Bilge Problem

[tomolalla]

I have a 1997 208 Adventurer and the forward bilge is plugged and water is not flowing to the stern. We've tried running a snake, wire, compressed air and finally cutting a hole in the deck to gain access to the forward bilge. There is no apparent plug in the forward bulkhead drain, and a wire running into did not unplug the drain. We did find a stray piece of fiberglass (about 16 inches long by 4 inches wide) a few pieces of foam and some old calking floating in the forward bilge. These had to be left over from the factory. I suppose a couple of these pieces could have floated through the drain and plugged another hole through another bulkhead that I can't see. I did siphon about 50 gallons of water out of the forward bilge (I intentionally flooded it to check my auto bilge pump and that is how I found this problem) so the main problem (water) is gone...but I still have a plug somewhere.

So does anyone know what these boats look like without the deck? Are all the drains perfectly aligned so I can shove a rod from the stern drain plug all the way to the forward bilge and get this thing unplugged?

Yikes,,,any advice out there?

tomolalla

 

[seasick]

Grady should be able to tell you the layout of the drain tubing.

 

[NO REGRETS]

Yeah, I think this is more common than not.I have the same issue on my 306 bimini!Spent all day and about 70.00 in trying to unplug it from both ends.My run is a little longer, but the drain pipe is only 3/4 inch i.d.I was able to get an electrician fisher to go through but that allows a medium trickle to go through.The pipe was accessed from removing the rear deck hatch and looking foward just at the v- under the tanks.I tried copper icemaker line,threaded rods,water, drain cleaner,nothing would knock it free.So, besides drilling a new hole and putting in a new bigger diameter pipe, I am left to hope,what sounds like a piece of metal, deteriorates enough to work itself free.They should have run at least a 1 inch pipe , prefferably 1.25 inch front to back.They do have a bigger one next to this one ,but it only goes from under the fuel tanks back.MAKES NO SENSE TO HAVE SUCH A SMALL DIAMETER PIPE AS A DRAIN.I THINK THE METAL CAME FROM THE SEACOCK ROD MOUNTS THAT ARE USED TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE VALVEs from the inside of the center console in my case.They were corroded to beat the band and had to be replaced.I'm sure this is what got jammed into the small pipe.So, now I am depending on the float and trying to keep an Eye on the front , mine is on a lift.But the first thing I do when I get in the boat is to run the pumps anyway to get any water the float doesn't turn on from, out!!

The short answer is , it is one long pipe.So if you are lucky, yours is a soft clog and it should break up from the stern forward .I would find something just small enough to fit the pipe that is stiff enough to smack with a hammer once you get water in the pipe.If you can tilt the boat in the right angle to help the draining so you can see progress that also will help...........

 

[richie rich]

That 4 ich wide by 16 inch long piece of glass sounds familiar....thats what they lay on top of the stringers before setting in the liner...surprised it came loose and was floating in there. Also surprised that a 30 foot boat has only a 3/4 inch full length drain and a bigger one for the tank compartment drain....should be the other way around, no?

I would try a piece of PVC thats smaller in diameter to try and poke the hole free, if possible..it should be flexible enough yet stout enough to try an unclog the hole.......a piece of wire or snake may just go around an obstruction.

 

[Pez Vela]

So does anyone know what these boats look like without the deck? Are all the drains perfectly aligned so I can shove a rod from the stern drain plug all the way to the forward bilge and get this thing unplugged?

Not from the stern drain plug. Here's some pics posted here some time ago and a search will probably produce more. Included in the pics is my Sailfish with the tanks removed. The pvc draining the forward bilge is a straight shot, under the tanks, into the aft bilge. The tank compartments have their own short pvc drain, also into the aft bilge.

http://www.greatgrady.com/forum/viewtop ... highlight=

 

[tomolalla]

Thanks everyone for the help, I found the pipe diagram for my boat and will try accessing the plug from the stern end of the long pipe. I'm not sure exactly how. If the rod I bought doesn't align through the drain plug, I'll try to innovate some kind of McGyver pvc pipe tool. I might be able to connect about 8 two foot sections that reach the plug and then hammer on it. If all else fails, I'll just buy some foam and fill up the bow bilge.

I'll keep you posted of my progress or if I find a solution that others might use. I'm heading to Whistler BC for the week and give updates later. If anyone comes up with a brainstorm...send it my way.

I've notified Grady White and expect to hear back soon. I'm a little surprised at the lack of QC with the junk (extra fiberglass that doesn't appear to have been connected to anything...hopefully) and all these bits of foam and calk. I bet it is a foam chunk creating the plug, the ones I found were about 3/4 inch in diameter.

later

 

[tomolalla]

Plug Gone

Just in case anyone is interested, a Marks-a-Lot cap is 1/2 inch in diameter with a slight taper. Today I fished it out of the 1/2 inch bilge pipe by sheer luck + persistence. It made an excellent plug but enough gunk built up on the inside of the cap that it stayed on my stick when I fished it back out. The cap must have been left behind, along with a lot of other debris in the bilge at the factory. Hopefully GW has gone to larger diameter bilge pipes after my '97 was built....or better yet.....clean up the junk in the bilge before the deck goes on!

end of post...

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Tom, I am a far cry from a boat builder, but it seems to me t he labor of filling the forward bilge with foam is as much as work as popping the deck off, removing the tank and cleaning the drain out? Am I missing something here? Also, and you likely already know this, but some spray on foams absorb water. You are going to get water in the forward area and it seems getting the drain to work properly is the best thing to do. Good Luck. I agree with the finish below decks and they could take care of cleaning the bilge area out of residual debris before capping it off with the deck/liner.

 

[seabob4]

Those little extra bits of foam are, unfortunately, not just a GW problem. Most hull riggers are real lazy when cleaning up the mess they leave behind. Also, rarely is a cleanliness QC check done before the boat is decked.

 

[BobP]

Try water pressure, seal your hand against the garden hose and opening of tube and let it rip full bore, try from both ends.

 

[tomolalla]

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough in my last post, the plug problem is now in the past. I fished out the pen cap which was plugging the 1/2 inch pipe. I did learn a few intersting things along the way...one being that the ppipe layout diagram for a 1997 adventurer is not what shows on the website...anyway thanks for the suggestions and off to fish the Washington coast in two days.