How do you clear the transom draining hole?

[David Hampson]

My transom drain is blocked and keeps filling up with water. I have tried pushing a wire clothes hanger down the hole but it stops at something hard!
Is the drain outlet behind the plate what supports the engine brackets?

Advice please

David

[Mork]

Mine was blocked to; so I just put a fresh water hose on full blast up the drain hole from the back. (IE pushing water the wrong way) After a few times the whole thing drains just dandy.

Leon

[Catigale]

ON an the drain takes a right angle fitting below deck and then exits horizontally out the transom (back end) portside of the motor on mine.

Mine unjams if I push a hose nozzle against it tightly and use hose water pressure...I also put a cork in it an then flush the leaves out of the transom by overfilling it with the hose, rather than letting the junk plug the pipe.

[Night Sailor]

I used the water hose at the transom hole reverse flush method also. Worked every time. Now I also lay a peice of aluminum screening over the cavity to prevent anything large like leaves or acorns from getting in the drain in the first place.

[kmclemore]

Just be careful because you can blow the hose off the inside if you use too much pressure. Otherwise, the reverse-pressure method works fine for me. You can also use an air-line.

[Frank C]

Also, keep a zip-tie handy in the motor well. I mean one of the super heavy-duty zips that are about one-eighth inch thick, nine inches long. Probing first from transom upwards, it can help the water stream dislodge the crud.

Zip-ties, velcro and duct tape ... priceless Yachtsman's tools.

[mike uk]

I keep a small domestic suction plunger in my tool kit onboard. Just a couple of gentle pumps is all that's needed to shift any debris in the tube. Better than poking things down. (I learnt this from dealing with the same problem clearing a very narrow outlet in the lead-lined tanking which forms the roof of a bay window at home!)

Mike

[Scott]

Its actually the same clear 1" ID line thats under your sink. I just hit mine with the power washer each time I wash the boat, Almost 10 y/o and never leaked.

[Frank C]

David - I just noticed that most of your advice is coming from 26X-ers ... not sure which boat you and Mork have. If you have a 26X, your coat hanger hits something solid, it's probably hitting the PVC elbow ... try a flexible probe. You can see the entire thing by pulling the fabric panel to see the inside of transom.

Also, consider posting your boat info into the "location field" of your member profile

[DLT]

I use the "poke it with a heavy duty zip tie" method.

[RandyMoon]

Hose or power washer. There ought to be some handy filter to place over the hole.

[James V]

I use a turkey baster, Great for all drains and removing water inside the boat.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

One trick is to fish a line through it, loop it back up to the transom outside and tie good sized knot in it joining the ends into a continuous loop. When thing start to clog up just rotate the loop through the pipe using the large knot to break through the clog. Once you break out the main gunk you can rinse the rest out easily.

[Sloop John B]

Yeah, the problem is that the drain holes are small and the inside tube is large, which sort of invites a clog. The drain tube is easily assessable in the X if a big chunk of concrete hardens.

You'll notice that the rubber plugs that were supplied for your two sinks fit in the drain hole perfectly. I keep mine plugged up. The pine needles and leaves and rain fill up this transom 'sink'. The overflow runs out over the back. The stains are easily removed with all the products recommended elsewhere on the board.

And as Kevin cautioned, dont use any move force than a garden hose for back flushing the drain. Pressure washer could blast it up onto your forward berth.

[Chip Hindes]

Sloop, doesn't plugging the drain with a bung so it doesn't get plugged by gunk kind of defeat the purpose? In any case, up here in the Nawth no matter how it gets plugged (either self inflicted or otherwise) when it fills with water then freezes you've got a major effort, and that block of ice can't be good for it.

On several occasions in the dead of winter, I've had to bring hot water from the house in a bucket to thaw the block of ice in the well and the tube itself.

Once it's thawed, though, I'm with you on backflushing with a garden hose. 65psi has always been plenty. I've had zero luck with poking stuff through. Even a plumber's snake has failed to clear it, but a garden hose held against the outlet does it every time.