And I can't find it




Have always kept it out of the Sun, when stored. Any tips on trying too find the Leak?

Have done just a visual inspection, but don't see anything.

I guess you could fill it with water and see where it leaks out.

Put it on saw horses and put water in it and see if you can see it draining out. May have to tilt it side it side. I would focus on the scupper holes especially around the seat pan area and you may have to apply pressure around them to see a crack if it's there because they sometime won't appear til the plastic flexes. Good luck

First if it's under warranty I'd call the manufacturer. Otherwise here are two things I would try. First make the inside of the hull is dry and all hatches are sealed good then spray it down with a hose then check in the hull for water. This will rule out anything leaking from the top of the yak. If not like Kyle said start filling the hull up with water slowly. I'd make sure the kayak is on several saw horses, a trailer or something else solid enough to support the kayak with the weight of the water.

You should find the leak with one of these two methods.

Its probably in the scupper holes where they come together.

Tried that with my yak when it first developed a leak about 8 years ago. No sigh of the leak with either method, so concluded it must be in the scupper column. Plugged the bottom of the scuppers below the seat because that seemed to me to be the most likely place for the leak - did not stop the leak. Eight years later, still have a leak, still have no idea where it is coming from. After a half day of fishing I just position the yak on the ground so that the bow is lower than the stern and just sponge out anywhere from a pint to a quart of water.

Try all of the suggestions during the heat of the day since the crack might only appear when the kayak is warm.

If no leak appears when filling the kayak with water you might also try putting an amount of weight in the seat area that would somewhat match your own weight and then fill the cockpit with water since the crack might appear when under stress.

Thanks for the Tips

Think I'm gonna Hydro Test it and add a little soap..

I am going on two years with my own mystery leak.
Tried all the above and also had a professional at a well known kayak dealer in Dallas examine it and take it out on the water--he couldn't find a major leak either, but mentioned that the drain plugs leaked a little.

My solution(s)

Filled the hull with 18 pool noodles
Relined the scupper holes with lexeled PEX tubing
Jb weld water bond and Lexeled with fiberglass cloth the entire inside of the drive area.
Lots of marine grease on the drain plugs--then screwed in tight.
Installed a DIY manual bilge pump (it's the $9 manual Prestone pump in the Wmart auto section--bought two of them for the extra pump tubing) Lexeled three lengths of the pump tubing to three different areas of the bottom of the hull.
Manually bilging every four hours has worked well for my leak

At one point, I Gorilla taped the entire hull

I think it's the drain plugs and the rudder line is wicking water up into the hull. I've completely covered everything else, but it remains a mystery.

The leak will only be detected when under stress; and I've tried filling the kayak with water and walking and lightly jumping up and down on the kayak (no leak detected)
Try this first--place the kayak on a dry flat surface in the sun. Fill it with water, then walk on top of the kayak. You might be able to localize the leak this way (unfortunately it didn't for me)

One way to do it that I haven't done:

Line the interior of the entire hull with newspaper.
Go kayaking for 30 minutes
Get the kayak back on dry land

Find the area where the newspaper is wet (this localizes the area of interest)

Then, mount go pros or other cameras focusing on that area.
Go kayaking for 30 minutes.
See if the go pros capture exactly where the leak is coming from.

If the go pros do not capture exactly where, you then go nuclear
Cover that newspaper rectangular area with West Systems 650 G/Flex epoxy

second best to Glex would be 3M marine 5200.

I'd bet it is one of the scupper holes as well. If you can't find leak trying the suggestions above, plug the scuppers from the bottom and see if that puts an end to your problems the next time you go fishing. Haven't kept up with warranties but should be no problem if you are the original owner. If not, I haven't seen a hole that couldn't be plugged with enough JB Waterweld.

For anyone else, never put a stake out pole through your scupper holes as that can do some damage quick in windy conditions. Try to gently sit down, we've all fallen back into the seat at one time or another and the stress is enormous for larger guys. Minimize sitting in your kayak on land. Hope you find the problem quick as there is no worse feeling than to be in a kayak and taking on water inside hull.

I would not use JB on a leak, I'd use 3M 5200 marine adhesive.

This is genius! A simple solution to isolate the issue. Avoids the stress of putting 500 pounds of water inside the yak and allows you to unplug one at a time until the issue is isolated.

Great suggestion Iconn

Yes, if you don�t find the leak easily go through all the common leak points methodically
Scupper holes
Drain plugs
Hatches
Keel
Areas that get pressured when transporting and/or storing
Seat area
Areas where kayak may have been dragged
Drive well if you have one

Pump air in it, a little soap and water, then check for bubbles. I assume they are hollow. If I had one i would fill it full of foam.

Thanks Y'all!!

That's why they pay me the big bucks.

Have you had a bad experience using it? Its not for rookies though we all have to start somewhere.

3M 5200 is simply a superior product.

if you have scuppers
how would you know if you had a leak

i have a sit in
so curious

While I agree 3M 5200 and G/Flex are superior; JB water weld putty is very good for kayak repairs. The regular JB weld is too rigid when cured and will fail quickly. The JB water weld putty is still somewhat pliable at full cure and works well. Lexel is another good option for some repairs.


As far as pumping air into the kayak and using the soapy water method; done that about ten times on my kayak and it hasn't localized the leak. The air method works best on kayaks that are close to air tight--your Ocean kayak hull looks much closer to air tight than my kayak, so it would be worth doing. Some SOT kayaks with multiple different hatch types are far from air tight and the air/soap method is low yield.

The scuppers drain back into the body of water, not the hull.
So if there is a significant amount of water in the hull after kayaking, there is likely a leak somewhere.

3M 5200 is simply a superior product. [/quote

Many kayaks are made from a two piece mold and the seam in the scupper is a weak point that can cause a leak inside the hull. Even scuppers on a one-piece mold can leak because they double as support for the deck and carry the weight of the occupant. Simply put, scuppers are a stress point and are vulnerable to leaking.

Scupper leaks can be tricky to detect, because sometimes they will only leak under stress.

Visualizing the scupper tube in the hull of the kayak can be a challenge also.

I relined all my scuppers with PVC braided vinyl tubing coated in Lexel (thought I used PEX tubing, but I used PEX on another project)
Sort of a carpet bomb shotgun repair method, but when you can't localize a leak, you start reinforcing/sealing off the most common leak points.

The tubing is at HD/Lowes in the plumbing/irrigation section.
Found a diameter that snugly fit inside the scuppers. Cut the tubing to scupper length + 1 inch
Generously coated the outside of the tubing with Lexel and inserted all six pieces inside each of the six scuppers.

I used Lexel instead of 5200, because you can always go forward after using Lexel. Lexel seals and bonds well to HDPE, but you can break the bond physically without doing damage to the kayak.
There is no going back with 5200, it's permanent. 5200 is a nuclear solution to a problem and breaking the bond it forms will likely cause damage to the HDPE.

Now, if you have localized the leak with great certainty, 5200 would be a good product to use. Only plastic welding and possibly G/Flex would offer a stronger repair.

And.... STILL LEAKS A LOT!

New Kayak time. Give it up mate

JB Water Weld... for those that can swim, when you ain't got the time, the money, or the desire for rocket science research on a cheap plastic boat.

thanks

If you try all the fixes listed above and it still leaks, then it may be time to buy a new kayak with a warranty, and sell your kayak to someone you don't like for cheap.

Did Dan90210 tell you to say this?

But, yes, at some point with all the testing trying to find the leak, you are probably weakening the leak point(s) with all the testing stress. You may also reach a point where you can't fit any more pool noodles in the hull and the amount of time you are bilging becomes cumbersome.

I keep my kayaks for spare parts and for when friends want to go instead of selling them.
You should inform any potential buyer of a significant leak, if you do choose to sell.

Give it up Doc. Time for a brand new Hobie with a warranty! You deserve it mate.