I recently replaced the bilge pump in...

[inAjet]

I recently replaced the bilge pump in my 2000 185 BR, and came across these 2 plugs in the bilge on either side of the bilge pump/float switch mounting board (red arrows in attached photo). Does anyone know what these are for? To the best of my knowledge, they are there from the factory.

Also, does anyone know what the bilge pump mounting board is made of (outlined in green in the attached photo)? Is it a glassed in piece of plywood, or is it a fibreglass board? I called Sea Ray, and the support agent referred me to (a) this forum, and (b) a review article of a 2003 BR that mentions that these Sea Ray bow riders area all-fibreglass construction.

Appreciate any insight!

[wingless]

Welcome to the forum.

My speculation is that at one point those plugs had through hull transducers for depth and speed.

There are procedures for removing those transducers to ensure sufficient hull strength / integrity. It is possible that those are instead a quick repair.

The hull should be inspected on both sides, possibly w/ localized paint removal, to ensure that repair is implemented correctly.

[inAjet]

Thanks for the welcome and for that suggestion. It had crossed my mind as well, but there is absolutely no evidence on the exterior of the hull of any hole repairs having been done. To the best of my knowledge, the only transducer every installed in this boat is the one you see epoxied rather messily (not my work) onto the bilge pump mounting board in the same photo.

[MoparBob]

I have the same boat and which have the same plugs and there was never a transducer installed. The plugs are probably part of the construction process. Perhaps when the inject the foam that sits between the inner and outer hull. You can pull them out and see the foam. Or maybe they are there to drain water but not sure. Either way, they came that way when the boat was built.

[inAjet]

Thanks, MoparBob - this is very helpful info. You say the hull has a foam core? When I called SeaRay they said the hull was all fibreglass. Do you know if this is just a certain part of the hull?

[MoparBob]

The hull is fiberglass. Both the inner and outer hulls are. Between the 2 layers of glass is foam. Safety feature so the boat won't sink in an accident. Many boats have plywood decking under the carpet. The SR is all fiberglass. The floors won't rot like many other cheaper boats. I replaced the carpeting a couple years back and was surprised how well made the inner hull was.

[inAjet]

Makes sense! As long as it's not wood, I'm happy. You've also just answered another long-time question for me about the floor. I've read several articles about these boats being all-fibreglass construction, but I kept thinking that was too good to be true. I have been very impressed at how solid the floor still is 20 years later, so now I know why. I've considered a carpet replacement as well - how did that job go?

This conversation all started for me after replacing the bilge pump and had water coming out of the screw holes. I figure the water slowly seeped in through the bilge pump and float switch screw holes over the last 20 years and became trapped in the small space between the bilge pump mounting board and the bottom the hull. Knowing that there is no wood in the hull gave me peace of mind that there was no chance of any structural rot down there; however, I'm not certain about the mounting board itself. No big deal either way, as it's not a structural piece. For now I just removed as much of the water as I could using a syringe. There was plenty of bite left in the board when I mounted the new pump so, if it is in fact wood, I don't think it's too badly rotted yet. Any chance you have any knowledge on whether this board is in fact wood between the glass, or if it's also a fiberglass board?

[MoparBob]

Carpet replacement was a bear. It cam out great, but was a lot more work than expected. At the time, the dealer told me they never do it...buy a new boat they said. That was not going to happen. Took me a while to sort out the correct carpet and then it took the better part of the entire winter to do it. Had to strip the old carpet, etc. The biggest hurdle is not the stuff on the floor but the seat backs and all the other places the carpet is used. The most difficult part was actually getting to the carpet sections on the floor. I figured that they install the carpet in some areas before they glue the top and bottom sections of the boat together, so I had to be really creative in the installation process. It is something I will never do again.

[wingless]

Very nice work Mopar Bob! Thanks for sharing.

[inAjet]

That carpet looks AMAZING. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to give it a go, but your experience sounds every little bit as daunting as I've heard.

Any chance you have any knowledge of that bilge pump mounting board?

[MoparBob]

No board, the pump and switch are mounted directly to the inner hull. Looks like someone changed things from the manufacturer. Not sure why they would do that.

[inAjet]

Hmmm interesting. It's so flawlessly done, I would swear it came this way from the factory. You can see it better in this photo. The bilge pump I replaced was the one that came from the factory as well, as is the float switch pictured here. This was a Tennessee-built boat... maybe slightly different details from different factories?

[MoparBob]

I am not near my boat now. But when I get a chance I will take a photo of my setup. It will be a few days.

[MoparBob]

I see what you are saying. That does look like factory but whether it is wood under the glass or just thick glass I don't know. When I get into my boat I will look at it a little closer. However, either way, what is your concern? Also, make sure you seal any holes you drill, including those caps because you don't want any water between the hull sections. By the way, my boat is the same year and model as yours. I'll take some pics and share them with you. As my boat stands now, it is probably as good as it came from the factory. I restore cars for a hobby and spent the winter months going through everything on the boat. I did remove the cooler and built shelves in its place. We always carry an external cooler so it made no sense to have all that wasted space.

[wingless]

When I drilled through my cored hull to add an additional through hull, seacock and strainer, I drilled the hole slightly over size, manually scooped out about 3/4" of coring around the circumference on all layers, filled that hole w/ West System epoxy, w/ high strength filler, allowed to harden, then drilled the hole through the center of that new epoxy plug the correct size.

It is preferred to NOT depend upon sealant to keep the interior of the hull dry.

[wingless]

The cored hull method I used is shown in page 48/54 of the linked West System manual. Note, this is an excellent reference document.

https://www.westsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/Fiberglass-Manual-2015.pdf

[inAjet]

That's an excellent document - saved for future reference!

But, just to be clear, I'm not talking about any holes through my hull here. See the attached diagram showing what I am referring to, including the trapped water between the mounting board and the actual hull. I extracted as much water as I could using a syringe and small tube through the old bilge pump screw holes. My suspicion is that bilge water slowly seeped into this compartment through the bilge pump and float switch mounting holes, which were obviously insufficiently sealed from the factory. There's actually another discussion on here about someone who had a similar issue on a 98 290DA, so I suspect it might be a fairly widespread issue, with most being unaware that it exists unless going in to replace a bilge pump and specifically checking for water through the holes.

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/bilge-pump-mounting-plate-core-issue.83414/

MoparBob - I have no real concerns, as the water trapped in this compartment could not have penetrated the fibreglass hull; however, there was some speculation on another forum that the mounting board itself would be rotted, which is why I'm trying to determine whether it was constructed of glassed wood or solid glass. That said, when screwing in the new pump there was a lot of 'grab' left in the board so, whatever it is, it's not too badly rotted yet.

wingless - the reason I didn't use this proper bedding procedure for the new bilge pump screw holes was because water has already penetrated the holes and been trapped down there for who knows how long - could be years. I saw no point in going to that extra effort when the damage has already been done. Since it's just a sacrificial mounting board, worst case scenario I will have to replace it in a few years, but for now I see no point in doing so as long as the hardware is still holding.