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Stern drainage rails


tstore

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Hi all

I have drainage rails on the stern which were blocked when I bought the boat and resulted in flooding the engine bay. I unblocked them but they keep blocking even though I cleaned the rails out. The rails drain vertically downward to an L shaped bend and out the side of the hull horizontally. No amount of poking with a long screwdriver unblocks them anymore. Can you give me some suggestions as to what might work to unblocked them?

 

P.S. I am waiting for a pram hood to be made for the stern which I am hoping will prevent the rails having to drain so much off the stern in the future.

 

Thanks very much for taking the time read.

 

Thomas

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Mine kept blocking so eventually I gave up with them. I cut them off about 2" below the channel leaving a spigot. I then pushed a piece of hose over each spigot which then curved gently to two new hull fittings. 

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3 minutes ago, tstore said:

Sorry should have read, did you cut the existing drainage rails out and use existing hull exits?

Nope, I fitted two new hull fittings. On reflection my outlets were square too so I cut them off flush and had a chap weld on a couple of short bits of steel pipe

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I used to fill my rainwater butt at home via a vertical length of small gauge plastic water pipe - forever blocking at the top with cr@p!  Too high to reach without stepladders.  Pop to your friendly neighbourhood curtain shop and get yourself a suitable length of plastic covered curtain wire and keep it coiled up in your oddments box. Most of the time you should be able to clear blockages with a bit of aggressive poking.  Maybe leave one end of the wire fairly rough and you can screw that end into an obstruction (assuming it is just leaves or general crud) by turning the free end.  Also useful for clearing blocked sinks and similar.

  • Greenie 1
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Best way to keep pipes unblocked is to feed a length of small diameter chain through them, and fix a large enough keyring to each end so that they do not fall out, but allow sufficient extra length so that you can just pull it back and forth to clear detritus that gathers, in older wooden boats we use that alongside the keel below the ribs to keep the water passing through between them. Cheers. Mick

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Thanks for the responses. I got one unblocked with the wire curtain rail but the other won't unblock! I'll get a wire coat hanger.

Great idea on the chains but how would you feed the chain down the pipes considering mine is L shaped?

Thanks

 

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1 hour ago, tstore said:

Great idea on the chains but how would you feed the chain down the pipes considering mine is L shaped?

Push it through with the curtain wire?

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  • 3 years later...

Hi all

 

Still having great trouble with the one drainage hole/square pipe blocking at the mere hint of dirt. The curtain wire does not bend through the 90 degree angle so can't use it to feed a chain through it. Tried washing it down with water but that didn't work either. Anyone got any other ideas on how to feed a chain down through the 90 degree bend?

 

Thanks

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5 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Push bike brake, or gear cable outer might work too. Have used it on sink U bends in the past.

Jen

I keep a length of that springy plastic-covered net curtain wire around for jobs like that.

  • Greenie 1
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Flexy curtain wire is your friend for many applications, and cheap too. I've been using mine on the pick up tube in the water tank. Step one was to feed it through. Step two was toremove and strip back some plastic sleeve, damage the end to make a worm/hook then cut the wire to a suitable length and stick it in an lecky drill. The threshing and hook end should help it pull itself through and clear any blockage regardless of right angle. Worth a shot.

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12 minutes ago, Opener said:

... then cut the wire to a suitable length and stick it in an lecky drill.

Run the drill in the correct direction so that the wire tightens the twist and doesn’t try to undo itself. 

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