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It’s not that. I have a riser on the cleanout tray and a valve on the hatch drain.
Turns out my leak was the drain plug. There was a lot of junk in the bilge next to the plug and some junk that was crudding up the threads. I cleaned all that out, cleaned the threads, and sprayed some silicone lube on the plug o ring and that stopped the leaking.
Some members have put a gopro camera under the hatch with a light to see where water is coming from (or just over rode the lockouts and left the hatch open and watched.
I’m not 100% certain, but pretty sure. I ran it the other day on the hose for about 10 minutes and water was full above the plugs and water in the bilge. I’m going to put on the O rings when they come and run it with the hatch open to see if it’s something else. Could be the intermediate bearings or even a leak from the shutoff valves I installed a few years back. I’m not ruling out those yet but the plugs seem to be the likely culprit. I’ve sealed the tray, put on the JBP riser and put in a blowback valve on the drain. I still think water leaks through under pressure in the tube itself when it gets past the plugs. I’ve put a second bilge pump in the bilge so I’m not super concerned, BUT… I just don’t like water in the bilge.
Also, I know there is no water getting in from any other source. I’ve done the complete rundown on the leak thread.
️ and evenings in the corner of excellence for doing the homework on finding the correct O ring.
Good Stuff here !To reiterate and summarize the steps to having a dry bilge and storage areas on our boats.
Pick this thread up at post #90 with @TeeNGee, arguably the single best way to eliminate the largest source of water getting into our boats. He deserves a gold star
O-rings to help seal the clean-out plug(s) and prevent water from sliding past the plug. On my boat, I found that my plug was always full of water and may have been overflowing into the inspection tray. Thanks to @TeeNGee, who found that this O-ring could help better seal the plug and prevent water intrusion (Thread). Since installing this O-ring, my plugs are bone dry.
These aren’t super easy to find/buy so I bought them in bulk. I now have a BUNCH to move
$5 each, shipped to CONUS via USPS. You’ll need 1 per plug
This takes care of the sneaky water getting in
Sealing the cup holders against the hull is a necessity to keep rain water / wash water out of the bilge and storage compartments. As well, make sure those with OEM drains have their hoses connected firmly. Cup holders without factory drains can have drain lines installed to put water overboard, on to the deck or just plug them and remove any water collected there with a microfiber towel.
On the FSH series sealing the rod holders against the cap rails and installing universal rod holder drains on the bottoms of those that didn’t come with them and plumbing them either overboard or onto the deck will keep the storage compartments dry and keep water out of the bilge. Same is true for the cup holders that drain directly into the bilge, especially helpful on the FSH series where the raw water wash down is used throughout a day of fishing to clean up the deck. Some FSH series need to have sealant where the center console meets the deck touched up.
Removing and sealing up the rub rail at the stern, especially for those that wake board with a lot of ballast that submerges the rub rail will keep water from getting in there.
Checking and or resealing the deck drain fitting(s) as well as the drain line itself to the thru hull scupper. Better yet, replace the plastic OEM thru hull scuppers for the deck drain(s) and or live well drain(s) with quality stainless steel units and seal them with copious amounts of 3M 5200 will not only ensure these are not leaking but also eliminates a ticking time bomb of failure that could cause your boat to sink when these fittings become brittle with age, crack and start leaking, or as a few members here have experienced a total failure occurs and the bilge will flood.
Add a mechanical hatch riser from Jet Boat Pilot.
Make sure the bilge is clean and free of debris especially in the area where the hull drains are, the hull drain hole is clean and the O ring on the plug is in good shape and lubricated with silicone or pool lube.
There are a few edge cases where leaks occur at the impeller shaft pas thru in the aft bilge.
Having a dry bilge not only preserves your boat and keeps you from relying on your bilge pump, but also helps to remove an area of transport of aquatic invasive species.
