New leak found

[formerathlete]

I have a 2000 X-22 with the factory ballast sack in the trunk, the seacock in bilge area in front of battery and the Rule 1100 pump in storage under glove box. What I just started noticing late this summer is that a decent amount of water is leaking onto the carpet below the pump in the storage compartment. If I go out multiple days in a row, or for a really long day, it's enough water to soak the carpet in the storage and it seeps out to the carpet at the feet of the passenger seating area. I hooked up a fake-a-lake to the thru hull pickup for the seacock/ballast and ran water through and it didn't appear to be leaking when running the pump or with pump off, so I'm beginning to doubt it's a leaky pump. Pump is barely 2 years old.

Then yesterday, we went out onto the lake, kept the seacock valve shut the entire time and never ran the pump. When we got home, I checked the area to see if it was wet and it was. Now I'm stumped. We had the pump off and the seacock valve shut, how could it be wet on the carpet under the pump? It was dry before we went out. Is it possible that the small amount of water in the ballast sack somehow vacuumed forward and leaked through the pump? That seems like a stretch.
My other curiosity is it's somehow related to water in between the layers of the hull/bilge liner? I've heard there can be water in between those layers and have confirmed that on my boat. Do those layers or that liner have a junction that meets in the area where I have my leak? So bizarre.

[Capt Rick]

Email me pictures of the ballast pump. and the valve you shut off? also the hull id

Capt Rick
boatetrade@aol.com

[cyclone]

There are often cracks in the base of the rule pumps, they usually don’t prime well when cracked. There’s water moving back and forth thru the pump when not running, no restriction at all, so that could be the source. The rule pumps on the parts page are as cheap as you will find, and have a connector installed

[formerathlete]

If I remove the pump, is it likely that there would be a visible crack in the housing if that's what it is? Thanks for the reply.

[formerathlete]

I replaced the older jabsco pump with the rule pump 2 years ago. Was having trouble with the jabsco impeller sticking and failing to spin. Was so frustrating. Rule pump worked ok as a replacement but mainly because there is no restriction when pump is off, so I'd open seacock, drive the boat around for about 5-10 minutes to fill the sack, then close seacock. Pump on or pump off didn't seem to matter but I'd usually have it on while filling that way. Separate pump in bilge for draining. Almost as if I don't need the fill pump.
But I bet the pressure of water being forced up through the hoses, through the pump, stressed the housing and cracked it. Hoping that's all it is.
Question would then be whether or not to stick with rule pump and risk having it happen again or go back to a new and much more expensive Jabsco pump. Hmm...

[cyclone]

my goal was always to put a scupper fill with a large solenoid valve up front, and 3" RV gate valves on the transom, no pumps, fill and drain in seconds. I hurt my knee and my back before I figured out how to do that, don't need ballast anymore:)

[Sammamish Skier]

That sounds like the ramfill system on ski centurions
 
 http://www.mmwatersports.com/centurion/centurion-technology/ramfill-ballast/

I wonder if they sell the intake..

[cyclone]

You just need big valves on the back and a vent up front, no scupper. You open the valves and the tanks flood in seconds. It would be easy if we had a flat transom, it requires major surgery to fit it to the tanks in my SX. The deal is that the the tanks have to be under the waterline, which they are on an SX. There was a west coast boat co. that patented it, it is the best ballast system ever.

When you are done, you open both gate and vent valves at speed and all the water runs out the transom in seconds. No pumps, valves can even be hand actuated.