DIY Fake a lake

[Kidder522]

Hey Everyone,

Was searching for an easy way to winterize my boat without heading to the lake and came across one made from a plunger and hose adapter. So, after looking on Bakes at the real ones, I decided to spend the 6 bucks on a plunger and try to fabricate. It was super easy, and the adapter sits nicely in the rubber. Tested it and with a small board under the handle, makes a great seal. My question is, do I run the hose from the house full, or slightly below. I watched a You tube video, and it seems pretty easy to do. Do these steps look right:

Seal it under the boat,
Turn on the hose,
water will leak out of the seal until you start the boat
Start and watch for water coming out.
Run it on idle to warm up the oil and then shut down to change
once the engine is filled with new oil and filter, run engine again to circulate.
Shut down and done!

Does that sound right. Not overly confident when doing it myself for the first time, so any insight to easy my mind of overheating my boat or ruining something would be great.

Richard

[Woody929]

I made the one out of a bucket last year (think I saw it here), and it was great. It is amazing how much water the boat drinks. You have to be careful with the traditional fake-a-lake since the boat will take in a lot more water than your garden hose can put out.

[Kidder522]

Ok! After reading some more posts, I think I am going to abort the plunger style fake a lake and hook one right up to the raw water intake. That way there will be a direct line to the intake, no water will be lost due to a bad seal, and it is much easier to monitor while in the boat. I am going to put a valve in it, so that I can turn the water on at the house, then open it up in the boat. This way I don't have to worry about it falling off or not getting enough water.

Richard

[parrothd]

Easier..

http://www.perko.com/catalog/category/underwater_hardware/product/62/

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[Woody929]

Pretty much what I did.
I already had a bucket, screws, zip ties and wood in the garage. I just picked up a small section of house, an on/off valve, and between 4-6' of 1 1/4" vinyl tubing. I just hook the tubing up to the intake on the v-drive.

When you hit the throttle, 5 gallons goes real fast. I'll also say that when you turn the boat off, don't forget to turn the water off.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/23/uzerumy8.jpg

[996scott]

So if you hook directly up to the raw water pump with a garden hose is there a worry the flow from the garden hose can't keep up with the engine? Is that why people use a bucket? I was just going to make a connection to the water hose and the other end to the lower hose of the raw water pump.

[newty]

So if you hook directly up to the raw water pump with a garden hose is there a worry the flow from the garden hose can't keep up with the engine? Is that why people use a bucket? I was just going to make a connection to the water hose and the other end to the lower hose of the raw water pump.

Hook it straight up. Just don't rev the crap out of it, you'll be fine. I winterize 10-15 boats a year this way (including mine). The hardest part sometimes is getting the old hose off the v-drive. Do it every year and its a lot easier.

[996scott]

Newty, so do you hook the hose up to the v-drive or the raw water pump?

[bergermaister]

Hook it straight up. Just don't rev the crap out of it, you'll be fine. I winterize 10-15 boats a year this way (including mine). The hardest part sometimes is getting the old hose off the v-drive. Do it every year and its a lot easier.

Come on now - have you ever winterized YOUR boat....?



996 - you take the line off the water brass water intake and hook your hose directly to that so it is going straight into the v-drive. Usually requires a hose barb and adapter setup for it work but easy to build one.

[newty]

Come on now - have you ever winterized YOUR boat....?

Once, when I had to take it to the dealer because I didn't trust them.
Lol

[Kidder522]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for chiming in. I am just going to use it to warm up the engine for oil change and winterizing it. No revving. Going to get all the supplies tomorrow and give it a shot this weekend.

Thanks for all the help.
Richard.

[996scott]

This is what I made this weekend. Less than $10 in parts from Home Depot

[Kidder522]

Hey All,

Did the Plunger style yesterday, and it worked like a charm. Only thing is that it was a two person job. Had the wife turn the water on while i was in the boat. She watched the fake a lake under the boat and the water out of the mufflers. I sat in the boat so that if I had to shut off, I was close. Took about 12 minutes to get it warm, just under idle. Longest part of the job was extracting the oil!!! about an hour and half to get it out of oil drain hose. Yikes, forgot it took that long.

Anyway, long story short, The boat is winterized and waiting for storage. My Dad and I are going to make a fake a lake to attach to the raw water pump with valve. Just like Scott above. This way, the wife doesn't have to be on hook for helping me. :) I can also run RV antifreeze through it, rather tough to do from under the boat.

Thanks for all the advice, makes doing it for the first time much easier with everyone's knowledge.

Richard.

[mcdye]

This is what I made this weekend. Less than $10 in parts from Home Depot

ditto, same setup that I have used for 4 yrs.