Starboard Locker Water Resevoir Mystery

[GaylesFaerie]

The tug is a 2012 R27. I was going over the boat prior to winterizing on the hard, when I came across this. I found water pooling at the drain in the back of the starboard storage locker behind the trim tab pump...

Water at drain: https://share.icloud.com/photos/04ZewwY ... Rz6zevj7mw

So I got a sponge and sopped it up and planned to ream the stern drainage thru-hull to clear any clog. As soon as I sopped it up, more water came up, <repeat> and I got almost half a gallon of fresh water (we have had rains lately). So I removed the drain cover and found a puddle that just kept on filling up no matter how many times I sponged it into a bucket...

Drain cover removed: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0M-l_yo ... zOJnkXo7tg
Bucket o'water: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0v-Yvqe ... O2ifxb36lw

I tried reaming the starboard stern drain but no result. So I figured it must be water under the wooden locker floor not draining into the bilge. I thought it must be a clog in the weep holes in the engine compartment that are near the muffler. I reamed them out with a long piece of stiff wire which met no resistance for at least 12 or more inches and came out clean.

Weep holes: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0cABwCL ... 8aqHdq8IqA

Finally I just wanted to get the water out thinking its full up under the locker floor which is not a desirable situation, so I started siphoning it out. Must have gotten close to two gallons. Sticking my finger into that hole I could not feel any connector or tubing and it felt like it drained into the space under the locker floor.

Siphon 1: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0me-Vcz ... ffDrQP4uQA
Siphon 2: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0LDzTTB ... Z4oo0YVpkw

The floor is in good shape, no weak spots or visible rot so I'm thinking this is a very recent phenomena. On the port side, there is a similar drain in the battery locker but that is dry and clean. The locker floor extends forward all the way into the head under the sink to support the hot water tank. Its all dry up there.

Locker floor: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ftEdoe ... u1-heHdnNQ

I could really use some help in figuring out:

1. What exactly is under that wood floor? A shallow empty space? or a runway / location for some gear for the boat?

2. How / where does that space drain into the bilge? Are there weep holes I'm missing?

3. Has anyone experienced something similar?

4. Bonus question: Inspecting the space under the stern seat lazarette to starboard I found a lot of hoses including the exhaust, fuel, fuel vent etc. I also saw something I've never seen before which was an orange hose about an inch in diameter that appeared to be somewhat crushed at one point. In the picture, the orange hose runs from the upper left down to the lower right behind the black hoses and then the holding tank. The crushed point is right at the spot where it goes behind the holding tank. Does anyone know what that is?

Orange hose: https://share.icloud.com/photos/07dotTO ... qDd9YJ3tmQ

Thanks in advance for the wisdom of the tug masses. GF

 

[Red Raven]

Hi Gary,

I believe the weep hole right next to your raw water pickup is plugged. Contrary to what I expected the hole runs through a piece of tubing that ends at a fiberglass wall with a hole punched in it (sort of). It is quite a ways in. Here is a photo of what I found with a borescope in that hole:



Not much of a hole punched through with plenty of chance for blockage. Not sure why there is a fiberglass wall there but that hole must be clear to drain the space under the starboard locker. Use a longer semi flexible rod to ream through the blockage. I have tried to get a long flexible drill bit in there but have not been successful.

The weep hole to the stern below the muffler goes to the space under the stern seat to the starboard of the rudder where the depth transducer is. That space is lower than the starboard locker.

I hope this helps.

Curt

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Thanks Curt! I totally forgot about the scope I purchased last fall. Will investigate with that and glad to know I didn't miss any weep holes. On my tug most of the weep holes throughout the boat show a tangled screen of shattered fiberglass on the exit side where the builder's drill went. Apparently they didn't clean up the exit side of the weep holes which pretty much defeats the purpose of drilling them since those tangled fibers catch everything. GF

 

[BradOwens]

I sold my boat so I can't verify, but as I recall, a similar orange hose was the exhaust for my diesel furnace. Different location, but similar looking hose.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

a similar orange hose was the exhaust for my diesel furnace. Different location, but similar looking hose.

mmm, no diesel furnace on this boat. Cabin heat is provided by either the helm seat heater (fed by hot cooling water from the engine) or the Dometic heat pump (heat and AC). Maybe the hose is just part of the standard infrastructure kit for all the boats and used for the diesel furnace on some models.

=====
Curt, I tried using my scope with no successful insights but I was able to easily push a stiff 5/16" rod into the weep hole a length of 22 inches! That's almost the distance to the outer hull from the weep hole. No water drained and the end of the rod was just a bit dirty. That said, I can still feel the pooled water at the aft drain when I poke my finger in deep enough. I tried siphoning out the remaining water but the hull under the drain is not uniform and I couldn't quite get the hose to sit in the water that I could feel.

It seems undesirable to have a rather large inaccessible void that can pool water in any boat if a small drain hole clogs up. So I'm ready to dig out my 4" hole saw and drill a nice size hole into the floor of the locker that will be easier to scope and even put my hand into. That floor seems to be 5/8" thick and sturdy so I'm not too worried about weakening its structure.

Does anyone know if there are wires, hoses, devices, hull contact points, etc. that I need to be careful not to destroy if I drill a 4" hole into the locker floor? Has anyone done something similar? I'm thinking of drilling lengthwise half way between the water heater and the trim tab pump and widthwise 1/3 the width from the engine wall where the hull falls away from the floor.

All comments welcome. Thanks, GF

 

[Red Raven]

Gary,

Before drilling a hole I would try to add some water pressure from both ends. Not sure if you can get a spray nozzle in the larger stern drain hole but I would start there. Perhaps there is a lot of buildup of junk under there? It’s possible of course that is has been blocked from the beginning by factory flash and debris.

Curt

 

[knotflying]

I never saw a drain like that in my locker. It looks like that was added after market. This leads me to believe that water getting into the locker is draining below. This does no help with why the water may not be draining, but it may explain why so much water is in there. I never had to remove those floors. It would be nice if a portion of them were removeable. It would also be nice if the gutter system was wider and deeper so as to prevent water overflow into the locker.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

It looks like that was added after market.

I'm not so sure of that. The hole is perfectly semi-circular which implies a hole saw which obviously wouldn't leave a half-moon hole. Probably done during construction of the boat. It does use the square drive screws (not the best reason for not being after market) which is consistent with FM builds, and the boat has the exact same drain on the Port side as well. Also, if that drain wasn't there, then water intrusion into the locker would pool on the floor with only two ways out: 1) it would have to drain forward (not likely) past the water heater where the floor ends and one can see the beginning of the underfloor space, or 2) there is a large 4 inch or so hole a couple of inches above the floor on the side of the lazarette behind the trim tab pump where all the wiring, cables and hoses go for the transducer, inverter wires, auto helm pump hoses, etc. It seems either of those options would result in the entire locker floor getting flooded over time but that's never happened to me.

It would be nice if a portion of them were removeable.

Yes sir! That's why I'm hoping to hear from someone at Ranger about what might be under that floor to know if I can make a cut out for an access panel.

It would also be nice if the gutter system was wider and deeper so as to prevent water overflow into the locker.

Agreed. I think my problem is also exacerbated by a slight warping of the hatch at the forward pointy end so that it doesn't quite seat properly on the rubber gasket and lets extra water in.

GF

 

[Red Raven]

I never saw a drain like that in my locker. It looks like that was added after market...

My 2014 R27 has the same drains.

Curt

 

[knotflying]

I had a 2011 and had no drains. If I recall correctly, at the stern the floor board did not go completely to the end, hence it could drain.
As far as the ability to make the floor removable. I know that a few people have replaced their floors. I would assume if they were able to replace them then making them removable would be possible. On the Starboard side you do have the water heater to contend with. The question would be do you go full hog and replace the portion under the heater and keep that fastened. If you do that I would probably use star-board and not have to worry about it deteriorating later. The removable panel could be fastened with a couple of screws and perhaps two holes so you can stick your fingers in and lift.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Yea, as you can see from the pictures, the floor goes all the way back to the transom on my 2012, so there must have been a change in construction between 2011 and 2012. I'm not looking to replace the flooring as it is in good shape. At this point I would like to install an access port of a decent size to be able to get my hand/arm in, let some light in to easily view what is in that space, pump out / sop up water, clean, and ideally clear the drain. If anyone from Ranger sees this post I hope they can provide some insight into what is below that floor besides the hull and my new water reservoir so I can decide whether to make that modification or not. GF