Wet exhaust, installation routing, problems to avoid

Dec 2, 2000
34
It is time for me to replace the Vegabond's dry exhaust system with a wet exhaaust. I certainly want to make sure that the system is bullet proof and not going to allow sea water back into the engine.

I saw some notes back in the archives, 2002, about using wet exhausts but no mention on how the tubes were routed. Is a antisiphoning device always required. do you need more than one?

Any help will be appreciated.
Jim
Vegabond 1870
 
Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
Hi
I signed up for a 30 M sailing race on Saturday.
As other W Europeans know, there was a high over the N of Ireland and
very light winds - 5-10 knots at most.

The first leg was a 15M upwind close reach in light airs - misery.

We sailed well at the start (3.5 knots) and we were able to point
respectably high.

Unfortunately as the wind dropped to less that 5 knots our boat speed
(over water) dropped to 1-1.5kt on gps! :-(

We just could not keep boat speed up and so lost steerage way at times...
Other boats *were* able to make steady progress.
We retired from the race after 3 hours!
(The race was abandoned soon after so don't feel too bad.)

I'm looking for comments/advice:
Is it just a limitation of Vegas in very light airs?

I did commit one mistake - out of habit I tightened up the backstay after
about an hour; I know that the halyards should be eased in light airs so
it was a mistake.

Could this explain the lousy performance when wind dropped under (say) 5
knots?

Thanks

John

V1447 BreakawayJohn A. Kinsella Ph: +353-61-202148 (Direct)
+353-61-333644 x 2148 (Switch)
Mathematics Dept. e-mail: John.Kinsella@...
University of Limerick FAX: +353-61-334927
IRELAND Web: John Kinsella's Website
 
Nov 8, 2001
1,818
Hi All

Not a difficult job. Hardest part is getting the old one out. Remove the four bolts from the exhaust manifold, disconnect at the aft end from teh stainless swansneck. The exhaust can then be slid forward into the main cabin before being removed almost in one piece out of the companionway and then thrown in the skip! Remove the swansneck as this will be pitted with tiny holes and discard. Remove the loop and muffler (Cone shape rubber).

You need to keep the part that is attached to the exhaust manifold as this is where the water must be injected. Take a short length (1 metre) of exhaust grade hose (40mm) and connect to the exhaust manifold along with the water injection. Attach the aft end to a waterlock (Vetus LP40 or similar) so it corresponds with the exhaust hose being used. I locate the waterlock as low as possible and next to the stern-tube. A long piece of exhaust hose is then connected to the ouput of the waterlock and fed aft. Made into a loop inside the aft locker as high as it will go to form a swansneck. This is then attached to the exhaust outlet on the transom. That's it folks....

Cheers

Steve B
 
Oct 30, 2019
1,459
Jim,
I've posted some photos on the Yahoo site in "Photos", in a folder called "Wet Exhaust". My setup may be a bit different, as it's on a Yanmar 2GMF, but the general idea is the same.

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
Oct 31, 2019
303
Just to add another thought. Beta sells a really neat exhaust riser that
attaches directly to their exhaust thru-hull. It will work with any engine.
It just fits in the Vega vertically along the transom. I just used some
thickened epoxy to add a couple pieces of wood to the transom so I had
something I could screw the strap-bracket for the lifter. This way you don't
have to loop the heavy exhaust hose, but just have to run it up to the
riser. I also bought the beta exhaust thru-hull since it mates to the lifter
by design. It fits exactly in a 2 inch hole (what would that be, close to
50mm -- geez I wish the USA would get with the rest of the world!!!!).
Anyway it just turns out that the outside diameter of the existing Vega
exhaust thru-hull is exactly 2 inches. A two inch hole saw fits nicely over
it. I just cut it out.

I also used the beta waterlock exhaust but it is much taller than the
Vetus. It took me a little thinking to get it to fit. I could have kept the
Vetus, but what the heck, I just installed an entire new system. Plus a
friend of mine needed one to demonstrate in his engine maintenance class.

I did all this with the boat in the water. My biggest concern was not
dropping the drill into the water when I was cutting the 2 inch hole in the
transom, from the outside, just above the waterline.The attachment is a picture from their catalog of the fittings. I now
realize after looking at the picture that I had to cut the little tab off
the top of the riser, but the mid-strap I used supports it very well.Chris