Possible leak from livewell plumbing

[iggyw1]

I recently bought a 1991 Smoker Craft aluminum boat, 16.2 Magnum model. Has a livewell in the front (open bow area) and a minnow well at the rear area. The first time out, I had water come out of the boat drain. That time, I did not have the plug in the pick up for the livewell water, but I did not use the livewell pump (which does work). This time out, I bought a new boat drain plug to make sure it went in tight, and also, I plugged the pick up nipple for the livewells so no water could come in from that nipple. ( The boat has a PVC nipple sticking out of the transom for the water to go into the livewells). When I put the boat onto the trailer, I pulled the boat drain and a lot of water came out of that drain. When it was done draining, I pulled the plug from the livewell pick up and water came out big time from there too.

I am thinking that if the water is in the plumbing lines for the livewells when I have the livewells intake plugged, the lines must be broken somewhere, correct? If not correct, how did the water get into the lines to the livewell if the plug was in the intake nipple? How the heck do I check the lines that are under the floor? Has anyone on here had this same problem with plumbing leaks?

 

[iggyw1]

I was on a different forum yesterday, but on that forum, I could not figure out how to ask a question, but someone had the same problem I have but a few years back, and this is a great tip that I learned. I have a total of four access points in my boat for the live wells. One is on the transom for the water intake and the live well pump. there are two on the port side of the boat (overflows?) and one on the starboard side (overflow?) The tip I got was to plug up all four of these access points to make sure there is no water in the hull after that. If there is, it is NOT the live wells leaking. Then, remove the plugs, ONE AT A TIME to see which inlet/outlet is leaking. This will help isolate the problem of which may be a line broken or disconnected.

Now my new question which I hope someone here can answer: If and when I do isolate the problem, and it is under the floor for sure, how do I go about taking the flood up to get to it? I have a Smoker Craft 162 and it seems like it has some screws on the floor which may be a large access panel in the center of the floor. Is tyhis an access panel? Has anyone here ever taken the floor up in this manner? I am not reaaly sure of myself on this, but if it is an access panel, I am sure I can handl e it. I would appreciate any help or tips. Thanks!

 

[Silvertip]

Look at the panel carefully. If you see four sides to that panel, remove the screws and remove the panel. The floor in most boat like yours are indeed screwed to the stringers and cross members. You may need to remove other trim pieces to extract a panel. But before you do that, make sure you understand how your live well works. Keep in mind that the INLET to the system is usually the intake of the pump which is secured to the transom with a big nut. The outlet of the pump feeds the spray bar in the live well. Obviously, the live well needs an overflow should the tank get too full. There are two ways this is done. One is via a separate outlet near the top of the tank which is simply plumbed out the side of the boat or through a fitting at the transom. The live well needs a drain so you see a hole in the bottom which is typically plumbed to the transom and is joined by the overflow line. That drain hole in the live well MUST have a plug or a standpipe in it to retain the water. If a standpipe is used, then the overflow is not needed. Since water runs downhill, with your boat in the water, the bottom of the live well may actually be below the water line. Water can then run up the drain line into the live well until the level is equal with the lake water level. So the test is quite simple. Put your boat in the water and monitor the live wells and the bilge. If water is getting into the bilge you have a leak at the pump, the through hull fittings, or the plumbing to the live wells. If there is no water in the bilge after a fair amount of time but there is in the live well, you have a normal, but annoying design where the bottom of the live well is below the exterior water level. A plug or standpipe in the live well will solve that. If the two tests just mentioned show no problem, then run the boat hard in rough water and check things again. If you now find water in the bilge, those other through hull fittings are allow it to enter.

 

[iggyw1]

Look at the panel carefully. If you see four sides to that panel, remove the screws and remove the panel. The floor in most boat like yours are indeed screwed to the stringers and cross members. You may need to remove other trim pieces to extract a panel. But before you do that, make sure you understand how your live well works. Keep in mind that the INLET to the system is usually the intake of the pump which is secured to the transom with a big nut. The outlet of the pump feeds the spray bar in the live well. Obviously, the live well needs an overflow should the tank get too full. There are two ways this is done. One is via a separate outlet near the top of the tank which is simply plumbed out the side of the boat or through a fitting at the transom. The live well needs a drain so you see a hole in the bottom which is typically plumbed to the transom and is joined by the overflow line. That drain hole in the live well MUST have a plug or a standpipe in it to retain the water. If a standpipe is used, then the overflow is not needed. Since water runs downhill, with your boat in the water, the bottom of the live well may actually be below the water line. Water can then run up the drain line into the live well until the level is equal with the lake water level. So the test is quite simple. Put your boat in the water and monitor the live wells and the bilge. If water is getting into the bilge you have a leak at the pump, the through hull fittings, or the plumbing to the live wells. If there is no water in the bilge after a fair amount of time but there is in the live well, you have a normal, but annoying design where the bottom of the live well is below the exterior water level. A plug or standpipe in the live well will solve that. If the two tests just mentioned show no problem, then run the boat hard in rough water and check things again. If you now find water in the bilge, those other through hull fittings are allow it to enter.

Thanks for your help on this. I also thought about how to do another test. What is your take ion this? If I take a garden hose, and put it into the holes in the sides of the hull. These holes are 1-1/2" diameter holes. (I really do not know what they are for) But I was thinking they have something to do with the live wells. If I run water into these holes, one at a time, I should not get any water into the hull of the boat, correct? And if I do, there is a broken line somewhere or disconnected line in relation to that particular hole that is filling the hull with water, correct? That way, I can possibly isolate the leak I am thinking. If I just plug the holes, I should not get any water into the boat hull at all unless a few rivets are leaking, correct?

NOTE: Yes, my floor panel is a rectangle shape, and it looks like it has several screws all around it, so this entire panel should just lift up if I remove all of the screws?
Thanks again!

 

[iggyw1]

Hi again Silvertip & others,

I did finally remove the floor panel in my Smoker Craft to see if the live well lines may be leaking or disconnected. Well, I really did not learn what I was looking for as underneath this panel is nothing but my gas tank, which is a nylon type material. The live well lines are beneath the gas tank. I am trying to find out where the water is coming into my hull at. I have three 1-1/2" holes in the sides of my boat and an intake at the transom for the live well pump. There is only one line at the live well that I can see from inside the live well, and that is where the water comes in at from the pump. There is no overflow tube at all. The line that comes in is on the side wall at the very bottom of it. This must be where it drains from as well.

What are the holes in the side of my boat for? Maybe a line is disconnected or rotted inside the side wall of the boat. I am going to plug these holes and unplug one at a time to try and isolate where the water is coming in the hull from??? I can live without the side holes if they are only for the live well in some manner. I can plug them permanently if need be and just fill my front live well with the live well pump which is at the transom. It drains out of this same line on the way home when the boat is on the trailer unless I have the plug in out from the outside. Need help here guys in finding out what purpose these holes (1-1/2" holes) serve on the sides of my boat. Two on one side and one on the other side. Thanks!

 

[iggyw1]

OK, I did some more searching on my boat. I DID find an overflow in the two live wells. It is way up in a corner in the front one and goes directly to the hole in the side of my boat. The rear one has a permanent plug put in some how between the live well and the side hole. I do not know how they got it in because it was put in from the outside of the well and there would be no way to get to it. This discharge hose may be disconnected. A garden hose will help me to determine this. There is still a third hole on the starboard side of the boat that I cannot find where it goes. This may be where my water is getting into the boat, or it could be the drain line from the front live well that is beneath the gas tank that has split open from freezing with water in it during the Mich. winter????? Anyway, I am starting to get somewhere on it. Just thought I would report my findings to let the ones know that were helping me out with this.

 

[iggyw1]

Update: So I plugged the three overflow outlets on my live wells. I put a 1-1/2" laundry room drain plug in them and I also covered them with some duct tape to keep the plugs from coming out. Took my boat for a long ride. While I was on the lake, I ran the bilge pump once and got about a quart of water out of the bilge area. Kept riding around and did not get any more water in the bilge area. I think the water that was in there was just residual water that was under the floor of the boat from before I plugged the over flow discharges. . When I was finished, I put the boat on the trailer, and left it on the incline of the ramp so any water in the boat would go to the rear end. When I pulled the drain plug, I got about 6 ounces of water that came out. Probably old water here too. Now, the next time out, I am going to unplug the overflow drains, one at a time to see if it lets water in. If that's the case, I will permanently plug the leaking one off as this means the drain line is broken, rotted or just became disconnected. There is no way to get to the one at all on the starboard side, so it will stay plugged if that is the culprit. The tank has that over flow drain and a second one on the port side of the boat as well, so I think I can just live with one of the drains on it.

Prior to this experiment, I would have a LOT of water (gallons) come out of the boat drain on the ramp when boat is put on the trailer after a couple hours on the lake. I was happy with the results today for sure! If I have to leave an over flow discharge line plugged up, I will leave the rubber plug in the line, but the duct tape will come off. The rubber plug will also be silicone into place so it does not fall out.

 

[iggyw1]

OK - It's problem solved! The overflow on the starboard side of the boat is just above the water line on the boat. Lake St. Clair gets a bit rough, and the waves cause water to go into the 1-1/2" discharge hole in the side of my boat. The overflow line going to the live well is either rotted or split. Some of the water goes into the live well but most of it is getting into the hull of the boat underneath the floor. There is no getting to this line without tearing my floor apart in the bow section of the boat.

I am permanently plugging the discharge hole in the side of the boat. the same live well that this serviced has a second overflow on the other side of the boat, so not too much lost! A 1-1/2" laundry sink rubber stopper fits this hole perfect, and to keep it from coming out and dropping into the lake (although it seems tight enough not to come loose) I will put some clear silicone around the edges of it. The plug itself is counter sunk about an inch inside the discharge nylon nipple which the hose is connected to. Thanks all for your input!

 

[davidh@se]

You could run a slightly smaller hose inside your existing leaking hose, and seal at both end.