Fresh water flush kit for Salt Water?

[FERNANDO DACOSTA]

Tony
My boat is in salt water in south florida, I’d like to install a fresh water flush system .
1) Do you have a kit for sale, or can you prepare one for me?
2) do you have a plan or diagram to build one?

My engine is cummins 6cta 8.3 450 diamonds

My boat sea ray 400 Sedan Bridge year 2001

Fernando DaCosta.

Topic

[Rick]

FWF

Salt water is heavier than fresh water so if you open the sea cock…no,big deal. I personally leave them closed but it’s not imperative…..

[Steve]

After the fresh water flush is complete, is it imperative to leave the raw water seacock closed until the next use? I understand seawater may come up somewhat but it shouldn’t make it to anything important given the rise up to the pump, right? (QSB 5.9)

The reason I ask is I’m terrified of forgetting to re-open the seacock before the next use. I actually hang the ignition keys on the seacock to prevent me from forgetting but if I can reduce my chance of error from 99% to 100%, it would be worth it to me.

Thanks

[FERNANDO DACOSTA]

Dan wrote:

Fernando,
As others have said it’s easy to make the kit, I used this stainless steel manifold that is plumbed to the genset, both motors, air con and salt water wash down pumps.
The garden hose attaches to an on deck fitting and all the connections to the groco intakes are as described above.
Not a lot of money spent for a huge benefit, last week I changed an impeller in my genset, I had to take off the end cap of the heat exchanger to chase down all the broken impeller pieces, the inside of the heat exchanger was perfect, no corrosion or scale.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HOME-FLEX-1-in-x-1-in-x-3-4-in-CSST-Stainless-Steel-FIPT-Manifold-11-100704/204767413?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7CG%7C0%7CG-BASE-PLA-D26P-Plumbing%7C&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlqOVwKeE1QIVgiWBCh1eeg3EEAQYAiABEgIGU_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Wow, that is a great idea, I will think about it.

[FERNANDO DACOSTA]

Thank you so much for all the replies. Very helpfull

happy boating.

[Joe Monaco]

Great questions as I have the same flattening issue at idle and wonder I too wonder if city water pressure should be dropped to 20 psi with a regulator or not.

[firehoser75]

Flushing with Pressurized Dock Water?

My boat (new to me last fall) came with fresh water spiggots on the top covers of the Groco sea water strainers and the previous owner used them regularly to flush the Cummins 6BTA M3 main and the Onan Gen Set. However, I am worried about this. Could there be a problem pushing pressurized dock water (pressure anywhere from 50 to 60 psi) into the running engine? Also for the 6BTA, the 5/8 inch hose is “flattened” somewhat by the demand for cooling water even at idle. If I read the specs correctly, even at idle there is normally a flow of 10 gpm. The “garden hose’ cannot provide this flow.
Sorry to ask this on this older post, but I would like to here whether or not my concerns have any validity or whether I should continue to use this method of flushing.
Thanks,
Tom

1 user thanked author for this post.

FERNANDO DACOSTA

[David Hays]

This may be an option for someone who doesn’t want to do a roll-your-own fresh water flush system.

http://www.quickflushvalve.com/diesel-engines.html

[Rick]

FRESH WATER FLUSH

I know of no one that makes these kits and sells them. You need to go to your local marina and see if they can make them for you. Sorry but……

[Dan]

Fernando,
As others have said it’s easy to make the kit, I used this stainless steel manifold that is plumbed to the genset, both motors, air con and salt water wash down pumps.
The garden hose attaches to an on deck fitting and all the connections to the groco intakes are as described above.
Not a lot of money spent for a huge benefit, last week I changed an impeller in my genset, I had to take off the end cap of the heat exchanger to chase down all the broken impeller pieces, the inside of the heat exchanger was perfect, no corrosion or scale.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HOME-FLEX-1-in-x-1-in-x-3-4-in-CSST-Stainless-Steel-FIPT-Manifold-11-100704/204767413?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7CG%7C0%7CG-BASE-PLA-D26P-Plumbing%7C&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlqOVwKeE1QIVgiWBCh1eeg3EEAQYAiABEgIGU_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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FERNANDO DACOSTA

[David B. Foynes]

Very simple to make.

Just as another member said you can get everything you need st your local plumbing supply. I attached a top quality ball valve to the groco water strainer on the lid. I put a quick connect hose connection on the top of the gall valve and done. I leave it on the strainer and once a week I flush the engine with fresh water and salt away. I have a 6BTA 5.9

1 user thanked author for this post.

FERNANDO DACOSTA

[FERNANDO DACOSTA]

Does Groco or anyone sells those parts ready, it will be a great idea to have it ready for sale
i will buy 2 of those to fresh water flush my engines
let me know
Thank you
Fernando DaCosta.
Sea ray 400 Sedan Bridge year 2001 with Cummins 450 hp

[Rick]

FW FLUSH

Your strainers are Groco units. The attached picture shows the easiest way to accomplish this. The bronze lids are tapped to allow for a MARINE GRADE ball valve and a 5/8″ hose adaptor to be installed, done by qualified tool and die shop. One each for mains and one for the gen set. I also have one I use to acid flush the A/C units using Barnicle Buster. Each engine is flushed with dock side water at IDLE for 10-15 minutes each. You are making the right choice!!

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FERNANDO DACOSTA

[Corey Schmidt]

Fernando, no two boats are the same, just as no two freshwater flush kits are the same. Every approach to fresh water flushing has to accommodate many factors such as ease of use, space requirements, dockside provisions, etc. etc.

Can you post a few pictures of how your raw water intakes are setup on your boat?

Do you have relatively good hose pressure at the dock?

Let’s see some pics and go from there…

[Author]

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