Outboard flushing bag

salinia

salinia

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My boat is a Parker 235 it has a 6HP Outboard Motor. It is recommended that it is flushed with fresh water after use, I must admit in the past it has never really been practical to do so on the mooring. I thought about a builders rubble bag and imagined 5 litres of water and the leg of the outboard in the bag start up and flush (not putting into gear off course) has any one tried this and had success? I googled the idea and found this:
qmpic1.jpg

http://www.burgees.com/flushingbag/default.htm
 
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Worth a try.

Will 5 litres be enough water in a rubble bag to ensure that the water pump is submerged. I suspect not

Don't run it as suggested in gear with the prop on. There is nothing to be gained over running it neutral and the turbulence caused in the bag by a turning prop will probably result in a poor water flow through the engine.

FWIW I flush my 6hp outboard at the end of the season only, when it comes home.
Been doing that since 1985. Lack of flushing has not yet caused any problems. But it is an genuine Evinrude, and not a rebadged Suzhatsumaha.
 
flushing

Simple solution, use your wheelie bin.
robust and stable when filled with water and as a bonus the top edge is just the right thickness for most outboard bracket screws.
2/3 fill with water and arrange for hose to supply sufficient water to replace that lost from splashing.
Take care to ensure hose does not foul on the prop if it rotates ( or just remove the prop for less splashing.
If your one of those people who take pride in the cleanliness of their wheelie bin this might not be for you as you usually get some oily / exhaust marks.
Empty bin by syphoning out or use bucket. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TIP OVER.
 
Simple solution, use your wheelie bin.
Click to expand...

I am assuming the OP is looking at a way of flushing the engine while still on the boat and afloat. He does in fact say on the mooring. He probably does not want to take his wheelie bin sailing, or enough water to fill it.

There are other problems when using a wheelie bin as you can see below

DSCF0419.jpg
 
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Garden shreddder as well :)

I knew those two old seagulls that nobody wants to knick could be used for something else?

Any tips for sharpening the prop and is a 4 blade better than a three or two?
 
outboard flushing

Have used two methods for insitu flushing on the mooring:
On a new Mercury 5hp - added a permanent valved connection point using the optional connector for a hose conection into 20L worth of fresh taken aboard every other trip.See attached.
On a Honda 5hp - on the lines of the bag idea used an old tall plastic kitchen bin with a rope handle (otherwise used lined as my workshop waste bin) - quite a good shape and worked well - out of gear only !!
We've relaxed a bit now,but makes you feel good when you do it.
 
bluerm166 said:
Have used two methods for insitu flushing on the mooring:
On a new Mercury 5hp - added a permanent valved connection point using the optional connector for a hose conection into 20L worth of fresh taken aboard every other trip.See attached.
On a Honda 5hp - on the lines of the bag idea used an old tall plastic kitchen bin with a rope handle (otherwise used lined as my workshop waste bin) - quite a good shape and worked well - out of gear only !!
We've relaxed a bit now,but makes you feel good when you do it.
Click to expand...

Did think about connecting hose from water container held above engine in situ but does not the water come via the impellor up the leg to the engine? if the holes at the bottom of the leg were covered this would burn the impellor out would'nt it? or am I missing something? I will next post a pic of 5HP Mariner that lasted 3 years without flushing with fresh water...back in a minute.
 
My 2.5hp Mariner had got to the stage where little or no water was coming out from the wee rubber indicator tube. Flushing in the wheelie bin made no impression on it. Eventually took off the head, and found that all the water chambers were full of a hard salty deposit. I then took off the leg from the powerhead, and found the same. I scraped it all out, and rebuilt it with new gaskets. Now OK.

I have resolved to run the engine in the wheeliebin at the end of each cruise, but like the OP, am struggling to find a way of doing this when aboard.
I use the outboard to get out to the boat on its mooring, and often don't use it again for 3 or 4 weeks, when we are coming home. I just hope that any salt encrustation will still be soft enough to wash away.

This engine is 1991, and I have no idea how it was treated for the first 15 years of its life.
 
On a new Mercury 5hp - added a permanent valved connection point using the optional connector for a hose conection into 20L worth of fresh taken aboard every other trip.See attached
Click to expand...

Thats fine with an engine that has a flushing connection. No all do.
 
outboard flushing

On the Mercury the standard connection tapping for flushing hose connector is underneath the engine part.The water comes out the tell tale point in the normal way as well as back thro the impellor.Presumably it's designed to flush in this way.Did think about hoisting a container on the mizzen,it's otherwise going to be heavy over the period of drain thro,which would be very slow.A hand pump means that you can put the water in a bucket on the cockpit floor and use a modest pressure.There's an assumption that you'll be washing out on the hard it seems,as the last thing you want to be doing is removing the plug and screwing in the hose connector ( about £20 I think) while hanging over the water - hence the idea of a permanent valve and thread.
On the Honda the flushing point is on the lower leg requiring muffs.
Its a balance between weight of engine / delicacy of tender/ease of landing/availability of hosepoint etc.Obviously the hose is giving a better flush.
Perhaps as a birthday treat.
The tall kitchen bin seems quite workable.It just means that occasionally we take a second water container aboard plus the light bin.
 
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On the Mercury the standard connection tapping for flushing hose connector is underneath the engine part.The water comes out the tell tale point in the normal way as well as back thro the impellor

On the Honda the flushing point is on the lower leg requiring muffs.
Click to expand...

But presumably you are running the engine while doing this. If not you are proabably not flushing the cooling circuit in the block and head at all.

If there a thermostat you will need to run it for long enough for that to open to flush the system completely
 
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VicS perhaps 5 litres may or may not be enough water in the bag, perhaps it is worth a try. I wonder if there is anything that one could add to the bag that would help to desalinate the corrosive element of the sea water.
Blueerm166 you seem to have cracked it, but I can't yet understand how the top flush would prevent seawater coming up the leg if the engine is running? When I get the outboard home I always flush with fresh water in a tub. On board is where the problem is. I suspect that most people with outboards of 6HP or more that are kept on board never get flushed until they take them home at the end of the season. Another advantage of flushing with a bag would be to let the tell tail let the flushed sea water over the side and allow the outboard leg to reside in fresh water until next needed. BTW will be moving from the mooring to the marina so hopefully fresh water will be a plenty.
 
i use an adapted 25 litre drum for my mercury 5 hp at home whilst on the engine stand.i suppose you could adapt one with some rope to secure to the rail or engine mount to support it.covers the pick ups and its free.a drain tap may be rigged too as 20 + litres of water is going to weigh more than the engine to empty.
 
outboard flushing

There must something about the small Mercury engines that allows the water to circulate when the motor is cold.Here's an extract from the Mercury maintenance manual.
In terms of weight to lug about, two separate 10L containers are easier to get on/off board than a 27kg.engine with sticky out bits that needs to be laid in the right attitude.
Our Honda is currently enjoying some annual TLC in the workshop and will shortly revel in a nice long run in the dustbin - we don't have the luxury of wheeliebins.
 
There must something about the small Mercury engines that allows the water to circulate when the motor is cold.
Click to expand...
Small outboards often do not have thermostats, but it varies
The 3.5hp 2 stroke Mercury, for example, does not, the 4 stroke on the other hand does.

I'd expect a 6hp to have thermostat
 
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