Am I missing anything that could be bringing water into the double hull?

[joelreznick]

Hi everyone,
I'm taking on some water(a decent amount) and I can't figure it out. The dealer is booked and they can't help but we have a lake vacation planned for next week. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. We have a 2022 212X about 35 hours and Ive been saying this is happening since day 1 but I can't find where or what and dealer says all seems as it should.

Here's what's happening:

The boat always seems very front heavy, nearly instantly when put in the water.

All drain plugs in the double hull are always closed. If I open any of them water will immediately start coming up a decent rate, then I close them. If I leave the plugs closed there's no water in the ski locker or engine compartment and no visible water where the bilge pump is, nothing from any cooling hoses

Bulge pump is pumping water approx every 2 minutes when underway, does not pump when stopped, and immediately starts when going from stopped to underway.

If the boat is moored it stays floating and it doesn't seem the bilge pump goes on at all over night or at all best I can tell. Same if just floating, still seems front heavy but nonbikge water.

So I was thinking the front anchor locker drain, I ordered a new one and when changing it, I see this hole inside the through hull hole, do you think this is normal? Should I seal it? I'm guessing it's the dual hull drain, is this really necessary? I've attached a pic of the hole.

I filled all three ballasts, and pulled the boat, the right ballast will continue to drip and leak until empty, The other two tanks do not leak and only drain when pumping. Any idea why? The first video shows the dripping ballast.

I dont really understand the ballast on/off valves but I guess I'll try turning those to off and see if it makes a difference but I'm thinking the ballast is not the issue, just something to fix because is moving water into and out of the tanks. But I'm not sure.

 

[drewkaree]

If your dealer has already looked at it, they will likely not be much help, unless someone there stumbles across the problem.

The boat always seems very front heavy, nearly instantly when put in the water.

"Instantly" means.....? The second it's in the water? Within minutes of launching?

How many people are you typically going out with, and is everyone milling about or do they tend to congregate up in the bow, or....?

Sounds like you have a lot of water in your bilge, and it's not draining out after you're done using it for the day. Someone else can speak to possible issues with the impellers/bearings, it just seems odd that such a new boat would have those issues.

Everything you're describing is normal/typical. You take off, all the water moves from the low spot at the front of the boat (the ACTUAL lowest spot on your boat), to the back of the boat, at which point the bilge kicks on and removes as much water as it can while you're on plane and forcing the water back to that area. When stopped, the water moves to the front of the boat again, and the bilge stops running.

The pic of your anchor locker drain is from the outside, and super close-up. What's the inside of the anchor locker look like? From that zoomed in pic, it looks like the drain fitting would cover that hole, but it's not going to hurt you to seal it. If you sealed the flange around the new fitting, that should suffice, as long as the fitting reaches the interior of the anchor locker, and it's sealed around the interior as well. That shouldn't be allowing water at that rate though, so I don't think that's the root of your problems.

When you pull the boat out of the water, do you pull the drain plug when the boat is on the ramp, or do you wait until you're on flat ground away from the launch to pull it? If it's flat ground when you pull it, you need to get the nose of your boat up as high as you can, and pull that plug to get more water out of there.

There's a fistful of places these boats can leak, and simple fixes can be found all around here on the forums - check the FAQ for tracking down leaks. It may be leaking in at the back, and when it hits the bilge, it flows forward, as odd as that sounds, so you need to do some sleuthing as to all the possible ways water can make it into your bilge. Anchor locker drain, rub rail, cleanout tray, cleanout tray hatch....

I don't have a ballast system, so I can't really point to anything with that, other than to point out that when you say it continues to drip until it's empty, that water has to go SOMEWHERE, maybe that's why your bilge is feeling like it's instantly filled when you drop the boat in the water. You mentioned a video, but that's not attached here. Mebbe repost it.

The cleanout tray is easy to test for leaks - fill the area with a garden hose, pop the hatch, and listen/look for water dripping into the bilge. Since you've already replaced the anchor locker drain fitting, show us the interior, and the cleanout tray would be the next easiest area to check for easy-to-fix leaks of that magnitude.

 

[zipper]

As said above, you have water in the bilge that is not draining or getting pumped out. The area below the ski locker can hold a lot of water. Water streaming up from that drain is a sign of it. If you trailer, Jack the bow up high, I did all the way up on a block of wood to get it all for the Winter downtime. If you are on the water, to transfer the water weight aft and get the bow up, accelerate the boat to just before it reaches plane, water will run back to the bilge pump and get pumped out. Hold it there until no water is seen being pumped out. You will still have water down there that the pump can't get, that only the trailer option or a second bilge pump will get. There are many ways water gets down there. The anchor locker thru hull seal is one. @drewkaree knows the anchor locker issue well.

 

[Julian]

Hi everyone,
I'm taking on some water(a decent amount) and I can't figure it out. The dealer is booked and they can't help but we have a lake vacation planned for next week. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. We have a 2022 212X about 35 hours and Ive been saying this is happening since day 1 but I can't find where or what and dealer says all seems as it should.

Here's what's happening:

The boat always seems very front heavy, nearly instantly when put in the water.

All drain plugs in the double hull are always closed. If I open any of them water will immediately start coming up a decent rate, then I close them. If I leave the plugs closed there's no water in the ski locker or engine compartment and no visible water where the bilge pump is, nothing from any cooling hoses

Bulge pump is pumping water approx every 2 minutes when underway, does not pump when stopped, and immediately starts when going from stopped to underway.

If the boat is moored it stays floating and it doesn't seem the bilge pump goes on at all over night or at all best I can tell. Same if just floating, still seems front heavy but nonbikge water.

So I was thinking the front anchor locker drain, I ordered a new one and when changing it, I see this hole inside the through hull hole, do you think this is normal? Should I seal it? I'm guessing it's the dual hull drain, is this really necessary? I've attached a pic of the hole.

I filled all three ballasts, and pulled the boat, the right ballast will continue to drip and leak until empty, The other two tanks do not leak and only drain when pumping. Any idea why? The first video shows the dripping ballast.

I dont really understand the ballast on/off valves but I guess I'll try turning those to off and see if it makes a difference but I'm thinking the ballast is not the issue, just something to fix because is moving water into and out of the tanks. But I'm not sure.

Have you gone through the leak finder thread?

Check that out and if none of that applies lets see what we add to it! Haven't had to add anything lately though.

 

[joelreznick]

If your dealer has already looked at it, they will likely not be much help, unless someone there stumbles across the problem.



"Instantly" means.....? The second it's in the water? Within minutes of launching?

How many people are you typically going out with, and is everyone milling about or do they tend to congregate up in the bow, or....?

Sounds like you have a lot of water in your bilge, and it's not draining out after you're done using it for the day. Someone else can speak to possible issues with the impellers/bearings, it just seems odd that such a new boat would have those issues.

Everything you're describing is normal/typical. You take off, all the water moves from the low spot at the front of the boat (the ACTUAL lowest spot on your boat), to the back of the boat, at which point the bilge kicks on and removes as much water as it can while you're on plane and forcing the water back to that area. When stopped, the water moves to the front of the boat again, and the bilge stops running.

The pic of your anchor locker drain is from the outside, and super close-up. What's the inside of the anchor locker look like? From that zoomed in pic, it looks like the drain fitting would cover that hole, but it's not going to hurt you to seal it. If you sealed the flange around the new fitting, that should suffice, as long as the fitting reaches the interior of the anchor locker, and it's sealed around the interior as well. That shouldn't be allowing water at that rate though, so I don't think that's the root of your problems.

When you pull the boat out of the water, do you pull the drain plug when the boat is on the ramp, or do you wait until you're on flat ground away from the launch to pull it? If it's flat ground when you pull it, you need to get the nose of your boat up as high as you can, and pull that plug to get more water out of there.

There's a fistful of places these boats can leak, and simple fixes can be found all around here on the forums - check the FAQ for tracking down leaks. It may be leaking in at the back, and when it hits the bilge, it flows forward, as odd as that sounds, so you need to do some sleuthing as to all the possible ways water can make it into your bilge. Anchor locker drain, rub rail, cleanout tray, cleanout tray hatch....

I don't have a ballast system, so I can't really point to anything with that, other than to point out that when you say it continues to drip until it's empty, that water has to go SOMEWHERE, maybe that's why your bilge is feeling like it's instantly filled when you drop the boat in the water. You mentioned a video, but that's not attached here. Mebbe repost it.

The cleanout tray is easy to test for leaks - fill the area with a garden hose, pop the hatch, and listen/look for water dripping into the bilge. Since you've already replaced the anchor locker drain fitting, show us the interior, and the cleanout tray would be the next easiest area to check for easy-to-fix leaks of that magnitude.

Thank you, I looked over everything you have mentioned. Usually we drove with just the family of 5 on-board, little movement and farninder weight for the boat.

The clean out tray seems really loose and there is definitely signs of water on the exhaust. The area is so small it's hard to get a pic but I tried and attached. I sealed the tray rubber seal with the Yamaha sealant, I don't know. Little Faith in the way that tray seals. That seems it could be an issue.

I also attached the video of the drain plug removal, it's long so the system wouldn't let me post it all. I get that flow rate for a little over 2 minutes then will dwindle off. This video is after about 20 minutes on water, launch, motor though the 5 mile zone then pull the boat in an effort to see what's going on.

I'll try again this week with all the ballast levers turned to off, the clean out tray re-seal and the new front anchor lock seal. Hoping for the best.

 

[zipper]

Thank you, I looked over everything you have mentioned. Usually we drove with just the family of 5 on-board, little movement and farninder weight for the boat...

...I also attached the video of the drain plug removal, it's long so the system wouldn't let me post it all. I get that flow rate for a little over 2 minutes then will dwindle off. This video is after about 20 minutes on water, launch, motor though the 5 mile zone then pull the boat in an effort to see what's going on.

I'll try again this week with all the ballast levers turned to off, the clean out tray re-seal and the new front anchor lock seal. Hoping for the best.

Video's can be uploaded onto youtube. A link to the video can be posted here.

 

[drewkaree]

Thank you, I looked over everything you have mentioned. Usually we drove with just the family of 5 on-board, little movement and farninder weight for the boat.

The clean out tray seems really loose and there is definitely signs of water on the exhaust. The area is so small it's hard to get a pic but I tried and attached. I sealed the tray rubber seal with the Yamaha sealant, I don't know. Little Faith in the way that tray seals. That seems it could be an issue.

I also attached the video of the drain plug removal, it's long so the system wouldn't let me post it all. I get that flow rate for a little over 2 minutes then will dwindle off. This video is after about 20 minutes on water, launch, motor though the 5 mile zone then pull the boat in an effort to see what's going on.

I'll try again this week with all the ballast levers turned to off, the clean out tray re-seal and the new front anchor lock seal. Hoping for the best.

It's astounding how much the tray will allow into the bilge, that will likely go a long ways towards lessening the amount of water. The inside of your anchor locker looks to be good, that looks like the rubber washer on there, or at least some black sealant, and you've got some around the outside of the fitting, so the only other thing you could do there is to plug that drain fitting altogether to help keep more water out - put it in before launch, remove after you pull out.

Take a look at the link @Julian posted just to mentally check off things, or maybe it'll trigger something when you're looking over the boat.

If you haven't jacked the nose of your trailer up, you'll likely still have quite a bit of water in your bilge, even AFTER that 2-minute drain. There are threads around here detailing just how and why water has a tough time finding its way out after it's gotten in, so remember that when you're out on the water next. I may have a pic floating around here showing my boat on the trailer and backed down into the ditch along the road by our house, and that seemed to get 80% of the water out - these boats just don't seem to like to give back any water.

The last item that seems to have made a big difference for many here is to add a riser to the cleanout hatch. Several of us have made our own, or JetBoatPilot sells a 3D printed one. I used a cutting board purchased from Sam's Club, if you can find Starboard, that would work as well, and I'm guessing that you could also use PVC trim/boards if your local hardware store has a decent selection, although that might be a bit more than buying Will's 3D printed version. If you have any plywood scraps lying around, you could always cut one out just to test it, and if it helps, use it as a template to build a more permanent one out of something more waterproof.

Keep us posted, and I'll recommend NOT giving it over to the dealer until your season is winding down. Your boat will still float, they'll still likely have the same success in tracking down these issues, and you may stumble across a solution before they do, since you'll care more about your boat than anyone else will, especially a dealership. Looking forward to hearing successful results from the changes you've already made.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

While you said that it’s just your family of 5 and you don’t move around, I’m going to assume people were sitting up in the bow, when people sit up there it puts the anchor locker drain under water and this the anchor locker has water flowing into it.

You can get these plugs at most marine hardware stores. This will keep your anchor locker from filling with water through the drain while on the water. Good job on replacing the oem anchor locker drain thru hull fitting.





As the others have said, there are places where water gets in but they are all sealable. It was a bit of a journey for me but now when I pull my boat out I don’t get one drop of water out of the bilge.

One of the first things I’d suggest, and I think it’s what you said you were going to do was to shut off all the sea conks for the ballast bags. I’d also suggest going through all of the hose connections for the ballast bags to make sure the clamps are tight and there is no evidence of water leaking at those places.

Under the the clean out tray, check those hose clamp on the deck drain scupper, get familiar where this deck drain is and see if you can see it with a flash light while on the water. Take a look while on the water to make sure you do not have a leak there.

The clean out tray…. There is a drain in there obviously, but this drain also becomes a geyser when you slow down and the wave comes up to the back of the boat. Several folks have installed an inline check valve to stop the geyser action but still allows the drain to drain the water out of that area. And it’s pretty normal for your clean out tubes to have water in them. I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you put a bead of silicone or bathroom caulk on after the clean out tray is installed that interface will not leak. The other thing, as the others have mentioned is the mechanical hatch riser. As I mentioned it is normal for the clean out plugs to leak water and fill the tray (the geyser action too) and this water flow can greatly exceed that single drains ability to drain that water, and thus will rise above the oem mechanical hatch and by design it will leak water. All of these small leaks add up. Again, having a dry bilge is totally possible just takes a bit of time and effort.

 

[Scottintexas]

if it doesn't fill with water while at rest I would definitely look at a leak in the cooling system,

have you run the engines with the hatch open to see if any water is visible coming from engine area ?

when I put the boat on the trailer I would let it sit for a period at a more extreme angle to make sure all the residual water drained out the back plug, then I'd put the boat back on the water to do more precise observation and remove the rain water possibility,

your probably going to have to pull the cleanout tray and check all the hose clamps, if a you've got a problem there every time the engine runs it's going to dump water into your bilge,

I wouldn't take my family out again until you figure this out, if you posted your location there may be a member that could help you trouble shoot it, if you were in the dallas area, I'd be glad to help,

 

[212s]

While you said that it’s just your family of 5 and you don’t move around, I’m going to assume people were sitting up in the bow, when people sit up there it puts the anchor locker drain under water and this the anchor locker has water flowing into it.

Is your anchor locker drain that low? Mine is about half a foot above the water line when floating, even with three adults sitting in the bow.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Is your anchor locker drain that low? Mine is about half a foot above the water line when floating, even with three adults sitting in the bow.

Posted this pic from the other day in one of the other “I’ve got water in my boat“ threads…that pic is with about 30% fuel, and my gear. The slight port list is because the live well is not filled with water yet.

 

[drewkaree]

Is your anchor locker drain that low? Mine is about half a foot above the water line when floating, even with three adults sitting in the bow.

same as mine, but when under power and/or even minimal chop, more water than you would think makes it into the ancheor locker with people in the bow

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

same as mine, but when under power and/or even minimal chop, more water than you would think makes it into the ancheor locker with people in the bow

Agreed, and now that I have to deal with zebra mussels at one of the lakes I go to, that little plug keeps the anchor locker clean and dry unless I were to use the anchor there.

 

[212s]

same as mine, but when under power and/or even minimal chop, more water than you would think makes it into the ancheor locker with people in the bow

Except I use my anchor often and my locker is almost dry - just some water from the anchor and line. From what I can see, no water is coming in through the drain because there would be a pool of water sitting in the bottom of the locker since the drain is not right at the bottom. The bottom of my locker could hold about 10 cups of water before rising to the drain, yet there is barely a cup worth sitting there. I don't think I'm getting any water in through the hull at the through-hull fitting either since my bilge is bone dry. I was getting water in at the clean out hatch but since I sealed it with silicone shortly after buying the boat, it's been dry. We also have a lot of large cruiser and yacht traffic in our area so we're often running through 2-3 foot wakes and stay dry.

I just went out to look at my drain and it's about 1 inch below the first lifting strake so it's much higher than the drain seen in @FSH 210 Sport picture above where it's almost at the water line. Maybe when they drill the drain hole it's done manually (robots cut out the holes inside the deck) and they did mine higher by mistake?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Dunno…. Perhaps the anchor locker in my boat is a bit deeper??? I know the hulls are the same (thanks @biffdotorg ) but the liners and top plates are different?

I mainly use the spot lock feature of my trolling motor to hold my position during the day, but I’m itching to test out the anchor roller my friend and I installed. Almost used it the other day but decided against staying over night on the boat.

Went out and snapped a pic for comparison…

 

[drewkaree]

Except I use my anchor often and my locker is almost dry - just some water from the anchor and line. From what I can see, no water is coming in through the drain because there would be a pool of water sitting in the bottom of the locker since the drain is not right at the bottom. The bottom of my locker could hold about 10 cups of water before rising to the drain, yet there is barely a cup worth sitting there. I don't think I'm getting any water in through the hull at the through-hull fitting either since my bilge is bone dry. I was getting water in at the clean out hatch but since I sealed it with silicone shortly after buying the boat, it's been dry. We also have a lot of large cruiser and yacht traffic in our area so we're often running through 2-3 foot wakes and stay dry.

I just went out to look at my drain and it's about 1 inch below the first lifting strake so it's much higher than the drain seen in @FSH 210 Sport picture above where it's almost at the water line. Maybe when they drill the drain hole it's done manually (robots cut out the holes inside the deck) and they did mine higher by mistake?

View attachment 202204
[/QUOTE

Except I use my anchor often and my locker is almost dry - just some water from the anchor and line. From what I can see, no water is coming in through the drain because there would be a pool of water sitting in the bottom of the locker since the drain is not right at the bottom. The bottom of my locker could hold about 10 cups of water before rising to the drain, yet there is barely a cup worth sitting there. I don't think I'm getting any water in through the hull at the through-hull fitting either since my bilge is bone dry. I was getting water in at the clean out hatch but since I sealed it with silicone shortly after buying the boat, it's been dry. We also have a lot of large cruiser and yacht traffic in our area so we're often running through 2-3 foot wakes and stay dry.

I just went out to look at my drain and it's about 1 inch below the first lifting strake so it's much higher than the drain seen in @FSH 210 Sport picture above where it's almost at the water line. Maybe when they drill the drain hole it's done manually (robots cut out the holes inside the deck) and they did mine higher by mistake?

View attachment 202204

You may be one of those who had a clean hole drilled, and didn't get shorted with the fitting, so you would start with an advantage there. Mine was drilled with a .45 Cal pistol, apparently, and the fitting was cut short of the interior by 1/4" or so, allowing water between the hulls. That's one of the typical leak areas, and it seems to be completely dependent on the person doing the work that day.

Your fitting does seem higher than @FSH 210 Sport's boat, so I would agree, it appears these are hand-done and positioned by eye.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

These are the pics I took when I was chasing down water intrusion per @drewkaree ’s posts and found how my anchor locker drain had been installed. It’s as low as it could be installed, mine looked as though the hole had been broached on the inner or top cap portion read .45 cal pistol shot, and while there was ample silicone sealer on the pressed in thru hull fitting, there was none inside. That material had been wet and it was obvious that water was coming into the locker via the drain then passing around the fitting and going into the bilge past the unsealed and blown area of the top cap.