engine flushing on a mooring

[Graham Nash]

Hi, Following a conversation with Martin at the family day I am thinking of putting my boat onto the stack n store things at Rockley. (Their price is much lower than any of the other yards that I have checked, although th extra travelling may reduce that saving in extra fuel used. Does anyone have any opinion on that?)

 

My main question is, how do people with boats on moorings/stack n store flush their outboard engines after a day out?

[Rob]

 

You might find a flush \ hose attachment on the engine - there is on my Yam - however this only flushes the block on one side of the thermostat!!

 

Therefore, investigate your engine and speak to you local service agent.

 

HTH

 

Rob

[Graham Nash]

the engine is an evinrude etec 90 and i dont remember seeing any hose attachment.

Do the boat yard people not just lift the boat out of the water and store it, thus I would not get the chance to flush it??

 

Is flushing as important as i am led to believe?

Edited September 6, 2010 by Graham Nash

[Sinbad]

Graham, an obvious one....Stack and store = no antifoul and depending on how much you place on your time, alot less hassle and hours investing in removing the weed and slime.

 

Paul

[Maverick Martin]

Graham

 

I think you will find the guys at Rockley flush your engine with muffs and quickly rinse the exterior of the boat. That has been the policy until this year but may change due to new management. There is water and power available in the yard should you want to do it yourself.

 

Re cost in additional fuel with Rockley being at the wrong end of the harbour. In the summer months its 1/2 hour each way to the entrance in the winter its around 12 mins Make you own calculations but for me its 17-20 litres a day before we get to what I would consider to be a starting point. That said there are no stack and store facilities close to the entrance that charge sensible money

 

I must say that this year the new yard manager has changed systems and tried to get the boatyard on a more professional footing, he is winning slowly. If he gets the funding from Rockley that he wants/needs to update things the yard should come good within the next year or so

 

Martin

[Paul D]

Make you own calculations but for me its 17-20 litres a day before we get to what I would consider to be a starting point.

That's a whole day's fishing on Neo

[Maverick Martin]

But I know where I would rather be

[Adam F]

What do Rockley charge for a stack and store?

 

We are moving JV onto the dry stacks at Parkstone, and for a 7m boat it comes in at around

[Maverick Martin]

Phone them and find out but I paid about

[great white]

No doubt when they sort the Yard out it will be the boat owners that pay for the improvements.

 

Usually the prices start to rise, but I doubt that they would go up as much as PBM

 

Ref the flushing

a pair of muffs around the leg fed from a tap is the best way, run for as long as it takes to drain the carbs. A bit noisy but most boatyards would allow it

 

Charlie

[Jim]

Graham,

You should have a hose point at the rear of the engine on the E-Tec

[wrigler]

I have a suzuki 70 injection 4 stroke with a hose connector and especially during winter months (less useage) I flush the engine regulary. I note from previous members comments this does not flush the whole system. Is this correct? Getting back to the Rockley park as against P B M. issue. The new manager at Rockley is a very dedicated guy and I have spoken to him about prices and a possible move.

The price is considerably cheaper but the distance I drive to the marina for a days fishing ,and then take my boat to possible fishing marks has to be taken into account.

P.B.M 's ticks all the the box's for convenience and the launching and recovery is second to none!! I really can't fault them.

The problem with PBM is their inability to see there is a serious need to consider that customers cannot afford increases year on year when the average person has less disposible income.

The second problem is the the ever increasing restaurant and bars bringing more cars into the car park .

I decided to go fishing on an afternoon in July . I entered the car park and found one space and started to reverse into it and had to have a (gun fight at OK coral) with an irate restaurant customer trying to force me out. .

This is not the way to start an enjoyable fishing session and although I won they need to sort this out.

SO!!!! you and I have to work out which is best. A longer trip with no aggro and more fuel used or a more convenient marina with a need to put the the mooring customers first before the restaurant customers (unlikely)

The Jury's still out for me.

The Jury's out for me

[Graham Nash]

Adam, I have rockleys price list here and they are

[duncan]

I have just switched Phaeton to stack after 9 years on the pontoon - I'm finally convinced that they can handle things realistically.

 

Can see a whole 'holding pontoon' of PBSBAC boats in Autumn when the weather's good!

[Graham Nash]

I have just switched Phaeton to stack after 9 years on the pontoon - I'm finally convinced that they can handle things realistically.

 

Can see a whole 'holding pontoon' of PBSBAC boats in Autumn when the weather's good!

and where are you Duncan?

[Rob]

 

Duncan is at Rockley (there are a few pontoons there).

[petesnr]

Interesting thread. My outboard is a mariner 60HP Bigfoot. This doesn't mean that it leaves footprints in the snow and is hardly ever seen!

Basically it has a 75HP sized gearbox on a 60HP engine. This means that it can cope with a bigger prop as it has a lower gear ratio and is more suited to a slightly heavier boat. It also means that proportionately it has a larger water pump than a standard 60HP engine.

This engine which I bought brand new in 1997 has been on the back of the boat sat on a mooring for 13 years coming home once a year for servicing. This is the only time that the engine gets flushed with fresh water. I have always been staggered at how little corrosion is visible when the thermostat housing is removed and I attribute this to the wonders of modern alloys and also regular checking of the sacrificial anodes.

Reading about what causes problems in the waterchambers of outboards it would appear that it is encrustations of salt and corrosion that cause blockages and limit the flow of cooling water. Salt is hygroscopic which means that it absorbs water from around itself--no doubt most of you will have experienced the condensation on rods reels etc that have not been rinsed in freshwater and dried. This moisture is due to the salt from the seawater aborbing moisture from the atmosphere. If an outboard is left on a mooring then probably the salt inside the cooling chambers remains in solution and not as crust due to absorbing water from the moist sea air. So as long as your anodes are working properly the salt solution should not damage the inside of the engine and should be flushed through as soon as you start the engine. If the salt dries out in the chambers and forms a clot with corrosion then problems on start up could occur.

My advice is that if you have a boat on a mooring monitor the anodes and dont worry about flushing but if your engine is likely to dry out then flushing is likely to be more important.

There is a downside to my story. I'm on my fourth thermostat--they seem to seize open every 3 years--whether this due to not flushing I cant say but the engine definitely runs better with a functioning thermostat in the winter.

 

Peter

[Rob]

 

Does anyone know what the difference between a Mercury and a Mercury "Saltwater" is?

 

I assume a Mercury is designed for USA Freshwater use and they do something to it to make it Marinised.

 

And that a Mariner is the already marinised version of a mercury for the European market.

 

Because most Mercury's over here are Saltwaters as we have little freshwater to use them on. Does anyone have a non Saltwater Mercury? If so were you told why it was not a Saltwater one and do you have to maintain it differently?

 

Rob

[Graham Nash]

Interestingly, my etech manual claims the engine is "self flushing cooling system" and in the section on flushing it says, "If desired, the engine can be flushed" this would seem to imply that it is not so important??

[duncan]

Does anyone know what the difference between a Mercury and a Mercury "Saltwater" is?

 

I assume a Mercury is designed for USA Freshwater use and they do something to it to make it Marinised.

 

And that a Mariner is the already marinised version of a mercury for the European market.

 

Because most Mercury's over here are Saltwaters as we have little freshwater to use them on. Does anyone have a non Saltwater Mercury? If so were you told why it was not a Saltwater one and do you have to maintain it differently?

 

Rob

none of my mercury OBs were Saltwater designated - and all were used exclusively in saltwater.

 

these designations arrived in the late 90s with different cowls etc (Mercs) but it's been difficult to see any consistently in the spec differences - at one time they were designed for SS props with slightly heavier gearboxes (but not as much as bigfoots)

 

then there was the issue of anode material

[Paul J]

Theres a lot to be said for a mooring up the river

 

PJ

[Coddy]

For those who like to flush the ob but are on a mooring with no access to fresh water, many people have made up a fresh water tank of approx 5-10galls with a hose that connects to the flushing point or a set of muffs over the water intake.

The tank has a tap, so they open the tap having fitted the outlet to the engine and start it up on tick over.

Yes the leg is in the tilted position and it seems this has no detrimental effect on the engine or flushing.

 

Downside is that you need to top up the tank from time to time and carry this weight around all day unless you leave it in your dingy.

 

Just a thought

 

Dave