Quick question

[DAMATS]

We had a boat lift installed at our vacation home on the lake. When the boat is lifted should I leave the transom plugs in or out? A week or 2 may go by until we can check on the boat.

 

[WildCatFan54]

Just my humble opinion : It may be a good time to pull the plug and allow excess water that the bilge didn't pump to drain out but I would put it back in before leaving the slip.

 

[Julian]

I leave mine in on the lift and with the bilge on, connected to shore power with a dual bank charger. With the new boat, I will be relying on the solar panels to keep up with the bilge pump draw...which should be no issue at all. I will probably install a dual bank charger at some point.

 

[Scottintexas]

do you have a cover on your lift, do you have power there,

If you don't have a cover definitely take the plug out, we have heard stories of people storing their boat on the trailer with the plug in and cover off only to find it flooded by rain collected in the cockpit area.

If you have a cover on your lift to me it would depend on your boat and the difficulty of accessing the plug. My boat always has a few gallons of water out of the transom plug at the end of the day, I wouldn't want to leave that in there on a continuous basis.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

Mine is on a lift and under cover. I have left the drain plug in for three seasons now with now issues. Too hard to reach from the back of the boat!

 

[Port0222]

I agree with @WildCatFan54 -- You can remove the plug periodically throughout the summer to drain the water -- if there is a lot of water -- It might indicate that there is a major issue (Scupper issues, etc.) but put it in before you leave. The last think you need to to forget that you pulled it and lower the lift and start boating... Or you let someone else use your cabin and you did not tell them about the plug. Better to be safe than sunk.

 

[Matt Phillips]

As others have said, if you can reach it to drain it occasionally, I'd do that. As as a rule though, if you're going to be away from the slip for any length of time, I'd leave the plug in as insurance in case the lift dropped for some reason. If you have electricity and can put a trickle charger on your battery, then also leave your bilge pump on. If not, here's how I devised solar on my boat where I don't have continual access to electricity: https://jetboaters.net/threads/solar-battery-charger-install-w-pics.3414/#post-56919

 

[swatski]

I can not reach the plug the way my lift/jet dock works, I wish I could. Always unplugged on the trailer. Interesting how you always find water first pouring and then dripping out when you unplug...

 

[Julian]

The bilge pump only leaves about a gallon of water that it can't pump (assuming your boat isn't on a huge angle to the stern), so not pulling the plug isn't a problem. It can only become a problem if you run out of power for pump and you have a tons of rain. But even then...the deck drains will take the majority of that off the boat.

 

[DAMATS]

I agree with @WildCatFan54 -- You can remove the plug periodically throughout the summer to drain the water -- if there is a lot of water -- It might indicate that there is a major issue (Scupper issues, etc.) but put it in before you leave. The last think you need to to forget that you pulled it and lower the lift and start boating... Or you let someone else use your cabin and you did not tell them about the plug. Better to be safe than sunk.

This is my thought also. Just one more thing to forget. I do not have cover on lift and no power. I have dual batteries for the bilge but not sure how long those will stay charged.

 

[Port0222]

This is my thought also. Just one more thing to forget. I do not have cover on lift and no power. I have dual batteries for the bilge but not sure how long those will stay charged.

Assuming that you have a cover on your boat though based on your profile pick-- Make sure it is waterproofed and put the antipooling poles in and you should not have much (if any) water inside after a rain -- The bilge can handle that much water between visits -- Meaning Leave it off -- and turn the bilge on when you come back. I think of a boat on a lift like it is on the trailer-- you would not leave the bilge on when it is on the trailer -- Lift is the same thing.

 

[DAMATS]

We have a trailering cover with poles and then a snap on which I figured I'd be using since it's easier to access once on the lift. Here's my new lift ...

 

[DAMATS]

Here's my pup 's first sip of the year ...brrrr