2021 Ranger RT188 Back Compartment Drain Seeping Water

[Linc515]

I was out in a torrential rain the other night during a tournament, and the boat got completely soaked. Everything was drenched, and it took days to dry everything out. (Yes, I understand Ranger does not claim for the compartments to be "dry", but the amount of water that gets in is completely ridiculous.)

The back compartments didn't get wet at all inside from the rain, but for the past 3 days, water has been seeping up into the compartment from under the lip of the drain hole. It appears water is somewhere under the tubs of the rear compartments and is not being drained. Has anyone else experienced this, or have any ideas of where the water is coming from? I have no idea how the water is coming up through the outside of the drain. Common sense would say gravity would pull water down, not allow it to flow up into the compartment. I attached pics for reference.

Thanks,
Scott

[tcesni]

Do you have a lot of water in the bilge area? It can take several days for all the water to migrate to the bilge area. I suppose that if there was enough water in the bilge a small amount might be forced into the storage boxes. Does seem odd though.

[Linc515]

Do you have a lot of water in the bilge area? It can take several days for all the water to migrate to the bilge area. I suppose that if there was enough water in the bilge a small amount might be forced into the storage boxes. Does seem odd though.

tcesni - that's the odd thing. I don't have any water in my bilge. I've had the trailer jacked all the way up for days. The only thing I can come up with is that some water ran underneath the compartment tub and is sitting on top of the foam.

On the port side compartment, where the drain tube for tool holder goes into the bottom of the compartment, the foam was just dug out about 1/2 inch for the tube to sit in. So when water gets in the tool holder, and runs down the drain tube, it has no where to run, so the water just collects on top of the foam, until it is sponged out.

It seems to me that when the foam was sprayed into the boat, they just simply covered all the drains, and now the water has no way to run down the boat and into the bilge. I believe the design to drain water to the bilge was engineered correctly, but the poor workmanship in the factory caused any path to be blocked by the spray-in foam.

[FloridaFlyer]

I have never taken mine out....BUT.. I thought the plastic tubs could be removed. If so, pull that sucker out and look at it and fix the problem. When it was at the old Flippin plant, I watched them spray foam into the boat. I do not think these plastic inserts were in the boat yet. It was just the plain aluminum shell and floor. They should come out with a little work.

[Boat4Life]

Linc515 "some water ran underneath the compartment tub and is sitting on top of the foam."

That's exactly what I thought after reading your comments. So if that's the case, maybe you need to remove storage tub and dry out foam below? Then maybe silicone the tub edge on reinstall?

[Linc515]

I have never taken mine out....BUT.. I thought the plastic tubs could be removed. If so, pull that sucker out and look at it and fix the problem. When it was at the old Flippin plant, I watched them spray foam into the boat. I do not think these plastic inserts were in the boat yet. It was just the plain aluminum shell and floor. They should come out with a little work.

FloridayFlyer - mine are riveted into the deck in four places. It's not just as simple as lifting them out.

[Linc515]

Linc515 "some water ran underneath the compartment tub and is sitting on top of the foam."

That's exactly what I thought after reading your comments. So if that's the case, maybe you need to remove storage tub and dry out foam below? Then maybe silicone the tub edge on reinstall?

Boat4Life - I can't just remove them. And if I could remove them, I couldn't silicone the edges because the edges go under the carpet from the compartment opening. You can see it in my 2nd pic in my original post. I'm not sure why these are riveted in place.

For now, I've been laying towels at the bottom of the tub to sponge up the water. I just don't like the thought of any water sitting on the foam underneath. Like the tool holder next to the console. The drain tube goes into the compartment, but only about a 1/2" down where they drilled out enough foam to get the tube to sit in there. Water just sits in the tube and on the foam. Makes absolutely no sense.

[FloridaFlyer]

I would drill the rivets out. I would want to get that tub out of the way, look at my foam, and fix the problem. Run a new drain tube maybe. Poke a hole through the foam for a tube. Drill out the rivets and put back with ss screws. Get the water away from the foam. Over a long period. It can become waterlogged ----- then you really do have a problem. I would want to.lsy my eyes on the underneath. But that's just me.

[Johnnyred]

Watching. Same problem.

[Madeintheshade]

I would drill the rivets out. I would want to get that tub out of the way, look at my foam, and fix the problem. Run a new drain tube maybe. Poke a hole through the foam for a tube. Drill out the rivets and put back with ss screws. Get the water away from the foam. Over a long period. It can become waterlogged ----- then you really do have a problem. I would want to.lsy my eyes on the underneath. But that's just me.

if they are like all the rest I have seen you will not get them out.
They are foamed in .

[pabasshawk]

I would drill the rivets out. I would want to get that tub out of the way, look at my foam, and fix the problem. Run a new drain tube maybe. Poke a hole through the foam for a tube. Drill out the rivets and put back with ss screws. Get the water away from the foam. Over a long period. It can become waterlogged ----- then you really do have a problem. I would want to.lsy my eyes on the underneath. But that's just me.

I would do the same. Have you tried blowing air into the drain to see if it is blocked or tried to suck the water out with a shop vac?

[Linc515]

I would drill the rivets out. I would want to get that tub out of the way, look at my foam, and fix the problem. Run a new drain tube maybe. Poke a hole through the foam for a tube. Drill out the rivets and put back with ss screws. Get the water away from the foam. Over a long period. It can become waterlogged ----- then you really do have a problem. I would want to.lsy my eyes on the underneath. But that's just me.

FloridFlyer - I'm not going to drill out the rivets, or run a new drill tube. The boat is only a year old and is still under warranty. This is something the dealer and/or Ranger can deal with. I was looking to see if anyone else was having this problem as well.

The foam should be closed cell foam and should not absorb water. If it does, then this sure seems like it would be a warranty issue. The minute I drill out those rivets and drill through the foam to make new drains, I would imagine, Ranger is not going to cover any of it.

[Linc515]

I would do the same. Have you tried blowing air into the drain to see if it is blocked or tried to suck the water out with a shop vac?

pabasshawk - The water is not coming up from the drain. The water is seeping up from around the drain.

[pabasshawk]

I didn't realize that your boat was that new, I wouldn't mess with it either. I would take it to the dealer and have them take care of it.

[Johnnyred]

I didn't realize that your boat was that new, I wouldn't mess with it either. I would take it to the dealer and have them take care of it.

Same problem with my 2021 RT198P. I made a warranty repair request through my dealer. They said that Ranger said it had to go back to the factory to be repaired correctly because of the way it is put together. Dealer shared they had sent another boat back to the factory previously for the same problem and it took 4 months. They said lead times were longer still by the time of my request and to expect at least 6 months.

I held onto the boat.

This is on a very short list of things on my 198 I do not like. The drain setup in the 2 back boxes discussed here is poor.

[sheffism]

Noticed today my tool holder cup has water in it. I also pulled foot pedal tray today and noticed drain on tray is not epoxied on and there is no drain tube. What a sorry bunch of workmanship! Just about done running dedicated power for my graphs and have noticed numerous shortcuts by Ranger. Does anybody have a drain on their foot tray and if so where does it go?

[Johnnyred]

Noticed today my tool holder cup has water in it. I also pulled foot pedal tray today and noticed drain on tray is not epoxied on and there is no drain tube. What a sorry bunch of workmanship! Just about done running dedicated power for my graphs and have noticed numerous shortcuts by Ranger. Does anybody have a drain on their foot tray and if so where does it go?

I am running cables up the bow and installing FFS on my 2021 RT198p. Same thing as yours when I pulled the foot pedal well... drain hole trim piece sitting in the hole not caulked in place and no tube attached. And lots of trash left in that area by the factory. Sorry... just sorry.

I should attach a piece of tubing while I have it unbuttoned and caulk everything into place.