Yanmar 1gm10 Fresh water flush system

[jnovie]

I would like to add a permanent engine flush system that would allow me to occasionally flush out the salt water in my cooling lines and system and add vinegar a few times a year to descale any salt build up. Anyone come up with a simple good solution.
The engine is a Yanmar 1gm10 on a Yamaha 26. The boat has a Groco sea ball valve sea cock and a Groco 750arg raw water strainer. The water hoses are 1/2" dia. Is using diluted vinegar the best material to use for cleaning out salt buildup.

 

[scottr]

I put a three way ball valve in the line between my fresh water tank and the sink and a second in the raw water intake line. Close the seacock and flip the two three way valves and fresh water from the tank goes through the engine. I can also disconnect the fresh water feed hose at one valve and draw in antifreeze or vinegar. I'm on a mooring so I don't have easy fresh water access. This also allows me to empty the fresh water tank at the end of the season by pumping whatever is left through the engine.
Pearson 28 with atomic 4.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I would like to add a permanent engine flush system that would allow me to occasionally flush out the salt water in my cooling lines and system and add vinegar a few times a year to descale any salt build up. Anyone come up with a simple good solution.
The engine is a Yanmar 1gm10 on a Yamaha 26. The boat has a Groco sea ball valve sea cock and a Groco 750arg raw water strainer. The water hoses are 1/2" dia. Is using diluted vinegar the best material to use for cleaning out salt buildup.

Here's what I set up for my 1GM on my Ericson 26. (See photo.)

 

[Syntonos]

Three way valve install on Y25-II

Howdy jnovie,
Here is what I ended up with.
The previous owner had the raw water strainer already installed (great for confirming that the pick-up isn't clogged) I installed the three way valve with the fresh water pickup located in the anchor locker. I keep it capped to insure no air is sucked in.I use a pressure reducer to make sure the system doesn't get blown apart by the fresh water pressure. been working fine for me.

Cheers

 

[jnovie]

I would like to add a permanent engine flush system that would allow me to occasionally flush out the salt water in my cooling lines and system and add vinegar a few times a year to descale any salt build up. Anyone come up with a simple good solution.
The engine is a Yanmar 1gm10 on a Yamaha 26. The boat has a Groco sea ball valve sea cock and a Groco 750arg raw water strainer. The water hoses are 1/2" dia. Is using diluted vinegar the best material to use for cleaning out salt buildup.

Thanks to those who shared their engine flush systems with me. I decided to simply add a bronze T with associated tail pieces on the seacock side of the strainer. I attached a inline bronze ball valve to the bronze T and and a bronze plug to the end of the ball valve for safety measures. When I want to flush the engine I can simply take off the plug and screw on a hose close the seawater valve and open up the inline valve. The hose will reach a 5 gallon bucket of fresh water mixed with vinegar. I have included a link to a company called Marine Technologies Group LLC. The have a product called "Quick Valve Flush System". Explore their wesite and you will find everything you may need to know about engine flush systems including animated videos of many possibilities. Their products look well made (all bronze) and their prices very reasonable. I would have purchased their system except for the fact that they don't make a product for 1/2" lines which the Yanmar 1gm10 has. Building the syatem with Groco products was a little less expensive. Personally I think the Marine Technologies product is a little better especially if your boat uses 1" dia lines and up for it's raw water system:
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/what-is-quick-flush-valve.html
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/how-it-works.html
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/diesel-engines.html
Hope this helps others if they need to take on a similar project.

 

[jnovie]

Thanks to those who shared their engine flush systems with me. I decided to simply add a bronze T with associated tail pieces on the seacock side of the strainer. I attached a inline bronze ball valve to the bronze T and and a bronze plug to the end of the ball valve for safety measures. When I want to flush the engine I can simply take off the plug and screw on a hose close the seawater valve and open up the inline valve. The hose will reach a 5 gallon bucket of fresh water mixed with vinegar. I have included a link to a company called Marine Technologies Group LLC. The have a product called "Quick Valve Flush System". Explore their website and you will find everything you may need to know about engine flush systems including animated videos of many possibilities. Their products look well made (all bronze) and their prices very reasonable. I would have purchased their system except for the fact that they don't make a product for 1/2" lines which the Yanmar 1gm10 has. Building the system with Groco products was a little less expensive. Personally I think the Marine Technologies product is a little better especially if your boat uses 1" dia lines and up for it's raw water system:
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/what-is-quick-flush-valve.html
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/how-it-works.html
http://www.quickflushvalve.com/diesel-engines.html
Hope this helps others if they need to take on a similar project.

I thought I would add a photo to show how the system works. The existing Groco seawater valve is the one with the red handle. The new fresh water flush system shows the tee and the inline Groco valve with the white handle. The new fresh water flush system was added to the existing raw water system just beyond the Groco water filter. The clear line for the fresh water is a 12" pigtail with a standard brass fitting. A 7' long clear line extension screws on to the pigtail and goes to a 5 gallon bucket in the cockpit. Using a clear line for the fresh water portion allows you see that all of the fresh water has been drained out of the line. I use a 1 gallon of 5% vinegar mix to 4 gallons of water for the engine flush and then flush the mix out with another 5+ gallons of fresh water only. It is best to do the flush after motoring at speed and when the engine is still warm and at idle. It all happens fairly quickly. A bonus to using this engine flush system is that in case of a dire emergency the raw water valve can be closed, the fresh water valve opened and the end of the fresh water line can be placed in the bilge to pump out water thru the engine. In that case a strainer can be placed over the end of the freshwater line to keep debris from getting into the engine cooling system. I stress, use this method only in case of a dire emergency. The clear fresh water line should be one size smaller than the raw water line. In the case of a Yanmar 1gm10 the raw water line is 1/2" and the fresh water line should be 3/8". This was suggested to me by a experienced Yanmar mechanic the reason being is that he found that for some reason the water flow hydraulics seem to work better this way. I find it to work perfectly each time I use the system.

 

[Syntonos]

Nice, To simple! I particularly like the idea of using it for a bilge pump in the right situation.
Well Done!

 

[Rob2435]

Why not just use "Salt Away" to flush instead of vinegar?

 

[Alan Gomes]

<snip>A bonus to using this engine flush system is that in case of a dire emergency the raw water valve can be closed, the fresh water valve opened and the end of the fresh water line can be placed in the bilge to pump out water thru the engine. In that case a strainer can be placed over the end of the freshwater line to keep debris from getting into the engine cooling system. I stress, use this method only in case of a dire emergency.
<snip>

The raw water pump on a 1GM 10 (same as on my 1GM) is so wimpy that it really won't be of much use in de-watering your boat in case of a "dire emergency."

 

[jnovie]

Salt Away vs Vinegar

Why not just use "Salt Away" to flush instead of vinegar?

Vinegar was recommended to me by my Yanmar mechanic. He claimed vinegar would soften salt build-up in the cooling system allowing it to flush out which is my primary target. He also mentioned that the diluted vinegar would not damage the gaskets or impeller. I simply have no personal experience as to which product is best.

 

[jnovie]

The raw water pump on a 1GM 10 (same as on my 1GM) is so wimpy that it really won't be of much use in de-watering your boat in case of a "dire emergency."

I'm glad you brought this to everyone's attention. The "wimpy" 1GM 10 would contribute little more than a drop in the bucket in case of a "dire emergency". It pumps approx 1gpm at 1,800rpm compared to say a manual bilge pump such as a Whale Gusher which pumps approx 17gpm or a Whale Titan that will pump approx 28gpm.