1998 245 Tournament

[Hozenya]

Hello all!!

Have a question with regards to a 1998 Aquasport 245 Tournament and the front hold where the freash water tank sits. I was cleaning it out and added some water but the water did not flow out the drain hole as one would expect. I tried to run a metal fish tape down put it seemed to get lost and I can not see where with the limited access.

My question would be, is there a straight shot from bow to stern as one would think like a continous pipe or are there breaks along the way? Best place to make access to this area and or tool to use to see if there is something blocking the pipe going back?

Any insight would be great!

[Capt. Bob]

This is a Bob C. question for sure.

I'm not sure where the water tank is but bilge water in the "Gen II" Aquas tends to stay in the bow area when the boat is at rest (or on the trailer). It flows from front to back (down the keel line anyway) from the bow, through a pipe that enters the fuel coffin. It then travels under the tank support (floor) to a pipe that empties into the stern bilge. I base this on my 91 design but pictures of the hull construction for the 97 models looks very much the same.
Bob C can confirm or deny this since he has actually seen the construction.

It would also explain why you "lost" the fish tape going from bow to stern. The fuel coffin has open space at each end of the floor support. I think this is to allow drainage of this compartment to the bilge, should water enter. The tape may have "missed" the exit pipe and piled up under the fuel tank.
Again, this is all based on my boat and could be completely different on yours but Bob will know.

[Hozenya]

Thanks for the reply!

I was not sure if the fuel coffen was sealed and the pipe from the bow was run under it to the bilge but could answer the lost fish tape. I will try again with a fiberglass rod for fishing wire to see if I get the same lost issue and see if I am hitting the tank.

[seabob4]

Hozenya,
Unfortunately, the drain hole is only maybe an 1" in diameter, not exactly something you can work through.  What has probably happened is a piece of flotation foam has lodged in the opening of the PVC drain pipe that runs underneath the console.  And of course the freshwater tank sit's right over it, so accessing the drain in the floor is like a MAJOR PITA!

So if you REALLY want to fix it, what you'll need to do is move the water tank (you'll have to disconnect the Whale waterline fittings) so you can enlarge that drain and get at the obstruction.  Not an easy task, but better on a 245 than on a 225.  To disconnect the fittings, pull back on the little "collar" on the end of the fitting and pull the line straight out.  When you reinsert the lines, you need to make sure they seat all the way.  It's almost like a double insertion.  A little spit on the end of the lines helps.

[Hozenya]

Understood, my thought process was to use a camcorder and look from under the bait tank to see if that is where the obstruction is.

On a side note, I think I read in another posting that the deck inside the CC area where all the cables run through you can place a larger opening/hatch? Will this help is 'seeing' inside the cavity area where the drain runs from the bow area?

Just a thought.

[seabob4]

Understood, my thought process was to use a camcorder and look from under the bait tank to see if that is where the obstruction is.

On a side note, I think I read in another posting that the deck inside the CC area where all the cables run through you can place a larger opening/hatch? Will this help is 'seeing' inside the cavity area where the drain runs from the bow area?

Just a thought.

Unfortunately, no.  If you reach your hand down that oval wire pass through, you'll feel the fuel tank...

BTW, do me a favor.  Take a pic of the inside aft wall of your console where all the wiring is secured and routed to the switch panels.  I'll be able to tell if I wired your boat...

Bob C

[Hozenya]

Will do on the pics, what format does the pics need to be in to display in a post?

[seabob4]

JPEG or GIF.  I use Photobucket, that's the easiest way and gives the best results as far as the display in a post.  Know how to use Photobucket?  If not, here's a little tutorial that Rick has done...How to use Photobucket.  I've got one on my site as well, I do it a little differently, and I think a little easier, than Rick...The Proline Guy...Photobucket is pretty easy...

[Hozenya]

Update on the water not flowing from the forward comparment;

Ran a glass rod from the front compartment and was able to 'hit' what seems like the aft bulkhead in the fual coffen. Ran the same rod from the aft exit hole at the fual coffen and could hear the rod hitting hte underside of the fuel cell. But the water just sits in the forward compartment, best guess now is the boat is leaning forward and the water is not able to flow aft.

Will update more once I move the boat to see if that resolves the flow issue.

[seabob4]

Update on the water not flowing from the forward comparment;

Ran a glass rod from the front compartment and was able to 'hit' what seems like the aft bulkhead in the fual coffen. Ran the same rod from the aft exit hole at the fual coffen and could hear the rod hitting hte underside of the fuel cell. But the water just sits in the forward compartment, best guess now is the boat is leaning forward and the water is not able to flow aft.

Will update more once I move the boat to see if that resolves the flow issue.

Crank the jackstand as high as it will go and see what happens...

[Hozenya]

We add one layer of 4x4 plus 3 landscape bricks and cranked the jack to max and still the water just sat there. Ran the rod again throught the drain hole and the rod goes in the whole 4 foot but no water goes with it. The three of us stood there in disbelief, the very nature of hydralics should make the water leve its self with the space next to it.

We looked over the pic you posted of the inner hull and tried to invision what was happening. Good ideas at best but still no answer as to why I have a fish bowl up front.

And one more tidbit, when we added water to the fuel cell area, it went to the front hold and not into the bilge. But again, we ran the glass rod into the fuel cell area from the bilge and was able to hit the tank. I think I will take to the truck weight station and have them xray it to see whats in there...

[seabob4]

Well it pretty evident that you've got some blockage...and damn it's anybodies guess how to remove it!

IIRC, there should be 1 drain hole above another when looking forward sticking your head in the starboard access hatch towards forward at the keel.  The top hole would be the fuel compartment drain, the bottom hole for the drain running from the forward compartment all the way aft...IIRC...

[RickK]

I have a hell of a time seeing any water in the aft bilge of my 230 - at least while on the trailer.  I have a cinder block under the crank and crank the boat up as high as possible.  I wash the boat down and I know water goes into the bilge but never see any.  What usually happens is as I lower the boat down to hook up to the truck, the front bilge comes on and pumps for a while.
If you look at the bottom of the hull it really does dip down as you go forward.  I usually pull my plug while still on the ramp and let the boat drain while it's on a good reverse slope.

[flounderpounder225]

SeaBob,
Where is the FWD Bilge pump?  (1997 245 Osprey) When I was doing my electrical Voltage drop thing the other day, in the black box we discussed?  Three fuses, FWD Bilge, AFT Bilge, Stereo?  This thread talking about water in the forward bilge got me thinking, I haven't seen or replaced the FWD bilge pump during my project, did the AFT one?  Thanks
Marc

[Hozenya]

Flounderpounder brings up a good point that I missed before. While I was working on my electrical, I too came across that black box in the aft hold area, but I could only read two of the three labels. I tried to tone out the one unknown wire but never could locate it. I have since rebuilt that box but still do not know where that one wire goes, maybe a forward bilge pump?