FSH drain tests and where the water goes

I am creating this separate post so the solutions I found are at the top instead of 2 pages deep on one of my other posts. Video walk through coming soon.

First off biggest issues causing water in places it should not be is the front seat pedestal hole and rod holders!! With that being said I would not put anything in the back compartments if you don't want them wet most importantly things like battery chargers. So the water from the seat pedestal flows down into the changing area room and down the sides of the boat into the back compartments which have no real draining mechanism. Need a plug or hose to re-direct the water in pedestal!!

Cooler flows out the rear of the boat with no issue.

Changing room area has 2 plugs leading to a little valley that so far on a level surface water just sits below the plugs. The front plug is too high so once you get a 1/2 inch of water in the front section it never leaves!! Major design flaw here not sure how I am going to resolve this. I pulled the white paneling and the fuel tank is behind and below this so be careful if you want to drill into this paneling!! Maybe a 1/4 inch gap under the tank which I believe is where water comes from motor area if it gets too high.

Rear floor drains have a 1 way stop valve which is nice so water does not come in but water goes out so slow dirt just collects in the little pockets on each side of the boat.

Starboard compartment in front of live well this one actually drains a little under the paneling into the motor area. Might need to drill a hole in the paneling so it will drain faster real slow right now. If you are fishing and using the rod holders in the rain which I do on an occasion need these compartments draining.

Port side compartment water seems to collect in this area the worst which is where all my batteries and charger used to be. There is a hump that is a little higher towards the rear of the boat which is where I moved my cranking and house battery. Pulled my 2 trolling motor batteries and moved them to the front of the boat. Still trying to figure where I am going to re-locate my battery charger it had to go back to the dealer for repair. Probably due to too much moisture or water build up in this back compartment. I can't stress this enough this area is not good for electronics lots of moisture.

Still have to test anchor drain.

Live well has a 1-way drain just above the jet nozzle works as it should.

When there is a heavy rain I don't know if water can over flow the compartment lids and get in either.

Hope this helps others on why they have water in the boat.

Thanks for that follow up.
I noticed the same thing with the under seat storage on both sides...they don't drain well at all.

Huge rainstorms today and got water in the rear compartments again. Also found several items on my console leak through to the changing area guess I am going to have to spend some time with silicon. So now I think I can safely say this boat has zero places to keep items dry unless using dry bags or storage containers. Have no idea where I am going to mount my amp for my speakers at this point. Might have to build a container that will allow air flow but nothing to drip on the unit.

Picked up 2 rubber stoppers from Lowes last night and the smallest one fit the front seat pedestal so hopefully that is one spot that is plugged. Going to get me some more containers with lids for the back compartments to keep things dry when stored.

I dont understand why there are drain plugs in the changing area? Why not just a hole to drain?

From what I can tell the changing room area is almost the lowest point and if you leave the plugs out any water in the boat will come in from the hull. Even when I have run my pump until it finishes water is still left in the changing area. The only way I have found to get the water out is to pull all the plugs on an incline to let it all drain out or shop vac. Another member on here has actually put in a floating floor to deal with the issue. I am just hoping that installing a 2nd bilge down in the very bottom of the hull will resolve this issue. However I know that 1/2 inch of water will sit in the front compartment even with the drain plugs out.

When running wires from under the gunnels on mine, I noticed that there is a channel in the front left corner of the changing room pan. The storage area in the bow under the two access panels drains by way of the channel into the changing room. It's only on the front port side (when facing the bow in the changing room).

To see it you need to stoop low and use a flashlight to look along the seam between the deck above and the pan.

Davidrbjr said:

I dont understand why there are drain plugs in the changing area? Why not just a hole to drain?

Click to expand...

From what I can tell the changing room area is as low as the rear hull or lower. When on the water if I have water in the hull up to the bilge and remove the changing area plugs I can see the water coming into the changing area from the hull.

After a normal rain shower this week I found around 1/2" of standing water in the front changing room compartment and the motor area water was up above the bilge. So on a flat surface it takes almost 2-3" in the boat before its high enough to drain out the rear drain plugs. I actually pulled my front compartment drains and water flowed back into them from the hull so it appears they are lower than the rear drains as well. I even jacked the front of the boat trailer up as high as it would go no help.

So even with this bilge and float installed at the lowest possible point the boat will hold 2-3 inches of water. This bilge will kick on before the water gets deep enough to reach the drain plugs


Possible location for water. (While running my wiring for new battery charger realized these could be a rain culprit.)

My 2017 fsh 190 also has water under the center console. I pulled the drain plugs out of the changing compartment since the were allowing water to come in and re-siliconed them and put them back in. This should keep water from leaking past the drain plug housing into the changing compartment because they did not have silicone apply correctly. I also found out the rear floor drains leak. This allows water to get into the battery area and the storange box under the rear seats. So once I get the floor drains siliconed I hope I will have some dry storage. You really have to tilt the boat back to drain the hull. The way the hull is design it will not drain all the water nor will the bilge pump it out. So with just a little silicone most of these problem areas are easy to fix and you get to know your boat. What a fun boat it is.

I've noticed my front deck hatches allow water to get into the hull which flows right into changing area when i hose down/ scrub the deck. The fish well being the only dry storage is now used jusr for that. I use the livewell for fish or carry my bigger cooler. Very disappointed in that design by yamaha to have a boat hold water. Never have i had that before. Im starting to get nervous as winter lay up is approaching here and freezing will be coming to have water still in the hull. Hoping a wet vac will pull it all out,

Tackled the changing area plugs today as the water leaking in from the bilge is really driving me crazy. Note - boat is on sling out of water under cover so no rain or other water. As Billy and others have mentioned, this is definitely a low place in the boat and is consistently holding water. When I pulled the plugs the water was level with the back one and slightly below the front one - about 1/2 inch of water in changing compartment even after running bilge a couple of times. Interesting that I get a stream of water out nearly every time I cycle the bilge so I guess it is slowly draining. .

Vacuumed about 2 gallons of water from floor and bilge. Pulled plugs and they had NO sealer at all on them - wonder if they want them to leak or just oversight? Sealed with marine sealer and reinstalled and dogged down gaskets. Hope this will help but obviously there will be nearly permanent water under the floor.

Finally, it is insane that there are so many places that hold water on this boat. Thanks to all in forum for their suggestions on improvements. Otherwise really enjoying the FSH!

Thanks to all for explaining the very awkward dual drain system in the changing area.

The words "leaks" and "boats" being used together is a scary thing though.

@Billy Marlin , did the 2nd bilge pump keep the water out of the changing area?

Sorry just saw your message for some reason I did not get an email notification of the post. I have discovered that on a level surface water can be in the changing room and not reach the lowest point in the back of the boat where my 2nd bilge is located. My only concern right now is over the winter making sure I don't have water sitting in that low point. Might have to jack the front end of the boat up high enough to make sure all the water drains out.

Would it be easier to drive it down to the ramps, back it down to but not in the water and drain it while it's at that steep angle? I've done that as we have steep ramps at a nearby lake.

That gets the water out initially but after every heavy rain I have found the water is back. Once I get my building built it wont be an issue since it will stay covered. I just figure over the winter with snow and everything will have the water keep finding its way into the hull.

P.S. not my video just sharing.

Well done!!! I will fix this shortly....

Thank you...

saw this a bit ago on line. Awesome video, thanks a million.....

This video is awesome! Major overlooked issue in engineering/factory.
Mine is the same way. Every FSH is probably like this.