Quick question for the old salts

[acmaui]

I notice that the my ballast is not full when I get back to the harbor after any motoring. The vent plug is new and adjusted so that it barely makes it in the hole without some rather aggressive pushing and the fill valve is down as far as closed as it will go. So the question to all is does the fill valve need to be replaced occasionally or is there some maintenance I should be performing to keep it from leaking? I did lube it up because it was a bit(ch) of work to get it to close and open. Now it opens and closes okay, but I hate not knowing if it is full or not.

[K9Kampers]

The rubber drain plugs are adjustable, both cam & T-handle types. Spin the rubber down the threaded shaft eough to make it easy to insert into the hole, then flip the cam-handle down / turn the T-handle to expand the plug against th hole. If an older plug gets corrosion and doesn't adjust easy, then replace it for easy $.

My drain 11 y/o fill/drain valve has been trouble free. On the trailer, close the gate valve as normally would while onboard. With a felt marker, trace the inside diameter of the fill hole against the closed gate. Lift the gate... marker line will show how much the gate is closing... should be about a half inch distance between marker line and edge of gate. If suspect gate not closing fully, check for foreign blockage between gate seals, try lube with silicone spray, check for T-handle height adequately adjusted.

[NiceAft]

When you say the ballast is not full, exactly how much loss are you reporting

When you fill the ballast, the water level should be at a height that you can touch with you finger inserted in the vent hole. After a sail, is the water level still high enough to touch, or is it beyond your reach If so, how much below it

Ray

P.S. I am officially an older old salt today

[mastreb]

While an airtight valve would certainly help, it should not be necessary to keep the ballast tank full. The gate valve alone should do the job. Consider that these same gate valves are used to keep grey and black water tanks held on RVs without leaking, and that many people on this forum perform a mode that keeps the valve open to the air by moving it via a tube to the chain locker.

Furthermore, if you did actually have a leak, it should re-fill (slowly) as soon as you're back down below displacement speed.

I'd look at the gate valve, it's seals, and it's seal to the hull as the most likely issue.

[Ixneigh]

Mine has always leaked after a few good sailing days. I can tell because I start hearing the water sloshing against the floor at the mooring. That's my cue to top off the tank and think about an elegant fix to that clunky oem system.
I would lube it with water pump grease. Something I wish I had remembered to do before launching saterday!

[bscott]

Once you're past the age of 65, developing a leak is unavoidable--

Bob

[Hamin' X]

It is possible that you had a small air bubble trapped in the tank after filling and during your sail, the bubble worked it's way to the vent. I doubt that it involves a significant amount of ballast. but you can move the crew forward and aft prior to closing the gate valve. This should burp the tank.

~Rich

[NiceAft]

Does that mean that one could get a group to stand on the bow so the boat can pass wind out the rear A much more normal process

Ray

[Québec 1]

Does that mean that one could get a group to stand on the bow so the boat can pass wind out the rear A much more normal process

Ray

On some peoples boat this could be called an Old Fart!
Q1

[acmaui]

It is possible that you had a small air bubble trapped in the tank after filling and during your sail, the bubble worked it's way to the vent. I doubt that it involves a significant amount of ballast. but you can move the crew forward and aft prior to closing the gate valve. This should burp the tank.

~Rich

This makes sense to me as a very possible explanation. I usually fill it until the water starts to come out the vent hole and no more air comes out, but some air could certainly be trapped somewhere. After a day on the water the level is down about an inch below the vent hole. Our boat is in a slip at a local marina, so doing any work on the large gate valve will have to wait until I bring it out next year to clean the bottom.

[Catigale]

An inch or so of ballast space in the vent is of no consequence for safety, btw. Sail happy

[NiceAft]

An inch or so of ballast space in the vent is of no consequence for safety, btw. Sail happy

Yes, don't be concerned about such an amount. If the level does not change beyond that, you don't have a problem.

Ray

[Tomfoolery]

I usually fill it until the water starts to come out the vent hole and no more air comes out, but some air could certainly be trapped somewhere.

Granted the is a different boat than my , but mine will only fill to within an inch or so of the vent hole in the bow, and that's it. If I loaded it down with gear and people I would imagine I could get it higher, but there's a little hump where the vent is, so the little bit of water it would take to bring it to the top is of no consequence.

Sounds to me like there may be a trapped bubble in there. If it was me, and if I was that curious, I'd fill it normally, run it at speed or sail it for a minute, then recheck. If the level dropped in that short space of time, it would point to a bubble more than a leak. Also, if it's a leak, as someone pointed out, it will refill on its own after a while.

Doesn't sound like a safety issue to me, though.