228 rear bilge pump location

luckydude

luckydude

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
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Age
63
Location
Santa Cruz Mountains, CA
Website
mcvoy.com
Model
Seafarer
I've got a leak somewhere in my 2020 228, I have to track it down. I came to the dock recently and had over 5 minutes of water out of the plug hole, I've never had more than 30 seconds before and usually a lot less, sometimes it's completely dry.

I wondered why my bilge pump wasn't going, thought maybe the float was gunked up and got a flash light and started poking around. My rear pump is mounted on the wall in front of the baitwell and the bottom of it is 6 inches above the floor? What was Grady thinking? Where is yours?

And have any of you gotten worried enough to mount another one back next to the baitwell (or is there space below the baitwell?) and did you drill in another scupper for the 2nd hose from the 2nd pump?
 
Mine is on the floor of the bilge.
There is space below the live bait well. It's not difficult to remove the live bait well.
I have never got enough water in the bilge for the float switch to activate.
 
SeanC said:
Mine is on the floor of the bilge.
There is space below the live bait well. It's not difficult to remove the live bait well.
I have never got enough water in the bilge for the float switch to activate.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a message in to Grady asking why they put it so high.

I've had the baitwell out to replace the noisy baitwell pump. My memory is it is hard if you take the hose off the baitwell and easy if you take the hose off the transom wall, sound right? My plan is to lower the stock pump and put another one behind the baitwell. Means I have to find the scupper and drill a hole, lucky me.
 
DennisG01 said:
Lucky, are you sure you don't have two bilge pumps? One normal one and then another higher mounted pump used as an "emergency" or "high water level" pump?
Click to expand...

Hey Dennis,

I don't think there is another one. My switches came with an "Aft Bilge" and "Forward Bilge" and nothing else.

I'll tell you what I think happened, it's a little humor. You need to know that my first name is Larry (though I love being called Lucky, that's awesome). In my fishing group, if you "Larry-ed something" it means you fucked it up. I'm that guy, I'm the guy who thinks there is a list of things that can go wrong boating and I am going down that list and checking them off one by one. But I told my group I'm not that Larry. The Larry they are talking about was the dude at Grady who mounted bilge pumps and he mounted mine way too high, he Larry-ed it. I sure that's true :)
 
I like that story and can appreciate the self deprecating humor!

I'm going to stick with Lucky

One more thing... often, an e-pump won't have a switch - only a float valve. But, they would also each have their own exit holes in the side of the boat, too.

It's definitely strange (wrong) if it turns out you have only one rear bilge pump and it's mounted that high.
 
My 208 had the bilge pump installed on the bottom of the hull (the blue float switch and 1100 GPH red pump).
I added a 2nd bilge for redundancy (The white on the hull floor).
The 2nd bilge has its float switch mounted about 9 inches higher on the bulk head, it also has a high water alarm built in.
I test both before each trip.
Also, each bilge has its own thru hull outlet.

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luckydude said:
Yeah, I have a message in to Grady asking why they put it so high.

I've had the baitwell out to replace the noisy baitwell pump. My memory is it is hard if you take the hose off the baitwell and easy if you take the hose off the transom wall, sound right? My plan is to lower the stock pump and put another one behind the baitwell. Means I have to find the scupper and drill a hole, lucky me.
Click to expand...
The first time, I took the hose off the transom. It was a bit of a struggle, most probably because the hose is getting old. Now I take it off the bait tank. On mine you just need to undo the plastic retaining nut on the inside of the bait tank and the hose comes out.
 
Based on your description (sometimes completely dry, sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes longer), it could be rain water related. I had a similar experience on my 2005 228. The deck plate (the large one over the gas tank) had a leaky caulking (cracked and dried up over time). Rainwater would drip through the cracks, under the top of the fuel tank below and into the bilge.
I resealed it with 3M 4000 and changed the O-rings of the two 6 inch deck ports. All set now.
 
My biggest concern with the whole bilge pump set up was that a one inch hole in the bottom of the hull would flood 10 times faster than the water would drain through that small conduit into the rear bilge. And the forward bilge certainly couldn't keep up.
 
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glacierbaze said:
My biggest concern with the whole bilge pump set up was that a one inch hole in the bottom of the hull would flood 10 times faster than the water would drain through that small conduit into the rear bilge. And the forward bilge certainly couldn't keep up.
Click to expand...
No doubt. Pretty common problem to be aware of regardless of the boat/bilge setup.

Carry bungs/Nerf ball/wax toilet bowl ring. Those things can be stuffed into a hole to lessen water intake.

Consider adding a high water e-pump with higher capacity than stock, if needed.

For anyone with a stern drive/inboard, consider creating a crash pump.
 
glacierbaze said:
My biggest concern with the whole bilge pump set up was that a one inch hole in the bottom of the hull would flood 10 times faster than the water would drain through that small conduit into the rear bilge. And the forward bilge certainly couldn't keep up.
Click to expand...
I'm replacing the rear bilge pump and adding a 2nd. I think I'm inclined to put one on either side of the bulk head to give the boat a better chance. I agree that hole is too small.

Also, my leak, wasn't. It was the sloppy conditions, the boat was rolling over enough that water was getting in the through the bilge scuppers. Went out today (2 limits of crab and threw back almost another limit) in much calmer conditions. Less than a minute to drain the boat.

All good.
 
I don't know your model very well, Lucky, but... Shouldn't the water entering the cockpit via the scuppers go right back out without making it's way to the bilge? I mean, that's sort of the idea behind a self-bailing cockpit, right?
 
DennisG01 said:
I don't know your model very well, Lucky, but... Shouldn't the water entering the cockpit via the scuppers go right back out without making it's way to the bilge? I mean, that's sort of the idea behind a self-bailing cockpit, right?
Click to expand...

The water was going in the bilge pump's hose outlet. It was that rough, we were rolling side to side and the outlet kept slipping below the water line. Yes, that's a rough day. Washing machine.

My boat is pretty much self bailing but that's for water in the cockpit. The water was going direct to the bilge.
 
Oh my! Usually those outlet are up pretty high - you must have really been being tossed around!

While it may not help in all conditions - when you get a chance, check the hose on the backside/inside of the thru-hull fitting. There should be an upward loop there to help prevent what you had going on.
 
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DennisG01 said:
Oh my! Usually those outlet are up pretty high - you must have really been being tossed around!

While it may not help in all conditions - when you get a chance, check the hose on the backside/inside of the thru-hull fitting. There should be an upward loop there to help prevent what you had going on.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we were tossed 45 degree to 45 degree. It was shitty. The weird/cool thing is I was comfortable in those conditions, I knew the boat could handle it and just rode it out. If that was my first experience on the ocean, I would have sold the boat, it was shitty. Somehow I've gained enough experience that I was fine with it. Noone is more surprised at that then me. Maybe I've learned a thing or two. Maybe I've learned to trust my Grady, it is a little small for my ocean but it is a seaworthy boat.
 
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