Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

[T0PWATER]

Hello all, any help you guys can give me with would be very much appreciated.

Since I bought the boat last year the fishbox has not drained properly. I use it for "somewhat" dry storage for my life jackets and bumpers since its easier just to throw the fish in an ice chest and the box never seems to drain completely anyway. Even still it would be nice to get the rain water out of it occasionally.

My problem is that if there is a pump it?s not functioning. I had the boat in my garage yesterday taking care of a few things, like installing an electronics box light and an automatic bilge pump switch. I removed the switch labeled "Fishbox/off/accessory" and took some sandpaper to the switch terminals and got off all the corrosion and installed new crimps to the wires, but there was still no sound of a pump running when I flipped the switch. I used my multimeter and determined that it should be getting voltage to the pump, if there is one.

I used a snake last year and found that the drainpipe didn?t seem to run all the way to the bilge. More like the discharge pipe from the box drains into a cavity under the deck and then that cavity drains into the bilge.

Any thoughts? Gator Mike I know you have/had one of these. Your help would really be appreciated.

The boat is a '99 Wellcraft 190CC Fisherman center console.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Topwater, mine is the same year and model as yours. Mine has a switch on the dash for the fishbox but no pump, I think that must have been an option. Your livewell under the center console and your bilge should be the only 2 pumps if yours is set up like mine.

As for that fishbox funny you should mention that because I was just telling my son how poor that drainage design is. If I am not mistaken the drain is on the lower left side of that box and if you fill the box with water you will see it drains out the small hole on the left side of the hull. The design flaw I speak of is that the drain hole is actually an inch higher than the drain in the box therefore it will never completely drain. You can check this out by removing the cover of the round access hole on the left side of the little 8 inch step up deck where the fishbox lid is. In that access hole you will find a hose that runs from that fish box to the drain hole on the side of the boat you can see from that point that the drain hole is higher than the drain.

Hope this helps, you will always have an inch of water right around that drain from the way it looks to me.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

After reading your post again I hope we are calling the same compartment the fishbox. I always called the triangle shaped compartment in the raised deck the fishbox and the one in the lower deck in front of the live well I called dry storage, maybe I am backwards. Anyway the other compartment does drain into the bilge, mine was clogged once and I ran a snake all the way from the hole back by the batery straight through to that compartment. Funny thing is I couldn't get the snake all the way through from the other end. If I am not mistaken it is hard to get every drop of water to drain out of that compartment too.


By the way did you ever read the posts I made about the cockpit scuppers? I'm telling you if you have to run your bilge pump during a regular day of fishing it would be worth your while to check those scuppers out. Ever since I fixed mine I get absolutly no water in the bilge. I had been having to run my bilge pump every hour or so before fixing them.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Gator Mike,

Mine may be set up a little differently than yours. I have the box in the front casting platform that you mentioned. I agree with you, the design could have been a little better. I also have only been able to find the two pumps you mentioned, the bilge and livewell/washdown pumps.

I also have a fishbox that runs under the livewell and console. The hatch is located in the main floor between the livewell and where the step-up to the casting platform is.

Do you not have the same set up? The deck is molded for the hatch and I had to order some replacement latches for the lid last year from the dealer, so I assume it's a factory job.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Ours are set up the same.....I just didn't do that good a job describing the locations. I was calling the box in the casting platform the fishbox but I think you are right the one that runs under the livewell is actually the fishbox.
I had to replace not only the latches but the whole hatch on mine. LOL I weigh 245 and my youngest son weighs 270. I don't think that hatch was built to have a couple of guys like us walking on it for 8 years.

Back to your question, yes I have problems draining both compartments. The front one in the casting platform with the triangle shaped lid I use to store my anchor so it really doesn't matter that a cup or two of water doesn't drain when it is empty.

The one with the small hatch in front of the livewell that runs up under the livewell is where I store my life jackets and I don't like the fact that the lifejacket in the rear of that compartment stays damp due to a small amount of water left in the bottom of the compartment. I don't think that compartment drains directly under the deck, from what I can tell there is a PVC pipe that runs from the drain hole all the way back to the batery compartment at the transom. If you lower the hatch (door) at the transom you will see 2 drains that drain into the bilge pump area one drains that compartment and the other drains the rest of the bilge I believe.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

This is the compartment I was calling the fishbox which I think is wrong anyway it is on the casting platform.

This is the compartment you were calling the fishbox which I believe is actually the fishbox, it drains through a PVC pipe that runs back to the battery/bilgepump area which is inside the hatch in the next picture.

This hatch opens to the batery compartment where that fishbox drains

This is a picture of the batery compartment there should be 2 drains emptying into it one drains the fishbox the other drains the area below the deck

Here is a picture of my boat which you can see is the same model as yours I believe. And no I'm not the skinny guy in that picture that is one of my sons and my grandson up front.

By the way excues the messy boat, I am on vacation and have been fishing all week thus the seaweed on the deck.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Thanks for the pics with your description.

Were you able to get a new fishbox lid from a dealer? A "heavy" buddy of mine cracked my lid 2 weeks ago. My dealer and the rep from Wellcraft.com told me they don't stock them anymore. Since I can't find one online anywhere I suppose I'm gonna have to build one out of starboard. Any idea where I can find one?

I tried running a plumbing snake down the fishbox drain to the bilge last year. About halfway to the bilge I could hear the snake flapping around under the seat near the fuel tank, so that?s why I have been thinking that it dumps into a cavity then drains through another pvc pipe to the bilge.

Just like yours, my fishbox seems to hold water because the drain isn't low enough to get out all the water. Mine seems to hold about 4 inches though. I really haven?t had an issue with the forward storage box draining though, just a little water in it.

I've been considering buying the smallest volume bilge pump I can find and installing it. I could use the fishbox switch on the console and plumb the drain with some rubber hose to the new bilge pump.

Or another idea I have would be to strip down a 20 ft piece of solid electrical wire, since it won't coil like a plumber?s snake, and try to find that second drain hole. If I could do that, than maybe I could pull a piece of tubing all the way through and not worry about adding a new pump.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Yes I found the exact same lid Wellcraft used and replaced it about a year ago. I had to order it online but I believe it came out of a warehouse in Daytona which is only about 40 miles from me. I am trying to remember how I found it. I think I had a guy at Boaters World look it up in one of their product catalogs and got the manufacturers name then searched online for it. I will try to go back through my records and see if I can refresh my memory.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

You may just have been lucky, I found on my old computer the tracking information for my order of the hatch you asked about. I was partially right I said I ordered it out of Daytona, that was wrong but the hatch was manufactured by Daytona Plastics. The one I got was the exact same hatch Wellcraft used. Now the catch....there are about 100 hatches at this web site so you will have to figure out which one is the right one. I paid $49.95 for mine but all the order form tells me is SKU #53. I am guessing it would be the 17x13 but I am not sure. You will have to measure yours to be sure. Anyway here is a link to marine surplus inc who is who I ordered from. I will also send you a private message with my order # & reciept if it will be of any help. You might be able to give them the conformation number and tell them you need the same hatch. When I installed mine I didn't even have to drill holes the screw holes all lined up with the existing holes.

http://www.marinesurplusinc.com/servlet/Categories

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

You are the man! I really appreciate that!

What are your thoughts on adding a bilge pump to the fishbox? I use it the same way you do, for pfd's and bumpers.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

You are the man! I really appreciate that!

What are your thoughts on adding a bilge pump to the fishbox? I use it the same way you do, for pfd's and bumpers.

Yours must be holding more water than mine. I just get an inch or so of water standing in the rear foot or so of that compartment. I'm not sure a bilge pump would drain it any better unless an area was cut out and recessed. If I was really serious about getting all the water out I would probably just drill me a drain hole at the lowest point and let it drain into the bilge. But then again I have been known to do rather stupid things at times.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Hey GatorMike!

I tracked down that hatch today. It turned out that Marine Surplus was sold out of them so I had to call Daytona Plastics to find a distributor. They directed me over to Polymer Fab at (386) 673-3012. Their price was double that of marine surplus, but what are you gonna do right?

I ordered a dpf1317 replacement hatch. Hopefully it will work out. I will make a post next week after I install it.

Thanks for the leads on finding a new one. Hopefully this will help out someone else out there too.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Hey topwater,
When you revisit this thread I have something to ask you. I have been struggling with a fuel delivery problem for some time now and just discovered what might be the root of my problem. Did you know that if you hang your head inside the compartment where the battery and bilge pump are and look back twards the front right side of the boat up in the corner of that compartment there is an inline fuel filter/water separator?

I can't believe I have owned this boat for 6 years and never saw that. When I changed the filter in it last night it was so gunked up there is no wonder I couldn't get enough fuel through it. Anyway you probably knew it was there but if not you might want to change or clean the filter.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

The hatch listed above is a perfect match, boltholes and all, for anyone whom visits this posting in the future. It comes in 3 colors, white, grey, and black I believe.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Hey Mike,

My Fuel/Water filter is located at the top left of my compartment when looking at the opened hatch. It?s bolted through the transom. I can get you some pics tomorrow afternoon. It's time to change mine. I try to do that every year. I'm not sure if you?re supposed to do it more often or less often than that though.

Tuesday I'm going to drop mine off at the shop and let them check the height of the motor. Since I bought the boat it has been pulling to the right really bad and it just seems to be dragging the back of the boat. I think that may also be why I?m not getting the fuel mileage I expected when I bought the boat. I was expecting to get at least 4 mpg even with the 2-stroke, considering my much larger 21 footer with a 200 Honda got 3. I normally only get right at 2.

Even with the whale-tail on the back I can't trim it up more than a 1/4 of the way without it lightly porpoising. A buddy of mine who buys boats and fixes them up to sell told me the motor may be mounted too high.

Do you have any experience with this issue? I would just adjust the torque tab to fix the pull, but whoever installed the whale-tail drilled the rear boltholes through both sides of the tab so I'll have to order a new tab if the height isn't the issue.

When I had it serviced back in Feb. They were supposed to look into it, but only ran it real briefly after installing a new throttle cable. Since it was 30 degrees out (unusually cold here) they really didn't do anything but check out the throttle and engine response.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Sounds like your filter is mounted in the same compartment just the opposite wall. If I were you just in case since you are not the original owner I would lay on the deck put my head inside that compartment and look forward twards the bow just in case the fuel filter you are seeing was added by the previous owner. It was probably factory installed but wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look.

I can't help you with the motor height or the steering problem, mine steers great, so good I can't believe it's not power steering. Of course the boat I had before this one was a 20 foot proline that steered like a tank.

As for the fuel usage I too get terrible mileage. Not sure what I am getting but 2 years ago I took mine across the gulfstream to Bimini. I had a full tank when I left and I never started it while I was there since my buddy boat was a 23 foot Century and there were only 4 of us we used the Century for fishing. I figured I would have burned less than 25 gallons getting across. I went ahead and put 30 gallons in before headding back. My buddy boat had to tow me the last 2 miles to Ft Lauderdale because I ran out of fuel. We are talking maybe 120 miles and I burned 80 gallons. Something had to be wrong.

I'm just curious what kind of speed do you get out of yours? I can't seem to get mine over 35 mph under ideal conditions. Are you getting any better? I wonder sometimes if I am running the right prop.

 

[T0PWATER]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Thanks, I'll look around for a second fuel filter to be safe.

With two guys about 180 lb at the console and two gals under 115 on the livewell and bow i can run around 45 mph @ 5200 rpm, with a full tank of fuel, in the Biloxi Bay on a smooth day. I'm running a Viper 19 pitch prop.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Yeah Topwater that is a bigger filter than mine has and mine is located straight across that compartment from that one. Looks like that hose coming out of the left side of that filter is probably going to the location where my filter is located. On mine that hose goes to a filter then through the wall of that compartment to the fuel tank. Yours probably goes straight to the tank but like I said it wouldn't be a bad idea to look just in case. Seems that 8 year old filter that had never been changed was causing me all kinds of problems.




Sounds like maybe I need to swap the stainless steel prop I have been using and go back to the prop that came with the boat. I'm lucky to get 35 mph with the same setup. I usually run with myself my youngest son and one other person on the boat. Me and David are both over 250 so that could have a little to do with it but not that much. I think I'm turning about the same RPMs....in the 5000 range anyway.

LOL I had to go back an edit this one.....I'm so stupid, I just realized you are running 30 more HP than I am. That probably explains the extra 10 mph. It probably explains the bigger fuel filter/water separator too.

 

[Frank Dunn]

Re: Help Needed with Draining of Fishbox

Hi guys......I just noticed your thread..............I also have a 19 1/2 Wellcraft CCF..................Year 1997 with a 112 HP Rude....................I have the same problem with the fish box. It retains about a half inch of water at the back wall. I guess its a bad design.........Ive had the boat for 3 years and love it...No real problems ...I wish it had a little more room in the cockpit and do away with the swim platform... Boat is docked in Cape May NJ and I have never seen another one like it in the area. Ive had it out about 20 miles in the Ocean but I would never try crossing the Gulf Stream like one of you did.LOL...........Any questions I can help you with ,gimme a call on this thread.