I have had my Cal31 on the hard on 7 jackstands for over a year ( 3 each side and v-stand under bow). The keel is well blocked on a wide 6 x 6 lumber base resting on firm soil. I have a Universal 16. I would like to run the engine - after recently completing a fuel system cleaning, repairs to the heat exchanger and other maintenance items - to test my work and move the lube around. I have some fear that the engine vibration may cause my boat to tip over on one side or the other, resulting in disaster. Probably unfounded, but does anyone have experience in doing this that you might give some advice or comfort?
Engine test on the hard
- Thread starter robin20024
- Start date
- Status
I run my engine every spring on the hard before we launch. I fill a five gallon bucket with water and drop the cooling water intake hose in and start the engine. I keep my water bucket full and shut down after about 5 minutes. If the jack stands are chained together from side to side they won't move. Grab each one by hand and try to shake it, if it moves then it needs to be tightened.
Ross is a brave man
. Instead of shaking the stand, try tightening it first. Snugging it by hand should be about the correct setting. If you are overly concerned, ask your boatyard manager. He should be more than willing to add a few stands if he feels it is necessary. They should be snugging them throughout the year anyway.
. Instead of shaking the stand, try tightening it first. Snugging it by hand should be about the correct setting. If you are overly concerned, ask your boatyard manager. He should be more than willing to add a few stands if he feels it is necessary. They should be snugging them throughout the year anyway.
Aw Tim, I am brave but I ain't stupid. Shaking a boatstand ain't like shaking a can of paint. Just check to see if it wiggles. Usually just the pad is all I touch for a check. ;DRoss is a brave man
Running on the hard
When I had a Catalina 27 with a Universal diesel, I had to run the engine on the hard in order to winterize it (the boat was hauled by the marina immediately after a storm here). I did pretty much what Ross did: fill a bucket with fresh water, run the intake hose from the water strainer into the bucket, and hit start. I kept a water hose running into the bucket to keep it full as I wanted to get the engine warm enough to change the oil. The boat had absolutely no noticeable vibration while running on the hard and propped up by 6 jackstands.
Some Cautions: some marinas forbid running an the engine while on the hard. Some require removal of the prop first. Never connect a pressure water source directly to your engine. Whichever way you do it, be careful.
When I had a Catalina 27 with a Universal diesel, I had to run the engine on the hard in order to winterize it (the boat was hauled by the marina immediately after a storm here). I did pretty much what Ross did: fill a bucket with fresh water, run the intake hose from the water strainer into the bucket, and hit start. I kept a water hose running into the bucket to keep it full as I wanted to get the engine warm enough to change the oil. The boat had absolutely no noticeable vibration while running on the hard and propped up by 6 jackstands.
Some Cautions: some marinas forbid running an the engine while on the hard. Some require removal of the prop first. Never connect a pressure water source directly to your engine. Whichever way you do it, be careful.
More cautions
Some more cautions!
If your in/out bucket is located higher than your engines siphon-break DO NOT shut the engine off without pulling the intake/sea strainer hose from the bucket!!
I always pull the hose and let the impeller suck the remaining water from the hose before shutting down the engine.
If your bucket is above the engine siphon break your engine can, and will, fill with water and you will hydro-lock it. this is NOT good and will require many, many oil changes to get rid of all the water in the engine. It may not happen the first time but it will eventually happen.
Please remove the hose from the bucket before you shut down!!! Water pumps are NOT valves, are NOT a positive shut off and they do not stop gravity or siphoning.
If you do this in the cockpit, as most of us do, there is a very high likely hood that your engines siphon break is below the siphoning level of the bucket..
In/Out Bucket (Mini Ocean):
Hose from In/Out Bucket To Sea Strainer:
Some more cautions!
If your in/out bucket is located higher than your engines siphon-break DO NOT shut the engine off without pulling the intake/sea strainer hose from the bucket!!
I always pull the hose and let the impeller suck the remaining water from the hose before shutting down the engine.
If your bucket is above the engine siphon break your engine can, and will, fill with water and you will hydro-lock it. this is NOT good and will require many, many oil changes to get rid of all the water in the engine. It may not happen the first time but it will eventually happen.
Please remove the hose from the bucket before you shut down!!! Water pumps are NOT valves, are NOT a positive shut off and they do not stop gravity or siphoning.
If you do this in the cockpit, as most of us do, there is a very high likely hood that your engines siphon break is below the siphoning level of the bucket..
In/Out Bucket (Mini Ocean):
Hose from In/Out Bucket To Sea Strainer:
Last edited:
I learn every time I'm on here
Last fall, when I got my boat. (My first) I ran the engine on the hard. I only had four stands and a V at the bow. It's a wing keel and sits pretty solid. I think it can sit without stands although I'd never do that! I ran the engine to winterize it. Maine Sail.. I don't understand. The coolant system is independent of the water intake? I ran a bucket of pink antifreeze. I did it from inside parallel to the engine. In the spring I ran it again, this time with water to flush it. In the future I will make sure I remove the hose and let it finish but I was afraid of frying the impeller.
Last fall, when I got my boat. (My first) I ran the engine on the hard. I only had four stands and a V at the bow. It's a wing keel and sits pretty solid. I think it can sit without stands although I'd never do that! I ran the engine to winterize it. Maine Sail.. I don't understand. The coolant system is independent of the water intake? I ran a bucket of pink antifreeze. I did it from inside parallel to the engine. In the spring I ran it again, this time with water to flush it. In the future I will make sure I remove the hose and let it finish but I was afraid of frying the impeller.
Bsmith
The raw water intake is not part of the closed cooling system. Remember that all the raw water gets injected back into your exhaust in order to exit the boat. At least 1 of your exhaust valves is usually open on a multi cylinder engine at rest. So the water siphons down through the raw water pump, to the heat exchanger and then to the exhaust. At which point the water can go back up your exhaust manifold, through the open valve and into the cylinder.
The raw water intake is not part of the closed cooling system. Remember that all the raw water gets injected back into your exhaust in order to exit the boat. At least 1 of your exhaust valves is usually open on a multi cylinder engine at rest. So the water siphons down through the raw water pump, to the heat exchanger and then to the exhaust. At which point the water can go back up your exhaust manifold, through the open valve and into the cylinder.
bSmith...
Side 1: Raw water
Side 2: Closed or sealed system with 50/50 antifreeze just like a car.
The raw water side goes through a device called a heat exchanger. A heat exchanger is nothing more than a radiator like you have in your car except that instead of air cooling the closed system you have water cooling it. As Tim said the raw water or ocean water is sucked in through the intake and expelled through the exhaust system. This is want you are "winterizing" the raw water side.
If your bucket is bellow the level of the siphon-breaker you should be safe if you are above remove the hose before shut down! (see photo)
You have two sides to the system:
Side 1: Raw water
Side 2: Closed or sealed system with 50/50 antifreeze just like a car.
The raw water side goes through a device called a heat exchanger. A heat exchanger is nothing more than a radiator like you have in your car except that instead of air cooling the closed system you have water cooling it. As Tim said the raw water or ocean water is sucked in through the intake and expelled through the exhaust system. This is want you are "winterizing" the raw water side.
If you do it from inside the cabin there will usually be no problem with siphoning. Most do it in the cockpit to keep the cabin dry..
If your bucket is bellow the level of the siphon-breaker you should be safe if you are above remove the hose before shut down! (see photo)
Thanks to everyone who replied. I have the boat on private property - so no worries about yard rules. I have already de-gelcoated and re-epoxied my hull below the waterline and so have moved the stands many times over the past year in the course of grinding/sanding/fairing and then rolling 6 coats of Interprotect. So I am pretty comfortable with adjusting the stands and securing them in place. I keep them at or near the bulkhead locations whenever possible. I just needed to hear a couple of reassuring voices who have run their motors and lived to tell about it.
You can absolutely run it on the hard! hell I've been up my stick on the hard!! Running the motor, movement wise, is less than you walking around on deck..
That would work but it is easy to keep the bucket full and thw raw water strainer doesn't have buch volume.
It would be messy..
I have a length of 1" clear PVC hose I bought specifically for doing this. I keep it with my "winterizing kit" which includes things like my water heater by-pass hose and my drill pump...
If you want a real mess of water in your bilge and engine compartment it would most likely work. In most cases the hoses have such high street pressures that it might just create an air lock due to the high volume of the hose and the small volume of the strainer..
I have a length of 1" clear PVC hose I bought specifically for doing this. I keep it with my "winterizing kit" which includes things like my water heater by-pass hose and my drill pump...
While sticking a water hose into the raw water strainer might, or might not, work why would you want to do it? The barbs on most water strainers are pretty standard sizes and a piece of hose to connect it to a bucket is really cheap. In my case, there was no cost at all. I use a piece of old 5/8" ID garden hose that fits, and works, perfectly.
Warren/Ross:
There is no cost to place a hose in the strainer either. I don't need a bucket and don't need to worry about the bucket going empty either.
Am I missing something here?
There is no cost to place a hose in the strainer either. I don't need a bucket and don't need to worry about the bucket going empty either.
Am I missing something here?
Yes!! I can fill a five gallon bucket in about a minute and a half and my engine will empty it in about five minutes. I don't know how you control the water flow from the hose to the strainer but if it is too slow the pump sucks air , if it is too fast you spill water onto the cabin sole and into the bilge. Your boat and your choice, but two or three bucks worth of hose and fittings and a used 5 gallon bucket beats the hell out of sponging water out of the bilge. My system for bucket filling:
Edit to add :my computer is glacial tonight I will try the pix again.
- Status