Water washing over the rear platform - I finally found my test videos from 2018

[2kwik4u]

A few years ago I got into a pretty good debate with some folks on here about how much water did or did not wash over the rear swim platform. Some were convinced that it was SOAKED, and some were convinced that it was DRY. I remember where I stood, but it doesn't matter now (arguably didn't matter then either). I was also fighting a water intrusion problem at the time, as well as having some curiosityas to WHY the rear access plug ALWAYS has water over it. There were many debates about this as well, most centered around water "leaking" past the seals and filling that tube.

I decided to make some videos to "figure out WTF is going on back there". So, I went out on the Ohio river near Westport KY to do some testing early one morning. I had a family member with me to run the camera in a few shots. The other shots were using a RAM X-Grip/suction cup combo mount to view the rear platform at speed. All the videos were taken using the Torque Pro App on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The torque app allowed me to take a video with GPS data overlayed, and really helps solidify what is happening.

Here's a breakdown on the videos:
Water was calm, and loading was light for all of these videos. No ballast, no cooler, ~300lbs of people and "normal" gear (anchor, vests, tube, etc). Boat is a 2017 AR190.

Video No. 1
Shot from inside the boat being held by a person.
Ran boat to "surf speed" then slammed throttles in reverse for "sudden stop"

Video No. 2
Shot from inside the boat being held by a person.
Ran boat to "full speed" then slammed throttles in reverse for "sudden stop"

Video No. 3
Shot from RAM Mount watching rear cleanout tray
Ran boat to "full speed" then slammed throttles in reverse for "sudden stop"

Video No. 4
Shot from RAM Mount watching rear cleanout tray
Ran boat to "surf speed" then slammed throttles in reverse for "sudden stop"

AR190 Swim Platform Washover Testing - A Youtube Playlist - FYI, the videos are "out of order" in the playlist. Pay attention to the title to match up the events with the descriptions above. Also, the HD versions are still processing on Youtube, the first one is done, but the rest are still working. Hopefully the HD versions are up soon.

Results/Conclusions
Water DOES NOT wash over the upper platform in a lightly loaded application. There is a "little" bit of a washover in video No. 4, but it's relatively minor, and I think would have "splashed back" had the lid been closed. Hard to say really.
Water DOES NOT leak past the cleanout port seals
Water DOES backflow from the waterline to the cleanout tray via the drain line

Your mileage may vary, and this certainly doesn't cover a boat setup for surfing with tons of ballast. Also doesn't account for heavy waves/traffic that would create a TON of backlflow from that drain. For me, this solidified the premise that the water over the cleanout plug is harmless and not causing any performance issues.

Please discuss, as I've had these videos since July 2018, and just now "found them" and took the time to post them. I'm curious if anyone else has any other videos to add, and what they think of these.

 

[B0at1n]

In my recent search for the mystery leak. I found water being pushed from the jet into the cleanout tube. Found a torn seal on the plug. Replaced that and now randomly it will get water in it. It has to be from the pump because it has happened when I have the cleanout tray removed too. Could be that sometimes the seal isn’t perfect in the cleanout plug allowing water under pressure through but won’t let water drain when not under pressure.

 

[haknslash]

I thought this case was closed long ago. Put a check valve on the cleanout tray drain hose. Done.

 

[B0at1n]

I thought this case was closed long ago. Put a check valve on the cleanout tray drain hose. Done.

I’m not following.

 

[drewkaree]

I’m not following.

If I'm wrong about what @haknslash is saying, please correct me, but this is what I believe he is saying:

The check valve stops water from coming up the drain tube and into the cleanout tray when decelerating, but should allow any water that makes it into the cleanout tray in some other way to drain as usual

 

[drewkaree]

Water DOES backflow from the waterline to the cleanout tray via the drain line

Your mileage may vary, and this certainly doesn't cover a boat setup for surfing with tons of ballast. Also doesn't account for heavy waves/traffic that would create a TON of backlflow from that drain. For me, this solidified the premise that the water over the cleanout plug is harmless and not causing any performance issues.

2019 AR210 here, and your #3 video is what I believe is happening, as well as personal experience of water coming up through the drain line while tied up at the pier working on my boat, and someone moving around in the boat causing some splash up through the drain. Over the day, it's going to fill up the cleanout port tube, and in the case of twin engines, one is likely to fill before the other for various reasons, or even one being empty while the other is full.

I agree that this is inconsequential UNLESS your cleanout tray is poorly sealed, allowing any excess to drain past the hatch and into your bilge. @HangOutdoors sealed his, and has reported no more problems with the bilge filling excessively from there, so we have choices to address this,add a check valve, or seal the hatch tray, or both.

I'm personally not worried about this,as it's not going to sink me with my typical boating, but it's something I am going to address when I decide to tackle it. I have some waterproof weatherstripping and some longer screws for when that time comes, and I may still add sealant. If I decide to add a second bilge pump, I would probably add a check valve while I'm in there tinkering around.

I think @GTBRMC did the weatherstripping thing, if it was someone else, my apologies, just know that I glommed your idea and will be putting it into practice soon.

 

[2kwik4u]

I thought this case was closed long ago. Put a check valve on the cleanout tray drain hose. Done.

It was. I remember those discussions a few years ago, and I took these videos back then.

Made a larger write up for new members that might not remember the original discussions after I found my ~2yr old videos.

 

[Cambo]

post the videos on you tube then put links on the thread . If your boating in fresh water it’s not that bad to have water washing around the problem is salt water working it’s way into the cleanout storage tray . It dumps down through the removable hatch all over hose clamps and they do not hold up to salt water .

 

[2kwik4u]

post the videos on you tube then put links on the thread . If your boating in fresh water it’s not that bad to have water washing around the problem is salt water working it’s way into the cleanout storage tray . It dumps down through the removable hatch all over hose clamps and they do not hold up to salt water .

Youtube playlist link in first post

 

[throttlebc]

Thanks for posting the videos and it does illustrate what's happening. As I covered in another thread, I sealed my rear tray and it seems to have significantly reduced water coming from the drain plug. Both cleanout plug tubes still fill up after a busy day, so it's reasonable that the water is coming from the drain tube. I'll add a check valve to my list of "when I'm trying to avoid real work" tasks.

 

[B0at1n]

If I'm wrong about what @haknslash is saying, please correct me, but this is what I believe he is saying:

The check valve stops water from coming up the drain tube and into the cleanout tray when decelerating, but should allow any water that makes it into the cleanout tray in some other way to drain as usual

on my 2019 there is not a drain hose for the back area. There are two groves/channels to each side that allow the water to pour back out to the lower swim Deck and back to the lake.

 

[haknslash]

on my 2019 there is not a drain hose for the back area. There are two groves/channels to each side that allow the water to pour back out to the lower swim Deck and back to the lake.

Likely because they realized what a stupid idea it was to install a drain hose that sits near the water line without a check valve.

 

[drewkaree]

on my 2019 there is not a drain hose for the back area. There are two groves/channels to each side that allow the water to pour back out to the lower swim Deck and back to the lake.

It's these little "fixes" that never make the marketing brochures... nothing they can do about the earlier mistakes in design, and no need to address it, since they already got our money.

So I wonder if ALL the 2019 19' boats got the "fix", and why didn't they implement this in the 21' boats (at least the 210's). From @HangOutdoors pics, it's still a drain tube for 2020 models too.

 

[ShesCrafty]

Just curious, and maybe not directly to the point of this thread - but when/why would you ever be at ‘surf speed’ or ‘full speed’ and suddenly ‘slam throttles in reverse’...?

 

[drewkaree]

I think he was trying to exaggerate the effect of coming off plane to try to speed up the experiment, since short runs don't usually get the evidence that a day or multiple hours on the water will produce

 

[ShesCrafty]

I think he was trying to exaggerate the effect of coming off plane to try to speed up the experiment, since short runs don't usually get the evidence that a day or multiple hours on the water will produce

Gotcha. Sounds ill-advised. And I don’t believe going from on-plane to reverse, in a heartbeat, would incur a rush of water over the swim platform.

To recreate the right conditions, I think you have to have to have following seas with at least a moderate chop/waves. At idle speed or in neutral, with the waves and wind pushing you, then ‘slam’ it into reverse. In this scenario, I have had water come up over the clean out tray, many times. And in the salt, (3ft seas) I’ve had water take my hat off, at the helm.

Don’t know if this helps.

 

[Julian]

Cool stuff. Also keep in mind that the stern of each model sits at different heights on the water....so your results may vary.

Would be interesting to simply stick a cork in the drain and see how much water there is.

 

[2kwik4u]

Would be interesting to simply stick a cork in the drain and see how much water there is.

That was on my list until I had another kid. Now there's too much on/off back there to really know. Kids dump BUCKETS of water there on a regular basis.

 

[Neutron]

Cool stuff. Also keep in mind that the stern of each model sits at different heights on the water....so your results may vary.

Would be interesting to simply stick a cork in the drain and see how much water there is.

I have my drain "corked" because if you open the clean out hatch and have a bunch of people on the swim platform while at anchor you can see the water splash up the drain

 

[GTBRMC]

I think @GTBRMC did the weatherstripping thing, if it was someone else, my apologies, just know that I glommed your idea and will be putting it into practice soon.

I did a lip seal on the front lower edge of my engine hatch for sound control but did not do anything to seal anything near the swim deck (other than caulking around speakers I installed there). I am guessing you are thinking of someone else.