Bilge Clean-Out Hatch Spacer

[1BadTundra]

I made this out of 2 HDPE cutting boards.. Together they are a 1" spacer. Sealed with silicone in between every joint. Total cost for 2 cutting boards, 10 8-32 bolts and lock nuts, 1 tube of silicone... $32

 

[David_411]

I’m brand new to the boating scene, just purchased a 2022 212xe last month and haven’t put it in the water yet. Would you mind explaining what is the purpose of this modification? I’m already planning the anchor locker drain mod but mine seams to have a good amount of silicone from the factory, maybe they got the message and fixed the issue. Is this another problem area for leaks I don’t know about yet?

 

[1BadTundra]

This just raises the clean out hatch 1" higher than the drain, preventing a lot of water intrusion into the bilge before it has the chance to drain down through the drain tube.

 

[David_411]

Thank you.

 

[Julian]

Jetboatpilot.com makes a riser you can buy. @1BadTundra just made it himself.

Yamaha Mechanical Access Port Riser

Add vertical height to the location of your clean out port compartment's mechanical access port. Adding this custom "STARBOARD" CNC fabricated riser will raise your boat's mechanical access port 3/4" above the deck. Raising the access port up off the deck has the effect of keeping the bilge...

jetboatpilot.com

 

[212s]

Thank you.

That large cover with the riser on it, is also a leak point - water gets onto the tray but there is no seal from the tray cover to the bilge area so water seeps through. I ran a bead of silicone around the cover and now my bilge is usually very dry. There's a rubber seal around the access hatch on mine so I don't seem to get much if any water in that way.

 

[drewkaree]

I’m brand new to the boating scene, just purchased a 2022 212xe last month and haven’t put it in the water yet. Would you mind explaining what is the purpose of this modification? I’m already planning the anchor locker drain mod but mine seams to have a good amount of silicone from the factory, maybe they got the message and fixed the issue. Is this another problem area for leaks I don’t know about yet?

You'll have to look at your cleanout tray, and if you have that drain fitting, circled in pink, it allows water into that area. You also may get some flow past your cleanout plugs. Look at the pink circle, see how the fitting is raised? That means nothing is going to drain until it gets past that lip, or it rises above that lip. If the cleanout tray itself is not sealed well along the edge, indicated in green, all the water that isn't draining out due to that fitting just sits there and slowly drains into your bilge through any poorly sealed areas. If you get a huge amount of water in there, such as when coming off plane, enough water builds up that it covers the cleanout tray hatch.

That hatch isn't shown in @1BadTundra's pic, but the oval rubber o-ring that is on that hatch cover does a piss-poor job of sealing out any excessive amount of water. Any water that makes it that high will then flow into the bilge there as well, represented by the red circle. That riser puts the cleanout hatch high enough that it should NOT build up to the point that it leaks in through the red circled area, and drains out through the stupid pink circled fitting.





On mine, that drain fitting sits in a recess. I replaced that white plastic fitting with a stainless fitting that has a flatter flange. Less of a lip, so water starts draining faster. Any improvement of the cleanout tray gave me noticeable and better results in removing water. Jet Boat Pilot sells a 3D printed CNC-cut Starboard riser if you don't have tools or the wherewithal to make one yourself, like @1BadTundra did. I did the same, and the benefit for @1BadTundra and myself, ours are 1" tall, whereas JBP's are 3/4" tall, and the DIY version can be had for 1/3 the cost - JBP's is $90.

If I were you @David_411, I WOULD "fix what isn't broken". At the very least, there's not a chance in hell that the cleanout hatch cover will seal out any water, so make/buy a riser and install it. Since you have to do that work there, make it easy on yourself and pull the cleanout tray to add your riser. While you've got it out, either replace & seal your white plastic drain fitting with a stainless, or remove and ENSURE that white plastic fitting is sealed. After you've sealed the drain fitting and installed your riser, put the cleanout tray back in place. Either seal under the edges of your cleanout tray where they likely didn't COMPLETELY seal the tray, or seal around the edge, like you were caulking a tub.

It sounds like way more work than it actually is (unless you're fabbing your own riser). Yes, this is one of the bigger problem areas for leaks, but it's reasonably easy to address.

@1BadTundra that's a nice job, and I like the color.

 

[drewkaree]

Just noticed that the o-ring isn't on @1BadTundra's, he probably removed it for installation. Here's how it looks when installed. Very unimpressive design, and allows a fair amount of water past, unless you screw the hatch cover down, which isn't a good solution IMO.

 

[1BadTundra]

Thanks @drewkaree I just got 10' of new gasket, mine was about 2" short of touching itself when inside the groove. I found it on Ebay, got 10' for $6. As for the drain, I meant to look for that before reinstallation, I figured something with a shallow-er head would let it drain faster. ADA Racing has anodized blue ones, flatter head, 3/4" hose fitting. (Any chance you can verify that drain fitting size for me?) And yes, you cannot forget to seal the whole tray with silicone when reinstalling it. A bead around the cleanout ports, and one surrounding the entire tray.

 

[1BadTundra]

Thinkin maybe one of these in blue.. Bilge Outlet - 3/4 inch

 

[RobbieO]

You'll have to look at your cleanout tray, and if you have that drain fitting, circled in pink, it allows water into that area. You also may get some flow past your cleanout plugs. Look at the pink circle, see how the fitting is raised? That means nothing is going to drain until it gets past that lip, or it rises above that lip. If the cleanout tray itself is not sealed well along the edge, indicated in green, all the water that isn't draining out due to that fitting just sits there and slowly drains into your bilge through any poorly sealed areas. If you get a huge amount of water in there, such as when coming off plane, enough water builds up that it covers the cleanout tray hatch.

That hatch isn't shown in @1BadTundra's pic, but the oval rubber o-ring that is on that hatch cover does a piss-poor job of sealing out any excessive amount of water. Any water that makes it that high will then flow into the bilge there as well, represented by the red circle. That riser puts the cleanout hatch high enough that it should NOT build up to the point that it leaks in through the red circled area, and drains out through the stupid pink circled fitting.


View attachment 171855


On mine, that drain fitting sits in a recess. I replaced that white plastic fitting with a stainless fitting that has a flatter flange. Less of a lip, so water starts draining faster. Any improvement of the cleanout tray gave me noticeable and better results in removing water. Jet Boat Pilot sells a 3D printed CNC-cut Starboard riser if you don't have tools or the wherewithal to make one yourself, like @1BadTundra did. I did the same, and the benefit for @1BadTundra and myself, ours are 1" tall, whereas JBP's are 3/4" tall, and the DIY version can be had for 1/3 the cost - JBP's is $90.

If I were you @David_411, I WOULD "fix what isn't broken". At the very least, there's not a chance in hell that the cleanout hatch cover will seal out any water, so make/buy a riser and install it. Since you have to do that work there, make it easy on yourself and pull the cleanout tray to add your riser. While you've got it out, either replace & seal your white plastic drain fitting with a stainless, or remove and ENSURE that white plastic fitting is sealed. After you've sealed the drain fitting and installed your riser, put the cleanout tray back in place. Either seal under the edges of your cleanout tray where they likely didn't COMPLETELY seal the tray, or seal around the edge, like you were caulking a tub.

It sounds like way more work than it actually is (unless you're fabbing your own riser). Yes, this is one of the bigger problem areas for leaks, but it's reasonably easy to address.

@1BadTundra that's a nice job, and I like the color.

You have a link for the SS fitting you used? Thanks

 

[drewkaree]

Thanks @drewkaree I just got 10' of new gasket, mine was about 2" short of touching itself when inside the groove. I found it on Ebay, got 10' for $6. As for the drain, I meant to look for that before reinstallation, I figured something with a shallow-er head would let it drain faster. ADA Racing has anodized blue ones, flatter head, 3/4" hose fitting. (Any chance you can verify that drain fitting size for me?) And yes, you cannot forget to seal the whole tray with silicone when reinstalling it. A bead around the cleanout ports, and one surrounding the entire tray.

That bilge fitting has a mushroom head, so it might be thinner at the edge, but in the center surrounding the hole, it'll be taller, perhaps the same height. Colored versions of fittings are tough to come by. I can't find my order, so I don't know if it was Amazon or ebay, but here's the item I ended up with, as well as the difference between the stainless fitting and the white plastic OEM version. The biggest difference other than a shallower lip, is that the fitting I bought is dished toward the center opening.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/some-water-getting-in-resolved.27877/page-5#post-526443

https://jetboaters.net/threads/some-water-getting-in-resolved.27877/page-7#post-533323

 

[drewkaree]

@RobbieO Just found it. Amazon still has it. Not sure if there's something better out there, but this is a pretty decent starting point.

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