Was out on the lake a few weeks ago and left the boat moored in the lake during our morning and afternoon sets. When I went out that afternoon, the speakers started to le. I immediately checked the auto bilge pump and it was "OFF". I looked behind the passanger seat and the amps were in water. The bilge pump got rid of the water in about 10 minutes. I checked all the ballast hoses and found one backfilling. My guess is that a check valve has failed. Where do I find the checkvalves and are they easy to replace?
I am not picturing how a failed check valve failure alone would get water into the bilge. I can see it filling the ballast tank/bag, but it should be limited to the volume of the tank.
I highly recommend that you modify your system so that you are not relying on a check valve. They will leak. Any fitting that comes up from the bottom of the boat should have a good quality shut off valve on it. Fitting on the side of the boat (for pump discharge) should be well above the water line .
Rod, I use soft sacs and it obviously leaked. The x-star has 3 shut off valves, one for each tank and for the sac in the keel. I just never used them. I will now. I also have to replace that check valve and potentially the whole bag and hoses.