Marina berths and flushing your outboard

Chris Murray · 21 August 2006, 21:37

I haven't seen many people flush their engines when they come in.

Actually, I don't think I have seen anyone do this.

I would be interested to know what RIBnet marina bertholders do.

If you are a bertholder - what do you do?

Cheers!

Chris.

Scotty · 21 August 2006, 22:02

Mine lives on the marina for seven months a year. When the engine is shut down I leave it in the water for ten minutes or so to let everything drain out then I raise it. I have never flushed it out. At the last service the dealer passed no comment on it at all.

benc · 21 August 2006, 22:04

Some engines, yamaha for definate, have a place you can plug a fresh water hose into, to flush the engines while they are down and still in the water.

I've not yet done this - I use my boat about 3-4times a week at the moment, so saltwater isnt getting much of a chance to settle...

Roy Smith · 21 August 2006, 22:14

Chris it was me who shouted to you Sunday at Cowes i was on my friends Ribeye, with regards to flushing i have a cold water feed a bit like a garden hose tap attachment.are you out this week/weekend
Roy

BogMonster · 21 August 2006, 22:44

On mine you can remove the telltale and stick a flushing adaptor in the threaded hole, but I don't bother (partly as I don't have the adaptor and when I enquired it was F expensive but mainly because I can't be bothered). The aux that arrives in the next few days has a similar arrangement, a bung on the bottom of the engine which you can screw a hose adaptor in to flush it without the engine running.

When it was in the water all the time it rarely went more than 2/3 days without being used so I figured there was no real danger of salt crystallising out, but now I take it out during the winter, I flush it each time then leave it trimmed right in to drain out so it doesn't get frosted. Time will tell if I am doing the right thing or not but it seemed to be sensible to me

Chris Murray · 21 August 2006, 22:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy Smith

Chris it was me who shouted to you Sunday at Cowes i was on my friends Ribeye, with regards to flushing i have a cold water feed a bit like a garden hose tap attachment.are you out this week/weekend
Roy

Ah, so it was you Roy!

We finally have the right prop, thanks. We achieved an average of 44kts with nearly 80 gallons of fuel and 3 people on board. At last I am happy with the performance!

I am not usually let out on Bank Holidays, as they tend to get reserved for DIY. Of course, if the weather was really good ... ! I'll be down the following week though.

Cheers!

Chris.

Richard B · 21 August 2006, 23:19

Chris, I guess you may have missed this: http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15741

Jimbob · 22 August 2006, 08:43

Chris

With Evinrude you can get a "adaptor" . You take out the telltale plastic thing and put in this adaptor. So you still have the telltale when running, but you can place a hosepipe ( it connects using a standard garden hose connector)on for flushing. It quite simple and if you are thining of flushing whilst in the marine it will work,,,,it did it when mine was left in the water

Rodan · 22 August 2006, 10:25

I flush mine regularly in the marina - there is a screw plug in the back of the engine and the hose fits nicely in this. Normally just leaving it running through for a couple of mins while the engine is warm...

nugent · 22 August 2006, 12:41

my merc f100 had simmilar adaptor that you screwed in the tell tale area,
no need to run engine either just turn on tap if your mooring has one, and let it do its stuff, defo better where i was bearthed coming in at all hours, did not disturb others sleeping next to me, well after i got used to squezing the boat in there with out nocking every thing

bobbyjoeufb · 22 August 2006, 19:25

I have personally used various types of boats over the years and never flushed them out. Had no problems untill recently where the water would not flow through the tell tail.

I spent ages taking apart most of the cooling system and in the end had to use compressed air to clear the blockage.

Since getting my zapcat I have washed the boat down and flushed the engine out almost everytime.

A set of engine muffs are quite cheap and easy to use.

Andy Moore · 22 August 2006, 19:30

What are muffs?

Limey Linda · 22 August 2006, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Moore

What are muffs?

They are things you stick over your ears so you do not know what is going on.

Swifty · 22 August 2006, 22:08

My merc doesn't have any fancy adaptors. When in a marina, and I'm feeling keen, I fit the muffs and hose, then tilt back down and run as normal to flush.

Nearly fell in once trying to fit the muffs!

Chris Murray · 22 August 2006, 22:42

Thanks Guys,

So it looks like I had better investigate the flushing arrangements.

I was beginning to think that people in marinas didn't bother!

Cheers!

Chris.

Tim M · 22 August 2006, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Moore

What are muffs?

Flush muffs - basically a thing that lets you hook your hose up to your engine so you can run it out of the water or let fresh water run through the cooling system on a salt water mooring.

robbo · 23 August 2006, 12:44

I flush my Suzuki every time i've been out.

There is a screw plug on the front of the engine that you undo and screw a fitting to and then attach a normal garden hose.

Engine off and out of the water and flush it through for about 5 mins.

Water comes out from tell tale, water intake grills and round the prop.

Piece of cake!