heated powerwasher

[Mr. Kav]

i have the opportunity to use a heated powerwasher and i have never used one before. i have used a regular one and was planning on doing the same but this year i had to leave my motors in the water more often than i wanted to due to the slip i was in and the motors are stained a bit and it didn't come off as well as i would have liked with the regular washer.

can anyone see any problems that may occur using the hot water on my lower housings of my motors?

[Trayder]

How hot is hot?

I only wash my boat with Hot water but it is only 90-104F. Hot fresh water is the best solution for dissolving salt.

Becarefull of cracking.

In this cold weather plastic, glass, and other items may not like being doused with hot water.

[Van]

Kav, mine stained a bit this year too even though its always up at the slip. I used some simple green, then some marine polishing compound (for the hull) and it came clean.

That washer sounds like a good idea, does it heat the water or do you just pipe hot water into it? Either way, I can't see it hurting anything.

[Mr. Kav]

i finished power washing it with hot water. the poweer washer is run on deisel and it heats the water. i set it at 100 degrees but the moved it up to 200 degrees at it worked great but there are still stains on the motors that i will have to try and get rid of. i think the polishing will do the trick. simply green huh? i will have to try that.

[Rip Runner]

Mr. Kav, spray some On-Off on your lower units and the stains will come right off without even having to scrub. This is real strong stuff, so read the directions. It's mostly used to clean the stains on boat hulls that don't have bottom paint, but are left in the water for a period of time. West Marine has a knock of product that works just as well, for a little less money. I did my engine in 5 minutes!

[Team Rock On]

On-Off is supposedly to be used only on fiberglass/gelcoat. I tried using it on my hull for stains but it didn't work that well and you're not supposed to get it on the trailer. For a couple of bucks scrubbin bubbles works the best. One can does the whole (unpainted) bottom of my 29' boat a couple of times.

[STEVE IN MASS]

David - you have what you need sitting in a drum about 100 feet from your desk...(think about it...).....use it full strength, scrub a bit with a scrub brush, and then rinse well....

And it's free!.....

[Mr. Kav]

steve that stuff might be a little to strong

[STEVE IN MASS]

Nah.....how many times have you seen #^&#^&#^&#^& (or me, for that matter) stick our hands in it.....besides, remember when you were beatching and moaning about the stains on the deck of your Whaler.....what did I tell ya do use, and what worked for ya?

If you're that concerned, dilute it 50/50 with water, but even straight, it shouldn't hurt anything....after all, it's only super soap..........just be sure to rinse throughly afterwards.....

Or, if ya wanna go all out after the rinse, spray with some vinegar, rinse again, and then spray with a mixture of baking soda and water, and rinse again.....

Chemistry is a wonderful thing, but what would you mechanical engineers know, anyways......