Z20 Water Seep

[jhayford13]

2017 Z20 bought in September of 2017. No accidents, never hit anything and it excellent condition. Last week my shoot thru hull transducer began showing a poor image so I removed the batteries and opened up the back to take a look. When I opened the Garmin GT15 the entire transducer area was emptied. In case you don't know, the GT15 is sealed and you need to add RV winter drain fluid or mineral spirits. Instantly I new that is why I started getting poor images. I wiggled the transducer and it appeared to be a little loose but nothing serious. I removed it anyway and began cleaning the area of the transducer. Every time I would wipe away the area I would notice multiple air bubbles rise to the surface and then figured out it was moisture coming up through the floor. The boat is completely dry so it is not running to the back from the front. I then used 200 grit sandpaper to clean the area a little more thinking and hoping it would cease. Water continued to seep up through the floor in the same area that the factory transducer was placed when I bought the new boat. I then felt it subsided enough to silicone the transducer back down. When I applied pressure to the transducer to get a good seal, quite a bit more water seeped into the opening of the transducer. I just let it sit at this point leaving it open. This was 5 days ago today. I have been checking it every night when I return home from work and each time the inside of the transducer has water inside of it. I will dry it out with paper towels which is enough that I could ring the water out. You can see in the pictures the inside of the transducer area the water laying inside. The first picture is where the original transducer was placed when I purchased the boat and that the same spot that I placed the Garmin. Couple things that worry be a LOT... I assume that there is water in between the floor and the bottom hull of the boat. It obviously has to be in the layers of the fiberglass but only shows itself in this spot. I have no moisure in any compartment or floor space. I need this transducer but if I add fluid into it I feel as the floor with soak it up and it will cause poor images again only to need to do it again over time. I can't help but think that with that moisture in the in between fiberglass, it will never dry out and start to cause rot in the fiberglass. Like I mentioned, I have never struck anything, no cracks that I can find or see. I contacted the BPS where I purchased the boat with no much comment other than to send them a picture. But I also have been dealing with them for over a year because the motor was not mounted correct and I am over a 1/2 inch off. They say they have been working with Nitro but want more pictures again. Yes, the boat dives to the left until I can get enough water under the pad to level it out from the motor mount holes being off. When I call Nitro they direct me back to my dealer. What is everyone's thoughts? I need to do something soon before I have a rotted boat that drives crooked.




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[I fish 4 Bass]

“ The first picture is where the original transducer was placed when I purchased the boat and that the same spot that I placed the Garmin.”

You mounted the Garmin, assume you sanded after you removed the original transducer?

[jhayford13]

I did- 200 grit sand paper to remove the glue residue where the original transducer was mounted.