Sx192 drainage and bilge..?

[Luke Lapham]

ok, so I was under the impression the motor compartment was separated from the bilge other then by a drain plug... and also thought that the water like rain would Chanel through the platform and drain out the back of the boat without entering the bilge...

This brings me to my story, I pulled my boat off the lift and tied it to the dock .. not 45 min later a Florida storm hit and it started to pour.. it rained on the boat for about 1/2 hour and I downed my raincoat and went out and pulled it back into the lift. After I pulled it out of the water I fired the motor up and flushed it... I lifted the motor compartment to find that it was halfway full of rainwater!... I turned off the motor and engaged the bulge pump. I went to the rear of the boat and pulled he drain plugs.. no water came out... the ski locker was also full of water as well. I noticed my lift is a little off level and just a tad bit of pooling in the front of the boat when I wash it... can someone explain the physics of the drain system so I know what to do... as of now the ski locker still has 2" of water in it that will not drain and I pulled the plug in the motor compartment which drained the majority, but not that last little bit...kinda concerned since I got ride of a Seadoo Utopia that all water drained to the bilge in the boat and it was a terrible design and a non carful person could "lift sink" their boat if the battery was dead and they didn't pull their drain plugs...

 

[haknslash]

So your lift tilts your boat towards the front more than the rear? That could be why you didn't see any water come out the transom drain plugs.

Did you not have the bilge on when the boat was on the water? Bilge should always be on if you're on water. There are 3 cockpit drain plugs and the drain system goes ski locker -> fuel tank compartment -> engine compartment. The bilge is under the cleanout port tray and extends under the engine where your bilge pump is located. There is a hole cut around the bilge pump and if you shine a light down there you will see the red fiberglass of the bilge and inner hull.

 

[Luke Lapham]

I did not have the switch on... I was under the impression as most boats that the bulge pump is wired direct to the battery and a switch so that it will come on automatically and then with the switch the captain can activate if the float didn't... at least that was the way with my prior boat...so on this boat the bulge pump has no power unless the switch is on?

 

[haknslash]

These boats don't have a bilge pump with a float switch. It only cycles every few minutes If on. If you're on the water the bilge pump must be turned on. This is why a lot of people like to install a secondary bilge pump with a float switch wired directly to the battery.

 

[Luke Lapham]

Anyone have pics of where to put another pump? Like next to the one that's there and three just wire it directly to the battery I assume..

 

[haknslash]

Anyone have pics of where to put another pump? Like next to the one that's there and three just wire it directly to the battery I assume..

Plenty of pics on here of secondary bilge pump installs just search around for bilge pump threads. Some people mount them in the engine compartment but personally I think it would be best to mount it in the bilge under the cleanout tray because that is the lowest section and would fill first if you're taking on water. You can get access to this area by removing the plastic cleanout tray/wet storage area. You will want to re-seal that tray because water rushes up on the swim platform when you come off plane quickly.

 

[Luke Lapham]

How did the water get into the engine compartment with all the plugs sealed ?

 

[haknslash]

Cup holders (they just dump into your storage compartments and don't have drain tubes), gaps in the engine hatch, water filling in the fuel hatch and spilling over into the engine compartment, cleanout tray/wet storage area is more than likely not sealed from the factory (known thing), .... there are plenty of places water could make its way to the bilge in a heavy downpour.