Bilge drain

[wiguyy]

Just curious on other rigs. New to xpress and up in WI there isn’t really dealers or see xpress really but remember when doing rewire and upgrades on 2000 h56 last Dec before it went in storage, the bilge was full of water. Pump didn’t work and rewired that all anyways but I remember looking at the bilge drain and instead of a tube the same thickness as the transom and letting it drain out when pulling up from ramp, the tube that was welded in was like 4-6 inches past transom area at an angle. So I would have to have over let’s say 5 inches of water in there before it drains. Are they all rigged like that? Doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to me!

[rocket man]

The bilge drains from the normal drain plug. The bilge pump pumps out higher up to keep from getting water in.

[wiguyy]

I’ll have to get a picture when I can but the bilge can’t draim because to tube that was welded into the transom from the factory extends up 4-6” into the bilge instead of being cut flush with the transom inside like any other boat is Just wondering if I got a Monday or Friday built boat. I’ll cut and sand down like it should be but can’t see how it would make sense

[Ranger391v]

Yes ...... every Xpress I have owned (4 now) have had a length of metal tube that sticks inside past the transom wall. Typically they are 1"-2" long.

Pro tip ....... the best way to get ALL of the water out while the boat is sitting in storage ......... make sure the tongue of the trailer is jacked as high as it can go, so the boat sits as low as you can get the stern so it encourages the water to run to the back ........ THEN wick it out with something. I typically take a paper towel sheet, roll it up as tight as you can get it, stick it through the drain hole, allow just enough paper towel to fold back against the transom (lowest point) and allow as much paper towel as possible to stick out the back of the boat. Once the paper towel gets saturated, it will draw all the water out provided the outside portion is lower than the transom bottom.

This works for all brands ...... aluminum and fiberglass. I originally learned this trick because of my Ranger 518vx.

Good Luck!

[fishingram24]

Great tip on wicking the water out. When I wanted mine completely dry, I used my Shop Vac to get it all out plus anything else that had worked its way back to the bilge. I don't think the drain tube in my X17 is but about 2-3" long since I can stick my finger through.