descale saildrive???

[witzgall]

While our boat is on the hard, I thought it might be a good idea to do some sot of preventative descaling of the saildrive. Perhaps filling a 5 gallon bucket with vinegar or something a bit stronger, and then bringing it up until most of the drive is submerged??

Crazy? Could this damage seals? Even worthwhile? I can see a few barnacles that formed just inside the intakes, so perhaps more have found their way further upstream?

Chris

[DeepFrz]

It wouldn't hurt to descale the water intake pipe but I'm not sure about submersing the whole drive leg. Maybe you could tape over the intake and pour some CLR or vinegar in from the hose end.

[witzgall]

That was my original thought, but then I thought - why not the whole thing. But if I really just am trying to descale the water passages, then maybe from the top would be best.

Chris

[DeepFrz]

I have no idea if it would harm the seals or not and unless you can get an official answer its taking a big risk. Especially since you wont find out until you float her again.

[colemj]

The water passage in a saildrive is mostly wide open leg and does not need to be descaled at all. Water fills the whole leg through vents in the side of the drive and a hole on the bottom. Water is brought inside the boat through a valve threaded into a short intake passage. Any scale that could form at all would just be in that passage the valve threads into. For that, you can simply open or remove the valve, stick a bottle brush into it and move it up and down. However, I doubt you will find any scale in it worth taking the trouble for.

I have never seen manufacturer recommendations for descaling, so I think this is a worry you should just throw away to make room for other more important worries - boats require a lot of worry, so you need to prioritize...

Mark