info from online and give me call.

-Kevin

There is a small amount of water behind shower sump. I ran the head faucet into the shower drain, the water was visibly going into the sump and pump operated fine. I’m going to remove the kick plate wall below the head door and take a look. I’ll keep you posted. I am in Massapequa

 

[CaptainSandBar]

Update***
Found the leak. I replayed everything I do on the weekend, including connecting to dock water. I pulled out the fridge yet again (thanks Kevin for the suggestion), used a brighter flashlight, and found a small canal of water, traced it to the galley cold water Pex piping. Small constant drip Which ran down between the galley and head bulkhead to the carpet. Question... is the psi from the dock higher than from the fresh water pump? Maybe this is why it is noticeable on the dock and not on the hook? Either way, off to home depot , thanks to all for the help. Happy boating!

 

[bobeast]

The dock hose connection has a pressure regulator built into it. They have been known to fail, which could lead to excessive pressure. I just keep the fresh water tank filled, but then I'm not taking 5 showers either.

 

[Todd320]

The dock hose connection has a pressure regulator built into it. They have been known to fail, which could lead to excessive pressure. I just keep the fresh water tank filled, but then I'm not taking 5 showers either.

That is something I’ve been warned about, leaving your boat hooked up to city water and then leaving it, and you come back and it’s sunk, or on its way, water pressure breaks a pipe and floods it. Bilge pumps can’t keep up I guess? I assume that’s true for these boats, but something I’ve been warned about in general.

 

[KevinC]

The dock hose connection has a pressure regulator built into it. They have been known to fail, which could lead to excessive pressure. I just keep the fresh water tank filled, but then I'm not taking 5 showers either.

+1 Unless we are out at a marina and showering I always run off my tank water. It has a few benefits 1) no hose to hookup, disconnect or trip over and 2) it keeps flushing out the tank which helps to keep it healthy and not stagnate. I also only fill the tank with filtered water - I installed a whole house filter at my dock and use the camco inline ones when traveling.

-Kevin

 

[KevinC]

That is something I’ve been warned about, leaving your boat hooked up to city water and then leaving it, and you come back and it’s sunk, or on its way, water pressure breaks a pipe and floods it. Bilge pumps can’t keep up I guess? I assume that’s true for these boats, but something I’ve been warned about in general.

+1 I was warned of that along time ago. As long as the boat is hooked up to power and the bilge pumps were working I don't think it would be a problem - however there is not reason to leave dock water on and connected to the boat when you are not there so why do it. On the opposite of this I am sure we all heard of stories where the bilge pumps kept up with a leak until the batteries ran out and it stopped pumping.

-Kevin

 

[KevinC]

Update***
Found the leak. I replayed everything I do on the weekend, including connecting to dock water. I pulled out the fridge yet again (thanks Kevin for the suggestion), used a brighter flashlight, and found a small canal of water, traced it to the galley cold water Pex piping. Small constant drip Which ran down between the galley and head bulkhead to the carpet. Question... is the psi from the dock higher than from the fresh water pump? Maybe this is why it is noticeable on the dock and not on the hook? Either way, off to home depot , thanks to all for the help. Happy boating!

Glad to hear you found it.

-Kevin

 

[sarchila]

Do you shower on the boat? It could be the shower floor drain. I'm not 100% sure on your boat, but in many Sea Rays, the carpeted "kick panel" immediately below the head door is only held on with a couple screws - the screws are hidden/buried in the carpet - start at the corners and feel for the screw heads.

Do you have any pics after removing the carpeted "kick panel"? I want to replace my shower drain as it so corroded and sharp edges. Or maybe where the screws are located?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Do you have any pics after removing the carpeted "kick panel"? I want to replace my shower drain as it so corroded and sharp edges. Or maybe where the screws are located?

I don't have any pictures - but once you remove the panel, it's pretty easy to figure out.