Deck washdown Mod no more standing water!!

[Billy Marlin]

So the check valves to keep water out are nice but they drain soo slow for cleanup. Took a part of my garden hose and cut it down so I can open up the valve during wash down. Tried it out today and man it works wonders for speeding up washdown. No longer waiting for the boat to drain before spraying the deck down.

Of course I don't have the size will try to measure it this week.
Regular hose


Pushed into the drain to open the check valve during clean up


Drains 3 times as fast now!!

 

[Julian]

So you just pushed the hose all the way down the drain line til it comes out the other end and pushes the flapper open?

 

[Billy Marlin]

It will not seem to go past the check valve but it opens the valve enough that water flows freely.

 

[Scott Harden]

Great idea. I was frustrated by the same problem. Time to chop a hose.

 

[JDinfla]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Billy Marlin]

We are fishing the gulf everyday right now and this has been huge help in my daily wash downs.

 

[Billy Marlin]

Been catching plenty of bait but nothing worth keeping off shore. 1 sting ray on off a pilcher, lost crankbait trolling to a toothy critter, and another toothy critter bit off a live blue runner free swimming under a ballon. Inshore got 2 small reds and a triple tail off some floating grass.

 

[jetfisher]

So a self bailing cockpit doesnt bail very quickly. Interesting and good to know.

 

[Billy Marlin]

Actually going to make one for the other side so it will flush out even better once I get up on plane. MY boat stays in the water so keeping it clean has been pretty tough and getting a good wash down is tough since this boat needs to sit on a incline or flat land to be able to drain the deck well.

 

[highanddryinco]

Or have Mrs. Marlin stand on the swim platform while deck washing. Mrs. HighandDry about killed me the first time I asked her to do that.
I probably shouldn't have used the word "ballast" when I asked.

 

[Billy Marlin]

Unfortunately with the stream of the jet wash someone has to be in the front dribbling the water on instead of spraying from the back. Going to look at purchasing one of those little big shot nozzles to see if I can get a more direct spray without having to up the pressure.

 

[Julian]

You should make my squirt gun mod....then you'd have some water pressure! LOL I don't think I showed the new buyer how to use that @Opresso .....

 

[190 fsh]

So the check valves to keep water out are nice but they drain soo slow for cleanup. Took a part of my garden hose and cut it down so I can open up the valve during wash down. Tried it out today and man it works wonders for speeding up washdown. No longer waiting for the boat to drain before spraying the deck down.

Of course I don't have the size will try to measure it this week.
Regular hose


Pushed into the drain to open the check valve during clean up


Drains 3 times as fast now!!

I did away with the check valves

 

[highanddryinco]

To each his own but...They're there for a reason.

 

[Brian Filas]

Old post but did some work this weekend on mine. Thought I would update this thread. Long story short, I pulled my deck drains off and completely re-sealed them using Butyl tape instead of 4200. The place where it is mounted isnt flat so the back of the nut isn't seated flush, so it never seals from the underside (water will drip from deck into compartment). Also used the Butyl tape to seal the drain fitting against the hull. Same thing, the factory didn't take a ton of time tighing up the tolerances so the gap between the fitting and the hole are pretty big. Just fill it in with the Butyl and tighten the nut. Before I did this all of the fittings were really loose and leaking. I also had a ton of extra hose, which essentially meant the water had to flow uphill before draining. I shortened the hoses to get a better (straighter) flow.

Then, you need to make sure your one way valves are oriented properly. If not, they wont drain. Putting the hose in is one fix (it just forces the flapper open). I just made sure my valves were all oriented properly (arrow should say Top and point to where you want the water to drain). The person who mentioned that even the hose got stuck might have had them installed upside down by factory as one of mine was (hose would be hitting the flapper where it was attached versus the loose end).

I will mention that taking off the two deck drains was a pain in the ass. The pipe is not flexible at all and the fittings are on tight. Also sliced up my hands and knuckles a few times (even paused for a minute and said "what the hell is all this red stuff", until I realized I sliced my hand on the clamps. Here is a quick video on making sure you valve is properly oriented.

 

[Ehren]

@Brian Filas , did you happen to take note how long the drain hoses were after you shortened them to get a better (straighter) flow?

 

[Brian Filas]

@Ehren - no, i just did a rough measurement by sight and then cut off the difference. On my port side deck drain it was almost 2-3 inches of extra hose. Again, all that extra slack in the line essentially made a hill that the water had to climb. I also made sure the hull side fitting was angled properly to give it the straightest flow possible.

 

[Billy Marlin]

After removing one it was such a pain just went with the hose. I have yet to be in a situation where water has come back in through the check valves but I guess if you got in a really bad situation they would be nice to still have. That being said I too have thought about removing them but the hose trick fixes the issue 90% of the time and I still have the check valves in place.

Just got my boat out this past weekend to clean it up might try and tackle this issue again. Started working on replacing my anchor plug drain will see how that keeps the water out of the changing room.

 

[jetfisher]

That may explain why one side drains better than the other. I'm going to have to check it out. thanks for posting

 

[Brian Filas]

The valves are loose enough that you can just grab them tight and spin them in the right direction (if you dont want to disassemble the whole thing).