I added fresh water flushing to my 6BTA Cummins plus my Onan Generator. This was via “T” pieces sited between the strainer and SW pump. The FW supply lines were run up to a dedicated SS manifold placed on the main deck under a wash basin. The dock hose was connected to the manifold which allowed me to sequentially flush each system. I did this as soon as I got back to the dock while the engines were all idling. I NEVER closed the seacock whilst flushing. The results were outstanding and this was reflected in the state of the anodes, all tubestacks and the gearbox coolers. The other plus was no growth in the SW inlets owing to a plug of FW. At the conclusion of flushing all seacocks were shut. This should be standard in all new builds.
Hey Justin, this is a great trick, especially for us hear in the middle east where sometime we have 35+C sea water paired with very high salinity so we get huge barnacle and corrosion if not careful. I have been doing this trick for some years and I just want to add the following if anyone is interested: 1) we ALWAYS close the sea cock, if its left open, slight movement at the dock from passing vessels, wind etc creates a nice movement of water and hence MARINE GROWTH LOVES IT! keep the sea cocks closed imho. 2) We ALWAYS gravity feed f/w thru the system using the engine S/W pump itself, firstly if water is introduced under pressure you can blow the pump seal right out! let the engine take what it needs. check with manufacturer of engine and get the s/w pump output curve and adjust you hose and inlet hoses accordingly to accomodate what the pump needs at idle. Secondly, one can open the f/w feed whilst engine is still running normally, then just close the s/w valve while you are down there. give it 2-3 minutes then shut down and just close f/w feed. 3) We use NON RETURN VALVES with a cap, where the f/w feed goes in this eliminates the idiot factor of sinking a boat at the dock with flood back of s/w!! (not a fan of non returns but as its f/w its pretty bullet proof imo) 4) We use this on water makers, generators, etc etc etc. only thing we dont use it on is A/C units...cos they never shut down here! In general for me, if someone is building a boat then take the opportunity to run a F/W line thru to your e/r from the tank and just plumb it in, a few valves and lines and non returns and as you say life is much easier on life of your boat gear AND your wallet!!! Hope this is assistance to all. cheers.
One quick way to determine if your water hose is supplying all the water the engine is sucking is to use a 3/4 in hose in a 5 gal bucket with your water hose turned on and filling the bucket. If the water level drops then the engine is drawing more water than the hose can supply. If it remains at a static level or fills then the direct hose conection will supply adequate flow.
The engine cannot "suck" water PERIOD much less "more" than it is "supplied". Centrifugal "water pumps" are not "self priming" OR 'positive displacement".
I have found using muratic acid to restore my strainer components to be almost magic. Not sure if you guys would recommend this tip but I made a few videos on my results and wanted to share. m.ua-cam.com/video/vanRxEnNFW0/v-deo.html m.ua-cam.com/video/gRgpXInDYW8/v-deo.html
Thanks, guys! Always so helpful on the board and when I call. When we bought our Silverton 410 with 6bta-m3s I was very apprehensive about putting my wrenches on it. But, Tony and the gang set you straight. Now, I've redesigned, refitted, digitized and upgraded like a pro. Tony can be a little gruff online but you cannot blame him. I can imagine that he's been asked the same questions a million times a million different ways. He's a saint for persevering as a teacher of idiots. Thanks again! It be nice to see a 2" Perko strainer flushing cap kit from SBMAR. In my case tapping into a 20 year bronze elbow is a commitment that you cannot come back from and tapping the cap really needs to be done at a proper tool shop.
I fitted a very similar system to the article a couple of years ago to my twin QSB 5.9 and have found it very successful. I prefer to shut off the seacock in my procedure because I found the salinity of the water remaining in the engine too high. I use a 25mm dock hose with excellent water flow. As mentioned in the video you have to understand the system and take care when shutting off the seacock. I initially tried a propriety system and found it useless even though it was supposed to be for Cummins QSB's, all the fitting diameters (10mm) were far too small. They are very expensive and a complete waste of money. I would be interested if Seaboard Marine could do another article (using the flushing equipment) and introducing a weak acid solution to clean the raw water system. Robert Jones Newport, Queensland. AUS
Great video guys, really appreciate the information SBM offer.. I myself have a lift muffler setup with a fresh water flush system which I religiously do after every use. In the video Justin commented that if you have a lift muffler you have the potential to over fill the lift muffler and cause some problems!!!!.. If this is the case can you suggest (or shoot me a video link) as to how I should be preforming a fresh water flush with a lift muffler?? Traditionally I have not run my Cummings QSB to perform this task..
Newbie, ON-LAND winterizing so seawater stopcock will be closed...reading and differing comments driving me nuts. I'm guessing you're emphasizing danger situation of running water pump dry so be sure to get flush water going first then start engine.. But Question: will the flush water under pressure (positive or later negative siphon), potentially present a hydrolock situation flooding the cylinders? In fact at 8:40 it is said NOT to have only the flush valve open with engine off. I have a valved Tee on my strainer - I'd use the water in bucket method but concerned of it's small 5/8" diameter offering insufficient flow.
Yes, depending on the design, as long as the water is getting sucked through the engine via the raw water pump, and you have a decent flow, many fresh flush systems work great for running on the hard. Many trailer boats do this as a matter of practice.
i enter the water through a removed anode port on heatexchanger, turn sea cock off and put a clamp on hose to shaft this way you just connect a saltaway water mixer on input side very simple works a treat, dont run engine just use water pressure, i guess if you had the wet muffler setup you would have to block
My 09 searay 310 has no engine sea cock, but does have a flush system installed. Is it right that turning on the fresh water flushes only the outdrive when the engine is not running? I was told the engine has to run in order to flush the engine as well!
Just be careful. I learned a long time ago that a pressurized garden hose has enough pressure to blow out the shaft seal on your raw water pump. I only draw from a continuously filled bucket. Garden hose cannot keep up with raw water pump at anything above idle. Use a big bucket/container. Bait tank is good idea. I am considering putting in a system on the engine that I am currently building so system can be flushed without running engine. This would require a T on either side of the raw pump and would not require closing sea cock. IMO, an ideal system would allow you to flush and back flush your exchangers/aftercoolers/strainers etc. without starting the engine. Of course it is a bit more complicated system.
Yeah you definitely don't want the hose on and sea cock closed without engine running. We've played with the pumps here in the shop and depending on where the impeller vanes land they can block water flow or let it sail through. So it's best not to chance it. This is why we recommend the open sea cock flush. Safest and easiest. Your system sounds neat unless you have a lift muffler, that could be problematic.
To avoid corruzione on ur engine you must put a fresh tank water on your boat and use it to ur cooling system to have a longer lifespan and less maintenance. That if u are innovative tech of marine engine. Some they put radiator too...
I do this when my boat is on the hard each year. Has anyone else done this, and is there any downside to this? My Yanmar 315 is 15 years old, 850 hours, and still runs like new.
Would like to install fresh water flush on the back side of the raw water pumps on my QSM11’s so I don’t need to turn on engines for flushing. I presume some sort of fitting would have to be added to the stainless steel raw water pipe running from the raw water pump up to the aftercooler. I’d like to be able to run a hose from that fitting to somewhere near the engine room door for easy connect to my freshwater cockpit hose. Have you rigged up a QSM11 like this before, and any ideas how to proceed? Thx
Great info... For a motor sailer with water maker, almost never at a dock, Id like to flush weekly on water making day. Is it possible to calculate the gallonage needed to be effective?
Yes it is. If you know the diameter and length of your raw water hoses, plus the volume of your HX and Gear oil cooler, and after cooler if you have one. It's possible to calculate the volume of you have a limited supply of water. Although. If you're permanently at sea, a fresh flush may not do a whole lot. The whole idea is avoiding marine age while the boat is sitting.
Hey guys thanks for all the videos. I sent a pic of my sea strainer the other day to your sb marine website. Tony advised adding a T because I can't get to my Sea strainer will the T allow me to attach hose to a reservoir with some barnacle buster? I guess my question is will there be enough suction from the T? thanks again
When running my flushing system through my engines (6BTA-m3) for usually 3 to 4 minutes, is that enough to get all the salt water out through the engines and the water muffler. Because I still taste a hint of salt in the freshwater and I figured that it was just still sucking up some of raw water from the raw water intake. What is a safe balance of salt and fresh water. Great video keep up the great work.
It's really hard to quantify, The most important thing is that you do something, which you are. If you use a stop watch and measure how long your doc hose takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket, you can calculate how long you need to run it to flush the muffler out. You can overthink it and come up with a complicated system to ensure 100% fresh all the way through, but if it gets too complicated and you dread doing it, its not worth it.
Not that I am aware of. But we do make custom caps, or customize old caps with flush setups. Or you can do it yourself or have a local machine shop do it. Contact us through our website if you are interested in having us do it.
That's a good question for our forum. www.Sbmar.com/community It kind of depends how long your suction lines are, your exhaust design, etc. I don't have a way to quantify it in general terms... But I would say several minutes. You can calculate the volume of all of the hoses and raw water components, and do a test to see exactly how many GPM you pump at idle, and come up with an exact number. Or you could just taste the water coming out of the tail pipe.
That's one way to go, and as long as you never forget to open it, it certainly won't hurt anything. If you have exceptional attention to detail, amazing memory, all that good stuff I don't have, go for it. But statistically speaking, most boaters like myself are much more likely to cause major damage by forgetting to open the seacock than the risk of leaving it open. I would never list any names here, because everyone always feels really dumb when they do it, but trust me, it happens all too often.
A truly excellent exposition, Justin. Please do thank Tony for his "marine age" concept-it rules.
I added fresh water flushing to my 6BTA Cummins plus my Onan Generator. This was via “T” pieces sited between the strainer and SW pump. The FW supply lines were run up to a dedicated SS manifold placed on the main deck under a wash basin. The dock hose was connected to the manifold which allowed me to sequentially flush each system. I did this as soon as I got back to the dock while the engines were all idling. I NEVER closed the seacock whilst flushing. The results were outstanding and this was reflected in the state of the anodes, all tubestacks and the gearbox coolers. The other plus was no growth in the SW inlets owing to a plug of FW. At the conclusion of flushing all seacocks were shut. This should be standard in all new builds.
Do you have a photo or anything I have the same engines and want to do this
@@thejmerrill28 sorry no.
Hey Justin, this is a great trick, especially for us hear in the middle east where sometime we have 35+C sea water paired with very high salinity so we get huge barnacle and corrosion if not careful. I have been doing this trick for some years and I just want to add the following if anyone is interested:
1) we ALWAYS close the sea cock, if its left open, slight movement at the dock from passing vessels, wind etc creates a nice movement of water and hence MARINE GROWTH LOVES IT! keep the sea cocks closed imho.
2) We ALWAYS gravity feed f/w thru the system using the engine S/W pump itself, firstly if water is introduced under pressure you can blow the pump seal right out! let the engine take what it needs. check with manufacturer of engine and get the s/w pump output curve and adjust you hose and inlet hoses accordingly to accomodate what the pump needs at idle.
Secondly, one can open the f/w feed whilst engine is still running normally, then just close the s/w valve while you are down there. give it 2-3 minutes then shut down and just close f/w feed.
3) We use NON RETURN VALVES with a cap, where the f/w feed goes in this eliminates the idiot factor of sinking a boat at the dock with flood back of s/w!! (not a fan of non returns but as its f/w its pretty bullet proof imo)
4) We use this on water makers, generators, etc etc etc. only thing we dont use it on is A/C units...cos they never shut down here!
In general for me, if someone is building a boat then take the opportunity to run a F/W line thru to your e/r from the tank and just plumb it in, a few valves and lines and non returns and as you say life is much easier on life of your boat gear AND your wallet!!!
Hope this is assistance to all.
cheers.
Hey Justin! Thanks to you, Tony, and the SBMAR Team for putting this tutorial/overview together! Great stuff! 👊👊
One quick way to determine if your water hose is supplying all the water the engine is sucking is to use a 3/4 in hose in a 5 gal bucket with your water hose turned on and filling the bucket. If the water level drops then the engine is drawing more water than the hose can supply.
If it remains at a static level or fills then the direct hose conection will supply adequate flow.
The engine cannot "suck" water PERIOD much less "more" than it is "supplied". Centrifugal "water pumps" are not "self priming" OR 'positive displacement".
Great explanations! Lots of good info
Man this video is awesome! Exactly the info I was look for to add a flush to my boat.
Thanks!
I have found using muratic acid to restore my strainer components to be almost magic. Not sure if you guys would recommend this tip but I made a few videos on my results and wanted to share.
m.ua-cam.com/video/vanRxEnNFW0/v-deo.html
m.ua-cam.com/video/gRgpXInDYW8/v-deo.html
Great information.
Thanks Justin, this was very helpful.
Glad to hear it!
Great video. I ordered mine from you guys. Can’t wait to install
Thanks! B
Thanks, guys! Always so helpful on the board and when I call. When we bought our Silverton 410 with 6bta-m3s I was very apprehensive about putting my wrenches on it. But, Tony and the gang set you straight. Now, I've redesigned, refitted, digitized and upgraded like a pro. Tony can be a little gruff online but you cannot blame him. I can imagine that he's been asked the same questions a million times a million different ways. He's a saint for persevering as a teacher of idiots. Thanks again!
It be nice to see a 2" Perko strainer flushing cap kit from SBMAR. In my case tapping into a 20 year bronze elbow is a commitment that you cannot come back from and tapping the cap really needs to be done at a proper tool shop.
Send us your caps and we'll get them setup!
@@SeaboardMarineIncVideos I will, come January, I'll be stripping off my heat exchangers to send out to you guys for service. Thanks!
A similar option is to use a Trac Ecological Flush Cap. Cost $50-$60 and fits on your Graco strainer. Attach a hose and you are good to go.
We aren't a big fan of plastic components in the raw water circuit. We prefer everything to be stainless or brass/bronze.
NO PLASTIC@@SeaboardMarineIncVideos
I fitted a very similar system to the article a couple of years ago to my twin QSB 5.9 and have found it very successful. I prefer to shut off the seacock in my procedure because I found the salinity of the water remaining in the engine too high. I use a 25mm dock hose with excellent water flow. As mentioned in the video you have to understand the system and take care when shutting off the seacock. I initially tried a propriety system and found it useless even though it was supposed to be for Cummins QSB's, all the fitting diameters (10mm) were far too small. They are very expensive and a complete waste of money.
I would be interested if Seaboard Marine could do another article (using the flushing equipment) and introducing a weak acid solution to clean the raw water system.
Robert Jones
Newport, Queensland. AUS
Thanks heaps!
Great video guys, really appreciate the information SBM offer.. I myself have a lift muffler setup with a fresh water flush system which I religiously do after every use. In the video Justin commented that if you have a lift muffler you have the potential to over fill the lift muffler and cause some problems!!!!.. If this is the case can you suggest (or shoot me a video link) as to how I should be preforming a fresh water flush with a lift muffler?? Traditionally I have not run my Cummings QSB to perform this task..
You'll have to do it with the engine running. That will keep the lift muffler water level under control.
Newbie, ON-LAND winterizing so seawater stopcock will be closed...reading and differing comments driving me nuts. I'm guessing you're emphasizing danger situation of running water pump dry so be sure to get flush water going first then start engine.. But Question: will the flush water under pressure (positive or later negative siphon), potentially present a hydrolock situation flooding the cylinders? In fact at 8:40 it is said NOT to have only the flush valve open with engine off. I have a valved Tee on my strainer - I'd use the water in bucket method but concerned of it's small 5/8" diameter offering insufficient flow.
Amazing that this is not more universally recommended!
Great video. How can I find someone who will build the ball valve into a strainer top. Does seaboard do that?
Yes I do that. Send me some pics of your strainer. justin@sbmar.com
Would this fresh water flush system work for running the engine on the hard as well? You guys make great videos, Thank you!
Yes, depending on the design, as long as the water is getting sucked through the engine via the raw water pump, and you have a decent flow, many fresh flush systems work great for running on the hard. Many trailer boats do this as a matter of practice.
i enter the water through a removed anode port on heatexchanger, turn sea cock off and put a clamp on hose to shaft
this way you just connect a saltaway water mixer on input side very simple works a treat, dont run engine just use water pressure, i guess if you had the wet muffler setup you would have to block
That works.
Good way to clear water from bilge in emergencies as well.
Funny you mention that. I discussed that in the latest sweet bippy video that I published a couple days ago.
how bout a flush for my grady white fisher panda genny and a/c i also have a seakeeper3
My 09 searay 310 has no engine sea cock, but does have a flush system installed. Is it right that turning on the fresh water flushes only the outdrive when the engine is not running? I was told the engine has to run in order to flush the engine as well!
Just be careful. I learned a long time ago that a pressurized garden hose has enough pressure to blow out the shaft seal on your raw water pump. I only draw from a continuously filled bucket. Garden hose cannot keep up with raw water pump at anything above idle. Use a big bucket/container. Bait tank is good idea. I am considering putting in a system on the engine that I am currently building so system can be flushed without running engine. This would require a T on either side of the raw pump and would not require closing sea cock. IMO, an ideal system would allow you to flush and back flush your exchangers/aftercoolers/strainers etc. without starting the engine. Of course it is a bit more complicated system.
Yeah you definitely don't want the hose on and sea cock closed without engine running. We've played with the pumps here in the shop and depending on where the impeller vanes land they can block water flow or let it sail through. So it's best not to chance it. This is why we recommend the open sea cock flush. Safest and easiest. Your system sounds neat unless you have a lift muffler, that could be problematic.
im actually thinking about rigging 2 flush ports on my transom q for genny and a/c and 1 for both outboards whatvare your thoughts
Flushing is a good thing on any thing that circulates saltwater. Anything you can rig up to making flushing easier is a good thing.
To avoid corruzione on ur engine you must put a fresh tank water on your boat and use it to ur cooling system to have a longer lifespan and less maintenance. That if u are innovative tech of marine engine. Some they put radiator too...
I do this when my boat is on the hard each year. Has anyone else done this, and is there any downside to this? My Yanmar 315 is 15 years old, 850 hours, and still runs like new.
Would like to install fresh water flush on the back side of the raw water pumps on my QSM11’s so I don’t need to turn on engines for flushing. I presume some sort of fitting would have to be added to the stainless steel raw water pipe running from the raw water pump up to the aftercooler. I’d like to be able to run a hose from that fitting to somewhere near the engine room door for easy connect to my freshwater cockpit hose. Have you rigged up a QSM11 like this before, and any ideas how to proceed? Thx
Shoot me an email. My email on on the website. If you are at the boat, shoot a few pics too.
@@SeaboardMarineIncVideos will do, thx. Will be on the boat later this week and will take pics in engine room. 2001 Riviera 43
Great info... For a motor sailer with water maker, almost never at a dock, Id like to flush weekly on water making day. Is it possible to calculate the gallonage needed to be effective?
Yes it is. If you know the diameter and length of your raw water hoses, plus the volume of your HX and Gear oil cooler, and after cooler if you have one. It's possible to calculate the volume of you have a limited supply of water. Although. If you're permanently at sea, a fresh flush may not do a whole lot. The whole idea is avoiding marine age while the boat is sitting.
Hey guys thanks for all the videos. I sent a pic of my sea strainer the other day to your sb marine website. Tony advised adding a T because I can't get to my Sea strainer will the T allow me to attach hose to a reservoir with some barnacle buster? I guess my question is will there be enough suction from the T? thanks again
Yeah the T will work just fine for flushing the engine, as long as you keep it to an idle. After all it is the same 3/4" inlet as the strainer cap.
Because if there's one thing EASY TO "SOURCE" AT A SALTWATER "MARINA" ITS "FRESH WATER" IN "QUANTITY".
When running my flushing system through my engines (6BTA-m3) for usually 3 to 4 minutes, is that enough to get all the salt water out through the engines and the water muffler. Because I still taste a hint of salt in the freshwater and I figured that it was just still sucking up some of raw water from the raw water intake. What is a safe balance of salt and fresh water. Great video keep up the great work.
It's really hard to quantify, The most important thing is that you do something, which you are. If you use a stop watch and measure how long your doc hose takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket, you can calculate how long you need to run it to flush the muffler out. You can overthink it and come up with a complicated system to ensure 100% fresh all the way through, but if it gets too complicated and you dread doing it, its not worth it.
Bill Epler: We aren't a big fan of plastic components in the raw water circuit. We prefer everything to be stainless or brass/bronze.
Is there a flush cap for Buck Algonquin strainers?
Not that I am aware of. But we do make custom caps, or customize old caps with flush setups. Or you can do it yourself or have a local machine shop do it. Contact us through our website if you are interested in having us do it.
can you supply too much water using a hose? I always use a container as a buffer. Thanks!
Not if you leave the seacock open. If you have that much water flow that its more than the pump can suck, I would definitely never close the seacock.
Yes, raw water pump gaskets and seals can be blow if seacock is closed.
How long do you run your engine while flushing?
That's a good question for our forum. www.Sbmar.com/community It kind of depends how long your suction lines are, your exhaust design, etc. I don't have a way to quantify it in general terms... But I would say several minutes. You can calculate the volume of all of the hoses and raw water components, and do a test to see exactly how many GPM you pump at idle, and come up with an exact number. Or you could just taste the water coming out of the tail pipe.
@@SeaboardMarineIncVideos 😂😂
I never leave my boat in the water with seacock open!
That's one way to go, and as long as you never forget to open it, it certainly won't hurt anything. If you have exceptional attention to detail, amazing memory, all that good stuff I don't have, go for it. But statistically speaking, most boaters like myself are much more likely to cause major damage by forgetting to open the seacock than the risk of leaving it open. I would never list any names here, because everyone always feels really dumb when they do it, but trust me, it happens all too often.
Do not rev your engine during this process, just let it idle.
RIP headphone wearers ROCK ON !!
I don't understand this comment. Can you explain what that means?