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Most common source of water in the blige, new boat


Lees23

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So I finally took my boat on the lake tonight.  I had to flip a PNP ballast that was installed the wrong way and then wanted to fill the bags to make sure everything filled okay.  As soon as they filled I decided to take a peek at the wake (with no surfer and no wedge) at surfing speeds.  As soon as I came to speed I got a "auto bilge" warning.  After 30 seconds of looking at each wake I emptied all ballasts.  We sat for a bit, I pulled the drone out for 5 min and then we took another cruise.  I got another auto bilge warning.  When I put the boat away I pulled the center access and had 5-6" of water in the bilge.  I checked all PNP fittings and all were tight and locked.  There didn't appear to be any water near them. Both plugs were tight. 

 

This has to be coming from tje ballast system right?? If not from PNP the where from?  Ideas of places to look?

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I had a similar issue last season that I have still yet to narrow down to where it is coming from specifically but I know this much. When I run stock ballast with the PNP shut off, I don't have an issue, when I flip the valve on the PNP, I will then get water in my bilge. Seems like an easy fix but it is taking the time to research and kind of hard to tell where it is coming from. 

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Most likely cause would probably be something with the pnp. If you don't find anything there, fill the hard tanks individually and check after a few minutes with each one.....

Before all that, check the raw water plumbing for proper reassembly after the factory winterization, and take a look at the shaft seal, and through-hulls.

Drain the bilge, take her back out, and just keep looking around. Run it without ballast for a while first, and see if you are getting water in there. If you aren't, start loading the ballast one by one.

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Just now, TenTwentyOne said:

Most likely cause would probably be something with the pnp. If you don't find anything there, fill the hard tanks individually and check after a few minutes with each one.....

Before all that, check the raw water plumbing for proper reassembly after the factory winterization, and take a look at the shaft seal, and through-hulls.

Drain the bilge, take her back out, and just keep looking around. Run it without ballast for a while first, and see if you are getting water in there. If you aren't, start loading the ballast one by one.

This is my plan... when we did the water demo it seemed dry.  Of course I checked the center access on a hill but I think I would have known if there was water in the bilge.  

Thanks all.

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6 hours ago, Bill_AirJunky said:

Prop packing? Heater or shower? Exhaust manifold hoses? Have you opened the engine cover & looked? Anything spraying or wet?

Don't all new boats come with the dripless?

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My dripless seal went bad last year on the 23LSV, I also had a leak around the platform bolts on my 2014 axis. Those platform bolts are sometimes under carpet so it's really hard to diagnose a slow leak!

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Fill your ballast, have someone drive & watch your seal on the shaft, if it's dripless that is when it will leak, or rather water may be shooting out.  If you have packing you will see it coming through as well.  That much water makes me think it's your shaft seal leaking.  When my dripless started leaking it only did it when I my ballast was loaded & when we got the boat up to surf speed then it started shooting out.  Easy fix though.

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My dripless shaft seal was also leaking.  It would have a slow run at idle and then more once we put the boat in gear.  Really easy to check that out on the water.

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3 hours ago, saxton15 said:

Don't all new boats come with the dripless?

No.

And so what? The dripless packings fail too.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Thanks all.  I will put the boat on the water Sunday and look for the leak.  Do I need to pull up the big bilge access just in front of the rear seat?  Is that just screwed down?  

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4 hours ago, racer808 said:

Fill your ballast, have someone drive & watch your seal on the shaft, if it's dripless that is when it will leak, or rather water may be shooting out.  If you have packing you will see it coming through as well.  That much water makes me think it's your shaft seal leaking.  When my dripless started leaking it only did it when I my ballast was loaded & when we got the boat up to surf speed then it started shooting out.  Easy fix though.

Easy as in the dealer can send me a part and I can replace it?  

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Dealer is 4 hrs away.  

 

If it is something simple like a hose clamp or an easily repaceable seal then I would rather just fix it and be done with it.  

 

If it is not something I can identify and rectify then I will ask the dealer to help.  They are aware of the problem. I believe that he has a mobile mechanic that can come look at it or in the event that it is something that needs to be fixed there the dealership will come get the boat.  

Edited by Lees23
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Check the following:

Connections to the PNP bags.

Remove the bags, unscrew the black floor covers in the rear hatches over where the hoses that connect to the pnp bag dip down into the floor.  That will allow you to check to see if the connection between those hoses and the hard tanks is secure and not leaking

Pull the engine access panels and check to make sure all hoses that are taken loose to winterize the engine are secure.

Check to make sure the drain plugs in the transmission are secure.

Check for leaks around the paddle wheel speedo and ballast pumps attach to the through hull fittings.

Check the prop shaft seal.

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3 minutes ago, Chattwake said:

Check the following:

Connections to the PNP bags.

Remove the bags, unscrew the black floor covers in the rear hatches over where the hoses that connect to the pnp bag dip down into the floor.  That will allow you to check to see if the connection between those hoses and the hard tanks is secure and not leaking

Pull the engine access panels and check to make sure all hoses that are taken loose to winterize the engine are secure.

Check to make sure the drain plugs in the transmission are secure.

Check for leaks around the paddle wheel speedo and ballast pumps attach to the through hull fittings.

Check the prop shaft seal.

Thank you!

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If you don't find anything wrong that's previously been suggested, have a look at your tracking fins.  Wouldn't expect it on a new boat, but they can come loose, and when they do, a lot of water can enter in a short amount of time.

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A loose drain plug on the hull bottom will squirt water in when the boat is moving fast. And it will eventually unscrew itself and fall out. I found out.

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11 minutes ago, ski40mph said:

A loose drain plug on the hull bottom will squirt water in when the boat is moving fast. And it will eventually unscrew itself and fall out. I found out.

Not the issue.. both plugs were tight.

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To have an auto bilge kick on 30 seconds after ballast bags were filled tells me two things: Its coming in somewhere related to the ballast and it's coming in fast.  Even a missing drain plug takes a minute or two before there is enough water for auto bilge to kick on.  

I would start with hard tanks one by one and then PnP.  My axis PnP fills and drains to/from hard tanks and this winter I modified my PnP connections in the rear by removing the hard tank cover and let's just say it was a hose with a connector on both ends with a lot of silicone holding them on.  Never was a problem but I could see it easily happening.

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1 minute ago, wedge88 said:

To have an auto bilge kick on 30 seconds after ballast bags were filled tells me two things: Its coming in somewhere related to the ballast and it's coming in fast.  Even a missing drain plug takes a minute or two before there is enough water for auto bilge to kick on.  

I would start with hard tanks one by one and then PnP.  My axis PnP fills and drains to/from hard tanks and this winter I modified my PnP connections in the rear by removing the hard tank cover and let's just say it was a hose with a connector on both ends with a lot of silicone holding them on.  Never was a problem but I could see it easily happening.

It was pretty much right as I took off.. I was stationary while filling so if is coming from the ballast system it had 7-8 min to leak/spray while the bags were filling. 

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