Laser Leak

R

readyjimm

Member
I just bought a 86 laser, and ive taken her out twice already and she has taken in about a quart of water during the time i was sailing,

and ive looked everywhere for the leak, but does anyone know a easy way to pinpoint the leak.

im pretty good at fiberglass, so thats not a issue.

i was thinking about fillling the laser with water via inspection port and finding the leak.

let me know if there is a better way to find it.

thanks:)
 
Type *leak* into the search function at the top of the forum and you will get all kinds of stuff

DO NOT FILL IT WITH WATER! That stuff is heavy and may break your boat further.

I think that you may have a leak around the bailer area like my boat has.

Get some good 3M duct tape and cover up the bailer on the bottom of the boat and go sail for a bit and check to see if you have water in the hull -- if not, then it's the bailer. I have been sailing my old Laser for over a year with duct tape over the bailer.

Check my gallery page for photos of how the laser is put together.
http://www.laserforum.org/album.php?albumid=24
 
readyjimm said:
I just bought a 86 laser, and ive taken her out twice already and she has taken in about a quart of water during the time i was sailing,

and ive looked everywhere for the leak, but does anyone know a easy way to pinpoint the leak.

im pretty good at fiberglass, so thats not a issue.

i was thinking about fillling the laser with water via inspection port and finding the leak.

let me know if there is a better way to find it.

thanks:)
Click to expand...

No, don't fill it up with water. You'll probably never get the inside thoroughly dry.

You need a reversible vaccum that will blow air. Use that to inject air into the hull through the inspection port. You might need to tape up the port some to get positive pressure.

Next, get a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. Blot any areas where you think it might be leaking - deck hull joint, mast step, etc. You'll have a leaky anywhere you see soapy bubbles forming.
 
torrid said:
No, don't fill it up with water. You'll probably never get the inside thoroughly dry.

You need a reversible vaccum that will blow air. Use that to inject air into the hull through the inspection port. You might need to tape up the port some to get positive pressure.

Next, get a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. Blot any areas where you think it might be leaking - deck hull joint, mast step, etc. You'll have a leaky anywhere you see soapy bubbles forming.
Click to expand...

I would think a vacuum would be too much pressure. I would suggest that you close the inspection port, tape over the "vent" hole (it's just below the forward end of the hiking strap and just aft of the mainsheet ratchet block), and have 1 person blow (low pressure, please) into the hull through the transom drain while person 2 (and 3? and 4?) looks for bubbles. A compressor, vacuum, or even canned air will probably be enough pressure to cause more damage. Put the boat on saw horses first so that the entire surface can be inspected. Look in the usual spots first, deck fittings, bailer, mast step, deck seam...
 
First fill up the mast step as this is the easiest test, second, inspect all the deck hardware/fittings especially the traveler fairleads, these are the most common areas that take on small amounts of water. It would be good to check the auto-bailer (if you have one) and the hull deck seam. Soapy water and blowing low pressure air into the hull can also help find a tough leak.
 
We used a variation on this by gaffer taping (lots of it) over bottom of centreboard case, filling with water and leaving overnight. Next day checked level, but most importantly drained previously empty boat confirming leak at rear of centreboard case which had eluded us for 3-4 years

Alex/Steve:D
 
found it! its at the lip of the boat some delam, so im just going to work with it!

thanks everyone for your help!

if anyone knows of a cheap laser in colorado that they want to get rid of let me know!

thanks again!
 
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