Water barrel for shop testing

[baytonemus]

I thought I'd post this photo of the 55 gallon plastic drum I put together for testing my motors in the garage. There's a 1" PVC ball valve mounted near the bottom of it with adapters so I can connect a garden host to it for draining.



I'm wondering about a couple of things, though. First, is it OK to stick that hose in the hot water outlet? It's basically just a piece of 5/8" hose so it's reducing the outlet by a little. The loop doesn't need to remain in the hose. I just didn't want to cut it until I knew for sure that I was going to use it.

Second, where should I have the water level? Obviously the prop needs to be submerged, but should I have the whole lower unit in the water?

Thanks!

 

[wilde1j]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Water must be above the water pump ... to be safe and allow for some turbulence, midway up the midsection is OK.

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Water must be above the water pump ... to be safe and allow for some turbulence, midway up the midsection is OK.

Great! Thanks.

 

[bailey]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

I tried the samething as you about 30yrs. ago. I had a problem in that the exhaust from the motor combined with the oil in the exhaust turn the water into a foamy and frothing liquid which I didn't think would help the impeller to pump the water into the engine (too slimey). A fellow at the local marina showed me the "Tank" that they used, probably about 600gal. as compared to my 50 gal. steel barrel I was using. I've always used the muff and hose method. Just keep an eye on the water in the tank!
Bailey

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

That doesn't sound encouraging. This is the way I remember the mechanic doing it (probably 40 years ago) at my dad's shop, so I figured it would work just fine.

The only problem with the "muff and hose method" (and I'm going to show how mature I am by not inserting an off-color remark here with regard to that expression) is that you can't really do that in the garage. I'd have water all over everything. Unless there's some way of connecting it up that I'm unfamiliar with???

 

[James R]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

I have used and still use a plastic 55Gal chemical drum cut about 1/3 off the top. It works fine for set up and a quick burst to check if the motor will stall at idle. Keep the hose running to keep it topped up. Fit a **** in the side near the bottom for draining. The tanks at the dealers are for setting up with the prop running at speed. I use the lake for that.

 

[mike1245]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

i use a cobo method i took the 55 gal drum and made a small hose and installed a hose connector at bottom i leave tank empty and connect muffs to small hose and to connector inside drum and water hose to outside of drum

 

[Daviet]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

I also use a drum for testing, but I installed an overflow hose to remove the oily slime on the water. Fresh water in the bottom and nasty water out of the top.

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

I have used and still use a plastic 55Gal chemical drum cut about 1/3 off the top. It works fine for set up and a quick burst to check if the motor will stall at idle. Keep the hose running to keep it topped up. Fit a **** in the side near the bottom for draining. The tanks at the dealers are for setting up with the prop running at speed. I use the lake for that.

That's good to know. Thanks!

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

i use a cobo method i took the 55 gal drum and made a small hose and installed a hose connector at bottom i leave tank empty and connect muffs to small hose and to connector inside drum and water hose to outside of drum

Meaning that the water is constantly draining out of the tank?

 

[mike1245]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

nope all water stays in tank but would take a while to fill up to where the muffs are and even then engine gets fresh water from muffs and not recycled dirty water when done i drain drum with the hose outside my shop by disconnecting at faucet

 

[bailey]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

After posting I thought to myself, I'm missing something in my post. I realized what it was. I had a "test wheel" on the engine at that time to help "loadup" the engine,that was what was causing the excess foam and oil. If you plan on keeping the motor in "neutral" I can't see any problems with what your doing!
Bailey

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

nope all water stays in tank but would take a while to fill up to where the muffs are and even then engine gets fresh water from muffs and not recycled dirty water when done i drain drum with the hose outside my shop by disconnecting at faucet

You know, I guess I don't fully understand the relationship between the function of the cold water intake port on the back of the lower unit and the water bypass port on the side. The cw intake doesn't need to draw water at all if there are muffs connected? The lower unit on this thing appears to be from an older model and the bypass is just a small hole on the side rather than the screen and wider slot on the stock unit.

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

I had a "test wheel" on the engine at that time ...

What's a test wheel?

 

[Rudi2]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

What's a test wheel?

Remove prop, install test wheel.Test wheels are designed to provide a load for a motor without the splashing that comes with running a motor in a test tank.

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Interesting. Again today, I have learned something new. A couple of things, actually...

Thanks.

 

[meyerboy]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Just to add another two pennies to the discussion. I run a plastic barrel tank with a wooden transome device that I invented (?) and I cut the barrel down just under the transom to do two things:

1. This allows the dirty water to flow over the dam, yes I keep the hose in the tank and on during motor operation. what I have found is that the stuff I dont want in my water intake floats, and spills out the spill-way.

2. ALSO... and I learned this from a guy in Poole England, the distance between the top of the tank transom and the water's surface should be equal to that of the distance between a boats' transome and the surface of the lake. This is because the back-pressure on the exaust outlet will have an impact on the fine tuning of an outboard. Too deep, too much pressure. Mine is cut down to exactly eleven inches, and the "notch" itself is about 10 inches wide. The rest of the barrel I leave at full hieght to limit the splash.

I only have short shaft motors, so it would make sense to raise the transom for a sailmaster.

I will try to get a pic up later today.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Cool set up. You fixed up the lid, to keep the motor from kicking water out on the pavement. I've been using steel drums for over 18 years and they always worked fine for me. The only hard part is lifting the motor, over the edge of the barrel. LOL Hopefully, you have an exhaust fan to pull the fumes out of the garage, right?

 

[baytonemus]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Just to add another two pennies to the discussion. I run a plastic barrel tank with a wooden transome device that I invented (?) and I cut the barrel down just under the transom to do two things:

1. This allows the dirty water to flow over the dam, yes I keep the hose in the tank and on during motor operation. what I have found is that the stuff I dont want in my water intake floats, and spills out the spill-way.

I would be interested in seeing a picture of this. This also has me thinking about fabricating some kind of inline filter ahead of the drain hose...

2. ALSO... and I learned this from a guy in Poole England, the distance between the top of the tank transom and the water's surface should be equal to that of the distance between a boats' transome and the surface of the lake. This is because the back-pressure on the exaust outlet will have an impact on the fine tuning of an outboard. Too deep, too much pressure.

I'm a bit skeptical about this. The water pressure will be changing constantly depending on the rate of speed at which the boat is moving. Also, the difference in water pressure of 2 or 3 inches depth when not moving will be very slight. Two or three feet might make a small difference but I'm doubtful about this concern.

It does bring up a fairly basic "Outboard Motors 101" question for me. Is water and exhaust being mixed together constantly with these motors? Mine is pretty old - a '63 Evinrude Big Twin 40. I think there are three places for water to enter the system on that motor - the main intake at the back of the gear case, the bypass port on the side of it, and through the small holes near where the gear case bolts onto the outer exhaust tube. Exhaust is being discharged through the inner exhaust tube into the outer where it will come in contact with the water entering the previously mentioned ports, correct? If so, the oil exhaust discharge is always being circulated through the water pump/cooling system, isn't it? The concentration would change when running in a barrel as opposed to a lake, of course.

Or am I all wet (and oily)?

 

[bob johnson]

Re: Water barrel for shop testing

Remove prop, install test wheel.Test wheels are designed to provide a load for a motor without the splashing that comes with running a motor in a test tank.

can you run a motor in a tank like the 55 gallon barrel with a test wheel at WOT???

also i would think that unless you are in forward gear and giving some throttle , that the foam and oil was stay well above the intake...

the mechanics shop i go to has a deep long plastic tub on a skid jack... that he can wheel a full load under what ever boat he wants....

not drain, move, and re fill!!!


bob