Surf pipe leak

[bsreid]

Well make sure you guys are checking your surf pipe to make sure it’s not coming loose.

Went to check on the boat yesterday and holy cow was it ever full of water, initial thought oh no the battery is dead bilge must have killed it. But nope, bilge pump isn’t wired directly to the battery... thanks tige.. luckily the water wasn’t at the engine or anywhere to be overly concerned about. Spent a good hour or so today checking everything over and expected it to be the shaft or a water intake, and nothing.(by the way I feel bad for anyone who has to work on the shaft on a v drive). Finally found a little stream of water coming in at the exhaust through-hull, went to the back of the boat and wiggled the surf pipe... uh oh it’s a wiggly.. Jumped in, brrr. Screws were finger tight, little scary... tightened them up and seems to be good so far. Obviously once we pull it out we’ll take a better look at it and find a better solution. Seems really weird as my buddies tige had his FAE leak too, totally different reason... but still a coincidence much.

Also should this be sealed tight? It’s sealed but water was obviously coming in and could be moved a bit.
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[Surf406]

I’ve installed numerous fae and I use 3mm black marine sealant and if the screws ever came out it would stay in that sealant works awesome, no issues yet knock on wood

[freeheel4life]

Id bet money the fuse is blown. Your bilge pump should be wired to the battery. Brown wire coming straight to a + post. Theres also usually a an inline fuse just up the wire. It sometimes blows when bilge pump runs a long time(bilge leaks on a boat thats marina stored is when we see it). I believe its a 5A fuse from the factory(which is what the pump is rated for), yet it blows. Upsize the fuse to a 7.5. Havent changed a bilge pump yet because of it. The Moombas that run the Attwood pumps do it

[bsreid]

Yeah obviously silicone will be our friend in the future. Just assumed the factory did if right the first time...

My dealer said the same thing about the fuse but right when I turned the battery to on the bilge clicked on. So does that not indicate improper wiring rather than fuse? I’ll try looking at wiring tomorrow but I doubt I’ll find anything. Probably going to pull it tomorrow anyways. If we end up keeping the boat a bilge pump in front of the v drive is on the list. I can have 4 inches of water there and the main one won’t kick on.

[freeheel4life]

Not really. If float in the pump is up but the fuse is blown there is an open in the circuit. The bilge pump is a 3 wire pump (brown wire straight to battery, brown and white stripe are somewhere after switch on your boat, black ground is always grounded) . Brown and white striped wire are post switch. So when you clicked switch on and float was up pump comes on (circuit closed). Still banking on a blown fuse inline.

Btw, sucks you had the leak. Glad you found it. How long are you guys pushing your season up North??

[bsreid]

Ok, that makes a little more sense. I was thinking of it as a 2 wire pump. Where is the fuse up from the bilge pump?

Thanks for the help guys!

[freeheel4life]

Find the brown wire thats on a battery post(was on cranking battery in the past). Once you find the brown wire just follow it. The inline fuse holder is normally pretty close to the ring terminal at the battery. Like 8" to a 1' usually

[chpthril]

Was this an OEM Surf pipe that was NOT thru-bolted? If so, needs to be converted.

[bsreid]

All I know is that it’s a factory surf pipe that was added after the fact. The black plastic ring is no longer there.

[chpthril]

I know for at least a couple years now, if not from the beginning, the OEM surf pipes have come with thru-bolt kits. For over a year now, the aftermarket FAEs have had thru-bolt kits available.

[KoolAid]

All I know is that it’s a factory surf pipe that was added after the fact.

All FAE installed during production are through bolted.

[tigemech]

Should be through bolted, take it back to the dealer who installed it and have them do it. Alot of pressure on that pipe....

[bsreid]

It was installed at the factory after the fact. Unfortunately won’t be going back to the dealer but they will do whatever it takes to make it right. Screws loosened off again yesterday after a surf set. Pulling it out tonight and we’ll have a better look.

[chpthril]

Id get your/a dealer to get you a thru-bolt kit and tube of 3M 5200. Wont be an issue again.