Bilge Design and Possible Modifications

Where is the fuel tank(s) located in relation to the bulkhead you want to close off? Just curious. On our much smaller 245, it is located under the cabin floor. The bulkhead aft of it has drain openings to the bilge. The one in front of it is closed off to the rest of the cabin which also has it's own pump.
 
Update -

I was mistaken. I veried with my own eyes that the bulkhead is in fact closed. I was under the assumption based on my observations that it was open. It is not. Noted.

Next steps... I ran the water tank empty. I then vacuumed the forward bilge completely dry. I filled the water tank to the top and rechecked the bilge. No water. I pressurized the line and waited 5 mins. No water. Maybe I don't have a problem after all??

Plan of attack. I left the water lines without pressure in them but the tank filled. I will recheck tomorrow on lunch. If that's good to go, I will pressurize the lines and come back a day later.

If I see no change, I think the issue may have to do with the shower sump. I had an issue last year that I thought I resolved where the check valve was sticking. I seem to recall the pump having an issue keeping up with the shower because the check valve was restricting flow. I replaced it and thought it was fixed.... Maybe it's not and it's still overflowing the sump and into the bilge it goes. That would be the most plausible scenario I can come up with.

Also, for those that commented on the Cruisers forum, it's basically nonexistent like Mike said. This is the most knowledgeable forum I've come across in 15 years. I do appreciate everyone's feedback.
 
Thornton69 said:
Where is the fuel tank(s) located in relation to the bulkhead you want to close off? Just curious. On our much smaller 245, it is located under the cabin floor. The bulkhead aft of it has drain openings to the bilge. The one in front of it is closed off to the rest of the cabin which also has it's own pump.
Click to expand...

Fuel tanks are port and starboard in the engine room. 300 gallons total.
 
electricaldoctor said:
Could you have water entering your bilge via the anchor rode locker? Temporarily plug the locker drain hole(s) and fill the locker with a hose to rule this out.
Click to expand...

Great suggestion. I thought about this earlier, however, that part of the forward bilge always seems dry? I pulled a cabinet out this past weekend from under the V-birth and found factory wood shavings still there from the time of manufacture and it didn't appear wet. At least from what I could tell.

I could easily go stick a hose up there and go inside to see if it runs down to the bilge.
 
Went to the boat on lunch... Bilge is dry since last night.

Cycled the water pump on to build pressure in the lines.

Check back tomorrow....
 
douglee25 said:
If I see no change, I think the issue may have to do with the shower sump.
Click to expand...

One thing to check... I know of one person that simply re-caulked the sump to the floor. Turns out it was just screwed down with no caulk or sealant in the screw holes. Eliminated a mystery leak. Might check that also.
 
hughespat57 said:
Note you have a gasoline powered boat as such I have never seen the engine room bilges connected to the cabin bilges. This would allow gasoline fumes to enter the cabin spaces. Then all electrical in the cabin space would require Ignition Protection approved devices. The engine room bulkhead is normally completely sealed for isolation.

This opening was possibly added by a previous Owner? Doe it appear factory?
If factory it would need to meet this recommendation from the USCG Boat Builders Guide.

SPECIAL NOTE:
The U.S. Coast Guard has developed the following compliance policy concerning drain holes in isolation
bulkheads:
“Any hole installed for drainage in an isolation bulkhead must be fitted with a plug or sealing device
that is intended to be in place when the boat is being used. The plug or sealing device must be
attached to the drain fitting or the bulkhead near the drain hole so it will not be lost. It must be
understood that when this drain hole is open, the isolation integrity of the bulkhead has been
breached causing a potentially hazardous condition. It is the responsibility of the boat manufacturer
to make this intent known to the consumer via means such as labeling, information in a boat owners
manual, etc.”
page 20

Such a fitting would be used only when the boat is on the trailer or blocked to drain the bilges out the transom plug.
Click to expand...

This explains why there is a random garboard plug attached with a wire to the wall of my ski locker next to the bilge drain hole. I never could figure that out. Thanks!
 
Update -

Checked at lunch today again. Bilge is dry with the lines still pressurized. All good signs here.

The more I think about this, the more I think it's going to be the anchor locker. I will be looking into this further on the weekend.
 
Keep running one system at a time you’ll find it
Run the AC next could have a leaking pan or fitting even though the hose goes to ER
 
hughespat57 said:
Keep running one system at a time you’ll find it
Run the AC next could have a leaking pan or fitting even though the hose goes to ER
Click to expand...

The AC would have wet the carpet initially the way it's situated. I haven't even run the AC yet this year and the bilge has water. AC has been eliminated at this point.

That leaves the shower or rain/washing at this point. In fact, I haven't even used the shower but once or twice. And water was visible even before I used the shower this year. I will reconfirm, but I'm fairly confident the shower is eliminated as well.
 
I'd turn on the shower for a while and see if its drain system has any leaks or if the sump overflows at some point. It sounds like you have eliminated any pressure side leaks, so it may be time to concentrate on the drain side. Ditto for the head and galley sinks.
 
Last edited:
Update from this weekend -

1. Still haven't fully traced this 'leak'. Having the AC condensate drain in the ER plus having the drip style stuffing boxes make it pretty difficult to diagnose where the leak is coming from.
2. Added 1/2 gallon pink antifreeze to the water system and ran every single faucet head, created back pressure in the system, etc in hopes of correlating it back to the water tank. Any water I vacuumed up from the front bilge had zero pink in it. I'm pretty confident I can eliminate this as a source.
3. I added some Simple Green to the rear bilge. If any water was making it through the bulkhead at a hairline crack in the fiberlass layup, it should turn the water green. Well, the lake water is already almost a dirty/green color anyway. I did see some suds when I vaccumed up a small amount of water from the bilge. I have not 100% ruled out this yet. I may repeat with some pink antifreeze to be sure.
4. I also found out that the AC water supply hose and AC condensate hose that run through the bulkhead... there is an interior bulkhead PLUS a engine room bulkhead - there is about 1" of space between them where if one of those two hoses were in fact leaking, it could end up in the bilge. This was not apparent until I literally stuck my head 6" from it in the corner of the bilge. I see no water running back down the hoses, so I assume they aren't leaking, but I'm going to remove the silicone on the interior and double check this week.
5. I didn't even bother testing the anchor locker because wherever the leak is coming from, it's not coming from there yet.

Regardless, I am going to fab up a dry bilge system in hopes of addressing the water in all areas of the boat.

Frustrating!


Edit - One other note... I did find out that my shower sump is still not 100% fixed from last year. The duck bill check valve is a shitty design in this style sump which severely throttles down the flow. I purchased a new style sump that has a 25% more flowrate (apparently). That should at least keep the sump from over flowing into the bilge.
 
Update 5/30 -

Well I think I can finally put this to bed....

Two different leaks. My bilges (fwd and aft) have been completely bone dry this entire week with multiple runs in 20-35 mph winds.

1. First leak I found holding up the engine hatch while my son drove the boat. Water was pouring in at the rub rail on the port rear near the swim platform. The molding had pulled away from a screw that was in the dock at the very end of last year. It was on my list to fix. I was unaware there was a direct line of sight for water to get in. Removed molding, apply LifeSeal, reattach molding with new screws. No more water.

2. To further reduce water in the rear bilge, I installed a system similar to the Mermaid Condensator. All the same parts, $100 in cost. I ran the AC prior to installation to monitor how much water was going in the bilge.... Over 3.5 gallons in two days. Now, it's all going over the side.

3. The forward bilge leak must have been due to the cracked thru hull from the detailer. Easy fix. Reinstalled new thru hull. Also applied LifeSeal to all thru hulls on the exterior side of the hull just in case.

4. As mentioned above, the shower sump was not keeping up and would over flow. I replaced the check valve last year and I thought it was fixed. Evidently the issue was back. I decided to replace the box with a better unit. No more overflowing.

I'll continue to monitor but this weekend was the worst that I've been on the lake in 4 years (wind wise causing major chop) and it's literally bone dry.
 
Turns out I still have had water in the bilge although it's been much better. I figured it was either the fwd anchor locker (confirmed drain is clear) or from rain water on the engine hatch side. Turns out when I went to clean out the drains under the engine hatches, the bolt down engine hatch portion where water flows under towards the drain, the factory had installed some sort of butyl tape to keep the hatch from rattling. In doing so, they installed the tape literally around the drain. In effect, it made a dam which cause water to overflow the hatch trough and go into the bilge.
 
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