Bilge Drain Plugs ever fall out?
 

Could a brass garboard plug work its way loose and fall out?

My boat sits on a lift all summer. The plug is not reachable from the dock or boat, only by floating or swimming up to it and undoing it with a wrench. I don't typically check the tightness of it, why would I.. Never had an issue with a plug coming out.

This past weekend we dropped the boat in to head out for the day, after using it for the past few days (including the evening before) and the boat wouldn't plane, and belts started squeaking.

Shut it down and sure enough the bilge is full of water. Looked for obvious signs of hoses off, etc with no noticeable sign. Pumped it out, and headed back to the lift with the suspicion the plug was out. Sure enough no plug..

No sign of the plug lying at the bottom of the lake under the lift, but also hard to take a good look.

I'm only assuming that someone has come along and removed it. There is no shortage of louder boats on the lake right now and they have been the target of noise complaints.. I'd hate to think someone targeted my boat and taken then plug out. But its entirely possible. Combined with a small claims judgement against a local contractor that took money and didn't do work, its entirely possible it was intentionally removed.

Could have turned bad..its cold this time of year where we are, and small kids are always on the boat, including this time.

Never heard of one coming out on it's own. You are pretty lucky. I'm surprised your pumps were able to keep up.

That's Horrible - Glad You Were Okay
 

Maybe a highly evolved specie of turtle. :D:

Damn. But wisdom says to take a peek at it before lowering boat. Ive never heard of one coming out on its own. So sounds intentional.

I's say someone removed it. Mine seems to get tighter after not removing it for any length of time!

A hex socket plug would be a little harder to remove, they need more than a crescent wrench.

Here's an example in stainless, brass is also available http://www.mcmaster.com/#4452k544/=14ker9g

You might want to rig a hidden trail cam out on your lift.
Padraig

I'd find a way to run 120VAC to the new drain plug....

There is no way it fell out. You were targeted, however malicious or benign their intentions.

I still find it hard to believe that (in todays world) a man would start a boat without opening the hatches. Maybe I'm unique. Sorry if I offended you.

^^^^Do you check your lug nuts before you drive your car/truck out ?

I seriously doubt if the plug vibrated out -- strange things could occur but the probability of doing that on it's own -- highly unlikely.

I know I'm anal retentive but I put a couple of winds of Teflon tape around the treads before I screw it in- don't ask me why just always did it!

3pointstar

I have heard of a few that came out on their own, but it was only when the loan payments were overdue by 90 days and no money left.

Someone stole it.

I apply pipe dope one to three times a year snug it up never a problem fifteen plus years.:)

Do you know what's better than loctite? .................. Cross thread!:cool-smiley-011:

My plug takes 2x the torque to remove after install.
If they are out to get you they will try again.

I like the optex weatherproof wireless annunciation. Have 2 in the driveway one at the drives and one on the side. Also has aux relay output to tie into lights horn etc.

If you're not going to booby trap the drain plug, at least toss some Palmolive in the bilge so it gets cleaned real nice the next time they screw with you.

It would be nice if you could catch them in the act. so you could retrieve your drain plug at their dock.

The one or two times I went boating without a plug were due to it falling out :drink:

not sure what running torque is on a drain pulling but I'm willing to bet it's much higher than vibratory forces...

Hey windsurfnut: I pulled the plugs on my T/G after a strong rain storm last weekend to drain the bilge. I was quite surprised to find that the plugs were just finger tight. I think it is possible that your plug vibrated out. I'm using thread sealant and a socket from now on. It sucks to have to worry about people targeting your boat. I always pop the cover to take a look and vent the engine room before firing up, I bet you will too from now on!

The one time our plug fell out was due to low temp shrinkage when Hell froze over.

You beat me to it! :D

A guy with tools, with motivation and an easy target.........I'm no Columbo but I suspect you found your perp!

I remember my dad had a plug tied to a string hanging off the back of our old outboard boat ......the rubber cam over ones .......later in life I figured out why.

I am a fan of this type, vs. just the ones that thread in to ever so slightly tapered (female side) insert in the boat:

http://greatlakesskipper.com/standar...oat-drain-plug

[ATTACH=CONFIG]560409[/ATTACH]

I like the "flange" type as pictured above because:
1) They have a replaceable rubber o-ring that crushes as you tighten, putting tension on the threads.
2) You are actually tightening the plug's flange against the insert in the boat, vs. just tightening threads into threads.

IF BY CHANCE it vibrated it's way loose; above would be a better product to avoid that.

I also stumbled upon this when searching, which is an interesting product and idea in itself:
https://flow-rite.com/products/marin...ug/mpa-rdp-006

I have that exact type. The drain plug never get's lost or falls off the trailer fender or swim platform when taking off and forgetting the plug. Can't say the same for my coffee mugs. LOL.

No way you didn't fill with water before you were on the lift, then suddenly fill with water off the lift? May have been one of your dock mates/neighbors that dropped their's in the water, or kids pulling a prank.
In my ski boat, the plug is on a stainless cable tied to the engine oil drain hose.
Big boat, it's just cranked in there pretty tight. The drain plugs are tapered, get tighter as they go in, no way it fell out.

I was pretty confident that it was taken out intentionally.
It was amazing that the bilge kept up with it. Now, I happened to bilge it out of habit when I was lowering it in the water, and did note that it had more water than I would have expected after a little bit of rain overnight. Once on plane with the bilge on there was very little water on board, but as soon as we stopped it was clear water was coming pouring in!

When I was a kid we had an outboard boat, and back then there were no "splash wells" or anything like that. We'd ski and start and stop, taking in water over the transom. We put the flip-type rubber drain plug on the inside, and periodically would move the 6-gallon gas tank and pull the plug running wide open to drain all the water out. Simpler times!

A drain plug, even if it is only snug, doesn't just fall out.

LOL.....I too can remember doing the same thing.

Padraig