Found this in the depths of one of the lockers; anyone recognise it? It has a Hozelock-type hose connection, and two rubber suckers on a hairpin frame:
2014-11-15 12_opt
Sun, 16/11/2014 - 3:33pm
#1
What is this?
Flush muffs.
For running the outboard out of the water, you put it round the bottom of the outboard leg with the "muffs" over the water inlets. Connect a hose and turn on the tap. It will spew water everywhere, that doesn't matter, but you can start the engine and it will pull in enough water to keep cool.
It's very important not to try to run an outboard out of water even for a few seconds, because without water the rubber impeller blades will very quickly overheat and be damaged, and then the impeller won't work even when it's back in the water.
Inspecting the impeller is a key part of regular maintenance, they're quite cheap to replace but a failed impeller can wreck the whole engine if it doesn't pump enough water.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
..and it is very important to flush salt water out of the engine every chance you get to minimise the corrosion of the sacrificial anodes within the engine or worse the aluminium of the engine leg itself.
It's well worth inspecting the internal anodes as they should be checked/changed when an engine is serviced but frequently get ignored by the less reputable mechanics. I have always insisted on the return of the old anodes or photos of their condition if not changed. Helps to ensure they get attended to.
Ok, now my turn, anyone identify this? Found in the depths of my lockers and the PO didn't know either!
2014-06-25 15.51.02
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Bizarre! Looks like a pole is supposed to fit in the socket, but I still can't work it out. Absolutely no trace of the Loopee Co on the web, so clearly as ideas go it wasn't the brightest!
Might it be something to loop and pickup a mooring line?
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Thanks people, at last something really useful! What a great idea; I knew that the outboard should never be run out of water, and this will be really useful. I was thinking of getting a 45-gallon drum and filling it with water, but this will save a lot of hassle for flushing the engine and fine-tuning.
Dave, this strange object must be a mooring buoy grabber? It's got a "boat hook pole" sized hole, and the plastic ring looks about the size of a mooring buoy. I did try looking up http://www.loopee.info, but no page exists! Anyway, for what it's worth that's what I reckon.
Aggh, I think you've got it. A buoy catcher makes sense!
I thought from the name 'Loopee' it was something to do with the heads, it even looks like a toilet seat.
Sorry for the image size, I did rescale it first but then something went wrong when I uploaded it.
Who's next with their mystery boat accessory picture?
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Dave, the photo re-sizer I use is http://www.webresizer.com/resizer/ which works simply and doesn't try and load lots of useless software onto your PC.
Hope I'm not teaching my grandmother to suck eggs (euwww..), but it seems to the best tool for the job.
I am very new to the Macers gathering but I too have one of the single inlet flushing muff you have pictured. I though parked that in favour of a new one with both rubber discs allowing water into both sides of the leg (double sided). In my comparative ignorance I felt there must be less chance of damage to the Yamaha 50hp with twice the volume of water. The double sided unit is our there are prices ranging from £10 to £25.Happy flushing John.Jennings