Washdown kit advice

[essyoo]

Looking to add a washdown kit to my boat soon and had a couple questions for those who have done it already.

What's the ideal GPM I should be looking for? Is there a minimum I shouldn't go below?
Has anyone tried the kits available on Amazon? (Seaflo, etc)

thanks in advance!

 

[Aquaholic]

Jabsco 6 GPH comes up often as a very powerful pump kit. Are you going to washdown decks often, or mainly for cleaning fish on board? Might not need 6, but it's probably like 2 foot-itus. https://harbourchandler.ca/jabsco-hotshot-washdown-pump-kit/

 

[essyoo]

mainly washing down but cleaning fish would also be a bonus. would like a better method than I'm currently using (bucket) haha.

 

[Fishalot]

Get at least 5 GPH. Johnson makes a good one. Also run a hose over transom for intake much better than a hole in the hull

 

[Corey_lax]

Mines a 4gph and it’s got enough pressure for me. I can spray my buddy boat 20’ away and that’s a key feature

 

[Rockfish]

The question is do you really need or want one because there are downsides besides benefits. My boat came with a salt water wash-down system installed by the previous owner. Eventually we decommissioned it by removing the seacock and capping the thru-hull with a bronze cap. It would be easy to put it back into operation as most of the system was left in place. We did this because:
- my marina has fresh water wash-down capability at my slip and fresh water is way better than salt water.
- the salt water from the wash down was causing excess corrosion inside the hull including damaging the Al heads on the fuel filter/water separators in the bilge. This year we upgraded the filter heads by replacing the Al. heads with stainless steel heads.
-one less below water line active thru-hull related system to fail and potentially sink your boat.
.

 

[essyoo]

The question is do you really need or want one because their are downsides besides benefits. My boat came with a salt water wash-down system installed by the previous owner. Eventually we decommissioned it by removing the seacock and capping the thru-hull with a bronze cap. It would be easy to put it back into operation as most of the system was left in place. We did this because:
- my marina has fresh water wash-down capability at my slip and fresh water is way better than salt water.
- the salt water from the wash down was causing excess corrosion inside the hull including damaging the heads on the fuel filter/water separators in the bilge.
-one less below water line active thru-hull related system to fail and potentially sink your boat.
.

Solid points. Some things that differ in my situation:

- The launch I use has a freshwater hose but it's only operational during the summer and I also need to washdown while I'm out on the water (fish make a mess of the deck)
- I don't have an inboard and where the deck drains only goes to a bilge so corrosion isn't much an issue for me
- I was planning on having the water line route from a hatch next to the engine well and out the back, no thru-hulls needed. I wouldn't want to drill through my hull in any way

 

[Rockfish]

Solid points. Some things that differ in my situation:

- The launch I use has a freshwater hose but it's only operational during the summer and I also need to washdown while I'm out on the water (fish make a mess of the deck)
- I don't have an inboard and where the deck drains only goes to a bilge so corrosion isn't much an issue for me
- I was planning on having the water line route from a hatch next to the engine well and out the back, no thru-hulls needed. I wouldn't want to drill through my hull in any way

This conversation does have me thinking. Our boat does have a built in fresh water tank for the small galley sink which we never use as we just fish on the boat.
It should be possible to route a hose to the fresh water tank to allow a limited fresh water wash down capability at sea. Something to ponder.

 

[Explorer682]

Looking to add a washdown kit to my boat soon and had a couple questions for those who have done it already.

What's the ideal GPM I should be looking for? Is there a minimum I shouldn't go below?
Has anyone tried the kits available on Amazon? (Seaflo, etc)

thanks in advance!
I had to replace mine a few weeks ago, works well so far