What's your post-trip boat wash down/maintenance?

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    Posted: 28 Jun 2022 at 9:45pm
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Titanium
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New boat owner question. What's your post-trip boat wash down/maintenance routine? I'm flushing the engine and washing the whole boat and trailer down. Anything else I should be doing? Cheers Smile
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Salt Away. After wash down
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Ali, F glass or even tho highly unlikely wood ?
When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT
fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!!
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Ali
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Fibreglass .I use Saltaway, in both the engine flush and washing the boat - using the on-hose dispenser from Saltaway.. I think it works well - as the visible salt on the windscreen disappears - without any scrubbing.On the boat hull floor etc, I spray it with the saltaway in dispenser - that shifts most fish stuff, with a light wipe with a cloth to remove the rest.
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Re flushing motor using SALT AWAY or similar, it would be prudent to check
with an OB mechanic.

I have had several advise that it does a great job of removing any salt residue.

Maybe too good in fact that in their opinion it is preferable to use only on each
4th or 5th flush the reason being that :- its' main function is to remove any salt
residue build up to prevent corrosion & this can be achieved by being used regularly
but only each 4th or 5th flush as over use such as every time can risk affecting any
internal corrosion resistance.

In any event whether using only freshwater or an additive the water needs to be
running warm to be effective.

Over the 10 yrs or so I have heeded this advice ie using only fresh water running warm
after each use & have never encountered any problems.
When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT
fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!!
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MB, is your boat stored indoors or out in the sun?

If out in the sun, I normally remove the fuel tanks if portable, or at least open the breather. Also, ensure the drain plugs are open. In the heat, both the underfloor cavities and fuel tanks balloon if kept sealed.

If there is a battery isolator, switch that off if the battery is not on an intelligent charger. That ensures there is no power leakage should anything be left on or unknowingly be draining power.

I assume you are running a modern motor and not using pre-mix oil. Lower the leg to ensure the motor is in its normal operating position and oil is in its “normal” position in the crank and motor.
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I use salt away for flush and washdown, but do read the instructions as a lot of people seem to ignore them and do the whole engine flush with it.
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Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I'm on the right track. Boat is stored in a boat port, covered on three sides. Gets the last few hours of sun on the bow.

Do you remove the outboard cowl each time and wash down underneath?
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Remove cowl every third trip - give mine a quick visual, spray with inox and wipe down where appropriate
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Originally posted by bazza bazza wrote:

Re flushing motor using SALT AWAY or similar, it would be prudent to check
with an OB mechanic.

I have had several advise that it does a great job of removing any salt residue.

Maybe too good in fact that in their opinion it is preferable to use only on each
4th or 5th flush the reason being that :- its' main function is to remove any salt
residue build up to prevent corrosion & this can be achieved by being used regularly
but only each 4th or 5th flush as over use such as every time can risk affecting any
internal corrosion resistance.

In any event whether using only freshwater or an additive the water needs to be
running warm to be effective.

Over the 10 yrs or so I have heeded this advice ie using only fresh water running warm
after each use & have never encountered any problems.
From another site and this guy is a chemist from memory.

Don't get fooled. There is no Chemical that will disolve Salt better than Clean fresh water. It is head and shoulders above any other Chemical. Forget the Chemical "Protectants" like Salt-away and all the rest. They are nothing but a detergent and actually do very little. Certainly nothing as good as plain ole fresh water. Those products are all a rip off because they are just simple cheap forms of a detergent that are sold as some special miracle Salt eliminator.I have never seen Acetic Acid in the info for Salt Away. I had looked for the make up of it some years ago but could not find anything apart from detergent. The detergent could well be simply Glycol. In thius case, detergents act mainly as a " wetting" agent. Reducing surface tension and allowing the Water to " attach"  to surfaces.

If acetic acid that is the case, I scratch my head as to how the "corrosion protectant" part is supposed to work.
Plus Acetic Acid is a poor choice for cleaning crud in Salt Envirnoments.
And in saying that, Phosphoric would work, but is not a lot better. Although there may well be other things helping it in Barnacle buster. Hydrochloric Acid is much the better choice. It is all about having spare Hydrogen Ions to break down Calcium deposits. Phosphoric, Oxalyic and Citric Acids are great for Iron deposits.
Correct that pure water is the best, but just tap water would have to be laden in minerals to not be effective. Water works in quite a unique way by the Chemistry of it. The charges of the Water Ions "pull apart" (disassociate) the Salt Ions. This is why so much Salt by volume can be dissolved into water by volume. The water is not dilluitng the Salt ions. This can be seen when you initially pour Salt into water, the water is cloudy for a short time. This is simple Dissolving. Then as you stir, the water clears. This is when the Salt ions have been disassociated from one another and bond to the Water ions. For Salt to come back out of water, the opposite has to occur. The Salt ions must have something with a stronger "charge" to associate with. This can occur with saturation of the water due to heat/time evaporating the water leaving the Salt behind. Once salt accumulates and hardens and maybe even associates with another mineral, it takes time to dissolve it again.
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    Originally posted by Redfinger Redfinger wrote:

    Remove cowl every third trip - give mine a quick visual, spray with inox and wipe down where appropriate

    Cheers
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    On my Ali boat I wash it down and engine flush with salt away about every forth time. But I always wash it down with a good quality wash and wax like turtle wax. depending how grubby it is I’ll either use a bucket and brush or I’ll full up the salt away hose dispenser with wash and wax and give the whole boat and trailer a good soaking.

    Couple of 3 or 4 times a year I go over the boat with a can of inox and squirt every rivet and screw, I clean and oil all the zips and give the nuts, bolts, rollers and winch a squirt with lanolin as well.
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    Originally posted by MB MB wrote:

    New boat owner question. What's your post-trip boat wash down/maintenance routine? I'm flushing the engine and washing the whole boat and trailer down. Anything else I should be doing? Cheers Smile

    Nice one, MB. It's an exciting time. What did you end up buying? Apologies if I've missed you referencing that elsewhere.

    The end of this year will mark 5 years since i bought my FC, with the help of good bugger Russell (Redfinger, as above). 
    I still have the notes i wrote down when he ran me through maintenance before i towed it away from the boatyard and that tip re the Inox under the cowl every few trips is one I've stuck to. I showed a mate of mine that trick, and when we pulled the cowl off his there was some crusted salt in small nooks and crannies.
    Ditto, Russell mentioned the release of any bung type valve that lets air out of the underfloor area. in hot weather you hear it whoosh as the air escapes.

    I see Keith C mentioned that too, and his advice re returning the motor to vertical once parked is also one i stick to.

    I have heard both sides of the Salt Away argument but haven't seen anything to convince me it's hurting the motor; but I only use it after about 8 mins warming up with straight water, and then for only 1 minute as directed.

    I make sure I get fresh water down inside any trailer holes, until I see it running out of the internal section I'm rinsing. I get right under the trailer and spray all the way to the inside of the wheel and the springs opposite where i'm kneeling, as it's pretty hard to do that from the same side unless you have gadget arms. I was also told by a motor expert to ensure I thoroughly rinsed the hydraulic area under the motor (with the motor tilted up high).

    After 4.5 years, there's a bit of rust showing on my trailer springs, and on the drum the winch rope winds around, but that's pretty much it.

    if you bought your set up new, I would check the nuts on the trailer wheels after a year or so and make sure you can undo them if needed. After about 2 years a couple on each wheel were getting a bit seized, to the point where i reckon if I'd waited another 6 months I would have struggled to undo them if I got a flat. And that's on a trailer that's kept in a garage 24/7. We put some anti-seize stuff on the bolts before doing them back up. I vaguely recall someone criticised that on the forum, but not sure what alternative preemptive seizing move there is?

    I also have wrapped electrical tape around the trailer lights wiring cord to give it some extra protection from scrapes when beach launching, on tight ramp angles at low tide, and if it drags on the ground when pushing back into the garage etc. I also noticed the plastic protective tubing that goes over the fuel line (from the tote) had split, so I wrapped electrical tape around that too.

    I don't have any marine carpet etc in my boat, so i use a stiff dishwashing brush on the floor of the boat, whereas on the outside (which has a wrap) I use a soft car style brush.

    I put a charger on the battery for a few hours the day before a trip if i haven't been out for a while. Peace of mind.
    And I make sure I've turned off the power switch for the outboard (tucked in a shelf near the transom on my boat). 

    And I check the engine oil every so often. Mine never seems to use much between services, but again, peace of mind.
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    Thanks for taking the time to write such a long reply TTK. I bought a FC560CC also from the now famous Redfinger Smile

    I've only done two trips so far, but it's gone well. Not too many dramas! 

    Loving the centre console format. Just ordered an aftermarket "bait station" from a different manufacturer. It cost more than my first fishing kayak LOL

    As a point of interest, since my two trips have been family orientated, it's amazing how much my catch rate has plummeted. Haven't done early starts or been able to move around as much as I like. It's all good though, better to have the family onboard Smile

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    Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2022 at 3:01pm
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    Fantastic, MB.
    I love the look of the 560CCs, awesome fishing weapon. If I had the space and money, that's the model I would have gone for!
    Welcome to the FC club. Lots of family memories to create, and that's a great photo of the adventures starting already. 

    Not sure if the 560 comes on a low rider trailer, but if so, you may identify with the reasons I wrapped the tailer lights wiring.
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    After a major refurb, rebuild, repaint, I accept that I need to wash the boat more thoroughly, and use a wax...lessons being learned.
    As for salt away, best is to use it before ever putting the boat in the water for the first time.
    I use it occasionally.
    Out of interest, after a weekend of freshwater use, I serviced the motor, pulled the thermostats, and the bypass poppet valves, and found significant salt still around them...
    Going to be checking those regularly!
    you can't fix an idiot with duct tape, but it does muffle them for a while...
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    Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote GregS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jul 2022 at 10:10pm
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    I like what Bazza mentioned about using warm fresh water, I pulled into work with the boat after fishing one time and used our hot water system hose(55 degrees, food industry), best thing since sliced bread. so quick and salt, blood and guts etc dealt to.
    When I flush my outboard with saltaway I leave it running on fresh water till the Opti smart guages get to 62 degrees so the stat is opening, then change dispenser to saltaway hoping to flush the waterways after the stat. Over winter I struggle to get to 62 so I wonder if the water was warmed up a bit I would get a better flush as long as I monitor engine temps.
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    Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote White snake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jul 2022 at 12:40pm
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    Interesting thread guys.i have a 2012 rayglass 2500 and we have always used salt away after every use.Only because we thought this was best practice.mercury verado has done 1400 hours and has been very reliable to date.My favorite salt busting weopon is my karcher steam cleaner.i attach a foam gun and foam down boat and trailer.Scrub where required mainly if been bottom fishing.After game fishing no scrubbing required.Then reattach normal Lance to gun and hot wash off the foam.Comes up mint.
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    Great thread, i use a cut down wheely bin to flush the motor, this is my process:
    1. Fill bin with fresh water (100 ltrs)
    2. Run engine for about 15 mins (tell tale recirculates)
    3. Add Salt Away for last 5 or so minutes
    4. Once engine is stopped i drop a length of pipe attached to the wash down pump pickup into the wheely bin and wash the boat down with that, works great as the water/SA mix is warm. 

    Oh what a smasher - two eggs and a rasher!
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