2009 Rinker 28 Ec rain leaked and 4 inches of water in cabin and bed soaked

Sej1969

85 hours on boat inside like new, last week it was full 4 inches of rain water and under bed soaked. so upset as we just bought it.. it was tilted forward at shop, when we tipped back all the water flooded out under stairs and bed area HELP, the vinyl is peeled away from water at side of bed wall from water too. and the cabinet perm damaged water . WTF where is it leaking. HELP

Aqua_Aura

It was tilted forward as in bow low?  If water gets down to the step area from the cockpit it will leak into the cabin. Needs to be stearn low and level or leaning to starboard if any water gets in the step it can go out the drain on the starboard side.  

Sej1969

SO the step into cabin needs to be sealed? it poured and the mechanic had it leaned forward BOW low. SO important to lean up, why would this happen? our current boat doesnt leak, is this common to fill even in bed area? How do you fix this ? thank you !! 

Aqua_Aura

Was the boat canvas on? 

 It's the track for the sliding door as water gets in there it is supposed to drain to the right and out the drain on the side. It can probably allow a couple of inches but the boat certainly should not be bow low. Also make sure your drains are clear and it can allow the water out 

Not sure there is a better way to fix the "design flaw" other than it would help if there was a drain also below the track on the left side when facing the door. 

Aqua_Aura

You can see here it's kinda like a ditch or gutter the track sits in to capture any water that may get down there. 

Sej1969

OK,none of us have seen a cabin fill up on any boat before.. no cover was not on. but water was 4 " inside the cubby behind drivers seat also, should be dry storage. IM so confused thank you so much for your help. it went all the way under mattress and pulled off wall vinyl under cubby with TV. have you seen this before then?  is it common if tilted bow down?

Sej1969

Where did you get your floor mats! I am looking. thank you so much!

Aqua_Aura

This has happened to my boat as I didn't have the cover on at my house and it started raining so I got it on before anything got out of control. The compartment behind the captain seat may get water in it from the cup holders if they are not sealed. The boat should NEVER be stored bow down,no boat should. 

I know the rain was absolutely crazy here the last few days so I'm not surprised that happened with no cover and now down. 

I got them from SeaDek I have the template number if you wanted to order them. It was $1800. 

Handymans342

Get an emergency service to dry it out. Fast!!

Pat310

Not sure of the model you have but most express cruisers have a mid-bilge bilge pump that if boat is level or bow high should not let this happen. Try to keep a cover on if heavy rain is expected. Agree with handy that you need to take care of the moisture in the cabin immediately before mold sets in. At the very least suck up what you can with wet vac and fans and dehumidifier running 24/7. Remove anything that got wet and isn’t permanently attached from boat. Good luck

Sej1969

Thank you every one it is at a shop its been there two months, we are two hours from boat, we stopped by and opened and were in shock, it sat like that for a week, we took care of water and it has heaters and they are cleaning carpet. The employee parked it severely bow down. we had no clue. I called the company that makes the teak and hickory floor plywood, he swears its water proof we shall see. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I was freaking out, no one had even been inside since 09, 85 hours on boat still had plastic on seats. SO that makes me more  crazy. (: They are drying it out, but I will always be **** that sat there. thank you TAKE care anything else that SUCKs about 2009 28 Express cruisers? we are also trying to find FW cooling kit 8.1, found a few half kits. I have never had a boat without , I thought it would be easy , NOT> we always will have it moored in salt. 

Ian

When you say in a shop is this a workshop or where you purchased? I would be addressing this with those that allowed it to be bow down, I am not sure any vessel bow down will not at some time allow ingress of water. They are designed to drain to stern - thus the drain plug at the lowest point aft.

Liberty44140

Agree whoever was working on it is the problem here. Bow should be up but additionally why was the canvas not on? Leaving the cockpit uncovered for weeks is also a major problem. The main hatch is not water tight and the floor gutters are designed for water to run aft and out of the boat. With the canvas on the gutters stay dry. No professional yard would leave a boat bow down and uncovered. I would be talking to whoever was working on it about an insurance claim on their shop insurance. 

Cableguy Greg

On the 280EC, there is a drain in the corner behind the helm station. If the boat was sitting bow down for a while, with no cover, chances are the drain got plugged with some debris and the water rolled over the door like others stated above. I have a 280EC and I have had water do that due to the drain being clogged and in a heavy rain without the camper top up. It could also happen washing out the cockpit area with the drain clogged. I would be upset as well and I would be questioning why the cockpit cover or camper top was not on the boat. I agree with Liberty about an insurance claim. Get the cabin dry ASAP.

Cableguy Greg

Check the seal around the port lights on the sides of the boat. If there is a gap between the white and the stainless beauty ring, it needs resealed. You can do this yourself. I would get some water in after a hard rain under my aft cabin mattress, but never enough to get 4 inches on the floor. Once I resealed the port lights, My water issues in the aft cabin went away.

Sej1969

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !! I am sick about it. but Praying it will dry out. SO seal cup holders, seal port lights, caulk entire boat. and even while moored, and put a 1 ft tall tray in step ): , always bow up. I've had so many boats, we have a 26 2002 ciera with 200 hours on it moored now in Kitsap never ever had water in the cabin, but we don't have that step down. I regret buying , now. I thought we were upgrading. Noahs ark. 

Aqua_Aura

This is not a problem with the boat it was a problem with how it was stored. The cup holders is just a suggestion they may be already good and sealed in there already. 

J3ff

Sej1969 said:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !! I am sick about it. but Praying it will dry out. SO seal cup holders, seal port lights, caulk entire boat. and even while moored, and put a 1 ft tall tray in step ): , always bow up. I've had so many boats, we have a 26 2002 ciera with 200 hours on it moored now in Kitsap never ever had water in the cabin, but we don't have that step down. I regret buying , now. I thought we were upgrading. Noahs ark. 

You are starting this path just like I did. "Upgrading"  Ha HA, should have kept my bayliner. The problem with these bigger boats is that they are just more complicated and it doesn't seem like the engineers have caught up or they just weren't able to solve these problems back then. I pray that you do not go down the path I did. Good luck! 

Cableguy Greg

Sej1969 said:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !! I am sick about it. but Praying it will dry out. SO seal cup holders, seal port lights, caulk entire boat. and even while moored, and put a 1 ft tall tray in step ): , always bow up. I've had so many boats, we have a 26 2002 ciera with 200 hours on it moored now in Kitsap never ever had water in the cabin, but we don't have that step down. I regret buying , now. I thought we were upgrading. Noahs ark. 

Don’t regret buying. It is a great boat. My family loves our 280. I agree with the others and think that having it stored bow down is the issue. If you have any questions about the boat, feel free to reach out to me. 

Liberty44140

Aqua put it correctly, bow down uncovered boat is the problem, not the leak. Your boat was improperly blocked and should have had its canvas package up. That is not from a leaky cup holder lol

Aqua_Aura

The cup holder I only brought up because of the water in the storage area behind the captain seat. My cup holders are not sealed in there so if water were to get past them then it goes into that storage, or if the cup holders have holes in the bottom which some do.

When I bought the boat there was a little water in that storage area and that's why,it has never happened since then though. 

YYZRC

J3ff said:

You are starting this path just like I did. "Upgrading"  Ha HA, should have kept my bayliner. The problem with these bigger boats is that they are just more complicated and it doesn't seem like the engineers have caught up or they just weren't able to solve these problems back then. I pray that you do not go down the path I did. Good luck! 

Man @J3ff you gotta ease up. You won’t make it to 40 with all this self-created stress. No doubt you’ve had a tough go with your Rinker and we (minus Handy) have all been as sympathetic and supportive as an online community can be. I think it’s time to dial back the vitriol - I don’t think it’s who you are. 

J3ff

ha ha I'm past 40! Canadian's are just less stressed  

YYZRC

You're living on borrowed time my friend. 

randy56

I'm wondering why the middle bulge pump did not work? My 270 had one in there, I assume the 280 has one also.

Aqua_Aura

There's a mid bilge however with it nose low it would fill the floor area quite a bit before it got to the mid bilge. I'm also trying to remember if that mid bilge has a passage to that floor area, it may not. Also since it was being stored maybe the batteries were dead. 

Cableguy Greg

randy56 said:

I'm wondering why the middle bulge pump did not work? My 270 had one in there, I assume the 280 has one also.

Yes the 280 has a midbildge pump. If the boat was stored bow down, the pump wouldn’t kick on until the water was high. 

MarkB

Yeah, that is NOT normal ... for there to be 4" of water in the cabin, 100% it is about how it was stored, not the boat design.  All water from the bow should self drain to the mid berth (middle of boat, under your big mattress) and from there it should be pumped out. I believe there is also an overflow from the mid berth to the engine bay, so if the mid berth bilge pump doesn't kick in, the water overflows into the engine bay and that secondary and tertiary bilge will take the water out ... this simply should not happen.

And I agree, leaving it outside without the canvas on is just nuts. All those electronics getting exposed ... not good.