Bilge floor cover design ?

[WayneM1946]

1992 Champ 201.

I am replacing a shoot thru transducer and have a couple of questions. I pulled out both trolling batteries, oil tank, charger, and cranking battery in order to get the floor panel covering the bilge out. Someone had cut that panel side to side so that it is now two pieces with a 4" piece going across behind the live wells and the rest of it still in one "T" shaped piece. Not sure why anyone would do this because it does not make getting to the bilge any easier.

Also, the carpeted side was down, and the plastic(??) side was up and the battery tray screwed to the plastic side. Based on the way it is shaped, that seems upside down to me AND it puts the carpeted side on the wetter bilge side. Am I correct that the carpet should be up?

Next and most important question: Is it feasible for me to make a complete new cover that only requires the two trolling batteries and charger to be removed to get to the bilge without having to remove the cranking battery and oil tank. I can't see any reason this would not work well because there is about 3" on each side of the bilge opening that is solid floor on which to rest the bilge cover. I realize the weight of the batteries will be on this floor panel, but If I use maybe 1" plywood flooring material and seal it with epoxy resin, I would think it would be find and then if I needed to change anything in bilge, it would not be such a PITA.

This would also allow me to keep the cranking battery and oil tank installed and still have the bilge cover out so I could experiment on the water with the new transducer to make sure I get it in the best location on the floor of the bilge.

If it is NOT a good idea to do this, please say so and tell me why.

Wayne

[Tx Champ]

My 93 201 didn't have any plastic, only carpet on the exposed side. I also can't see where splitting that cover makes it any easier at all, but if you can work with it, go for it. When I had mine out the first time, I recarpeted it.



On the 93, the crossover on the tank is under the splashwell, so on my bilge cover, the cranking battery and oil tank covered the aerate & bilge pumps, transducer and drain valve.

[ChampioNman]

Reggie's set up is 180* out from mine. It's a PITA to get in there I pulled the old T out and fabed one out of 1" square aluminum tube and 1/2" starboard. I made it a two piece so to access the pumps all I have to do is to remove the cranking battery and the oil tank and flip it open. The real PITA is trying to get it in because of the fuel line, have to hold your mouth just right. But no more plywood to rot and carpet to keep water.

[Tx Champ]

Reggie's set up is 180* out from mine...

Yeah, I don't really know when they made the change and if WayneM1946's is like yours or mine. I just know it was a PITA to work with. And really hard to get out the first time. The 210 isn't really any easier, still got to pull batteries and oil tank to get down there. It has a hinged cover that presents its own issues. I like the way Charger has addressed it in their 210.

[WayneM1946]

TX Champ, is the layout in pic #1 the way everything fits in your bilge? If so, mine is different. My trolling batteries are side by side in one tray centered right above all the pumps/drains and the cranking battery is on the starboard side, oil tank on the port side. Fuel tank is U-shaped under the motor well, which I think is the same as yours.

Seem to me, If I can make two piece floor out of starboard, all I would nave to do is remove the trolling batteries and lift up the center section to get to everything under there. I may be missing something, but I think I will try and see if it works.

I took the hinges off the lid to the bilge and can get to everything to work on it right now.

This project all started with a Helix 9 that could not maintain depth readings, and then I let the trolling batteries run out of water and ruined them, so they had to come out anyway. New batteries that are going back in are AGM's.

Wayne

[Tx Champ]

Yes, the TM batteries are on either side of the 2 bank charger. The cranking battery and oil tank are next to each other.

[ChampioNman]

Had to remember where I put the darn pics. The smaller piece faces the bow.

DSCF0173.JPG DSCF0174.JPG

[ChampioNman]

Another one.
DSCF0184.JPG

[WayneM1946]

The bilge pump in my boat appears very old and is an Attwood pump. I think I am going to replace it with a new one.

What do you guys recommend?

Wayne

[illinifish]

in A friends boat when we replaced the bilge pump ( yes it was a PITA to get the cover out) we removed the carpet and painted the aluminum. I am not sure why you would want carpet back there it holds moisture.

[WayneM1946]

ChampioNman, that is awesome. I think I can do mine the same way even though the arrangement is different.

Does Home Depot or Lowe's stock the HPDE stuff?

I can order it on line but I expect the shipping to be almost as much as the product.

Wayne

[Tx Champ]

Attwood wouldn't have been OEM, it would have been Mayfair. They were purchased by Johnson Pump. Look in BPS catalog and I figure they will have them. You can use the mfg part # to search for the best deal.

[ChampioNman]

West Marine carries it. I use it a lot. I replaced the inside of my fenders with 3/8" Starboard in black.

[Tx Champ]

Johnson 38703 is a 750 gph 12v bilge pump. They have a 1000 gph, but it appears to be 24v. PN 26014 is the float switch. Champion used Rule in the later years. I'm not a big fan of Rule or Attwood.

[WayneM1946]

I only have one bilge pump. I would have thought there would be a manual one and an automatic one, or is one pump just wired up so it works both by the foot switch and by the manual rocker switch.

This Attwood switch looks very old and cheesy.

Wayne

[Tx Champ]

You can see in the pic of my bilge above that my 93 also only had one. I can't tell if it had a float switch or it it was strictly manual. I would definitely go with a float just in case you leave it tied up on the water and get a rain. It'll kick on if you are not sitting in the boat. I've also driven through rain with the plug in and gotten quite a bit of water in the bilge which addresses the float switch question. It didn't have one. Funny how details seem to get lost as you get older.

[pmgoffjr]

There is no such thing as too big a bilge pump. I ran twin 2500's in my boats, when you really need it, you REALLY need right now. Looked like a New York fire boat when you turned them on, but it would get ankle deep water out of the boat in a real hurry.

[WayneM1946]

Dang, how much electrical power did it take to run two of those?

Wayne

[Tx Champ]

Dunno, but you ain't cramming 2500 gph through a 3/4" hose. That's right at 42 gpm.

[pmgoffjr]

True but it would throw it sixty feet. Serious fire hose action.