Shut off valve for raw water
 

My boat has no protection should anything burst below the waterline. I'm looking for input from anyone who has addressed this issue.

My pickups are on the transom about 10"-12" apart from each other. A hose connects that pickups to the sea strainers which are affixed behind the bench seat. Ideally, I'd like to have protection with a ball valve right after the pickups come into the boat. Concerns are: ease of use (being able to reach the valves), making sure the valves do not shut (or partially close) while underway, and excessive head loss that could effect cooling abilities.

I have side by side engines w/ transmissions so I do not have the luxury of all the space and/or accessibility that the twin staggered guys have.

Any thoughts? Any pics of successful setups would be great.

Thanks

Dennis

I had an issue that seems like you have not had yet. I did not have a shut off valve either and I blew the hose off the transom pickup. It didnt take long for the back to start loading with water and trying to stuff a hose back on with water rushing in is a whole new game in itself and your standard bilge pump cant keep up. I was able to get the hose back on eventually, then let the pump do its job and went back to the trailer and loaded up. I pulled the pickup off and welded a threaded a two inch long stainless steel pipe onto the push on part of my pickup where it goes thru the transom. Pushed it back thru to make sure things were right, then pulled it back out and hit it with the silicone to seal things up. I also put the pickup back with thru bolts instead of the screws. (Had a friend hit something in the water and it tore his pickup off the back of his boat) After I got the pickup back in place and bolted down, I put a brass ball valve on the end with a two inch long pipe nipple coming out of it. Got it tightened down and set so that if needed, I could get to the handle easily, then pushed the hose back on over the pipe nipple and tightened the clamp. A bonus will be the threads in the pipe nipple. Once you get the clamp tight, the threads will act like teeth and it is almost impossible to blow the hose off.

I have also pulled the plugs out on my motors that are used to drain the water out of the blocks and replaced them with four inch long brass pipe nipples, 1/4 to 3/8 brass adapters and 3/8 inch ball valves. No more standing on my head to drain the motors. Reach down and turn the valve handle and let the water drain out, then reach down again and close the valve. You can use 1/4 ball valves, but they are small and hard to turn. The 3/8 inch ball valves have a better handle to get hold of.

Hope this helps you...sorry, I cant add pics, but if you PM me with an email address, I will send pics of what and how I did it.

What size BV's are people using?
Strainers I have are 1" NPT
H2O Pumps I have are 1" NPT
Original hose was 1.25" from PU, through pump, to engine.
Most PU's I see are 1.25"
I've seen transom plate adapters that are only .75" NPT where stock was a 1.25" neck.

How much HP can a .75 NPT feed?
How about 1" NPT?

you can get 1" or 1.25" brass ball valves with locking handles from mcmaster carr pretty cheap.

the locking handles sound like a good thing...just wondering how the hell to get to them "way down there" in the back of the engines past the hatch bracket, hot risers, carb & trans linkage, etc.

I move my pickup in my boat just because it was under the motor and to hard-to-reach. I also know that if you do not have a shut off where your pickup enters the boat it will not pass a certified inspection.

You dont really need a "locking" handle. The ball valve are notthat easy to open and close anyway because of the built in stiffness. Just a regular, plain-jane brass or stainless steel ball valve will work just fine. They are not going to close by themselves.

Here, mine are side by side with transmissions. Mine are locking ball valves. They are under the middle exhaust pipes in the 2nd pic. I can get to them fairly easily but if the engines and exhaust is hot it might take a few towels and some caution.

My Cigarette has a long metal rod that hooks to the handle of the valve. Then all u have to do is pull up on it to shut the valve or push it down to open it. Doesnt work perfectly, but with side/side engines, its much better than trying to reach down between exhausts to open/close the valves.

If i ever pull my engines im gonna rerig it closer to the sea strainer.

Previous owner put two brass valves very close to the pickups. He installed metal rods to control (sounds like yours). I was thinking what I'd do if the valves fail - there are now two "extra" points of failure. The marine inspector suggested keeping a cone shaped plug and broom stick onboard to be able to plug it while out on the water.

You can see the two metal rods (with bent handles) in the picture (between engines).