I have a 1998 2400 SCR Maxum and my carpet is wet in the cabin. I
emptied all the water from the water holding tank (to make sure it
hasn't a leaky faucet or connection) and put a fan on it. A week later,
still wet. My bilge pump near the area is working fine. I notice when
I walk on the carpet, water swishes into the bilge compartment. The
floor also seems to have more give than I ever remember.

I think I have some sort of crack under the carpeted area. My question
is should I pull up the carpet and look or is this something I should
call somebody in for? I'll add there are really no boat dealers
anywhere close to where I am.

Also, I used a wet vac on it yesterday to suck up the water. Within 5
minutes, it was wet again. It is not coming from the head, sink or
fridge.

"Mike C" wrote in message
ups.com...
Also, I used a wet vac on it yesterday to suck up the water. Within 5
minutes, it was wet again. It is not coming from the head, sink or
fridge.



I think it's pretty clear, then, that it's coming from below, assuming it's
not raining. Is the carpet glued down, or what?

Mike C wrote:
I have a 1998 2400 SCR Maxum and my carpet is wet in the cabin. I
emptied all the water from the water holding tank (to make sure it
hasn't a leaky faucet or connection) and put a fan on it. A week later,
still wet. My bilge pump near the area is working fine. I notice when
I walk on the carpet, water swishes into the bilge compartment. The
floor also seems to have more give than I ever remember.

I think I have some sort of crack under the carpeted area. My question
is should I pull up the carpet and look or is this something I should
call somebody in for? I'll add there are really no boat dealers
anywhere close to where I am.

Doesn't the carpet just snap in on that model? If so, get it out of the
boat and dry it out.

Your biggest potential problem isn't the wet carpet, but the source of
the water that is soaking the carpet. If you have no water in the
potable water tank, you can eliminate that potential source. Drain your
hot water tank if you have one (with the power off, of course) as well.
If your boat has a head plumbed through the hull, make sure that is
empty too. I would suggest shutting off all your through hulls below
the waterline as the next step, (but remember to open those needed for
engine cooling before ever starting the engine again). With any luck,
shutting the through hulls will stop the ingress of water. Your most
likely failure is at a through hull or at the outdrive boot. The
through hull would be easier to fix. If you continue to take on water
after shutting off the through hulls, it is either the outdrive boot or
(much less likely unless you've wacked someting pretty hard) a crack in
the hull itself.

Another very remote possiblity would be the failure of something as
critical as the hull to deck joint.

Normally one would put a structural failure of the hull way down the
list of possibilities, but in your case the fact that you think you
detect a difference in the "feel" of the floorboards should make it
more of a priority.

If shutting off the through hulls corrects the ingress of water, open
them one at a time and watch very carefully for any water. If you don't
see any water and if you're not taking on any water within an hour of
so after opening one through hull, shut it back off and then open the
others, one at a time and in sequence until you find the problem. One
important consideration is this: If you do find a leaky through hull,
fix that but continue testing the rest of them. Nothing says that you
can only have a single leaky through hull at any one time.

If the source of the water isn't almost immediately detectable and
easily repairable, you will want to get some professsional help. Your
boat isn't going to "heal" if you simply let it rest, and often times
problems like you're describing can be early warnings of a looming
catastrophe. Better safe than sorry. In fact, there's no substitute for
safe and no remedy for sorry.

The carpet is glued down.

I think you are talking about the intakes for a/c from the lake. Those
are already closed, so I don't think it is coming from there. Those
are in the engine compartment and there is no sign of excessive water
in there.

The hot water tank was emptied as was the whole water system.

Is the surface under the carpet fiberglass? I think it is time to
call somebody as this has been going on since winter storage.
Potentially, could they have damaged the boat taking it out/putting it
in the water? It is lifted out with a huge forklift-type truck with
rubber over the fork.

"Mike C" wrote in message
oups.com...
The carpet is glued down.

I think you are talking about the intakes for a/c from the lake. Those
are already closed, so I don't think it is coming from there. Those
are in the engine compartment and there is no sign of excessive water
in there.

The hot water tank was emptied as was the whole water system.

Is the surface under the carpet fiberglass? I think it is time to
call somebody as this has been going on since winter storage.
Potentially, could they have damaged the boat taking it out/putting it
in the water? It is lifted out with a huge forklift-type truck with
rubber over the fork.


If that turns out to be the case, I'm sending you a bottle of bourbon. I
hope I don't have to.

"Mike C" wrote in message
oups.com...
The carpet is glued down.

I think you are talking about the intakes for a/c from the lake. Those
are already closed, so I don't think it is coming from there. Those
are in the engine compartment and there is no sign of excessive water
in there.

The hot water tank was emptied as was the whole water system.

Is the surface under the carpet fiberglass? I think it is time to
call somebody as this has been going on since winter storage.
Potentially, could they have damaged the boat taking it out/putting it
in the water? It is lifted out with a huge forklift-type truck with
rubber over the fork.


Are you getting water in the bilge, with it getting so high as to be wetting
the carpet? Other than rain or water splashing into your boat I can not
think of a scenario that would cause the carpeting to get wet without the
bilge filling up with water.

Get it out of the water and have a pro check it out. As Chuck said the
likely sources are the outdrive bellows or through hull fittings.

The water has been there a while if the floor is soft. Water runs down
hill. You must look and *think* to find the source. Since you don't
state whether the boat is moored, under a tarp on the trailer, etc- cant
help. Is it rain water? lake water? Pee? How about some more info?
JR

Mike C wrote:

I have a 1998 2400 SCR Maxum and my carpet is wet in the cabin. I
emptied all the water from the water holding tank (to make sure it
hasn't a leaky faucet or connection) and put a fan on it. A week later,
still wet. My bilge pump near the area is working fine. I notice when
I walk on the carpet, water swishes into the bilge compartment. The
floor also seems to have more give than I ever remember.

I think I have some sort of crack under the carpeted area. My question
is should I pull up the carpet and look or is this something I should
call somebody in for? I'll add there are really no boat dealers
anywhere close to where I am.



--
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Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

There is water in the bilge mid-cabin and the small storage spot under
the table. The carpet is in between these. From what I can see, there
is a channel that runs under the carpeted area and these 2 are
connected.

The water in the bilge area is not much, maybe 1/2 inch (below what
triggers the pump). I don't think it is coming directly from there as
the carpet on the wall is not wet as high as the opening to the bilge
compartment.

You are right as to water splashing/rain filling the bilge. Maybe by
sucking all the water out with a vac and watching to see if it refills
it will give me a better idea. Since there is about 1/2 inch the bilge
won't take out, it is hard to see if it is refilling. There should be
no splashing as I am in a slip that is protected. The cockpit area is
covered so there could be some rain water, but it would be minimal.

To put this in context, the water system is empty because the people I
paid to winterize my boat didn't. After getting it to my slip in
spring, I went to flush out the anti-freeze and there was nothing but
water in there. It caused my faucet/shower head to break off, hot water
heater to leak, pressurzing pump to leak, a/c intake filter to break,
and shower drain inline filter to break. Originally, I thought that
this stuff leaking was the cause.

I don't know where the intake for my head is...but am wondering if that
could be the problem. Since they didn't winterize my boat properly...I
am thinking that could be it. I am not sure where that intake is
though. Didn't see it when I removed the fridge which is next to the
head and where the shower drain, a/c, etc are.