Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

[Fishermark]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

And you were thinking of cheap plastic at one time???

Good job!

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

Although...now that I look at it again.... Not to "throw water" on what you've done, but I believe the ball valve should be attached directly to the through hull pick up in order to shut off the water in case of an emergency. The way you have it now if the hose should come off the through hull fitting your boat will sink in a hurry.

 

[makonnen]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

DUH ... why didn't I think of that.

Good point, thanks for the input, I will make that change. But I'll need to special order a 45 deg FF 1 1/4 adapter for it.

To be honest, I never thought about that possibility, I only put a ball valve there to allow me to flush the engine.

Thanks! Looking for other suggestions ...

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

Just for future reference, what exactly is the point of the conversion? Is there a history of the B3's not having adequate cooling capability through the regular factory water pickup? I mean I wouldn't question it on a boat going 65mph+, but the B3 isn't rated for speeds over that, so . . . . enlighten me?!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

Just for future reference, what exactly is the point of the conversion? Is there a history of the B3's not having adequate cooling capability through the regular factory water pickup? I mean I wouldn't question it on a boat going 65mph+, but the B3 isn't rated for speeds over that, so . . . . enlighten me?!

Um...Yeah. I can only get mine to go 57 mph with my stock 454!!

My Bravo III works just fine with drive water pickup in 85 degree water (and I have closed cooling) and it picks up below the surface of the water so it doesn't grab anything that happens to be floating on (or near) the surface of the water.

Any "stuff" that is floating on the surface that just happens to make it to the screen might go into the screen (and strainer) or if it's a plastic bag etc, might just cover the pickup........ Yes I know that's remote, but it does happen even with drive pickups (except that your drive pickup is on both sides of the drive instead of one place......

 

[makonnen]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

That is correct ... do a web search and ask your merc dealer, this is a problem with Bravo drives. They tend to be hooked up to some pretty big engines. Its not hard to see that a 5/8" rubber hose may not be adequate to cool the engine, manfolds, risers, elbows and quiet down the exhaust.

In addition, Mercruiser makes several parts to help with this conversion ... a flush kit, a blockoff plate to block off the hose at the gimbal housing area, and a transom mounted raw water intake.

The flush kit and transom mounted intake is expensive. Flush kit = $170, transom intake = $180. I decided to go with a thru hull and assemble my own parts. This is what my Merc dealer does too. They don't use the Mercruiser transom raw water intake.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

Hmm. Well, I'm not saying it's not going to work. I'll bet you don't ever have any problems with it at all. btw, nice job on the steel fab work!

Can you post a picture of your boat...... (you in Seattle?)

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

all your connections should have double hose clamps on them if they are below the water line.

 

[makonnen]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

For sure, if you look back at the pics, I got some seriously HD clamps but I bought the wrong size. Thanks for the suggestion anyways!

Keep the critiques coming, this is very helpful!

Anything you would do differently?

 

[makonnen]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

Hmm. Well, I'm not saying it's not going to work. I'll bet you don't ever have any problems with it at all. btw, nice job on the steel fab work!

Can you post a picture of your boat...... (you in Seattle?)

Believe it or not I have no pictures of the boat, only pictures of me working on it.

 

[makonnen]

Re: Up to no good: Bravo III thru hull water pickup

And here's my flush kit: