Boat Taking on Water

[jntMobiusLSV]

Big SCREW up by me this past weekend. Friday afternoon I forgot to put plug in boat and before I realized it the boat took on quite a bit of water but was able to get it back on the trailer and water eventually drained out. I noticed the bilge wasn't working despite the boat filling up with water from the plug not being in. Boat had been idling in the No Wake zone by the marina for about 8-10 minutes before I realized the plug wasn't in. Put plug in and launched the boat again after all the water had drained out and boat ran fine the rest of the evening. Tied it up overnight at a friend's dock and it seemed to run fine the next morning, Saturday, but noticed the battery voltage was down around 10 instead of the normal 13-16 voltage range. Rode around the lake a couple of hours and it seemed to be fine, although voltage stayed around the 10-11 range. Tied up to the dock and left it overnight but Sunday morning noticed the swim platform was now under the water level and there was about 5-6 inches of standing water under the seats and the engine compartment / transom had several inches of water as well. I never filled up the rear side ballasts so I knew that wasn't the problem. Luckily I was able to get it back to the marina and back onto the trailer, but still not sure why the boat was taking on water on overnight. It was in the water about 40 hours total over the weekend and didn't seem to take on any water overnight on Friday or during the day on Saturday. Charged the batteries and they are working fine but bilge still not working. Bilge was working fine before this debacle started this past Friday afternoon. So obviously need to replace the bilge pump with a new one, but still not sure why boat was taking on water Saturday night/Sunday morning. Thanks for any recommendations or ideas why boat is now taking on water.

[Holdmybeer]

Put it back in the water and check every through hull spot.

Exhaust port seals
Rudder port
Driveshaft
Ballast connections
Raw Water inlet port

A small leak sitting over night could cause this. As for the bilge pump, you probably have a shorted motor and it was draining the battery and not running.

[jntMobiusLSV]

Put it back in the water and check every through hull spot.

Exhaust port seals
Rudder port
Driveshaft
Ballast connections
Raw Water inlet port

A small leak sitting over night could cause this. As for the bilge pump, you probably have a shorted motor and it was draining the battery and not running.


Yah, I'm planning on putting it in the water tomorrow morning, see what happens.

[zabooda]

You got either a bad alternator or a large electrical drain.

[Holdmybeer]

Yah, I'm planning on putting it in the water tomorrow morning, see what happens.

Some of those spots are very hard to see since the motor is on top of them. My rudder box leak was minor and took me climbing over the engine to see it.

Hope you get it figured out. Zabooda is right...a bad alternator could be the issue.

[jntMobiusLSV]

Replaced the bilge pump with a new one and bilge now works fine and is able to pump out water well. Left boat out in a marina slip overnight and some friends who were keeping an eye on it overnight said the bilge pump did come on a few times so water is getting in from somewhere but bilge pump handled the small amount of water that was getting in the boat without a problem. So at this point still have to figure out where the water is getting in, but no issues when out on the lake as bilge is working fine and battery voltage is back up to normal as well.

[simpsonjoshua]

Replaced the bilge pump with a new one and bilge now works fine and is able to pump out water well. Left boat out in a marina slip overnight and some friends who were keeping an eye on it overnight said the bilge pump did come on a few times so water is getting in from somewhere but bilge pump handled the small amount of water that was getting in the boat without a problem. So at this point still have to figure out where the water is getting in, but no issues when out on the lake as bilge is working fine and battery voltage is back up to normal as well.
cookie clicker (https://cookieclicker2.io)

That's fine, the water motor in the boat is working fine, no problem.