deBrito Bailer Unhinged

Last week while paddling my surfski, the deBrito bailer refused to close and seal when I pushed it forward with the heel of my foot as I had done many times before. When I got back on land I saw that the front part of the bailer frame on the bottom of the hull had broken off and was hanging by a "thread" of plastic. (see photo album at (photos.app.goo.gl/PbQXJLehF659vffd9)I could understand something like this happening from dropping the ski while the bailer door was open or knocking it sideways. But this resulted from my normal use of opening and closing with the heel of my foot while paddling with no trauma to the bailer door. Upon further examination I saw that the piece of dislodged plastic is just 1 mm thick and forms the groove of a tongue-in-groove hinge at the front of the bailer door. So it's not surprising to me that this could happen given that this thin piece of plastic is all that holds the front of the bailer door in place when force is applied from the inside handle to close it.So now I'm wondering about the experiences that other surfski paddlers have had with this bailer. Has it provided reliable, long-term service for those who use it, or have there been other "unhinging" events like mine? It certainly appears to me to be a flimsy design compared to the Epic bailer I have on my other ski. The Epic bailer is supported in the center with a metal brace with an articulated connection to the handle. I and others have used that bailer for almost five years now with no issues.

I have a Think Evo g3 with a DeBrito bailer. The bailer and its frame are still intact, the boat is pretty new after all... But one day I went paddling in the river when the bailer simply detached from its place for no reason, just like that, as soon as I placed the ski on the water. I had to store the bailer piece inside my clothes and paddle the whole session with a flooded ski. I was lucky - if I went to the beach instead, I would have lost that bailer for sure.
Once back home, I could not find any damage whatsoever. In fact, I was appaled to find out that the bailer piece is simply glued in place, and with a tiny amount of glue at that.
Luckily I had a can of black Sikaflex, which is just the perfect adhesive for this application as I was later told. I applied a generous amount of it, glued the bailer back and have never had any problems with it ever since.
However, I don't trust the bailer anymore as I used to. When I have to open or close it, I do it gently with my hand.
As for the Epic bailer, my experience is the same - 5 years of heavy use, no issues at all.

I currently have a Nelo 520 with that bailer and a Nelo Viper 46 Ski with the De Brito bailer. I have not had problems with the one in the 520 but the one in the Viper 46 Ski leaked badly in the closed position. I tried to replace it with a new one that i bought at Nelo Eu but that one too leaked. So, I decided to close up the space of the bailer with fiberglass and installed a Venturi system instead. It works fine.  It seems that all manufacturers are starting to use the De Brito bailer. Compared to the Epic bailer it is a very poor substitute.

I have a 2016 Nelo 560. Extensively used. Not a single problem with the deBrito bailer. I find it a lot better and easier to operate than anything else I've tried. For what it's worth..
Erik

My new to me Nelo 550 has a deBrito bailer, no comment on durability yet, but it does seem to leak some.

I am getting some 3mm neoprene to make a new seal for it so I will see how that goes using the template another poster put up in an earlier thread.  

It does seem to be easier to use than others I have tried.

I have an de Brito Bailer in my Stellar Surfski which I bought last year. After a few training sessions the Bailer started to leak considerably in the closed position. My Surfski dealer told me last year that there are quality problems with the
de Brito bailer and that it will be only a matter of time when it will come apart ! So far he got no response from the manufacturer what they are going to do about it. I would like to buy the new Nelo 550 but I am somewhat reluctant because of the bailer issue. 

I sold my 550 that had that bailer.  My other two skis now are both Epics.  One has the old anderson mini and the other the epic bailer.  Both are worlds better in my opinion.  The anderson is harder to open but I never have an issue with it leaking.  Same goes for the Epic.

The debrito has that damn piece of neoprene which is way to fragile.  They do drain well but them again so do venturis when you really need them.

Thanks for the report. One of the boats I'm considering is a used Think evo 3 and it has the leaky deBrito bailer. 

I have to agree, the Epic bailer is pretty bombproof. I'd hate to pass up a good deal on a boat, but a leaky bailer would probably tweak my OCD. If it's only a few drops an hour it would be fine, but I don't want a cockpit full of cold water every few minutes.

Kwolfe's old 550 is mine now and it is a slow leak, hopefully a new piece of neoprene will fix it, otherwise I'll just use it in the summer and open it every so often to drain.

My Think Fit just has a plug and venturi, perfectly dry but I am afraid to pull the plug as I'm not sure it would go back in. It is old so it might just break and then I wouldn't be able to stop the boat or it would fill up with water.

I have a one year old Stellar SR with a deBrito Bailer.  On one of my first paddles I tried to kick the bailer closed with my foot and popped the front hinge off the lip but it did not break the plastic.  I learned that you can unscrew the inside frame and reset the bailer and screw it shut.  I have learned to be more careful to push forward and not down.  As far as leaking, you can buy 2mm neoprene on Amazon and cut a replacement piece that can be put in using the above removal method.  Also, I store the boat with the bailer open to allow the foam to expand back to original thickness to prevent future leaks.  

I got a piece of 3 mm neoprene and cut a piece to fit using the template on another thread. Took me about ten minutes, now the bailer does not leak.  The old piece was torn and compressed so it's no wonder it leaked.  Looks like it will need to be replaced every so often.

Since I bought a $15 sheet of neoprene and have plenty left if anyone wants my college age kid to make them a couple using the template we can do that and send it to you for $5 as long as it does not cost more than two first class US stamps.  This will give him something to do while he's cooped up at home and he's better at this sort of thing than I am.

Pm me and I will provide my email for PayPal.

-- Andrew

The deBrito bailer on my Nelo 560 broke the same way other posters describe - the thin pivot point for the flapper broke off and the flapper fell out, leaving a large hole in the bottom of my boat.  I removed the remainder of the plastic parts with great difficulty, and installed an Andersen "Super Mini".
 

What is the black material around the bailer on the outside hull?  And where did you get the Anderson mini?

The black stuff is 3m 4200.  I bought the Andersen Super Mini bailer at Defender Industries in Waterford, CT, USA www.defender.com/

Thanks!

I got a chance to paddle my 560 with the Andersen bailer, and it does not drain as quickly as the deBrito did.  Makes sense because the opening is smaller on the Andersen.  It's a little over half the draining speed as the deBrito.  The Andersen leaks much less than the deBrito did when it was new.  The Andersen also has a little metal flapper which prevents the cockpit from flooding right away when the bailer is open and the boat is not moving.  There also seems to be less boat speed reduction.  The deBrito slowed the boat down significantly when it was open.  I did have the larger of the two deBrito drains installed.

Hi,I jump on this topic with a debrito related question. My bailer has leaked some from the beginning so I decided to fix it by replacing the gasket. I found a template on the internet, but for my surprise the gasket I removed from my bailer has a different contour. Which one should I use? 

the template:


The actual gasket:
 

Either one will work, but I think the gasket you removed is the more recent version.  Be sure to open the bailer when the boat's out of the water, and leave it open when storing and transporting the boat to reduce compression of the foam.  I do close the bailer when I'm hand carrying the boat, but then open it once I've put it on the rack..

I replaced the leaky deBrito on my 520 a few weeks ago with one of Mark McKenzie’s venturis.
Holy shit what a difference. Even when a bailer is not leaking you still have to keep an eye on the bucket and when the boat takes on water give the bailer a kick to open it, wait for it to drain, then close it. All of which takes your attention away from paddling and interrupts it periodically.
With the venturi the bucket is pretty much bone dry at anything over ~4.5 mph, and now I never even have to look down, just concentrate on paddling and surfing. Huge game changer, at least for me. No perceptible change in speed.
Got another one for my 550, the new ski will be here tomorrow.
eliteoceansports.com/products/accessories/#
 

Thank you David. I have always operated the bailer as you suggest. But the boat was on storage for a long time when it was new with the bailer closed, and I am sure it took the toll on the gasket.
I assume the newer gasket contour is supposed to be better, I will try with that first.