Some water getting in Resolved

[212s]

I prefer pulling them every time and then do not lock them back in till the next trip. I use pool gasket lubricant on them as well every other trip.

I thought about doing that, but was afraid I'd forget to lock them back in and have them blow out the hatch. This way I drain if needed, add lube if I'm done for the week, and lock them back in place ready to go.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I don't believe there is any chance in blowing them out you just don't go anywhere from the dock. Only did that once, you get no thrust really. Remember that water still and can get inside the plugs themselves. I shake out all the water from the plugs even if there is nothing on top really that way I can leave whatever was in the water at the lake.

Just part of the routine.

Coming out I take out plugs and shake out. And then do Keel Plug.
Going In I put in plugs and put in Keel plug.

 

[HangOutdoors]

So, I removed the hatch today since I needed to run wires for transducer and trim tabs. I pulled up the silicone I put down and it came up awful easy, so I am not sure if it was still sealing good. It just felt too easy to pull off the silicone. Thinking of possibly a gasket or switching silicone. I used the 3M Marine silicone from West Marine which for the cost and how easy it came off leads me to question its viability in the long term.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

So, I removed the hatch today since I needed to run wires for transducer and trim tabs. I pulled up the silicone I put down and it came up awful easy, so I am not sure if it was still sealing good. It just felt too easy to pull off the silicone. Thinking of possibly a gasket or switching silicone. I used the 3M Marine silicone from West Marine which for the cost and how easy it came off leads me to question its viability in the long term.

Just sealed mine up a few weeks ago... I used denatured alcohol to clean the surfaces before apply the silicone. Seems like it is holding up good so far and will provide a good seal against water. From the factory there were some pretty big gaps where there was not silicone under the clean out tray... Just had a trace of water come out last time out. I think as long as you silicone was still in place it will be good. Did you clean the surface with a degreasing agent like alcohol before apply the silicone? The OEM silicone on my boat came off pretty easily.

I think I may have another entry point of water around the deck hatch in the bow... get more water in the bilge when I use the bucket to wash down the deck and every other hatch is very snug. Will have to tighten up the twist latch on that bow hold and see what happens.

 

[drewkaree]

@HangOutdoors I'm guessing that whole screwed-on tray is similar to mine, so going with that assumption, it feels like PVC or some such type of plastic. I'm guessing it will seal, but it will never be an adhesive type of seal due to the material being slick-ish.

Roughing it up slightly would give the surfaces some "tooth" for the sealant to grab onto, but unless you find excessive water entry again, I'd be happy it's doing the job you envisioned when you initially did this.

If I don't have rain next weekend, I'm going to be attempting to use a gasket, and I likely WILL take some 220 grit to the area where the adhesive will be applied for this very reason.

I seriously would look at the ease of removal as a feature. Keep an eye on it for problems, but it's a quick and easy solution to the problem that Yamaha themselves couldn't solve.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Well until I am done wiring everything and checking clamps back there this week I won't be ready to install it. I think a gasket would be awesome. I have some material that has adhesive on one side that I bought for the boat. Let me know how yours turns out, and if good than I will follow suit. If not I will just clean it real good and then reapply the silicone again.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

@HangOutdoors I'm guessing that whole screwed-on tray is similar to mine, so going with that assumption, it feels like PVC or some such type of plastic. I'm guessing it will seal, but it will never be an adhesive type of seal due to the material being slick-ish.

Roughing it up slightly would give the surfaces some "tooth" for the sealant to grab onto, but unless you find excessive water entry again, I'd be happy it's doing the job you envisioned when you initially did this.

If I don't have rain next weekend, I'm going to be attempting to use a gasket, and I likely WILL take some 220 grit to the area where the adhesive will be applied for this very reason.

I seriously would look at the ease of removal as a feature. Keep an eye on it for problems, but it's a quick and easy solution to the problem that Yamaha themselves couldn't solve.

Hey @drewkaree and @HangOutdoors, just did mine a while back and used regular silicone sealer... the manual shows to just lay a bead in the notch between the tray and the deck. The gasket approach sounds great, a word of caution. Those wood type screws that hold the tray down don’t have a lot of material to bite into, would take much to strip out those holes. Perhaps some of those automotive clip type of nuts that would slid over the deck and the screws could bite into would be a solution if they strip out, I know that will raise the tray off the deck a little but if you are using a gasket on the tray it would probably not matter.

 

[drewkaree]

I haven't yet decided on attachment method, although I bought longer versions of the screws Yamaha originally used for this. I've seen the speed nuts used, and I'm contemplating drilling a few more holes to spread the pressure out (kinda like doing a gasket, and even pressure around the sealing surface, in theory). I've also considered bolts/washers/nuts to keep everything in place, since I don't anticipate going in there often. I'll likely use the longer screws first, and if anything strips out, I'll test out the bolt/washers/nut combo in those spots.

Weather and temps are looking like they're gonna cooperate, and before we left yesterday morning, I made sure to track down and verify that I had the gasket, and in the process, stumbled across the screws I forgot I bought for this last fall. The plan is to install the gasket first, and test it out to see if a sealant is needed.

@HangOutdoors how much did the cleanout tray overhang the fiberglass in that area, 1/2" or so? I already know there's gaps in the factory sealant, so I'm wondering if there's only a slight overhang, and if those trays aren't centered, it either gets wiped off with the installation of the screws (sliding the hatch around), or there's so little overhang that it's not sufficient to do the job and gives up the ghost with a strong breeze.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@drewkaree Yes about 1/2". Mine was a bit grungy in there and the overpriced Marine silicone I used, which was clear, yellowed a bit. I am wondering if the best approach would be to use a white sealant and just build it up a bit more in the crevice. The gasket sounds pretty good, but unless you get a solid fit all the way around, and I agree you may to use additional holes, may need to use some anyhow. At least with the sealant/Silicone it is not bad getting it off.

Run a tube of white 5200 around there should button it up niceley JUST KIDDING

 

[drewkaree]

Run a tube of white 5200 around there should button it up niceley

After I get mine done, I'll come on over and help you with your method on your boat

Stop at a McDonald's or some other fast food place and pick up a plastic spoon. You'll get a nice wide even bead with your sealant, and it should taper nicely to the deck.

I'm thinking for my gasket, it might be better to attach it to the underside of the cleanout tray, although I don't know if that'll be as effective against water intrusion. This seems like a project that will be slightly different for everyone, depending on if there's a different factory assembler working on their boat for that day.

 

[JimmyB]

Dumb question here. When you reseal or caulk the two access panels, where does the water that comes in go? Does it go through the small hole next to the access panel? If so, does that hole lead to the bilge? (Asking for a friend who had an active bilge pump last year when underway. )

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Dumb question here. When you reseal or caulk the two access panels, where does the water that comes in go? Does it go through the small hole next to the access panel? If so, does that hole lead to the bilge? (Asking for a friend who had an active bilge pump last year when underway. )

It goes out a scupper drain on the transom.

 

[HangOutdoors]

After I get mine done, I'll come on over and help you with your method on your boat

Stop at a McDonald's or some other fast food place and pick up a plastic spoon. You'll get a nice wide even bead with your sealant, and it should taper nicely to the deck.

I'm thinking for my gasket, it might be better to attach it to the underside of the cleanout tray, although I don't know if that'll be as effective against water intrusion. This seems like a project that will be slightly different for everyone, depending on if there's a different factory assembler working on their boat for that day.

@drewkaree I am out on the boat now and took a look. The overhang is anywhere from 1 1/4" to 1" of overhang actually.

 

[drewkaree]

@drewkaree I am out on the boat now and took a look. The overhang is anywhere from 1 1/4" to 1" of overhang actually.

Excellent to hear, if that holds true for my boat, I won't have a lot of wasted material! I bought this gasket, and I was questioning if I should have gone with 3/4" width. I think my original plan was to put it on the underside, right up to the edge of the cleanout tray, to seal as much as possible. Supposedly, that neoprene will be enough to at least severely limit water leakage, if not stop it altogether. Great info to have, thanks!

Dumb question here. When you reseal or caulk the two access panels, where does the water that comes in go? Does it go through the small hole next to the access panel? If so, does that hole lead to the bilge? (Asking for a friend who had an active bilge pump last year when underway. )

The water is SUPPOSED to drain back out through that small hole. That small hole is the entire reason you get water in that area in the first place. There's a hose connected under the cleanout tray to that "small hole" (hose fitting) for all the water to enter and drain. I've seen some pics on here of newer 19' boats that don't have the drain hose, and simply have a "gutter" molded into the edge of that tray for any water to simply drain out of that area onto the lower swim deck. As far as I can tell, adding the hose seems like it would allow that area to drain, so good idea Yamaha, but in actual real-world use, it ADDS a way for water to enter our boats. The molded "gutter" is the better solution, IMO.

You likely had water entering your bilge thanks to the crap sealing of the cleanout tray. Here's how fast it comes in on my boat - in addition, the raised lip on the drain KEEPS water in that area until it leaks through the crap seal:

Port side lean, and how bad the seal is on that side:

Even with a lean to port, it still leaks on the starboard side, showing how poor this area can be:

Two other items I've contemplated: Looking at plenty of broken plastic scupper valve threads makes me question the sturdiness of it and whether a metal replacement would be a better idea. Decision to be made when work is attempted. The other item, when I pull the cleanout tray, I may consider taking a Forstner bit to that drain tube fitting area if it's a common size, just to drop it a bit lower and allow more water to drain from the area. If it's too thin, then it's a no-go, but even taking a touch off the tray panel will get rid of more water than what currently happens.

This whole area seems to either be a non-issue, or one of the larger areas of water intrusion on these boats. If I had any fiberglass skills, I would seriously contemplate cutting and forming the "gutter" to drain to the lower swim deck, and just seal up that dang drain altogether. Corking it has resulted in zero water intrusion for some on here, so to my mind, that's proof positive that there's absolutely no reason for this design flaw, and eliminating it altogether would be preferential.

 

[JimmyB]

Thanks drewkaree for the videos and feedback. Getting boat out of storage soon and this project is high on the list. I agree the gutter approach would be a much better design. I think the water is entering the bilge through the seals too but don’t know if the water is coming up through the hose fitting or getting past the clean out seals. My port side clean out is always full of water at the end of each day. My starboard is full about half the time. So I don’t know if the clean out ports fill up and then overflow to the hatch area or if it comes up through the hose fitting or both. I guess I could plug the hose fitting and run it for a day and see what happens.
I wet slipped three nights last summer in a row and no water intrusion any of the nights. Only water intrusion when underway. By the way, dealer “checked” at the end of the season and there were “no leaks”. Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@drewkaree How did the gasket install go? You are leavin me hanging waiting on your results Did you use another method? I am at the point where I am getting ready to close up the hatch and seal it. Going slow using mostly one hand though.

Also some of the silicone I used that didn't come up easily is a PITA to get off. I have been working on it with Acetone and a razor blade but still there are some spots where it is curved right there I am having trouble with removing all the Silicone residue. Any advice?

 

[drewkaree]

Got the gasket done, dunno if you saw my video of my cleanout plug, but my voice sounded about as crappy as I felt, so slow going.

It's attached, all the additional holes drilled, and the handful of screws I tested make it feel REALLY solid, but I couldn't water test it until I get the extra screws. Initial impression is that this will work out great, but testing is required to verify.

I'll try to post pics of what I got done when I'm done with work tomorrow morning or within the next few days.

I MAY be going with bolts, washers, 5200 and "weld nuts", depending on how the screws hold and compress the gasket, and if the gasket works well at keeping water out.

Here's the gasket in place, more info on the trials and tribulations of fixing Yamaha's shoddy workmanship to be added soon

 

[HangOutdoors]

Where would you use the 5200? and why? Maybe I am misunderstanding. I was hoping not to do anything so permanent.

I have snow and freezing temps the next two days, than high 60's Thursday on so will be trying to button it up on Friday for a Saturday lake run. Want to test out a few of the mods.

 

[drewkaree]

The 5200 is if I feel the need to go the bolts and washers route. The 5200 would be used to secure the weld nuts underneath on the fiberglass

If the screws suffice, I will be scrapping that idea, but I will lay out exactly what it is I'm talking about and I'm sure that 4200 would work just as well.

 

[motomandan]

Try Butyl putty. Easy on easy off. Works great!

https://www.amazon.com/XFasten-8-Inch-30-Foot-Sealing-Patching/dp/B07D9CNB3H/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Y0Z07I6DXWQZ&dchild=1&keywords=xfasten+butyl+putty+tape%2C+gray+1%2F8+inch+x+3%2F4+inch+x+30+foot&qid=1618917160&sprefix=xfasten+butyl%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-1