Boat half full of water

[Billy Marlin]

2 Sundays ago I put my boat in my new covered slip but noticed it had a bunch of water under the console changing room area. Thought this was from all the rain we had prior to me putting it in the covered slip and not really understanding the drain plugs in this boat. Lets just say they need a whole section added to the owners manual on how not to sink your boat!! It sat a week and I asked some other members on here about the drain plugs so I had some things to check out when I got back down to the boat. I did not leave the bilge on simply because I thought every boat had an auto bilge that would kick in if water got too high. So the boat sat in the water all week and did fine but I needed to install my thrust vectors so pulled the boat. Did all that drained the boat completely and dropped her back in the water. This time made sure all drain plugs were closed and put it back in the slip. Left the bilge pump off because I wanted to see if I had any water coming in from somewhere else and since it sat a week before it would be fine.

Rolled into the campsite on Thursday night of last week to find the motor compartment was half full of water along with the front console area. Kicked on the bilge and got all the water pumped out pulled the air intake filter and got the water out of it. Checked my oil and does not look like water got into the motor at all thankfully. Once I got the water out I pulled all the screws in the bait bucket holder and cut my beautiful silicon job so I could get to the hull. FYI I am only installing a few screws and leaving this so I can easily pull this in the future. Found water was slowly seeping in the right drain plug!! Another FYI unless you have long arms you will have to dunk your head in the water to reach the plugs. Turned the plug a little tighter and it only stopped the flow a little.

Pulled the boat out of the water and when I did it looks like the o-ring did not seat very well when I put my plug in. It was hand tight then a half turn more usually you don't have to crank these down to seat them. Also because these are plastic did not want to over tighten them left side was just fine.

So after looking at my bilge pump I realized it was supposed to be clipped in to the mesh screen and standing up-right instead of on its side. This was allowing the water to at least fill up 2 inches in the motor compartment area. Someone never snapped the bilge pump in its correct place!!! So I think this is why water was getting up to the front console area.

This morning I ordered 2 Garboard drain plugs and a 2nd Bilge pump with built in float. I looked at float switches but I could not find a single float switch that did not have horrible reviews. I am also moving my 2 trolling motor batteries from the rear port side to the front console along with amp and 3 bank charger. This is to deal with the boat having too much weight on the port side and too much moisture in this area.

 

[Julian]

I wish Yamaha would start putting in float switch bilge pumps and not the back pressure style! Glad there was no damage!

Yes---if you have a stock bilge pump in your Yamaha....boat in water...BILGE PUMP SWITCH MUST BE ON!

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I would stay away from the garboard plugs if the ones you ordered are the self draining with the balls. Why? Debris get stuck in them and allows water to flood in. You may need to swap your drain plug out with a nice brass one -- be sure to seal it up nicely.

Most products get bad reviews by people who don't read the instructions before installing them! Stay with a Rule float switch and pump. Always leave the bilge pump on while in the water. If you have shore power be sure your battery charger is plugged in so the pumps won't kill the batteries.

 

[MrMoose]

Sorry to hear about your problems @Billy Marlin Why not get Yamaha to correct this? You have a new boat that is under warranty. A secondary bilge pump wired directly to the battery, set up to run at a higher water level than the stock Yamaha pump is always a good idea.

 

[Billy Marlin]

@Murf'n'surf I actually read through the owners manual and watched all the videos that came with the boat just got thrown by the automatic bilge term. In all the boats I have had you could turn the switch on for manual bilge but all the bilges had float switches. The only reason I left the bilge off after finding out the bilge would only work if left on was trying to determine if the water in my boat was just from rain water or if I had another small leak. The boat went a full week without an issue so I just never thought I would have an issue when I put the plugs back in after draining the boat.

I have ordered a Y adapter with check valves so I can leave my current bilge in place and kick it on manually whenever I need to. Adding a second direct wired 750 pump to the hull with the built in float switch so I know that it will kick in just in case I forget to turn the bilge on before I leave the boat.

@MrMoose I don't think my issues have been due to faulty equipment that I would expect Yamaha to fix. After having the plastic plug leak on me when I thought it was in tight enough don't want to worry about that again.

 

[highanddryinco]

I've been down here in Florida and we've had a ton of rain for a couple of days in a row. So I've given the rod holder holes and the hole for the seat post the benefit of the doubt as point of water intrusion during the storms.
But.........the rain is done and there's still water each morning in that same mid section area. I'm assuming exactly the same as what @Billy Marlin initially mentioned. Not a ton, just a quart or so. We've got power on the dock so I do leave my bilge pump on all the time. I have not had a drop in the engine compartment (bone dry) and from what I see, nothing coming in from the drain plugs. Just that center section is collecting water and I'm a bit puzzled as well. I can't figure out why that water doesn't eventually end up in the rear of the boat. I'll keep searching.

 

[Billy Marlin]

The reason I had some in the motor compartment even when running the bilge pump was someone in the factory did not put the bilge pump in its final position. It was just laying on its side at the bottom of the motor compartment. So the pump was not completely pushing all the water out of the motor area. Once I popped the bilge into the clips that hold it vertically and left it on no water in the motor compartment. Cleaning the boat tomorrow here at the house and going to do a full water test to see if I can find how the water is getting into the front compartment area.

 

[highanddryinco]

Let us know if you find anything. It's weird, that water just seems to stay in that mid section. It doesn't seem to want to move rearward. I pulled the plug just forward of the bilge pump which I thought would open up that mid section and then had a few folks stand on the swim platform thinking that the water would then drain rearward...but it didn't.

 

[scokill]

I've never owned a boat that had an automatic bilge that stayed active with the bilge switch off.

 

[swatski]

I've never owned a boat that had an automatic bilge that stayed active with the bilge switch off.

A float switch that overrides the bilge pump switch.

 

[sysinu]

A float switch that overrides the bilge pump switch.

I know you're just responding to his direct statement... but wouldn't it be better then to just wire an additional float operated bilge pump (fused) directly to a battery?

 

[swatski]

Yes. Absolutely.

But if I only had one bilge pump, like in my old boats, I like to have a manual switch AND a float switch directly to battery.

 

[swatski]

Just to be clear - the best solution in a Yamaha seems to be a second independent bilge pump located in the actual bilge, with a float switch and direct baterry connection, fused.

 

[Julian]

The difference between the "actual" bilge and Yamaha's placement is minimal. Yamaha's placement allows you to:

1. See if the bilge is mounted properly (as in Billy's issue it was unclipped)
2. Clean the bilge intake screen each spring (or your maintenance schedule)
3. Replace it easily without having to remove the clean out tray

If I added a 2nd bilge....I'd put it right near the first for the above reasons....

As for having a bilge pump switch....if you have a float switch bilge, there really isn't a need to have a dash switch at all....unless you are worried about a short or problem with the pump (in which case it would be good to be able to turn it off). So my perfect solution is a float switch pump, connected to a dash switch with no light in it, with a 3 position switch - ON/OFF/AUTO. With auto being power to the pump, ON=turn the pump on so I can test it easily, and OFF...no power.

 

[Bill D]

I am currently installing a second bilge pump in my boat. I chose to place the second pump near the first for the same reasons that @Julian noted above. Since my first bilge pump is wired to the start battery switch, I chose to wire this one to my house bank on a fuse. I wanted this one on a float switch so that pump #2 would be activated in the instance the #1 pump either couldn't keep up, or crapped out.

I also was worried about the numerous terrible reviews of the float switches, so I used an ice cube relay as my pump starter. I'm hoping that removing any measurable current from the contacts on the float switch, it will help reduce any arcing and make the switch last longer. (Although my gut feeling is that the switches aren't sealed very well and it will still fail eventually) Since I'll already have the relay, I also installed an alarm to let me know when the float switch is activated.

I'll post a complete write up as soon as I have time to get the pictures together and finish the install.

 

[Billy Marlin]

@Bill D you are right every review I saw of external float switches had tons of bad reviews and for the price I could just get a second bilge with the float built in. Parts are supposed to be here tomorrow will post how I install mine.

In the FSH190 the stock bilge actually sits over a hole with a mesh screen sucking up water from the hull so it should just barely get into the motor area. I want to stop mine before it gets there so going to install the float in the back hull by drain plugs.

 

[swatski]

I'm running around at work, but real quick - maybe it is specific to the 190 hull, but the amount of water that is NOT sucked off by the bilge pump in the OEM location is kind of ridiculous, never measured it but it is few gallons.

I want the bilge pump to activate whenever there is water in the bilge, so I choose a pump with a built in float switch.

 

[Davidrbjr]

So what would be a good replacement plug? I hate the plastic drain plugs they seem so cheap

 

[Danielmailin]

You can install garboard drain plug from home depot, they fit in the old hole, but you may have to center the hole just a little to make sure the new drain is right in the center. Make sure to use lots of 5200 lots sealent when installing the new design

 

[Billy Marlin]

I pulled my plastic plugs and I really don't like these at all. Looked at using the 5200 but decided to go with 4000 adhesive to attach the bronze garboards. Just in case they ever get stripped or need to be replaced I can pull them. Everyone that has worked with 5200 says to only use it if you plan to never have to remove something.