2007 280EC bilge

The Main Exchange

Hello everyone. I have a question about the bilge under the fuel tank. I am in the process of trying to replace the swim platform cleats with ones that actually seal as I always have a lot of water coming in through those. Has anyone replaced theirs with the fold style?

So I tend to get water in the bilge under the engine and I have noticed that a good amount runs from the engine bilge into the bilge area under the fuel tank and back again when the boat has a lot of weight in the rear of the bow is raised. Do all 280 EC’s do that and I was thinking of washing the ‘fuel tank’ bilge area with salt away, let it drain and dry and sealing the hole with a rubber bung. What do you think??

I am hauling out in April and was looking to implement a cleat and bilge solution then.

MarkB

Can't talk about the cleats, but my bilge normally has like 1" of water in it at most.  Normally it's wash water from my hose that makes it over the drainage channels.  There's never enough to reach the fuel tank, my bilge always keeps it well away from there. 

Water from your mid-berth should drain into your bilge, even with the boat at rest. It should never sit up high and then drain when your bow is up.  You should figure out where that water is coming from. Start looking at:

- shower sump under mattress in mid-berth.

- filter and through hulls for head and AC unit.

- water coming in from bow deck, particularly if carpet is wet or liner

- cracked and/or broken hoses at galley and in head.

Michael T

I have never had more than 1" of water in my bilge unless a wave washes in or I am cleaning the cockpit and the channels allow a drain into the bilge. I have a small portable wet vac that I keep on board and vacuum the bilge dry whenever I see water in it which is RARELY. 

If the water is salt water then, obviously, it shouldn't be from washing your boat or rain water so the leak, obviously, is from sea water. Salt away sounds like a good plan followed by a thorough drying.

Then I'd find the leak and stop it. I would never plug an interior hole with a bung. IMO there should not be enough water to run back and forth in the hull of your boat.

Find that leak and stop it would be my solution. At least you don't have to look at mooring cleats, windshield, hatches and shore power inlets if you're getting salt water it is from lower on the hull. :-)

terrypage

I  don't know if this helps but last year I noticed the water tank level was getting lower and the pump kept working for no apparent reason.   Eventually we discovered a joint under the toilet basin tap leaking causing a lot of water to collect under the fuel tank.  Could this be an answer?

Michael T

Yes, it sure could be, any leak could quickly build-up water in your bilge. I had what appeared to be a small leak from the dockside water hook-up but it sure let a lot of water in over a 24 hour period. So any leak, even a small one from a sink, can add up quickly. When you mentioned using "salt away" I assumed you knew the water in your bilge was salt water and therefore could only be coming in from a leak lower on the hull such as the swim platform, trim tabs, transom seal etc.

The Main Exchange

Its salt water and water comes in through the swim platform cleats when cruising along at 7 knots. Water washes over the platform and its surprising how much comes in. The center bilge where the shower sump is located is dry and it appears not to be connected to the rear bilge. When sitting in the slip and no rain its doesn't accumulate water. I was thinking that the bilge under the fuel tank has only one in/out.

MarkB

1 drip a second would add over 8 liters (more than 2 gallons) of water to the bilge in 24 hours. Think about that, one drip per second isn't a lot.  It doesn't take much of a leak to fill a bilge.