how much water inside the outback hull is acceptable

Damn Dave! That's too much water! I think I need to take a day to do some serious maintenance on the Outback.

LIGHTLY lube the hatch seals with some food-grade clear silicone grease.  Did I mention LIGHTLY loudly enough?

Smear some on the inside surface of the hatch ring, the surface the gasket seals against.

Smear some on your fingers and rub it on the gasket. If you see anything on the gasket that looks like grease you used too much. It will help with operating the hatch and will help seal it too.

I've never gotten much water in my Revo and leave a sponge inside the hull.  Occasionally there will be enough water in it to squeeze out. Usually from leaking through the hatches in rough water or splashing water into the cockpit or during the after action freshwater rinse.

I also grease the rudder cables at their pass-throughs.  I can't tell for certain whether it helps repel water from entering, but it hasn't hurt.

I've been using my 303 protectant spray that I use on the hull to clean my seals and keep them from drying out and cracking, but the silicone grease sound like a good idea...probably helps the hatch close easier too.  I feel a bit stupid for not thinking of that sponge in the hull idea, that seems like the way to go.

Damn Dave! That's too much water! I think I need to take a day to do some serious maintenance on the Outback.

Yes it was way too much water...very diffcult to move thorough the surf (or anywhere) with that much water weight sloshing around inside.  I now keep a bilge pump with me just in case.

In normal operation I don't get any water inside my Ocean Kayak 13' Trident, but in case I do get some, I always store it with the hatches open so it can dry out.  I don't want fungus developing in my kayak.

Not that it is kayak specific but I discovered one cause of water getting in my hull to be the o-ring seal on my drain plug.  The origional had cracked and was still there, only to split apart when I tightened it down when heading out.  The great fix I found was a garden hose 0-ring fits perfectly as a replacement on a drain plug.

My outback has developed a crack at the rear of the drive well. I'm taking in about 2 gallons of water after a few hours of fishing. The hobie website says to take it to my local dealer. My local dealer wants to try to plastic weld the crack. I also read on the hobie site that they dont recommend plastic repairs below the waterline. Not sure if I should let him try to repair it, or try to get him to send it in for a replacement. Anyone have experience with this? My 2 year warranty runs out in July, so I need to get this dealt with.

Make him send that back.  A crack in the drive well is going to keep happening.

Take it to the dealer, let them make the call.  Hopefully you get a new hull, if it's a defect.

Make him send that back.  A crack in the drive well is going to keep happening.

+1
You need to push your dealer a little.  I had a cracked hull on a older outback and hobie was real good about replacing it.  It can be repaired but I'm not sure I'd trust it on long trips in the ocean and it will probably a reacouring issue.
Dana

Thanks. I'm also worried his repair will fail after my warranty is expired. I will push him towards replacing it. Its not a good feeling being in the ocean with a crack in your yak, wondering if it could split wide open at any moment. Would be nice to have a new hull anyway, hopefully a 2014 with transducer mount.

Merz, that should be under warranty. Btw... Cracks in the drive well a lot of times happen if your running straps through that area during transit. Contact your dealer and get the hull replaced ASAP. Hobie will want to see proof that the hull was destroyed afterwards and recycled. Save your drive and seat. The new hull will come with a rudder.

Thanks Jammer. I will pass this on to him.  I dont recall ever running straps through the drive well.

Evan

Ah, the infamous Hobie drive well crack.  Definitely get a new hull if its still under warranty.  All repairs I've heard of failed after a short time.  Except FFTW's repair.  But his got sent back to Hobie before he'd had much time to test out the repair and Hobie scrapped that cracked/repaired hull and gave him a new one.

Merz, take as good of pictures as you can of the crack as well as the serial number because Hobie is going to want to see that information. You'll then give those pictures to your dealer where you got the boat. After the dealer shows those pictures to Hobie and "if" they get the approval your new hull will be ordered. It's between Hobie and your dealer whether or not they replace your boat from the dealers inventory or if Hobie will send a new boat on the next order. That's between hobie and your dealer. Please don't mark my words on all this is only what I've seen happen in the past but is not a guarantee. Hope this helps

This is concerning to me as my Outback was a demo.......is the warranty any different being a demo?

Also.....what is the best way to check for cracks and where???

My concern is.......as a lot of you know from a previous posting of mine.......I installed a kayak hoist and the straps failed causing my Outback to crash to the garage floor...... I have gone over it with microscope and have found nothing so far besides my rudder assembly being destroyed (thanks KayakShed for getting me that so fast!)...

Would filling the hole with some water and checking for leaks be a good way to check for cracks?

I found mine by sticking my head inside the hatch. The crack is very hard to see from the outside, but from inside the hatch i can see light shining in through the crack. Drive well cracks are common on the front and back of the well. I would set your kayak out in the sun or have someone shine a light on it while you stick your head in the hatches and look around.