water getting into foam

[LSUTIGER1947]

Can anyone tell me how water gets into the inner hull foam? I've got the bow jacked way up and for days its been a steady drip, drip, drip out of the transom drain.
Also, does anybody know what that glob of rule sealant is in the center divider next to the bilge pump? Geaux Tigers!

[Genelie]

as for the center glob...who knows possibly rear to parts meet. As for the drip drip drip....you are doing just fine. nothing more to do but let her drip.

[spanfang]

LSUTIGER1947

The "glob" covers a nut and bolt that is used to fasten two stainless steel stringers together. These stringers run up the length of the inner hull. I believe this is a common entry point for water. I recently witnessed this on my 2004 210 CLE. I was using a shop vac to clean remaining water out of the bilge and noticed that when I got the vacuum nozzle close to the "glob" that water was coming out from under the glob. So, I finally bit the bullet and installed a garboard drain plug on the stern to allow for drainage (same story as yours - drip, drip, drip....). As an additional measure, I recoated the glob with more Rule Elastomeric Sealant.

[jergofish]

My new 215 has a nice drain through the bottom of the hull opposite the bilge pump accessable via the bilge pump hatch. The drain was installed at the factory. It seems that the factory is slowly adding mods to their original design as necessary.

Another thing I found was that the routing tube from the starboard rear compartment to the engine compartment is huge, made out of ropelene and I had no problem pulling all of my wires through it.

[Codfish]

LSUTIGER, The water in the inner hull can enter through several means, all of which may not be preventable. Your install of the inner hull drain is the best way to eliminate the accumulation of excess water in the inner hull. In simple terms, it is a problem will all have to live with.

The glob of rule at the transom does cover a stainless stringer and bolts that hold it together. If you have water coming out around that spot, you have water in the inner hull and you need to install the hull drain. Just a fact of life with these boats. If the water turns rusty looking then you should probably remove all the rule and reseal the area after it dries. (no easy task).

JERGOFISH, I think the drain you mention is the factory installed bilge drain that is standard on all the boats, all years, as is the raceway from the motor well to the bilge for cables and wiring. The inner hull drain is the end user installed drain to rid the hull of accumulated water in the foam area between the inner and outer hull.

codfish

[jergofish]

Codfish, thanks, from what others had written, it seemed that there was no drain at all for the bilge.

As to the inner hull drain, I don't understand the layout of the boat completely yet but from what I DO understand, all of the foam fill is somewhere above the lowest point in the bilge, all throughout the boat. Why not drill 1/2 inch holes every so often along the lowest part of the foam areas and just let that water drain out naturally into the bilge? I presume the foam is stable enough that it will remain in place and since it's a plastic, should be free from any deteriation?

If I'm still not clear about what's going on it would be neat if someone made a line drawing showing where the drains need to be installed and if they need to be plugged, the reasoning for plugging them rather than just allowing them to drain.

I sure hope someone volunteers for this!

Here's a link to the inner hull drain process:

01 210 inner hull foam drain install

[jergofish]

Greyoldchief, I've read those posts and most of it seem to be gobblydegoook to me. I need some graphics and I don't understand that if you need to install drainsk, why install plugs, especially if they're higher than the bilge?

[Putershark]

Because the drain / drains (my old 210 had 2 installed) will be setting below the water line many times when the boat is at rest. Took me a while to find any picture on a 210 configuration using the search tool on the picture page (once gain used to many words and just had to use the word "hull" alone) but this one was the best picture that I found of a hull with 1 drain installed

[k9reno]

Actually the inner hull foam in question is below the floor of the bilge area and with out installing the drain shown in the picture that putershark posted there is no way to get the water out. I know I have a water prob there because last summer I developed a small hole in the floor of the bilge and had water coming in causing the bilge pump to kick on when ever I got on the boat. The factory guy that came to mack fest last yr welded the hole shut for me and that stopped that untill just recently. I suspect that the extremely cold weather we had in nov and dec froze the water in the inner hull and caused another leak into the blige area because my bilge is kicking out water every 10-15 min while I am on the water.. I hvae the stainless drain to install but not the courage to install it.. go figure.. I have no problem dealing with jerks with guns , but am afraid to drill a hole in my boat.