Oh this is such a fun question for me. I'm just over 100hrs of engine time, and probably 300 hrs of on the water time with my 2017 AR190.
The bilge run time will vary SIGNIFICANTLY with the activities of the day. Here's how the water gets INTO the boat (which BTW is a pet peeve of mine, water should be on the outside of the boat).
Rain:
This is the #1 way to flood your boat. I've been in multiple hour downpours and literally had over a foot of water in the ski locker. Bilge never ran because the boat was front heavy and the water couldn't get back to the pump. Once I was able to get the nose up, everything ran back, and took about 15 minutes to empty. Pulled the plugs at the ramp shortly thereafter, and got another 10+gal from the plugs. Water comes in obviously from the sky, however the cupholders are not plugged and drain into the compartments, there are no gutters around the anchor storage area that drains to the ski locker, and the bimini top doesn't do you any favors dripping behind the windshield, and just inside the gunwales on either side........Rain is NOT a problem with the Premium Deluxe Mooring Cover. Had the boat sit out through MULTIPLE hour thunderstorms this summer and the bilge remained dry.
Watersports:
This introduces water two ways. People on/off the back of the boat. Those cupholders and rear cleanout tray all drain to the bilge. I've added drains between the cupholders and the rear cleanout tray, and then sealed the crap out of the cleanout try to prevent it. Water DOES NOT swamp up high enough to get over the second step on a light to moderately loaded boat. I've had 3 people in the back and hit reverse at 40mph and can't get water over the second step. Heavily ballasted boats are the exception here, but have thier own set of issues to contend with (more on that in a minute). HOWEVER, that drain between the cleanout tray and the outer hull, it doesn't have a one way valve, so when you come off plane, water rushes UP that drain and fills the cleanout tray. Again, a poorly sealed (stock) cleanout tray will leak like a sieve into the bilge instead of out that drain. SO, the more you are on/off plane, and the more people you have on that rear platform dripping/spilling water the more water will get in the boat. Seal the cleanout tray, the cupholders, and put drains between the cupholders and cleanout tray, and you'll keep 95% of the watersports water outside the boat......If you are heavily ballasted, then you've got the rub rail under the water often, and those also leak very much badly. You can reseal if you like, or let the bilge do it's job. If I start adding ballast, I'll be resealing the rails on mine.
General Hull Leak:
These are leaks around any thru-hull fitting that doens't have a good seal. There are all kinds of these possibilities around the transom on these boats. Multiple cables going in/out, the pump/hull interface, speed sensor, cleanout port, etc. Best way to find leaks here is to fill the bilge with water while on the trailer and see where it's dripping from. Typically they are relatively easy (but often time consuming) fixes. Remove and replace the component with some better sealing strategy, and you should be good to go.
Moral of the story......You're bilge can run all the time if you're trying to surf with a ton of ballast and poorly sealed transom area, or it can run barely at all if you are mostly just cruising and not in the water or on/off plane much. It seriously depends on what you're doing, and what kind of work you've done to seal Yamaha's piss poor designs.
For me.....this is hands down the "leaky-est" boat I've ever owned or worked on. Most of it is either poor design (like cupholders that drain to nowhere), or poor workmanship (missing sealant in known "wet" areas). I've done a few mods to make it better, but it's still not 100% dry like I would prefer. The mods I've done have gotten me 90% of the way there, and that is honestly good enough. I've eliminated the annoyances, and the bilge rarely runs anymore, so I'm going to call it good.
Also........If the boats in the water, the bilge is on. Period. It's a safety device, not an accessory. The stream of water off the side of the boat has been an "early warning" for me that something was wrong on multiple occasions. If I get a big enough leak, it might not save the boat, but it can alert me soon enough that I can get everyone off and to safety in an emergency, or get the engine shut down and address the problem before it becomes an emergency.
