2” of Water always in mid ship bilge of 360 express - want to get it out - “Bilge-B-Dry” question

[Express 360 Finally]

My 360 express sits bow slightly down at the dock holding about 2 inches of water forward of the mid ship seacocks and bilge pump. Water flows to the stern when underway but it isn’t enough to run aft bilge to completely remove the water. I shop vac every 2 weeks and remove about 5 gallons of water from rain, wash down, etc that drips into the hull. I’m tired of dumping bilge cleaner in that area and want to alleviate the mold risk, dampness and odor.

I want to install the Bilge B Dry system with 2 pick ups in the forward bilge connecting that pump motor to my bow thruster deep cycle battery with the small discharge line spliced into the head sink drain line. Has anyone installed Bilge B Dry?

 

[HMBJack]

I did this on my 330. Works great...

Suggest you use 1/8" clear tubing. The thinner tubing sucks the water better.
I also put a couple small lead fishing weights (like quantity 2 4 ouncers) on top of the faceplate to keep the intake sponge from floating around down there.

You can easily buy the pump on Amazon and the rest can be purchased at your local HW store.

 

[Express 360 Finally]

Great idea. Thanks for the link.

 

[David Sha]

I have a 307 freedom and had the same problem. Always water in the mid bilge where I have 2 thru hulls. I found that the water was coming from a pipe leading to the aft bilge. I plugged the pipe in the aft bilge and no more water in the mid bilge.

 

[DennisG01]

I have a 307 freedom and had the same problem. Always water in the mid bilge where I have 2 thru hulls. I found that the water was coming from a pipe leading to the aft bilge. I plugged the pipe in the aft bilge and no more water in the mid bilge.

Hmmmm. Might want to rethink that move.

If you read up on this - there's plenty of info about it - pretty much all GW's have a mid-ship bilge slightly lower than the aft bilge. So, naturally, some water will flow from aft to mid.

Now, if you plug the mid-ship bilge... and you start to get water in there... the pump may/may not keep up and you could be in for a world of hurt by having the bow too heavy.

 

[sling]

Where do you access your bilge forward of the mid-ship bilge pump? I just bought a 330 Express and the forward bilge was a mess so I cleaned it out well, All of the water I used ran forward and I don't know how to get access forward where I could add another pump.

 

[DennisG01]

Where do you access your bilge forward of the mid-ship bilge pump? I just bought a 330 Express and the forward bilge was a mess so I cleaned it out well, All of the water I used ran forward and I don't know how to get access forward where I could add another pump.

Take the boat out, trim the engines up and run just off plane where the bow gets nice and high. The water will run back the aft bilge and get pumped out.

 

[Hookup1]

My GW Islander will hold water under the tanks that will only drain when I put the boat up on plane (for a while).

The forward bilge compartment is connected to the aft bilge via a long 1/2" PVC pipe under the fuel tanks. This is a common setup at least on my hull and others of that generation. The bulkheads under the fuel compartments drain thru each other to the aft bilge thru a short 1" PVC coupling. Think of the fuel tanks being in a "compartment". The design keep leaking fuel or tank bilge water from putting fumes in the cabin.

The tanks sit on a partial flat "shelf" so there is a void under them in the center of the boat. The difficulty for you will be placing a pickup for your pump. Would be easy if your tanks are out but there is very little room and no real access.


See post #15 - #19 for a explanation of the drain pipes under your tanks and connection to the forward bilge.

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