Inboard boat flusher...opinions.

I need to get a "fake a lake" or an inline flusher such as the Perko type that I can attach a garden hose to.
I saw this type of setup on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Inboard-Engine-Flusher-Boat-Ski-Wakeboard_W0QQitemZ7190201293QQcategoryZ15272QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. I am wondering if anyone has used this type which does not have a backflow valve. From what I understand it is designed for Mercruiser inboards. Any opinions appreciated.

I installed one in my Malibu Sportster and added the Perko transom inlet. I also installed a brass shut off valve off the scooper inlet, so when I'm running the boat off a garden hose, the water is diverted towards the impellor.

Edit: just to clarify, in the third picture, the black y is the ebay item, the grey y is the heater return.




(Message edited by 99sportster on October 17, 2005)

Curious as to why you needed to install the brass shutoff valve?

I installed it more as a safety feature than necessarily for running the engine.

With all the connections I have, if any of the hoses started to leak while on the water, I'm able to shut off the valve to prevent further water from coming in.

A little off topic here, but it looks like you're just using regular home-depot-type pvc pipe for those y and t connections. Is that correct? Have you had any problems with the hoses slipping off (since there's no barbs like on connectors that are made specifically for hoses).
I'm trying to install a shower, and I'm having a problem because I want to tee off my raw water intake (1 inch), with a small size hose (maybe 1/2 or 3/8), and I'm having a lot of trouble doing that without making several different connections (like a 1 inch tee and then a step-down or two coming off the hose that's attached to the tee).

On my last two boats (Air Nautique and Super Air Nautique) I just use the "Fake a lake" gizmo that you prop up under the water inlet underneath the boat. It works okay, and since I don't need to use it very often it is fine.

Before the Nautiques I had an old direct drive ski boat that I had to work on a lot. To make it easier to connect the garden hose I had a very simple Tee fitting in the line between the inlet and the pump. The Tee had a valve and a female hose fitting attached to it. I just had to make sure I closed the valve before launching the boat!

I wouldn't install the hose fitting through the hull unless you used the boat in salt water often and wanted to be able to flush it ASAP afterwards. Note that if you are using the boat in salt water a lot you should install a fresh water cooling system and then you don't need to flush at all.

Even when you're running fresh water cooling, you still want to flush your engine.

b peck.
By installing the shutoff valve and diverting all of hose pressure to the impeller, isn't all your the house's water pressure pushing against the impeller and housing? I've heard that this isn't advisible and can do some damage.

AJ wrote: "Even when you're running fresh water cooling, you still want to flush your engine."

Why?

To start with, you can't! You can drain the water out of the heat exchanger and replace, just like you would the radiator on your car, but you can't hook a hose up circulate city water through the engine.

You can flush the portion of the exhaust system that had salt water flowing through it. Depending on if you had the "minimal" or full fresh water cooling this may flush salt water out of a portion of the exhaust manifold. Ideally, your fresh water side cools the exhaust mainfold as well so there isn't much that you would be flushing.

Keep in mind that the fresh water cooling systems are made for large boats that sit in the water 24/7. These boats are not taken out of the water and they never flush.

To answer some questions...the y tubes weren't pvc bought at home depot. The grey y was purchased from heatercraft specifically for this application. The ebay y is similar in quality.

Yes the pressure of the garden hose will push against the impellor...but were talking about a couple seconds until the engine is started.

Bottom line, I do all the maintenance on my boat so changing the oil is much easier with this setup. I also run the engine during the winter since I don't winterize in N CA....again, much easier for me with this setup.

Rod - Maybe I chose the wrong words above. With a full fresh water cooling system, you still want to flush the exhaust system and the heat exchanger with fresh water. I understand that the engine doesn't receive any salt water, but the salt still does some damage to the rest of your exhaust system including the heat exchanger. After time, this does become an issue. This is from my own personal experience with 1991 Nautique with closed cooling that received approximately 400-500 hours a year in salt water.