Water in the bilge…

[Misterhelms]

How much water would one normally find in the bilge? We got the boat towards the end of last summer and I don’t ever recall having this much water there. We splashed the boat in early April and ran it once over to the new marina. I wouldn’t expected the pump to turn on automatically. Appreciate any insight.

 

[All's Well]

I've never allowed water to collect / sit in the bilge of any boat. You can always find the source and remedy the cause, bilge pumps aren't there to evacuate water on a regular basis from my perspective.

 

[Misterhelms]

I've never allowed water to collect / sit in the bilge of any boat. You can always find the source and remedy the cause, bilge pumps aren't there to evacuate water on a regular basis from my perspective.

That’s kind of what I was thinking as well. Bellows and seals on dripless drive shafts were done in 2016. Wonder if they may be the cause or rudders?

 

[todd choops]

Looks like you’ll need to shop vac it out and hopefully be able to find where it’s coming from I always keep mine dry sometimes I believe it’s from a heavy rain I’d get some

 

[sbw1]

We always had a little water in our bilge, about a quart to half gallon. It came in through the engine room vents when we washed the boat. The pumps did not run while the boat was in the slip. As soon as we would start to come up to cruise speed, the aft pump would come on and pump it dry until the next wash. This never caused any trouble what so ever. It is not something to obsess about unless you have limber holes with raw edges. If you have that issue, glass the edges to protect the structures of the boat.

 

[Strecker25]

I’d say normal is probably a little bit of water but I’ve always been an extremist with tracking down leaks and eliminating them.

took me 3 years on our 290. With all that practice I’ve managed to track all of them down on the 410 in less than a year. Dry as a bone now

 

[BillinPA]

I've never allowed water to collect / sit in the bilge of any boat. You can always find the source and remedy the cause, bilge pumps aren't there to evacuate water on a regular basis from my perspective.

 

[bbwhitejr]

Water belongs on the outside of a boat….I am anal about finding out where it is coming from and stopping it. My rod holders have tubes on them and they drain in the bilge. Freshwater plumbing leaks are notorious for putting water in a bilge.

Bennett

 

[Misterhelms]

Headed back tomorrow with the wet vac to see what I can find. I’m on the Jersey Shore and we’ve had a lot of rain and wind a few weeks ago and I haven’t looked at the bilge since I put it back in the water

 

[kvduff]

Giving it a taste will give you an indicator of its source!

 

[The Bill Collector]

We float in salt water, so my go to was smell it and then taste it... I have had fresh water connections leak and shaft/rudder seals leak. My bilge is bone dry.

 

[Strecker25]

We float in salt water, so my go to was smell it and then taste it... I have had fresh water connections leak and shaft/rudder seals leak. My bilge is bone dry.

documented in another thread but my hot water tank had a pinhole leak and somehow the water ended up in the center cabin bilge! Water finds crazy ways to move around boats, don’t think just because you can see the water collected that it’s coming from near by

 

[bajturner]

Fresh water system and hot water tank has been the most consistent springtime culprit I have found. Overboard discharge seacock is also one I have seen on a few boats, including one of mine, especially on bodies of water where it isn't used. It manages to accumulate a bit of liquid, doesn't get opened and drained, and then gets freeze damage.

It would be worth checking all the drain plugs on the engines. They are usually blue. There is an o-ring that often falls off when they are removed and the techs doing the winterization often either don't notice (or don't care!). They will drip steadily when the engines are running. Raw water pumps always a possibility.

Once you have it dry you can lay some paper towels to look for drips. The blue shop ones work well.

 

[Stee6043]

That seems like enough water that the pumps should have come on and removed "most" of it? That's quite a bit of water.

Might be a good time (once you find the source) to replace your float switches on your pumps.

 

[Jrub215]

I have water accumulating at the bilge pump in the galley of my 420 DA. I shop vac it out and it seeps back in from some where and it stinks!! I have checked the sanitation lines from the heads and no leaks. The sump box is not leaking into the area. The water level never gets high enough to turn the pump on until I'm underway. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Brett H]

I have water accumulating at the bilge pump in the galley of my 420 DA. I shop vac it out and it seeps back in from some where and it stinks!! I have checked the sanitation lines from the heads and no leaks. The sump box is not leaking into the area. The water level never gets high enough to turn the pump on until I'm underway. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Check the salon AC drip pan / drain. If the pan is holding water, the drain is probably clogged. My 410 would overflow the pan (by design, into the salon bilge) if the drain tube which was routed to the sump got clogged.

 

[ttmott]

The hull to deck joints that SR did on their larger boats were notoriously poorly sealed. After you exhaust all the other possibilities others have said then look to remove the rub rail and reseal that joint. I had to do it and many others have.

 

[jmauld]

The hull to deck joints that SR did on their larger boats were notoriously poorly sealed. After you exhaust all the other possibilities others have said then look to remove the rub rail and reseal that joint. I had to do it and many others have.

How much time does a virgin rub rail tech need to allocate for pulling the rub rail and resealing it?

 

[ttmott]

How much time does a virgin rub rail tech need to allocate for pulling the rub rail and resealing it?

Depends upon the size of the boat. For a 40' boat and a virgin -
One day to remove the rub rail and clean it up ready to re-install and start removal of the old caulking.
Two days to finish removing the old caulking and prep those surfaces with acetone and whatever cleaning tools you can get into the gap. Also fix any deck joint screws.
A day to syringe inject 5200 up into the gap and fully fill the gap around the boat.
Then a day to polish and acetone wipe the gelcoat where the rubrail attaches. Then reinstall the rubrail with new 316SS screws and caulk the top of it.
It took the girls that work on my boat just short of three days on my boat. You can see the strings of old caulking that just about fell out in these pics.

 

[jmauld]

Ohhhhh. Maybe I’ll pay somewhere.

this next winter is starting to look expensive