Water in engine compartment

mattjake

is it normal to have a small amount of water in engine compartment?  Brand new 290 express cruiser, open hatch and small amount of water under engine. Keep boat docked at club, It bilges right out, but wondering if I should be suspecting anything. Thanks

MarkB

Does it keep filling with water? It shouldn't. Most water leaks are easy fixes. Some are not. Can you empty it and observe?

buggyjdav

My 342 always has a little but not enough to bilge out.

Handymans342

Mine too

Dream_Inn

Yeah, every boat on my dock has a little every weekend (& 90% are on lifts).  So, for us it is rain finding it's way in there.  Just my opinion, but a little seems to be the norm.  The most important thing, always monitor it.  I empty mine every week and keep it clean.  This will let me know if something changes.  Enjoy your new ride!

mattjake

Thanks guys. I actually have to turn on bilge to run it out, it's that little. Thanks again for the insight!  

craigswardmtb

If you can attribute the bilge filling to no good reason, than no its not normal, but not unusual. 

I fixed my leak in the offseason with replacing my swivel pin, or so I thought.  Now I get some water in the bilge whenever I get back from running, but nothing comes in when at rest.  I have checked all my hoses and can't seem to find anything.  I'll have to do some more detective work.

andyd

A small amount of water in the bilge from rain, condensation and wash downs is normal. I use a couple of bilge pads every couple of weeks to soak up most of it. For larger quantities I've found that the Stream Machine brand water guns make excellent manual bilge pumps.

Andy

bella-vita

Also have a 342 and every weekend their is a little water in bilge 

Handymans342

On my 342 in the bilge, there is a black corrugated pipe about 1 inch in diameter at the bottom of the stringer that has water trickling out. I have no idea where it goes. 

raybo3

Handy are you sure that is not a wiring harness? Maybe water is getting in at some open end and just running to the lowest point.

Handymans342

It is the same conduit that covers wires but there are no wires or harness that low and they were very careful to go around it with fiberglass. 

raybo3

Wow that is strange. Could it be cup holder drains????

Handymans342

Dont know. Dont feel like cutting off the shrink wrap to investigate. LOL

MarkB

I was going to say your bilge should be dry ... but then I went and checked my boat yesterday, and the bilge has some water in it, lol. We had a few down pours and I also washed the heck out of my swim platform last week with some splash water certainly making its way into the bilge. As long as the water level isn't changing when everything is dry (no rain, no washing), then you should be fine.

seguir

On my 280 on the entertainment centre there is a place that you can put ice cubes or sundry stuff in it....only problem it drains right in the bilge...unsure why they wouldn't just attached the drain to the sink drain that drains out.   When it rains my canvas zipper leaks right on that spot, and water drains into the bilge.  As well the outside cup holders drain directly into the storage area.  Rinker should pick up all these things and fix them for future models.

mattjake

Thanks again all. 

majorboats

There could be the over flow from the AC also, I had this problem in 2 boats.

mattjake

okay thanks again

rasbury

you know, I never thought about the dang cup holders! When first bought, never had water in the bilge but now I seem to be getting some in there.....never thought about the cup holders and I don't have a complete camper package so those darn covers would for sure be filling up and draining below...perhaps my mystery has been solved!

Michael T

I had a new 2013 EC 310 and now a 2014 EC 360. Both got a little water in the bilge after sitting for awhile. I could not find leaks at through hulls or the transom. I attribute it to rain and drain activity. I keep a small 110v shop vac under the port front seat to vacuum out the water every couple of days. Of course I have a long enough hose attachment to never have to take the vac into the bilge - for all the reasons we have discussed re- explosive gas vapors - and it has enough suction to pull the water up. It is very small so it takes two or three  times to empty the bilge but it's worth it imo.

Handymans342

So whats the big deal about a little water in the bilge anyway?

Michael T

I always have had a bad feeling about water inside the bilge as I wonder if there are areas that I can not see, around stringers, under the transom platform etc. that have not had enough gel coat, any gel coat at all, or been chipped. Water getting into a hull from the inside is real bad...plus, Steve,  we all know I'm ocd :-)

Handymans342

OCD is not the word for it  LOL

MarkB

MT, is your water even touching the stringers? Mine isn't. The bottom of my bilge pump is well below the bottom of my stringer. All the water is touching really is the botom of the bilge.  All of my water is getting in via boat washes, hard sprays that overflow the channels and cause water to enter the bilge. I'm not worrying too much about a little water at the bottom of the bilge.

Michael T

Mark, the water that is in my bilge is not as high as my bilge pump either but it is up the stringers at the transom about an inch and extends about14" forward without setting-off the bilge pump or allowing me to manually remove it with the bilge pump. My EC 360 sits about 1.5 inches lower in the stern with the 8.2s that a 360 with the 6.2s (377s) so that might allow more water to accumulate more than Rinker normally expected. I bought a Shop Vac wet/dry vac that is real small. I stow it under the front seat and it's great for dry and wet clean-ups. It is far easier to use than breaking-out the central vac system for the boat that we have never used lol.

Dream_Inn

I've connected my raw water pump wash (that I never used as a wash) to a hose and nipple in the back of my bilge into the hole where the plug exits.  When I turn on my wash pump, it draws my bilge nice and clean in a couple seconds. Love it!!

Michael T

What a great idea! DI will your wash pump take fresh water from your water tank as well? In my 360 Rinker plumbed my wash down pump to take water either from the river or the fresh water tank. Pretty cool! I don't use it to wash the boat too much as I do that at the marinas but I sure love the raw water wash when the anchor is covered in sea weed and/or mud!

Dream_Inn

My raw water wash hose is under a port side seat, so it's really not too feasible to move the seat and drag a hose 30+ feet forward to wash the anchor.  I could've put a valve to allow the pump to either take raw water or pull from bilge, but as I said I've never used the pump.  Of course I left the seacock and hose still there if I want to reconnect.  The great thing is it actually sucks it dry.  I don't even have to lift the engine hatch!

Michael T

That's cool DI. The hose I use is one of those new-style 75' hoses with a cloth cover (so that it will not mar the gel coat as you drag it around the boat)  that  retracts after the water pressure is taken off into a very small ball. I can hook it up and wash off the anchor in under 10 minutes. Pressure off it recoils to about 10' in length and I wind it up and it's stored :-)

rasbury

those hoses are great for the boat....