Knotmeter impellor cleaning

[Mike Dooley]

I have an 80 model Hunter 25 with a thru hull knotmeter impellor located forward the head in a small sealed compartment. I need to clean and repair the impellor. Can I remove the impellor, flooding the compartment to the waterline, then repair impellor, replace same and pump out the compartment, or will the loss of bouyancy sink the boat???Thanks!!

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Whoa

You should have in the well a matching plug that goes in the hole when you pull the thru-hull. If you do not have one, borrow the guy's next door and order one from Boat US or West Marine. When you pull the thru-hull, water will come a gushing but you put the matching plug in to stop it. You don't even have to jam the plug in but so far to stem the tide, so to speak. While you spend a few minutes recovering from the trauma of watching your boat sink, you can gently clean the thru-hull to make it spinning. Then you will emerge from the boat the wiser and more confident for the exercise.

 

[Tim Leighton]

FLOOD?@#$%$#

Mike: Don't even THINK about pulling the knotmeter without a "plug" to contain the influx of water! In fact, you should have a soft (pine) wood plug attached w/ light string to every thru-hull on your boat!  As for you impeller, there are any number of articles in the archives, so take a look around there. In a nutshell, removal, cleaning and replacement of the impeller is a piece of cake as long as you plan ahead and have the correct equipment on hand. In order to stem the inflow of water during that (hopefully!) very short time there is no plug in the hole, I've always used a large towel to cover the entire area and use my hands under the towel (a little like a magician about to reveal a flight of doves) to remove the impeller and replace it with a blank plug. Sounds hard, but really is a piece of cake and keeps water from spraying all over the place. Try it once and you'll find out how easy it really is. Good luck and smooth sailing.Tim Leighton (S/V "Magic")