is water in the bilge normal?

antiqueboy · 14 May 2006, 11:43

hi all
i am new to boatin and have a zodiac medline 1 4.8m rib
the auto bilge works fine as i found on my first launch and forgot to put the bung in.
i switch the bilge on every 30 mins or so, and always find i have to run it for 45 seconds or so to empty out the water. is this normal?
it has a self draining cockpit.
the bung dosn't have a rubber gasket, should it?
regards

Tim M · 14 May 2006, 11:58

That sounds like a lot of water. Water normally finds its way in there somehow, but on a days outing you wouldnt really expect more than big dribble. You say you've got a pump in the "bilge". Normaly the only way to empty the space under the deck is with the drain plug at the back. Are you saying you've got a pump to empty this space as well (sorry if im being thick but ive got a terrible hangover). Plastic bungs generally are a bit rubbish and do leak. Some have rubber seals, some dont. If you think the water is coming through here you might want to replace it with something a bit better. I belive (from Hugh Jardons thread) that Ribcraft do a very sexy stainless one.

HTH

antiqueboy · 14 May 2006, 13:14

yes there is a bilge pump in this space

Biggles · 14 May 2006, 13:41

Water in the Bilge is normal if Your mate has lent you his boat and forgot to put the bungs in. I found this one out when I was tying up in Yarmouth having come down from the itchen. And noticed that I was standing in several inches of water. The only way to stop it totally filling up was to quickly untie and get back on the move.

Maybe the culprit might come on here and own up to that one.

BogMonster · 14 May 2006, 14:59

No leaks into my Destroyer when underway, but it has a bad bit of design, two in fact (oh dear here we go me in trouble again!!)

Firstly you can't drain everything out with the boat out of the water because there is no drain bung at the stern, and the trunk is not at the lowest point so as soon as it rains you have water sitting in the bilge. In fact as I commented to somebody recently, they should sit this thing in the middle of the Sahara with the amount of rain that falls on to it, the place would be green by lunchtime on Thursday!!!

Secondly there is a compartment up in the bow (where the anchor and stuff like that sits) with a small bulkhead across it, which fills up with water and the only drain is into a compartment under the floor - so the alternatives are to always have the hull full of water, or to have the anchor stowage compartment overflowing every time it rains.

Not sure who thought of those ideas but they seem a bit daft to me

Jimbob · 14 May 2006, 17:06

On my humber it had the same arrangement, but there was a tube running from the bow to the bilge, so providing the bung at either end was out the water would get removed

BogMonster · 14 May 2006, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbob

On my humber it had the same arrangement, but there was a tube running from the bow to the bilge, so providing the bung at either end was out the water would get removed

This isn't just a tube, there is a lot of water in there if it fills up, keeps running out the hole into the bilge for ages if you put the pump on.

aligator · 15 May 2006, 17:13

Hi
my zodiac 550 pro open has the same set up as your med line. always has some water in the bilge after a day out especially after fishing trips,
not 100% sure where it gets in but its never enough for the auto pump to work.
i just pump out with the manual switch at the end of the day.
The bow is fitted with a vent about 150mm under the tubes to vent the space around the petrol tank and ive always assumed that water seeps in here when at rest in choppy conditions( I could be very wrong)

The threaded bung on my boat does not have a rubber seal iether(from new)
taken out during layup in winter and put back in seems to seal ok.
Aligator