Water Hose in Water Intake

[Plymouth Sailor]

Dear Sailors,

Does it make sense while the boat is on the hard to place a water hose in the water intake thru—hull in order to test and cool my inboard diesel? Does it work? Your wisdom appreciated!

 

[jssailem]

Better to remove the internal raw water hose from the strainer. Attach a long hose from the strainer to a big bucket. Then fill the bucket and keep filling it to keep the raw water hose submerged. Start the engine. This shows you that the engine pump is properly working. You're not pressurizing the system nor are you introducing air into the system.

 

[shemandr]

I'd probably prefer to put the water intake hose in a bucket of water and continuously fill the bucket with the hose. Use a barbed connector on a section of extension hose to locate the bucket to a convenient location. I would want the engine to draw the water in and not have the water pressure forced into the engine. That's basically how anti-freeze is drawn into a raw water cooled engine. If you do your anti-freeze yourself you will want to set up a system anyway. You can buy a kit or make one yourself.
(And John beat me to it)

 

[Plymouth Sailor]

Dear Sailors,

Does it make sense while the boat is on the hard to place a water hose in the water intake thru—hull in order to test and cool my inboard diesel? Does it work? Your wisdom appreciated!

Thank you, I used a bucket last week which worked well however I wanted to see if a hose worked as it’s a steady stream of water.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Thank you, I used a bucket last week which worked well however I wanted to see if a hose worked as it’s a steady stream of water.

Put garden hose in bucket and put engine intake hose in same bucket. That will avoid pressurizing the engine intake while also proving a continuous water source.

also consider that the engine water pump isn’t designed or capable of pulling a ‘head’ of more than a few feet so limit the vertical distance from bucket to engine intake.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

I wanted to see if a hose worked as it’s a steady stream of water.

NEVER attach the hose directly to the engine inlet hose, if this is what you're implying. Doing so may flood your engine with water

Place the bucket in the boat at the same level as the engine. Don't make the engine suck it up the six feet from the pavement up into the boat. This will reduce the flow rate considerably.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I posted this just the other day...seems to be an epidemic of this question, usually about this time every year.

Winterizing an Engine on the Hard (Thanks to Maine Sail) - NEVER connect a hose to your raw water pump inlet - NEVER!!!