Moving to Brackish Water need tips!

[KyleP]

Hey guys! I am moving near the Pamlico Sound in NC and it will be the first time my boat has touched saltwater (Brackish water but salt non the less). Any advice on how to properly maintain/clean after each outing? Any special care instructions if i decide to ride out to the coast?

My boat is a 2017 AR195

 

[Neutron]

Where about near the sound?

 

[KyleP]

I'll be living in Greenville NC. Probably putting in Washington or Chocowinity mostly.

 

[Bennie]

Hey guys! I am moving near the Pamlico Sound in NC and it will be the first time my boat has touched saltwater (Brackish water but salt non the less). Any advice on how to properly maintain/clean after each outing? Any special care instructions if i decide to ride out to the coast?

My boat is a 2017 AR195

We live near Alabama's coast and our boat has only seen salt water. Our vessel still looks and runs beautifully and I believe its due to our maintenance.

After EVERY use we flush the engines. (Sometimes with a soap or Salt-away, but usually just with clean fresh tap water). We also rinse and wipe away the salt spray and use Coronal Brassy for all the metal work to keep it shining like new)

Best deal though would be to use the USER MAP on the top left of any forum page and find local guys to help lead you through the transition. Happy boating!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

ZINC ZINC AND MORE ZINC, coat everything with white lithium grease , engines pumps hose clamps wire connectors etc. flush engines really good I use car wash soap with liquid wax to coat the inside of the water passages and rinse the pumps off inside and outside

 

[KyleP]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Neutron]

If you put in at Washington or anywhere up river from there you wont have as much worries because thats fresh water there. If you go to the sound a lot, yes you have the salt to clean off but the engine will have a good flushing by the time you get back to the ramp

 

[Gym]

@KyleP do you plan on leaving your boat in the water for days at a time or over a weekend? If so you may want to install a tow (bypass) valve. That allows you to flush your engine with fresh water while sitting in salt water. There are other benefits to this valve if you need to be towed.

 

[KyleP]

I don't plan on leaving it in the water overnight. I'll look that up though I've never heard of it.

 

[bronze_10]

@KyleP. Me and a buddy of mine ran jet skis fron greenville down to washington... it was a beautiful run... only abouy 45 min. But i dont think i will be putting my jet boat in there.. too much trash up next to Greenville. And its that good old easter nc black water too....

 

[swatski]

@KyleP do you plan on leaving your boat in the water for days at a time or over a weekend? If so you may want to install a tow (bypass) valve. That allows you to flush your engine with fresh water while sitting in salt water. There are other benefits to this valve if you need to be towed.

@Gym The more I think about it, anyone flushing engines - even on dry land - may benefit from this mod (the tow valves). Without those valves (or some other way of enclosing the cooling intake hose before it hits the "T") most of the water pumped in to the flush ports just runs straight out the pump, doesn't it?

Am I seeing it wrong?

I like to flush my engines with Salt-Away once in a while even though I'm not in salt, or brackish, water but now I'm concerned that (without those tow valves) my flushing is not really very effective. If I'm losing most of the water which drains back through the pump intake - that would not be a very good flush of the engine block passages, would it?

I must be missing something.

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[Gym]

@Gym The more I think about it, anyone flushing engines - even on dry land - may benefit from this mod (the tow valves). Without those valves (or some other way of enclosing the cooling intake hose before it hits the "T") most of the water pumped in to the flush ports just runs straight out the pump, doesn't it?

Am I seeing it wrong?

I like to flush my engines with Salt-Away once in a while even though I'm not in salt, or brackish, water but now I'm concerned that (without those tow valves) my flushing is not really very effective. If I'm losing most of the water which drains back through the pump intake - that would not be a very good flush of the engine block passages, would it?

I must be missing something.

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You are 100% correct @swatski. More of the flush goes where it's needed rather than all over the ground. You can easily prove the concept by clamping the lines before flushing. You will notice the reduction of flow to the groind and an increased flow out the pissers. When you are done flushing and open the valves or remove the clamps you'll notice another couple of quarts of water will drain out proving your theory.

 

[swatski]

You are 100% correct @swatski. More of the flush goes where it's needed rather than all over the ground. You can easily prove the concept by clamping the lines before flushing. You will notice the reduction of flow to the groind and an increased flow out the pissers. When you are done flushing and open the valves or remove the clamps you'll notice another couple of quarts of water will drain out proving your theory.

Holy cow. Well, that's kind of unbelievable, actually...

Okay, it's early (just drinking my coffee) so forgive me if I'm totally off.
But - you would basically want the flushing water/solution to go all the way and out the exhaust opening (in the transom, next to the pumps), not back through the pump intake (which is inside in the stator segment of the pump, between the wear ring an the venturi nozzle), correct?

If that is the case, flushing with no valves is a very poor efficiency procedure as I can tell you most of the foaming (from Salt Away detergent) is at the pump, not the exhaust holes...

Again, I could be off - and I really do not want to confuse anyone about this super important procedure. So, someone better tell me, I won't be offended here! - and I need to actually look into that myself.
This just seems like something that's kind of important.

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[Neutron]

On older seadoo skis and boats if you didnt pinch off intake hose it wouldn't even make it to the engine, it would just run to the pump

 

[Neutron]

Biggest problem is that if you forget to unpinch or open valve, your gonna have a bad day real soon in the water

 

[Gym]

Holy cow. Well, that's kind of unbelievable, actually...

Okay, it's early (just drinking my coffee) so forgive me if I'm totally off.
But - you would basically want the flushing water/solution to go all the way and out the exhaust opening (in the transom, next to the pumps), not back through the pump intake (which is inside in the stator segment of the pump, between the wear ring an the venturi nozzle), correct?

If that is the case, flushing with no valves is a very poor efficiency procedure as I can tell you most of the foaming (from Salt Away detergent) is at the pump, not the exhaust holes...

Again, I could be off - and I really do not want to confuse anyone about this super important procedure. So, someone better tell me, I won't be offended here! - and I need to actually look into that myself.
This just seems like something that's kind of important.

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I'm not sure of the exact route the water takes when the valves are closed. I only know that there is more water at higher pressure coming out of the pissers and less water going directly to the ground. I also see more suds coming out indicating the salt away is reacting with more salt inside the engine. For me the other big advantage, over the years, has been the ability to flush at the dock while sitting in salt water. The last two years I've been on a lift which is the same as flushing on a trailer. I use the valves on every flush regardless.

To answer the other concern about forgetting to open the valves. I leave an 18 inch piece of red gimp (plastic string) hanging out of my wet locker where the clean out plugs are located. (I installed my valves under the clean out tray). This is similar to aircraft that have a red boot with a long red tail hanging from the pitot tube as a reminder to remove it before flight. It always reminds me to install the plugs and check that the tow valves are open. If I were to forget that it would only be seconds before I realized I wasn't moving without the plugs installed, long before an overheat could occur.

 

[buckbuck]

I typically clamp my hoses to force the water to the exhaust and engine but is there any need to be concerned about providing water back through the intake to cool the impeller bearings?

 

[swatski]

I typically clamp my hoses to force the water to the exhaust and engine but is there any need to be concerned about providing water back through the intake to cool the impeller bearings?

That is a good question. You certainly know more than I do about that cooling system! But I would think that the pump bearings would be fine during a 5min-something run, mostly idle.

I don't have a good picture of this, but here is one - the exhaust outlet is very close to the stator ring and would be spraying water right on top of it. That water is never hot unless the boat runs WOT for a while, so I would think this would take care of any potential issues.



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[swatski]

I'm going to test this over the weekend, I simply want to see how much stronger would the pissers shoot with the intake hose clamped down. I think it may be a big difference..! Thanks, @Gym for bringing this up.

That is likely not a critical issue for general maintenance, but if a more thorough flush is warranted (especially under low water pressure conditions -garden hose etc.) - I would think clamping the intakes while flushing would be most advisable. It is often asked here - if it's okay to not see the water coming out of the pissers.

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[Gym]

You fresh water guys could flush with Lime Away rather than Salt Away to remove mineral deposits.