Cup holder drainage

[Sccala]

Hi all. I’ll start this off by mentioning my boat info as a couple of my last chats, it was brought to my attention that my boat info was not visible and I guess it hadnt updated in my profile. So… In case that’s still true , I have a 2011 Yamaha 242 Limited S. Now for my issue! LOL… I’ve only had this boat for a little over a year and it was explained to me that the cupholders drain down to the Bilge area. So, whenever I wash the boat I never really took too much care to avoid getting too much water in the cupholders thinking that they were all connected to tubing and just drained back to the bilge. Well, today I just realized that not all of them actually do that. Four in particular I noticed that if you get water in them, it just starts dripping down into the storage compartments below… The two in the aft-most section of the cockpit (in the corner near the cushion above the battery, and in the back corner of the cushion above the built-in cooler area. And then also in the Bow… The two cupholders that are sort of hidden a little bit, tucked back in the corner near the back rests of the bow seats.). After washing the interior of the boat at my dock, I get a text from my wife asking if I could look for my son‘s water bottle underneath one of the bow seats. So I pull up the seat cushion and find a water bottle but also find a huge puddle of water. I wonder where it came from and then realize that it was coming from the cupholder. I thought maybe the hose or tube that it attaches to came detached so I started looking for it.… There is no such hose for that cupholder or for the ones in the stern of the cockpit. Did they just go missing Somehow with the previous owner, or is this actually the worlds worst design just asking for mold issues? I’m thinking about just attaching some flexible hose to the nipple on the underside of the cupholder and attaching the other end of the hose to some kind of plastic container/bladder and just empty it whenever it fills up. Thoughts?

 

[Julian]

Yup....if you want it to drain to the bilge add hose.

 

[Sccala]

Yup....if you want it to drain to the bilge add hose.

Is that what you do? If so what’s your method?

 

[Julian]

Is that what you do? If so what’s your method?

Nope.....I don't use a hose inside the cabin except when I go to Bimini (I lake boat....so no reason to hose off inside)

 

[VitaminSea]

Some plug the bottom of the cup holder with silicone/caulk. Prior owner did that on my boat. When I am done rinsing, I pull the 4 cup holders you have mentioned and dump them over board and replace them.
I think the hassle of manually emptying them is less hassle then plumbing drain lines (at least for the bow cup holders, the two to the rear you could route to the engine compartment bilge without too much hassle).

 

[David Martin]

Plug and dump sounds easy enough. Thanks VitaminSea

 

[Sccala]

Some plug the bottom of the cup holder with silicone/caulk. Prior owner did that on my boat. When I am done rinsing, I pull the 4 cup holders you have mentioned and dump them over board and replace them.
I think the hassle of manually emptying them is less hassle then plumbing drain lines (at least for the bow cup holders, the two to the rear you could route to the engine compartment bilge without too much hassle).

I actually tried pulling one out the other day but it didn’t come out. And I didn’t want to put too much force into it because I did not want to chip any of the gelcoat surrounding the cutout for the cupholder. What’s the best method to break it free?

 

[VitaminSea]

I actually tried pulling one out the other day but it didn’t come out. And I didn’t want to put too much force into it because I did not want to chip any of the gelcoat surrounding the cutout for the cupholder. What’s the best method to break it free?

The cup holders on my bot were already “lose” so I don’t have first hand experience here, but would think a simple razor blade under the bezel of the cup holder would score the adhesive and allow it to be removed.

 

[Julian]

Some boats have a chrome bezel around the top of the cupholder that you twist off and under that are 3 screws holding the cup holder in....

 

[2kwik4u]

I actually tried pulling one out the other day but it didn’t come out. And I didn’t want to put too much force into it because I did not want to chip any of the gelcoat surrounding the cutout for the cupholder. What’s the best method to break it free?

Like @Julian said above.

The trim ring rotates about 1/3 of a turn then come up. 3 screws hold the cupholder in place.

I plugged my cockpit cupholders with little rubber caps that came on some furniture I bought to protect the threads of the feet from damage. If they get full I use an Absorber Synthetic Chamois to soak up the water and wring out overboard.

I've also added drains to the two rear cupholders on the swim platform of my AR190. Have a writeup here. I think Yamaha was watching when I did this, as all the new boats have these drains for the swim platform cupholders.

 

[Dfred]

For a few bucks at HD …. These small end caps for wire closet shelf are a perfect fit (2009 AR210).

And you can use them to cap bolts around the interior.

To empty- the cup holders I can’t pull out and dump overboard, I sponge out the water.

 

[TomP]

I just wanted to add a solution to the cup holder/rod holder leaks that I applied. On one side I put a Scotty rod holder adapter. I use it with a BBQ mount and fender holder. On the other side I convert the cup holder into a 1/2 ball mount. I use this as a phone or GoPro holder. Both are easy to remove and stow. Both available on Amazon. Just another alternative.

Tom

 

[johhnyboat]

Interesting. I looked at all my cupholders recently because as I was working in the bilge area recently I noticed that the drain tubes were disconnected to the two cupholders on my swim platform. These drain onto the swim platform, so I reattached and tested. The other two cupholders in the rear ALSO drain to the swim platform. I went through to all of them to check to see where they are going and they ALL have drain tubes. the ones in the front drain onto the deck so the water goes out through the scupper. The ones in the rear drain out next to the pisser and bilge pump outlets. It would make zero sense for on open bow boat to have cupholders that drain to the bilge.