Another Clean-Out Plug Thread

[DaveShip55]

The clean out plugs and the well they sit in needs to be clean for them to seal adequately. Hard water deposits, grime etc will prevent them from sealling.

If you look at the design of them, at least the twist lock ones I have, the rubber seal is what I call a skirt seal, the lip seats into the bottom of the well, this area also needs to be clean, and the skirt uses water pressure from below to billow out and seal against the sides of the tube. When you lock the plugs into place, this causes the skirt to billow out just a bit to make contact with the walls of the tube, and the water pressure increases the sealing force.

So if the rubber is dirty and the side walls are dirty the seal will not be able to gain good purchase on the walls and seal up. I use a rag with de natured alcohol on it, and with light to moderate pressure I clean the walls of the tube in the area where the seal contacts it. I used a flat blade screw driver with a rag wrapped around it to get into the groove at the bottom where the lip of the skirt seats. I suppose if you have some stubborn build up you could use a blue scotch brite pad with light pressure to remove the scale. Same thing with the rubber seal, it needs to be clean and in good shape to seal properly.

I believe that unless things are just perfect there will always be water in the clean out tubes.

The other thing that can happen when you slow down and the wave sweeps up over the back, is that water will come up the drain since its under pressure. Several folks have put an inline check valve in this drain to prevent this geyser effect.

So having everything clean and lubed up with either wax or pool lube will give the best seal possible.

Oh yeah, the little gap down at the bottom is spotless….(the gap the rubber skirt fits into). As well as the rubber skirts are in perfect condition. It’s actually leaked since the day I bought it. Maybe I just have a bad rubber skirts?…. I do notice that one leaks more than the other. But it definitely leaks quite a bit, enough to get 3-5 gallons in the bilge in 5 minutes.

 

[anmut]

The clean out plugs and the well they sit in needs to be clean for them to seal adequately. Hard water deposits, grime etc will prevent them from sealling.

If you look at the design of them, at least the twist lock ones I have, the rubber seal is what I call a skirt seal, the lip seats into the bottom of the well, this area also needs to be clean, and the skirt uses water pressure from below to billow out and seal against the sides of the tube. When you lock the plugs into place, this causes the skirt to billow out just a bit to make contact with the walls of the tube, and the water pressure increases the sealing force.

So if the rubber is dirty and the side walls are dirty the seal will not be able to gain good purchase on the walls and seal up. I use a rag with de natured alcohol on it, and with light to moderate pressure I clean the walls of the tube in the area where the seal contacts it. I used a flat blade screw driver with a rag wrapped around it to get into the groove at the bottom where the lip of the skirt seats. I suppose if you have some stubborn build up you could use a blue scotch brite pad with light pressure to remove the scale. Same thing with the rubber seal, it needs to be clean and in good shape to seal properly.

I believe that unless things are just perfect there will always be water in the clean out tubes.

The other thing that can happen when you slow down and the wave sweeps up over the back, is that water will come up the drain since its under pressure. Several folks have put an inline check valve in this drain to prevent this geyser effect.

So having everything clean and lubed up with either wax or pool lube will give the best seal possible.

Great take on the functionality of the plugs. Makes me wonder if someone could come up with an additional rubber o-ring that would fit just above the skirt to create more of a seal...

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Great take on the functionality of the plugs. Makes me wonder if someone could come up with an additional rubber o-ring that would fit just above the skirt to create more of a seal...

Yeah…. Last year I was trying to think of a way to snug up the seal, it seemed to me that the plugs were stiffer to install when the boat was new, I bought rebuild kits a year or so earlier and that made no difference and the new seals looked just like the oem seals.

After going down that rabbit hole I realized how the seal worked, compression and pressure from underneath. I tried the toilet wax ring trick, it worked great the first time I installed the plugs with that wax on them and I packed some wax into the groove at the bottom, the tubes were dry after using it that way. But once I removed them and put them back in they were full of water after using the boat, and that wax made a huge mess.

So now I’ve been using some of @drewkaree bees wax stuff on the seal itself, it doesn’t melt as easy and makes way less mess.

I did order some of the pool pump lubricant and am going to give that a try.

 

[tdonoughue]

I have the old style ports, but use the pool seal lube on them 1-2x year. Have had no issues... FWIW.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Oh yeah, the little gap down at the bottom is spotless….(the gap the rubber skirt fits into). As well as the rubber skirts are in perfect condition. It’s actually leaked since the day I bought it. Maybe I just have a bad rubber skirts?…. I do notice that one leaks more than the other. But it definitely leaks quite a bit, enough to get 3-5 gallons in the bilge in 5 minutes.

That seems excessive…. You could get a set of rebuild kits to make sure you’re starting from a good base.

The water getting into your bilge was coming in through the clean out tray, but it appears from your previous post you’ve corrected that.

I don’t use any sealant on the round extensions of the clean out tray where tubes attach, I do use some silicone grease to help them slide into the tubes, and don’t over tighten the hose clamps.

In regards to the clean out plugs, make sure the metal side walls are clean and use some lubricant on the skirts such as the pool lube, toilet wax ring or bees wax.

 

[drewkaree]

Great take on the functionality of the plugs. Makes me wonder if someone could come up with an additional rubber o-ring that would fit just above the skirt to create more of a seal...

Off the top of my head, the first thing that came to mind is a piston and piston rings. The difference in this use case would be that the piston ring would have to be a pliable material, and the center section would need a handle to allow insertion and removal, essentially a duplicate of the top half of the version of the screw-in plugs, just to limit water beyond that point. You'd be accepting water up to the DIY "cork", but if the idea worked, you'd stop water intrusion from that angle.

I know for certain that it's possible to 3D print the "piston" handle portion of it, but the flexible sealing portion would require some investigation and thought. TPU could be 3D printed, but the issue is that the cleanout tray takes up enough room that you'd not be able to get the TPU to be wide enough to fit in the lower portion of the tube, the rubber sleeve section. A blade, of sorts, would work, but the shape is working against being able to get a closed circle.

If we came up with an idea, as the forum did with the clamshell cover solution, it appears Yamaha would farm it out to Chinese suppliers for a substandard design that achieves 3/4 of the solution, while allowing 100% of the issue to continue

 

[drewkaree]

I did order some of the pool pump lubricant and am going to give that a try.

Save your dough and send that back when you get it, or cancel your order. I'll send you the rest of mine for testing purposes, I won't be using it