Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

Hello All. I've been searching through the forums trying to find out if anyone else is having similar electrical issues as I am. I just recently purchased a 1996 Shabah z255. Runs great. But the more I take it out, the more electrical issues I've noted.

The boat came with a full mooring cover, but it is not water repellent. Last week we had a series of thunderstorms. Yesterday was the first nice day, so I uncovered the boat. To my surprise, everything was wet underneath (is this normal?). The carpet was wet, and the cup holders and side storage compartments all had 1/4 inch of rain water in it. So turn the battery switch to ALL (have duel batteries), and put the key in. I immediately notice that my bilge switch light is on. It is a rocker switch, and it was not in the ON position. The light was on and the bilge was pumping water out. It pumped for about 40 min and finally no more water was coming out of the bilge drain. However, the bilge light was still on, despite the switch being in the off position. The question I have, is this some sort of "auto bilge" that lights up and pumps when it senses there's too much water in the bilge. I'm afraid that if the bilge keeps running while I'm out on the boat, that the bilge motor will burn out.

As an aside, are mooring covers supposed to allow that much rain through into the cockpit??? It's a blue canvas cover (old and came with the boat). That's also another issue. I just detailed my vinyl and looked practically new, but after one night with the cover on (and rain) the blue from the cover bled onto the vinyl. Is this a common problem?

Someone...anyone...HELP!

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

Yeah, mooring covers are sometimes imperfect. Ours was brand-new as of the middle of last season and fits the boat like it was made for her (which it was). But there are gaps here-and-there (like where the hardware for the convertible top is on the side windows and in the vicinity of the bottom of the center window) and a bit of rain gets in. One time, after we'd not been to the boat for a couple weeks, during which there'd been significant rain, the bilge pump kicked-in when I boarded the boat. Which brings me to...

Yes, your bilge pump has an automatic float switch. From what I've seen reported: Most Mariahs are like ours: The water has to be pretty high in the bilge before that float switch kicks in.

As for your cover bleeding into the vinyl: No, not normal at all. The best covers are made from Sunbrella (IMO) and Sunbrella does not bleed like that. Fade: Yes. (Esp. red.) Bleed: No. Shouldn't. If either our brand-new Sunbrella mooring cover or our brand-new Sharkskin trailering cover had bled into the vinyl, I'd be damn angry.

Jim

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

A number of posters have reported that issue with the bilge pump and yes in theory it could run your battery down eventually. As for the mooring cover, what's it made of and has it ever been waterproofed? Jim has pretty much got things covered though in his post and it sounds like you need to replace the mooring cover.

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

I had the same problem one day when I came off the lake. my bilge light was on and no water was being pumped out. so apon further inspection I found that there was a little bit of trash under my float switch on the pump itself. So cleaned everything up real good, I havent had a problem since.

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

Thanks to everyone who replied.

I checked the bilge (which was a PITA to get to since only my starboard side hatch motor was operational...whole different story). There was some debris in there, such as a oil bottle cap (damn boat maintenance people) and some leaves of all things. I cleaned it out and the bilge pump works great.

Back to the cover issue. I found out that my bilge was filling quickly because my cover is not waterproofed...leaks water into the cockpit like a strainer. I left the bolt in place in the back of the boat, since it's on a lift (hate to come back and find a sunken boat if the boat lift failed). So, I'm periodically checking the boat after the deluge of rain we've been getting to run the bilge pump.

So, back to the cover. Well, not enough fundage to get a new one custom made, so I'm just going to take the cover to (hopefully) a dry cleaner that can wash the POS to get all the dye out so it'll stop bleeding on the vinyl. Then I'm gonna take it out to the backyard and spray the Hell out of it with Scotchguard or some other kind of waterproofing spray. Any suggestions on brand of waterproofing spray?

Speaking of the vinyl. Any thoughts on trying Magic Erasers to get the bled-out dye out of my vinyl seats and hatch cover? Does it really work? And what vinyl protectant should I use afterwards to avoid the drying effect created by the Magic Erasers?

Oh, by the way, I have a couple of new posts asking different questions. Please bear with me as that I'm new to this...and the owner maintenance of our Mariah's.

Thanks!

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

Majic erasers are generally quite good at removing stains from vinyl so give it a try. If i remember correctly the vinyl material also allows the use of an acetone based cleaner but give the majic erasers a try first. Check out this thread for lots of info on their use.

As for cleaner/protectorant here's a few products recommended by our members: 303 Aerospace protectorant on the canvas & 3M Vinyl cleaner/conditioner/protectorant as well as Meguiars Vinyl Cleaner & Conditioner on the vinyl.

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

We used Soft Scrub on our vinyl, where necessary, when we first cleaned up Shazaam!, but we made sure to thoroughly rinse each area afterward with clean, clear water and we treated all the vinyl afterward with a good vinyl conditioner. Later, talking to the guy the reupholstered some of her seats, he said we did just the right things.

Jim

Re: Newbie needs HELP - Bilge questions
 

Mariah used a heavy weight vinyl, and it was treated with prefixx so I've found most stains come out easily. Protection is the key. Mines due for another light cleaning and a an application of sunscreen. :)