300/440/550 440 water in hull problem

[oldschool440]

HEy is there a little trick to help keep the water out of the hull of a 440, i installed a bilge pump but i still get water in the hull. My seal is brand new im thinking the water comes in from the top where that snorkel is, will it get enough air if i close that in a bit. There must be some trick cause im sure back in the day those boats when they were racing got water in them and that chocked out the motors.

Thanks
Mike


PS. I know some of you are going to say don't fall off and you won't get water in but i can't hepl it sometimes

 

[ketsair]

my wife came up with a nice little hood mod on her ski, link is here, check it out

http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/219

 

[delagem]

How much water are we talking about? I fall all the time, I mean ALL THE TIME! and there's never more than a quart or two after an hour of riding. I don't have a bilge pump on one; the other one has a pump but I don't ever run it.

Maybe you've got some other issue letting water in?

BTW, nice ski! Just saw your pics in another post!

 

[oldschool440]

Thanks! Man i can't even get my wife to go riding with me LOL, i took her out one time on my 95 kawi 750ss sit down which is not that fast and she messed her ankle up on 1-2 footers one day. I will look into the hood inlet this weekend. Thanks for the info.

 

[oldschool440]

I took the hood off and flooded the air inlet with water and all the water goes out the holes in the front and back with no water entering down through the 2 tubes. I will install a check valve in the bilge line, i looped the bilge hose way up but i think that it is still getting water in.

 

[Endo]

Looped the bilge line up? does it still have the small plastic piece that mounts inline on the hose and secures in the top of the hull?? This is a very important part believe it or not.

 

[oldschool440]

I took the worthless stock bilge out and put a 500gph rule bilge in there, i meant i looped the bilge hose off the pump to advert the water from coming through it but i guess i need a check valve.

 

[Endo]

Sorry man. I missed that. Must admit I'm stumped. Never had much problems with 440/550 as long as the hood set down tight. Strap still tight? No big gaps in the seal?

 

[oldschool440]

Im going to west marine today to buy a check valve and i'll see if that does the trick.

 

[delagem]

I'm a little confused. Where are you routing your bilge pump discharge? Out the old siphon line? If so, yes, you'll need a check valve. The old siphon had a small hole in a plastic fitting that kept the water from backflowing when the engine wasn't running. If you eliminated that, water will try to backfill when the bilge pump isn't running.

Personally, I'd leave the stock siphon in place, and install a separate bilge pump to a thru-hull fitting above the waterline. A float switch would be nice, too. I've seen them for sale for $12 at WalMart, but I haven't tried one yet.