Water in ski locker

brijr77 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:10 pm

So I am just getting back from a week on Sebago lake in Maine. Good weather lots of boating and family time. My only little problem was that my ski locker in the floor on my 2008 h220 would not drain any water. I tried to use a coat hanger to snake it but it would only go in so far and just stop. I also tried to drive slow with bow in the air hoping that might work but no luck. Just normal driving around also did nothing. Am I missing something here?

Rhryniewich · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:13 pm **Posts:** 15

My H240 does the same thing can't figure it out if you figure it out let me know

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

brijr77 wrote:

So I am just getting back from a week on Sebago lake in Maine. Good weather lots of boating and family time. My only little problem was that my ski locker in the floor on my 2008 h220 would not drain any water. I tried to use a coat hanger to snake it but it would only go in so far and just stop. I also tried to drive slow with bow in the air hoping that might work but no luck. Just normal driving around also did nothing. Am I missing something here?

+1 My 2008 220SS does the same exact thing it drives me nuts! It seems it needs a certain amount of water in there before it starts letting it into the bilge.

LouC · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:18 am

I don't know for sure which models/years were affected by this, but I do recall reading that certain ones had an issue with the gas tank shifting and blocking the drain, for the water to drain from the ski locker to the rear bilge it has to pass through the gas tank compartment. I remember looking at the pix posted and the affected boats had plastic tanks and used these little insubstantial looking tabs to secure the tank.

When I rebuilt our boat, I made sure that the drains for the front and rear bulkhead of the gas tank compartment were as low as they could be so the water would drain aft. The older boats used wood in all these areas so water standing would cause rot. They also had a bad design in that the anchor locker did not have a separate drain so all the rain water would run down under the bow center section and wind up in the ski locker. I had to have my bow cover modified so it covered the anchor locker to keep the water out and I haven't had water in there ever since.

On the other hand the older boats had a much better system for securing the tank. They used an aluminum tank with 4 big welded on mounting tabs, and there were stringers attached to the main stringers to mount the tank. When I did the rebuild, I used mahogany for the stringers for the gas tank mounts. This is the only reason I do not like plastic tanks in marine use, they are not as easy to secure properly.

Rhryniewich · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:13 pm **Posts:** 15

I tried to push or move my gas tank back but there is no room for it to even move in my boat. Yes it has poor supports but there is no room for it to move to begin with especially in my boat. Drives me nuts considering how easy it would have been to make this work and fourwinns finds the only way to,screw it up.

brijr77 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:40 pm

Well at least I know I'm not alone. Hopefully one of us will figure it out.

BartsPlace · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:29 am

I've had this same problem in my 2008 H220. It seems that sand and sludge settle in the hose between the ski locker and the bilge. It doesn't seem to take much at all before it's effectively clogged. I send a healthy stream of pressurized water through the hose when it starts acting up. That usually solves the problem for a while. It doesn't help that there is no real drop in altitude along the path from the ski locker to the bilge - so the water doesn't naturally "want" to flow in that direction.

Good luck!

Rhryniewich · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:13 pm **Posts:** 15

i've stuck a air compressor up to drain in the ski locker and no go let alone a hose without success. I've stuck a coat hanger in it and I can't figure out which way it goes as it must take a 90 degree turn down towards the hull. anyway nothing has worked.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:25 pm

Probably the best thing to do is lift up the gas tank hatch and see if the hose is restricted or kinked. On the older boats there is no hose just a hole in the bulkheads do water can flow freely under the gas tank and into the rear bilge. As long as those holes are open no problem with draining. Sometimes newer is not better, thy should go back to the old design except with composite no rot construction.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

is there anyway to backflush from the bilge side? Would be tough on my 210 but you may have more room to get to the pass thru on your model.

redblur · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 11:34 pm

My guess it's the same problem I had.

http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7584

Turned out to be quite a PITA to fix even with an empty gas tank.

brijr77 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:40 pm

I really want to fix mine, not sure if it's gonna get done any time soon.

pet575 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:07 pm

Fuel tank shift is a known problem on the Horizon. Factory brackets often break or loosen. With a relatively (or completely) empty tank you should be able to shift the tank and un-pinch the drain hose from the ski locker, and then use some blocks or other brackets to secure it again.

Rhryniewich · **Joined:** Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:13 pm **Posts:** 15

Probelm is getting the gas tank empty as I tried with some gas in it and couldn' move it 1/8 of a inch.

LouC · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:08 pm

If any of you can post pix of how the tank compartment is set up on modern FWs I might be able to give more suggestions. I know when I re-did mine the main thing was to get the holes in the bulkheads as low as possible to get the water to drain. I also made them a bit bigger than originally so they would not clog and make sure I glassed everything in well. But since I re did the bow cover so that it covers that anchor locker, I have had no water at all in there unless its a torrential downpour. I was going to add a drain to the anchor locker but it would have been too close to the water line to allow it to drain so I felt changing the cover was a better plan.

www.iFourWinns.com

Water in ski locker

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