2017 FSH Water Leak Checklist

[2MinutesForHooking]

I just purchased a 17 190 FSH Sport and looks like I’ve got some not so dry storage areas on the boat. I’ve read through some of these posts and want to see if I’ve got a complete list and if anyone has the best way to fix em all. I believe these are the spots that need to be hit with silicone to secure all the leaks. If anyone that has made their boat dry can chime in I’d appreciate it. Thanks!

Anchor Drain
Changing Room Drain Plugs
Fish Box Drain
2 Deck Drains

 

[Grover70]

Hey there! Welcome to the Leaky FSH Forum
If you do a search you'll probably find a few posts from me about my FSH and what I did to seal it up...such as...
-Re-seal the bilge drain plugs.
-Remove the cover hatch and the surrounding plastic collar next to the clean out plug and re-seal. All the water that comes up the clean out plug also drains around the screws in that hatch. I wrapped the removable hatch edge with water-proof weather seal (like the kind used in doors) and it keeps water from going past that hatch into the bilge now too. So basically, two things to do there.
-Remove the batteries and seal up the screw holes that hold down the battery boxes with silicone. Water gets past the screws and into the foam between the deck. It took me days to dry that out with a wet/dry vac before I closed it back up.

I think that was about it for me. I have a bone-dry bilge every trip now.
If you can, leave the engine hatch up for a while after you wash down. I noted the foam at the hinge of the engine cover stays quite wet after a cleaning. It's close to the drain channel and I think it acts like a sponge. I figure the longer you can keep it dry, the longer it will last.

 

[highanddryinco]

Agreed, you 'll find a ton of stuff on here. Do some thread searching.
- Here's one I did to identify some MAJOR deck leaks;

- @OUT ON THE REEF did one about the anchor locker leaks. That was another major one.

Even with all that, the hatches/covers all leak like crazy and you'll drive yourself nuts trying to seal them. I just drove from Colorado to Florida and had some serious storms on the way here. The boat had water everywhere inside when I got here yesterday. Under the starboard side jump seat, I had a some of those plastic shoe boxes (without the tops) loaded with various fishing supplies. The shoe boxes were half full of water. Obviously the only way it could fill the boxes was from the top down, or via the jump seats.
Like @Grover70 mentioned above, my foam on the engine hatch was soaked too.

So seal up what you can, then plan on having some leaks so that you won't be disappointed, and just enjoy yourself.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

Thanks a ton you guys. Couple follow up questions off of this.

1. Are you resealing all drain plugs? 2 in changing room, 2 on stern of boat, 1 somewhere in the fuel tank area?

2. @Grover70 I saw in your other posts you stuck a tube in your anchor drain to solve that issue, how did you do this? I don’t know if I could find the details

3. @highanddryinco Thanks, I had actually come across your video prior to posting and it’s very helpful. When sealing these hoses is it just as easy as removing the opening filling everything with sealer and putting the pieces back together? I haven’t disassembled anything yet so just trying to be prepared to put it back together successfully

 

[Grover70]

Thanks a ton you guys. Couple follow up questions off of this.

1. Are you resealing all drain plugs? 2 in changing room, 2 on stern of boat, 1 somewhere in the fuel tank area?

2. @Grover70 I saw in your other posts you stuck a tube in your anchor drain to solve that issue, how did you do this? I don’t know if I could find the details

3. @highanddryinco Thanks, I had actually come across your video prior to posting and it’s very helpful. When sealing these hoses is it just as easy as removing the opening filling everything with sealer and putting the pieces back together? I haven’t disassembled anything yet so just trying to be prepared to put it back together successfully

Yes, I resealed all the drain plugs. I don't know of one in the fuel tank area unless you count the two in the changing room. The one closest to the stern, behind where you can place the head, is actually a few inches from the tanks just behind that vertical separator.

The anchor locker solution: What I did was measure the diameter of the hole after removing the white plastic collar that is on the exterior of the hull. You'll see the fiberglass sandwich interior now. Then I went to the hardware store, bought a piece of clear tubing back in the plumbing section, and cut it to fit flush with the interior of the anchor locker and touching the collar once it was placed back into the hull. I placed silicone on both ends of the tubing where it met the interior and exterior of the hull, and voila! No more water into the hull.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

Awesome thanks a ton for the help. I’m hoping I can knock out these repairs in a days work and be at least drier next time out

 

[highanddryinco]

When sealing these hoses is it just as easy as removing the opening filling everything with sealer and putting the pieces back together?

Yes for the deck drains.

Not so much for the front insulated box though. Yours may be different but mine had the hole hogged out so bad from the factory that there was no physical way to position the flange of the drain fitting to completely cover the hogged out hole. I ended up taking a piece of 1/4" Lexan and making a separate flange large enough to cover the massive hole. In that Lexan flange, I made a hole the proper size to accommodate the drain fitting. So going back together, I had my home-made flange goobered to the box wall, with the drain fitting flange goobered to the home-made flange.
- I don't like silicone for these types of jobs so I used a Boatlife adhesive sealant. (don't remember the number but it would be similar to a 3M 4200 product)
- I also cut a piece of scrap wood to reach across the box to jamb the pieces tightly in place while the sealant fully cured for a few days. Only then did I attempt to put the angled spacer, the nut, the hose, and the hose clamp back on. It would have been impossible to tighten that conglomeration down while the sealant was uncured.

Best of luck.

 

[Frank Marshall]

On my 210, I found many hose clamps were at best hand tight. Also the breather hose for the live well was not connected to the intake.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

@highanddryinco Thanks for the tips. I was planning on using 3M 4200 so not silicone, I will have to investigate my fish box drain and see how it fits. When sealing all of these drains, is the sealant used on both sides of the opening, and all connecting parts?

@Frank Marshall Thanks for the heads up, I was planning on checking all the live well connections also?

 

[highanddryinco]

is the sealant used on both sides of the opening,

No, just on the flange side. The threaded back side was clean and fairly easy to take apart. Thankfully though, I suffer from PLS. (Primate limb syndrome, aka "Monkey Arms")

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

Hey @Grover70 , following back up for some more advice from last time. When I’m out my bilge pump is still running pretty regularly throughout a trip. I have not done the Hull Plugs yet as I wanted to see if the problem was solved with the other fixes before I started working on anything below the water line. Question for ya is how often does your bilge pump out water if at all, and could those 2 Plugs really be letting in that much water?? Thanks!

 

[Ralph MIA]

When I first got my 2017 190 FSH, the bilge would run about every 10 minutes while sitting in the water. After removing and re-sealing the hull plugs, I haven’t seen my bulge run.

Looking at doing the clean out hatch next week.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

When I first got my 2017 190 FSH, the bilge would run about every 10 minutes while sitting in the water. After removing and re-sealing the hull plugs, I haven’t seen my bulge run.

Looking at doing the clean out hatch next week.

Thanks @Ralph MIA ... That’s gotta be the root of my problem. I’ve resealed the changing room plugs and the anchor locker, along with the clean out hatch, but bilge still has plenty to pump out. I’ll give this a shot and hope it takes care of most of the renaming water

 

[Tailwaters]

Been having water issues up front, so I pulled the anchor locker drain and discovered I have gap. Went down to the marine supply store to see if they possibly had the same same size drain fitting , figuring I could cut it a bit longer but no such luck. However they did have smaller one that actually slips inside the original. I may install that one from the inside so it overlaps the gap as insurance along with silicone.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

Well the water in the hull continues.

Bilge runs every couple minutes and each time pumps out water.

I’ve resealed hull drain plugs, anchor locker, clean out hatch.

With switch always in on position is bilge regularly pumping out water normal? I can’t see how it would be. If bilge pump were to malfunction I’d have water permanently in the hull.

Focusing solely on getting a dry bilge, what else is there? I’ve considered trying the anchor locker again,maybe.... or are these plastic o ring drain plugs really that porous...

 

[highanddryinco]

A few ideas;
- With the dry boat on the trailer, install your drain plugs and run a garden hose into the bilge. Fill it up to a reasonable point to rule out all of those rear/bottom items. (Drain plugs, speedo pick-up, livewell thru-hull.)

- If nothing found leaking while on land, put the boat in the water but don't start it. First stick a rubber stopper in the anchor drain from the outside to take that out of the equation. Troll around on your trolling motor or just park and have a beer. Leave the bilge on. Is water leaking in making your bilge pump out water every couple minutes like you mentioned? If so, I'd be checking shaft seal or jet components that flange mount to the rear of the boat or other flanges like the exhaust that sit below the waterline but were too high to get wet when you filled the bilge.

If nothing, pop that cork out, get some weight up front to submerge that anchor drain, and see if that's your culprit. (You could also do this step on the trailer by corking the drain from the outside and filling you anchor locker with the garden hose like @OUT ON THE REEF did in his video.)

- If while sitting in the water, the bilge doesn't fill up and cause the pump to run, go ahead and fire up the motor. If the bilge pump starts running soon after and runs every couple of minutes -- you probably need to check all the hoses and clamps that supply water to the engine from the jet.

For your bilge needing to pump out water every couple of minutes, I can't image this leak being too hard to pin down with some basic logical steps. For some of the nuisance leaks and wetness that we all fight to some degree, keep sealing and draining until you've had enough sealing and draining. Then go fishing.

 

[Reds'o]

Well the water in the hull continues.

Bilge runs every couple minutes and each time pumps out water.

I’ve resealed hull drain plugs, anchor locker, clean out hatch.

With switch always in on position is bilge regularly pumping out water normal? I can’t see how it would be. If bilge pump were to malfunction I’d have water permanently in the hull.

Focusing solely on getting a dry bilge, what else is there? I’ve considered trying the anchor locker again,maybe.... or are these plastic o ring drain plugs really that porous...

First two years bilge was always dry , this year if I leave bilge pump in the on position very really turns on. If I leave bilge pump in off position, wait 5 minutes then turn on it pumps gallons. Don’t know where water is coming from.

 

[2MinutesForHooking]

First two years bilge was always dry , this year if I leave bilge pump in the on position very really turns on. If I leave bilge pump in off position, wait 5 minutes then turn on it pumps gallons. Don’t know where water is coming from.

@highandryinco gave a super thorough run down of possible places to check. I found today any water that goes through the bucket storage drain plug goes straight into the bilge and activated the pump. I’m not sure if a hose is supposed to be connected but I could feel around and it’s definitely just a hole to nowhere. Great boat for everything I do, just has some flaws that’ll drive ya nuts if you can’t see past em.