Chain Locker Not Draining

[OverTime]

My R29CB was new in June with 116 fresh water hours on it. I've only owned the boat for 2 days.. Today, I noticed that the chain locker was not draining. I couldn't clear it from above or below. It was a VERY solid block. What is the reason for this and how do I clear it? Would organic matter do it that quick? Does the outlet shroud contain anything that can fail? Thanks.

 

[Mastercraft]

The drain hose was probably kinked when boat was built. I heard of this twice before with R29. I would talk to factory.

 

[mlanger]

My R29CB was new in June with 116 fresh water hours on it. I've only owned the boat for 2 days.. Today, I noticed that the chain locker was not draining. I couldn't clear it from above or below. It was a VERY solid block. What is the reason for this and how do I clear it? Would organic matter do it that quick? Does the outlet shroud contain anything that can fail? Thanks.

I had this problem when I first bought my boat, too. It was a clog in the drain. I was able to clear it by using a high-pressure hose fitting (see photo for example) from the inside of the locker. It blew out the whole clog, which was mostly caused by small, decaying pine needles.

If I may share a quick story of boaters helping boaters, I discovered the clog while I was at DuSable Harbor Marina in Chicago, just before starting my Great Loop trip. Another boater saw me struggling with it and offered his high-pressure hose fitting. It immediately did the trick. When I tried to return the fitting, he told me to keep it.

 

[OverTime]

Wow! That's awesome. I did try to blow it out with a hose but not with the fitting. All I managed to do was fill it up more! 😀

 

[mlanger]

Wow! That's awesome. I did try to blow it out with a hose but not with the fitting. All I managed to do was fill it up more! 😀

LOL. Same happened to me. This thing really did the trick. Prepare to get wet, though. Good luck.

 

[OverTime]

I'll let you know how it goes. The boat is so new that I'm not quite convinced it is just a blockage. Mastrcraft said it has been kinked from the factory before...The boat still has the one year stem to stern warranty so it should be ok one way or the other. BTW, when warranty work is needed, do they come to you or you take the boat to them or what? Thanks.

 

[OverTime]

Well, here's an update. As was mentioned hereby Mastercraft, the factory suggested that I check for a kinked drain hose. I got the feeling that this is more common than they would like. The access panel is about 12" behind the hinged headboard in the V berth. It is secured very snugly with square head screws (use a power driver if you have one, I didn't have mine with me!) And this is what I found: Behold. I haven't' figure out my fix yet except to somehow loosen the clamps and pull the hose from the fitting and go from there. Obviously, this is a warranty issue, It came from the factory like this in June, but luckily I'm a plumber/pipefitter by trade so I'll tackle it myself. I'll post the fix when it happens.

 

[OverTime]

Success! After sleeping on it for awhile, I decided that the best course of action would be to try and salvage what was already there although I was a little concerned that the hose was damaged beyond further use. Luckily (I guess?) the hose clamps proved to be little more than finger tight. The hose slipped off with a bit of twisting and turning. I eyeballed how much to remove and cut it off with a utility knife. It turned out to be almost exactly 5". The remaining piece was badly deformed so I hit it with a heat gun to soften it up and help to form it into it's new shape. The outlet fitting looked solid so I pressed on the hose and snugged down the clamps really well.
Next was to flush out the well to check for leaks. Better than new!

!

 

[venajeff]

It probably looked fine when installed and then collapsed after going through warm/cold cycles. I only know this because it has happened to me. It should be an easy issue for the factory to remedy on future builds to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[OverTime]

I'm pretty sure it came from the factory like that. The boat was only commissioned in June.

 

[LMRanger]

Its hard to believe that some "mechanic" at the factory would install that hose like that and that it did not get caught by QA.
But again.................

Ralph