Wash down system

I've never had a problem with mud clinging to the chain or anchor when retrieved on the Mississippi River I believe to current cleans it on the way up. While moving a boat on lakes Michigan & Huron we often brought up a mud ball mess. So I've decided to add a wash down system because of plans to do another trip to the lakes, or other areas where it would be useful. I'am thinking a manual system with short hose and nozzle stored in the on deck locker.
#1 can this pump be plumbed into a existing thru hull such as the A/C system or head?
#2 what type of pump, what brands and models, what psi & gallons per min?
#3 what type strainer? I have a 5/8" groco type in the dock box. The A/C pump has a strainer the heads do not.
#4 What do you have, how often do you use it and what are the pros and cons what would you do different on another install?

This is the fitting we installed on our boat from New Found Metals. Very nice!
Deck Wash Down

We used a pump already on in a box on our boat, Jabsco Water Puppy. Not the highest psi of others but it gets our job done. We plumbed it to a raw water thru hull we used to have for our forward head which had a strainer already built in. I do not have the psi rating or the strainer info sorry. The fitting on the other hand is awesome.

When I redid all the thru hulls in my boat a couple years ago...I oversized the A/C intake at 1.5 inches. I knew I would "t" off of it for washdown and saltwater to the heads.

Between the 2 - 1" requirements of the washdown and the A/C pump...the oversize is plenty.

Even then..the A/C can certainly safely survive a little starvation if it's even running when you need the washdown.

I had a spare shurflow washdown pump and I plumbed it to a cap fitting ion the foredeck. Not wild about actual valves up there as the one I removed was frozen from the constant salt bath internal and external. I have a ball valve that's easy to open in my forward head floor for when I need the foredeck washdown.

You can T it off a head thru hull if you like. It should have a strainer. But it can just be of the inline type.

While I'm thinking about it your head intake lines should have strainers as well. Because and organic junk that gets sucked can end up stuck under the rim of the bowl and rot causing the head to smell when it is otherwise clean.

You want to try and use a pump that will give you good pressure to blast off the mud with a decent volume.

Most of the boat I run have a wash down system. And we use it pretty much every time we pull the anchor up. Even if it's just to wash off the salt water.

My boat came to me with the washdown intake connected to the raw water head through a valve; head or washdown. After thinking about it for a year or two I replaced the valve with a "T". Both work just fine although I've never tried to flush the head and use the washdown at the same time.

My boat came with a RW washdown pump T'd off the head raw water thru-hull, a dead pump and the WD hose spigot in the cockpit. When I added the windlass, I replaced the pump with a Jabsco 4GPM WD pump kit which included an inline strainer. I T'd the w/d line to allow a fore and aft hoses and added a recessed hose canister to the bow. I also added a lower helm lighted switch as a reminder when the pump is selected ON.

I find 4 GPM to be ample for the WD pump. It helps to have a quality brass nozzle.

Thank you for all the replies, the A/C is the closest and already has a strainer so that will be the intake. I like Whale diaphram pumps do you think this type pump if equipped with a pressure switch would work?

Ron, I think this is the only Whale pump suitable for a wash down pump. It's a little low on volume for that application.

http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/si...ry/datasheets/WatermasterInformationSheet.pdf

If you're talking about putting a pressure switch on a pump like the following, no it's not a good idea. These pumps are designed to provide high volume at low pressure. You need some pressure for a good wash down.

Whale Marine - Products

I think you'd be much better off using one of the ShurFlo or Jabsco pumps sold as wash down pumps.

This is a affordable option with a good flow rate and it even comes with a strainer and nozzle. We had a similar one on the Camano it worked great.

http://www.hopkins-carter.com/japa50wapuki.html

Buy the largest volume you can afford. Removing mud and grime is much easier with volume then pressure. Pressure splatters the mud.

Thanks Oliver!

N4712 said:

This is a affordable option with a good flow rate and it even comes with a strainer and nozzle. We had a similar one on the Camano it worked great.

Jabsco PAR-Max 5.0 Washdown Pump Kit 32700-0092

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I have used a Shurflo Extreme Blaster (in my case 24volt) year around for many years in which we anchored out 50-150 nights a year with some extremely stick mud thrown in the mix of bottoms. It came with an in-line screen filter, but I had a spare larger strainer and extra through hull so went that route. In addition to chain and anchor wash down duties. I also used it to clean my teaks decks. Very happy with the results.

You could browse through the Depco catalog for all the various pumps available for this purpose.

I installed a Johnson washdown pump, Td off my generator intake. I think it's 70 psi. It works fine for washing the anchor and chain.

I took Oliver's suggestion and bought it from Hop, thanks to you both.
Jabsco PAR-Max 5.0 Washdown Pump Kit 32700-0092

If you look around at garden centers or hardware stores you will find 3 foot long aluminum wands that can be attached to a garden hose. Not the type with a shower type sprayer on the end but one where a nozzle can be adjusted to a stream. The added 3 feet brings the water pressure and volume closer to the chain but still off the boat,

I was thinking about using my cheapy 1600 PSI Harbor Freight pressure washer to do double duty for my fresh-water washdown, maybe with a quick-coupling at the pulpit for really dirty anchorages, but Marty's idea sounds just as good. I really like having an extension to help with the reach.

Nice upgrade project. Thanks!
5.0 gpm pump
Quick connects bow and stern
3 ft wand

Ron, Thanks for the order!
Marty, Thanks for the wand idea.

+1 on the Johnson wash down pump. Plenty of volume and pressure. My boat came plumbed fore the award system.

I know it isn't possible for most but if you do have it on board, a hydraulic high pressure wash down pump is pretty small and with 4000 psi (adjustable) you can cut kelp off the anchor, never mind clean off mud. In fact, it is my favorite piece of equipment on the boat because it saves so much time for general cleaning. Mine uses fresh water because we carry a fair amount, but I don't see why you couldn't use filtered sea water if you rinsed it with fresh.

For boats equipped with a water maker, I've often wondered if there was a way to divert the high pressure salt water for wash down. Has anyone tried this?

You need to be careful with high pressure water. It will raise the grain of teak and strip even well adhered paint.

HopCar said:

For boats equipped with a water maker, I've often wondered if there was a way to divert the high pressure salt water for wash down. Has anyone tried this?

You need to be careful with high pressure water. It will raise the grain of teak and strip even well adhered paint.

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Also high pressure will blow out the bedding on deck mounted hardware like cleats and stanchions if your not careful.