How is everyone cooling their boats while running out of water

[dcoblack]

I have been having a few issues with my boat and putting it in water every time I want to test it isn't ideal, so I want to see what everyone is doing for cooling. I usually disconnect the hose above the valve and drop it in a bucket, but I have concerns about the about the water pressure while raising the RPM's. I have seen the kits you can buy for this, but I don't like the plastic they are constructed with. I have considered switching the shut off valve under the water strainer with a 3 way valve where I can switch the source to a hose, but am not sure if it will work. The picture below is similar to what I was thinking. Does anyone else have ideas, concerns, or suggestions about doing this?

[prowake]

just get a perko flush pro and have a dedicated short hose to connect to another hose. don't make it complicated.

[gmustangt]

In the past we have pulled the water intake hose off downstream of the strainer and stick a hose in it.

[pSchwade]

the perko flush pro is nice, and I have one on my 220, but I am thinking that it might be time for a better solution. there are a couple issues with the flush pro - first, its made of clear plastic, so the lakes that require inspection might make you run through a full decon because they can see water in it. second, the hose fill port is also plastic, and doesn't give a lot confidence that it wont leak air or water during normal operation (which is probably why it has an anti-siphon valve). lastly, it doesn't have an form of pressure relief when you crank up the hose.

If you wanted to make your own you would need a shut-off valve, check valve (optional if you don't mind closing the shut off valve every time you use it), water inlet T, and a pressure relief valve (optional, install dump line before check/shut-off valve).

[dcoblack]

the perko flush pro is nice, and I have one on my 220, but I am thinking that it might be time for a better solution. there are a couple issues with the flush pro - first, its made of clear plastic, so the lakes that require inspection might make you run through a full decon because they can see water in it. second, the hose fill port is also plastic, and doesn't give a lot confidence that it wont leak air or water during normal operation (which is probably why it has an anti-siphon valve). lastly, it doesn't have an form of pressure relief when you crank up the hose.

If you wanted to make your own you would need a shut-off valve, check valve (optional if you don't mind closing the shut off valve every time you use it), water inlet T, and a pressure relief valve (optional, install dump line before check/shut-off valve).

I have the exact same concerns you mention, and that's why I would prefer the brass valves instead. There must be a reason why no manufacturers (at least that I know of) add these flush valves from the factory. The check valve is unnecessarry if I will be in there anyways to hook up the hose because I would only be adding the one step of turning the handle. My current setup is hull intake, 45 deg. elbow, shut off valve, hose, then strainer.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but what purpose would the pressure relief valve serve, and where would I locate it?

[pSchwade]

a garden hose can supply up to 40 psi of pressure and the system was desigined for very low pressure before the raw water pump. A pressure relief valve will open when the pressure is above a set point (usually 7-10 psi) in order to relieve the excess pressure. In your case you would install it after the shut off valve and plumb the dump line in before the valve. By plumbing the dump line into the normal intake path you reduce the risk of a faulty relief valve letting air in the intake line and causing the raw water intake line to lose prime under normal operating conditions - if you arent worried about it, than you can just let the relief valve dump into the bilge.

The nice part about the check valve is that you can get everything running without climbing in the boat (if you have a transom flush port).

[Dgee]

I've always just attached a Y fitting on my hose, connect a second hose attached to the downstream side off of the strainer.

Turn the hose on full blast and then start the boat, all the pressure blows out the open side of the Y fitting till the boat is running then the fresh water pump pulls all the water it needs and the open end of the Y is reduced to a dribble. Once the engine is off all the pressure goes back to the open end of the Y fitting.

[ski4evr]

these things are stupid simple, have never had a problem if you can access your raw water intake. over pressure blows out from around it until boat is started. don't really rev the engine, just idling until warm enough to service.

[thtrog]

The flush kit I used is in this thread, very similar and comes with quick disconnects.
http://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/fo...e-on-their-g23

[Scott_Mead]

Those devices are called Fake a Lake, and yes they work awesome we use one up here to winterize the boat as well as run it first thing in the spring to clear the antifreeze out and make sure everything is working properly before it is put in the water for the season. We use it on all our boats here.

[keithh2oskier]

I fill up a bucket and disconnect the hose from my raw water inlet and stick it in the bucket. It can pull as much water as needed and I can also watch to make sure that it is not starving itself. I have a 196 so its plenty easy to do.

[charlesml3]

Yea, just use a Fake-A-Lake. They're cheap and work like a champ. Plus there's no need to install any fittings in your boat.

Just go with a simple solution.

[azeus17]

I usually disconnect the hose above the valve and drop it in a bucket, but I have concerns about the about the water pressure while raising the RPM's.

Dropping the intake hose in a bucket is really the only safe way to do it if you rev the engine at all. If you attach a garden hose directly to the boat, and rev the engine, the raw water pump will pull a vacuum on the hose and collapse it, not allowing any water to flow.

[charlesml3]

Why would you need to rev the engine? There's no need to do that for a fresh water flush.

-Charles

[Tom_H]

Unless the supply on your hose is piss poor (or you have the cheapest/crappiest hose produced), there's basically no chance of collapsing the garden hose and restricting your supply. I frequently rev some to speed up the heat-up process (when doing oil changes or the like) when I'm on the hose and have never had a flow issue or a hose collapse. From my perspective, the only downside of doing a straight hose connection or fake-a-lake is that you can't troubleshoot a raw-water pump/impeller issue that way, as the hose will usually just overpower the pump. In that instance, you just pull off the intake hose and dump it in a bucket of water and make sure it draws as people have mentioned above.