CD 25 cockpit drains?

[Moby Dink]

Good morning all,

So, does anyone have any experience/advise on replacing CD25 cockpit drain hoses? Mine appear to be wire reenforced radiator hose or similar? Due to them being below water line and constantly submerged in salt water, they haven't faired well.
I had to cut the one to remove it, and haven't figured out how to replace it. The fittings are only a couple inches apart, and slightly off skew. I bought some "flexible" 1 1/2" schedule 40 tubing, but due to the fittings being so close together, and the cold weather limiting it's flexibility, I can't get the darn thing on.

The drain appears to be glassed in and not removable, and with the seacock being watertight and in good order, (and with my history of luck or lack thereof of removing and effectively replacing such items), I'm hesitant on removing it to get the hoses on. I've seen too many videos where they've been installed with 5200, and replacing a hose ends up being a large hole in the boat, requiring grinding, re-glassing, etc... The yard I'm at won't even allow sanding of brightwork due to dust, and that sort of repair below the waterline is certainly beyond my skill set.
I'd prefer to do the work myself rather than paying the yard, simply because I enjoy the intimacy in getting to know my boat, but ultimately I'd rather have a boat than a reef, so if anyone has any thoughts or tips, I'm all ears!

Thanks again for all the support and feedback!
Travis Wilson
'77 CD 25 Slainte

[Frenchy]

I'd suggest something like this for hose. It can take a 3-1/4" inside bend radius according to the spec sheet. To
help with installation, you can try warming with a heat gun. It will still require some strong coaxing. A little dish
soap may also help. Hopefully, the seacock and drain nipple from the cockpit floor are good. You shouldn't be removing them just to replace the hose. Good luck - boat maintenance is not always easy.


https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1&id=3417791#

[Moby Dink]

Thanks Jean. I definitely think some heat will be needed to soften things up a bit. Unfortunately, that was the only photo I had on my phone.
The trouble I'm having is that there's only about 2" between the fittings, and looks like the max length hose I will be able to fit is about 3 1/2", so that I can slide it past and up the drain spout, if you will. It seems as if the floor drain were removable, I could simply slide a longer length of hose on, and be able to get double clamps on, but it's glassed in, and I'm really trying to keep the lid on that can of worms..
I guess I'll go buy a heat gun and give that a go. Surely it'll help with stripping the old cetol off as well. It's just such a short space to try and make that bend with a short piece of tubing. Seems like there should be an easier way, (wishful hoping anyway). Of course these mid 30° January days aren't helping things any either...

[tjr818]

Would it be possible to unscrew the seacock from the through hull, slide the new hose on and then reinstall the seacock before tightening the hose clamps? She is out of the water, right?

[Frenchy]

Along those same thought lines, maybe you could unscrew that threaded nipple on the seacock, slide the hose
up the cockpit drain as high as it will go, put the nipple inside the hose and then thread the nipple back into the
seacock with a thin pair of channel locks and then lower the hose - Jean

[Moby Dink]

I'll have to take another look this weekend. Of course the day I removed the pipe, I only had that flexible PVC tubing with me and they were calling for rain the next day. So I shoved the plastic shopping bag in the drain pipe, fashioned a cup out of some reynolds wrap that was on board, and hose clamped it on in an attempt to keep rain water out of the boat. Of course that MacGyver move didn't work and I ended up with a couple gallons in the bilge. The next day I picked up a couple of 1 1/2" ferncos from lowes to at least keep rainwater from filling the boat again, but dummy me didn't realize at the time that the fernco is for 1 1/2" inside pipe diameter, and it was actually about 2"... Then after ripping my knuckle open and having the hatch lid come down on my head, I thought it best to leave before I broke out the hammer in frustration. I'm going to pick up a heat gun and try it again this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes.

[tjr818]

. . . and having the hatch lid come down on my head, I thought it best to leave before I broke out the hammer in frustration. . . .

Always tie those hatch lids up, don't ask me how I know .

[jbenagh]

Certainly secure the cockpit locker lids! (I use a bungee around a lifeline)

I remember facing this problem on my CD25 but after looking, I cannot find any photos of what I did. Here's what I remember from ca. 2009.

If you're using a seacock with a flanged base, it's installed location will be pressed against the hull, so you can't sneak up on the threads. I wanted to get rid of all those fragile exposed threads and used flanged seacocks so putting the seacock closer to the hull and threading it on wasn't an option.

What I recall is there were three pieces to the thru hull: the actual mushroom with threads; the valve with the flange and a pipe to hose adapter.

After getting the mushroom and seacock installed, with the bolts through the flange, I removed everything. Then, I softened the hose in boiling water, put the hose on the adapter, then pushed it too far onto the cockpit drain. Then I screwed the seacock onto the adapter (don't forget thread compound), then pulled the hose into the right place for clamps; two on the adapter and one on the cockpit drain since it's above sea level (and that's all that would fit).
Then, I used the flange bolts, installed from the inside, to get the seacock roughly in the right place. Then went outside the boat and installed the mushroom thru hull.

Sorry, it's been a while, I hope I didn't leave anything out, but I was able to make it work and was much more comfortable with hose that wasn't original 1975.

Jeff

[SAIL1]

I used an automotive radiator hose on my SS23 for the cockpit drain hose....
the cockpit drain hose does not operate under any meaningful pressure or temperature....
my reasoning was that the radiator hose operates under much more severe conditions than the cockpit drain hose...
Ofcourse, use a top quality hose and to get the best shape to fit the configuration on the boat one can check the websites of the hose manufacturers, or check the local auto parts store or go to the local junk yard and check out the hoses on the engines to get the best shape of hose and note the year and model of the car/truck....
since many of these hoses come pre-formed into curves, etc, it makes it allot easier to install on the boat in tight setups....

[Bill Goldsmith]

I used an automotive radiator hose on my SS23 for the cockpit drain hose....
the cockpit drain hose does not operate under any meaningful pressure or temperature....
my reasoning was that the radiator hose operates under much more severe conditions than the cockpit drain hose...
Ofcourse, use a top quality hose and to get the best shape to fit the configuration on the boat one can check the websites of the hose manufacturers, or check the local auto parts store or go to the local junk yard and check out the hoses on the engines to get the best shape of hose and note the year and model of the car/truck....
since many of these hoses come pre-formed into curves, etc, it makes it allot easier to install on the boat in tight setups....

I rented a Sea Sprite 23 for an afternoon a few years ago. What a wonderful sailboat!

I wouldn't use auto radiator hose. Even if it is wire reinforced, it's unlikely to be stainless steel wire, so it will corrode fairly quickly in the marine environment (especially in a salt water environment). Also, even if reinforced, it is more compressible than marine reinforced hose. It also cuts easier than marine hose. If it works for you, that's great, but if it were on my boat I would be checking it several times a season for corrosion or other signs of damage, particularly if it's connected to a through-hull. And it would be on my short list to change out for marine grade. I know marine-grade is pricey, but it's for good reasons, not just because they put the word "marine" in front of it.

Here's hoping for an early spring!

[SAIL1]

I understand the reluctance of using automotive radiator hose in a marine environment and had to overcome that myself. When I began to check the operating conditions of the cockpit drain hose versus the conditions encountered on an automotive engine I felt more confident in using it.
I would be more hesitant about using it on a marine engine application without a thorough check of the specs and would probably stick with the marine grade for peace of mind.
One concern I had with using marine grade hose was it's stiffeness and difficulty to bend a radius which would leave a residual lateral load on the fittings when installed. Whatever force it took to install/bend radius,etc. is the force that will remain when installed until creep sets-in in the hose or the fitting deflects laterally.
Good point about the wire reinforcing possibly corroding, as evident in the OP's photo, but as far as I know, the majority of radiator hoses use fabric reinforcing nowadays.
Good point also of the possibility of accidentally cutting it or damaging it during it's lifespan.Still weighing the odds of that happening.
One lingering doubt was the possibility of water freezing in the hose if the boat is in the water year-round and how the fabric reinforced hose would handle that and concluded that the hose was flexible enough to handle it