rinsing the gear change on a DP-E

[simonfraser]

i wash my boat and leg down after being used with the yards hose
can't easily get to the gear change
so have been thinking of drilling a flush hole into the side of the cover, after all it is not water tight anyway
can you think of a good reason not to do so ?

 

[BruceK]

Unless you boat in very silty environments I cant think why you would want to. I'd sooner seal it with silicon than go about drilling large holes in it.

 

[Scubadoo]

There are two open holes in the top of the cover, usually filled with a plastic blanking plug, I hear that some get lost after a service and not replaced and people carrying on without the plugs. So you could remove them and poke the hose there and just leave the plugs out.

 

[simonfraser]

no holes in mine
seal it up is a possiblity, would want to keep the salt out

 

[Scubadoo]

Are you sure, the two holes enable access to bolts, if you look carefully you will see it is a blanking plug, take cover off to take a closer look.

I think you will be wasting your time trying to seal the cover, it will never be water tight. Once year during service I just remove the cover and rinse it and apply a coat of grease over the moving parts, as my boat sits in the water I do get a build up of silt and last year a few mussels, never caused any problems though.

 

[madabouttheboat]

Mine fills up with mud. Doesn't seem to cause any problems.

 

[BruceK]

I think you will be wasting your time trying to seal the cover, it will never be water tight.

Agreed but being water tight is not the point. It's to slow the passage of water through so as not to pick up any more silt once filled with water. In so saying it was a bit of a throwaway comment.

 

[simonfraser]

It’s the salt water behind the main first cover that I’d want to rinse away

 

[BruceK]

I wouldn't worry, the covers are surprisingly cheap and last a very long time