One of the posts on the C34 Forum describes the installation of a "Y" valve at the raw water intake to enable the raw water circuit to be flushed with freshwater when the boat is idle from week to week or during lay up.
This seems to be a great idea as recognised in the attached post and may extend HE and anode life etc by reducing electrolysis.
Has anyone done this for the C36 and if so any suggested fittings - perhaps a photo.
[url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5463.msg33946.html#msg33946[/url]
—
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
I've added a freshwater flush on my boat. I had a similar set up on my Catalina 30 too. It's very easy to install. I hope to head up to the boat this weekend. I'll take a couple of pictures.
Mark Swenson
Everett, WA
Hull #1016, unnamed
If I can figure out how to add photos, here are a couple I took this weekend.
The left side of the "T" goes to the raw water intake. The right side to the heat exchanger. The bottom of the "T" snakes around to the port lazerette. I put the free end of the hose in a bucket of water and keep filling the bucket while the engine is flushing. Close the raw water, open the fresh water and flush for a few minutes.
Mark Swenson
Everett, WA
Hull #1016, unnamed
I've been using a fresh water flush aboard Lanida ever since I bought her new. It was the first upgrade I made.
The benefits are many and it's an easy upgrade.
I have a Y valve inline between the strainer and engine. Pretty simple.
Lance
S/V "Lanida"
Hull # 1900
East Passage Yachting Ctr
Slip 521
Portsmouth, RI
Thanks a great help - I'll get some fittings and have a go at it.
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
It's easy to do the upgrade Peter. I used a Bosworth Sea-Lect Y valve. It's small, light and works very well in line. The raw water intake line is reinforced so keep that it mind when cutting through it. I think I used a small hacksaw.
Fresh water flushing helps fight corrosion in your heat exchanger and the raw water pump and impellor. The zinc in my heat exchanger needs to be changed alot less than if I had saltwater sitting in there. My raw water pump is 11 years old and it looks great! I change my impellor every three years and it always looks and feels like new. You'll be glad you did it.
Lance
S/V "Lanida"
Hull # 1900
East Passage Yachting Ctr
Slip 521
Portsmouth, RI
Just some words of caution. Please do not connect pressurized water (garden hose) to the RW intake. You run a HUGE risk of hydrolocking your engine.
For most this goes without saying but the in/out bucket, as shown in the photo above, is the proper and safe procedure.
One other caution is that raw water pumps are NOT always a positive stop of water flow hence the need for siphon breaks. If your in/out bucket is higher than the top of the siphon break the simple act of shutting down the motor with the hose still in the bucket could still fill your engine with water via a siphon.
Watched this happen two years ago when the bucket was placed on the cockpit seat and the motor shut off. It is good practice to pull the hose out of the bucket just as you pull the stop lever.
P.S. Don't know what happened to my old profile but I had to re-register and now show only 1 post. Been here a while (perhaps ten years) but mostly lurking..
-Maine Sail
https://www.marinehowto.com/
Can a longer hose be attached that reaches the galley sink and will it pull water from there?
Enrique
Talisman 98 mk2 36. Hull #1673
Enrique
Talisman
1998 36 MK2 Hull #1673
Tall Rig Wing Keel
M35BC engine
Old Saybrook, CT Summer
South Glastonbury, CT Winter
Enrique, you would want to fill a bucket with fresh water from your galley source. Or possibly add a fitting to one of your tanks and draw directly from it. If you connect pressurized water to your engine you can hydrolock the intake pump and overheat and damage the engine.
Nick Tonkin
*Former* Website Administrator, C36/375IA
*Former* owner, C36 tr/fk #255, Santa Barbara, CA
We've been doing this fresh water flush when we leave Wind Star for months. One further advantage is if you set up with valves like the other guys describe, you can have a length of hose for sucking the water out of the bucket. This will also be a great emergency bilge pump if the hose can go down into the bilge when not being used for winterizing.
We also have a cable tie to prevent the accidental opening of the bypass valve - the engine would suck air if it is opened.
Another advantage is it helps avoid the 'disused boat' smell if there is fresh water in the exhaust system (AND the head) Our boat smells MUCH better now when we return to her!
S.V. Wind Star
Rob & Margie Kyles: Auckland ,New Zealand
Mk I Hull #105 1983 Std Rig, Std Keel
This is a super-old thread, but interesing for me to comment on.
I actually now own a boat in the above thread that had the fresh-water y-valve installed. I keep the boat (now called Chinook) on a mooring, so have almost no opportunity to flush the engine with fresh water as the previous owner did. Personally, I don't find it's a huge benefit in that regard. Just keep an eye on your heat exchanger zinc, and you're unlikely to have any major issues.
That said, the one situation I do find it useful for is winterizing the boat, here in New England. It's great to just be able to pop a length of hose into a bottle of antifreeze and have it run right through the engine, even when she's already on the hard. Makes this chore a snap!
Same argument for a y-valve in the intake for the head for winterizing (for those of you like me that have to do so on a regular basis).
-J
Josh McElwee
Sailing from East Greenwich, RI
2000 C36 MKII, M35B, "Chinook", Hull#1900