lowe
Well-known member
Well I think I might have a leak on my Lowe 16ft Bass Catcher Pro. I took the boat to the lake today and unloaded it so I could fix my bunks and carpet them. So I beached the boat for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. When I went back, I had about 2 to 3 inches of water collected against the back of the transom down in the hull. As it was getting late in the day, I loaded the boat up and brought it back home.
I know some of the water was there when I beached the boat, because of the way the boat is made, when a certain amount of water comes in through the drain hole in the gully below the front of the engine, it will drain over each end of the gully and down into the hull and when it gets so low, the rest will go back out of the drain hole in the transom. That is how the boat is designed from what I can tell.
So when I got it home, I took both tanks and the battery out of the boat and dropped the front of it down hill. I filled the boat up with water until it came out of the floor drain. After letting it set for two hours, no water was coming from any of the rivets in the front of the boat.
Then I raised the front of the boat back up and filled the hull in the main back full of water to about 5 inches. I found one rivet leaking so I have it marked. Also the rib going through the middle of the boat's underbelly is mosit along the ridge on both sides. This is the only rib under the boat that is riveted. But I don't know if the moisture is from the lake today in between the rib and the hull, which it is riveted to. While I had the back hull filled with water, I could not see any water seeping from the rib, and the moisture that was already there did not get any worse, so I don't know if that is the problem or not. It doesn't look like it, but could water go in and not come out?
One other thing I noticed today was at the inlet on the outside of my transom that goes through to my live well pump. When I feel the hull with water, a very small stream of water seeps through the inlet, and drains outside the transom. I figure if it is seeping out, it has to be seeping in while the boat is submerged in water. I looked the boats outer hull over with a fine tooth comb, and no cracks or broken welds were found and no water was found exiting.
The only other place, I could not inspect was the rivets were the bunks are because of the boat resting on them.
If the middle rib, were I assume the boat was put together is allowing water in but not out, what product can I use to fun a small bead on each side of the rib?
Thanks, and any information is appreciated.
I know some of the water was there when I beached the boat, because of the way the boat is made, when a certain amount of water comes in through the drain hole in the gully below the front of the engine, it will drain over each end of the gully and down into the hull and when it gets so low, the rest will go back out of the drain hole in the transom. That is how the boat is designed from what I can tell.
So when I got it home, I took both tanks and the battery out of the boat and dropped the front of it down hill. I filled the boat up with water until it came out of the floor drain. After letting it set for two hours, no water was coming from any of the rivets in the front of the boat.
Then I raised the front of the boat back up and filled the hull in the main back full of water to about 5 inches. I found one rivet leaking so I have it marked. Also the rib going through the middle of the boat's underbelly is mosit along the ridge on both sides. This is the only rib under the boat that is riveted. But I don't know if the moisture is from the lake today in between the rib and the hull, which it is riveted to. While I had the back hull filled with water, I could not see any water seeping from the rib, and the moisture that was already there did not get any worse, so I don't know if that is the problem or not. It doesn't look like it, but could water go in and not come out?
One other thing I noticed today was at the inlet on the outside of my transom that goes through to my live well pump. When I feel the hull with water, a very small stream of water seeps through the inlet, and drains outside the transom. I figure if it is seeping out, it has to be seeping in while the boat is submerged in water. I looked the boats outer hull over with a fine tooth comb, and no cracks or broken welds were found and no water was found exiting.
The only other place, I could not inspect was the rivets were the bunks are because of the boat resting on them.
If the middle rib, were I assume the boat was put together is allowing water in but not out, what product can I use to fun a small bead on each side of the rib?
Thanks, and any information is appreciated.