Fitting windscreen washers to a Merry Fisher 655

[Bombastique]

Has anyone fitted aftermarket windscreen washers to a Merry Fisher 655 and are there any pitfalls?

I am thinking of getting one of those kits from e-b**y and fitting the tank (bag) for the water in the engine bay. Do you think it would be strong enough to lift the water by that amount and give a reasonable flow?

Thanks,

[Bombastique]

Well looks like I could be on my own.

I've got the kit from e-bay and yesterday it was suitable for a trip to the boat to try to feed in the pipes from the engine compartment to the windscreen motors. It took a while but I was able to get past the loo to the rear of the instruments and then down on the starboard side of the engine to the bulkhead under the engine hatch where I have mounted the water bottle.

I am still worried about the strength of the pump so I have run two pipes all the way from the pump to reduce the resistance of the long run.

I used the push button supplied in the kit and drilled one of the switch blanking plates to incorporate it.  I could still use a separate matching switch if I don't like the look of it. 

I also managed to get the power wire from the back of the instrument panel to the pump. Then the wind got up and the club bar and lunch beckoned so I stopped to take stock as to what to do next.

I think I will run the pipes up the wiper blades possibly onto pucker plastic spray arms or maybe just open ended tubes.  I will see how much water gets up there and what spray pattern I need.

As the pipes need to go through the deck at the base of the windscreen and as I could see no way of getting pipes through to the top, above the screen, I could use a rubber grommet with the pipe going through it or to make a better job I could try to source a couple of through deck fittings to enable the pipes to connect below and above the deck.  If I can't source these I will have to turn something in stainless to do the job on the trusty lathe.  

I'll let you know how I get on next time.

[bluesea46]

Don, I'm very interested on how your washers fitting project worked out. I'm am about to have 2 Vetus screen washers 12v fitted to my 805. I thought you'd have to use the main water tank for supply and pressure. Any advice would be appreciated. Patrick

[bombastique]

Hi Patrick,

It seemed I was on my own with this one with no replies, but I used the e-bay £12.50 water bottle and pump I was so worried about and mounted the bottle on the bulkhead behind the engine in the engine bay.  This being a very low point on the boat is why I thought the pump would be too weak.

I used a single non return valve again bought from the above site (and got 10 for about £3) through a y coupler into two pipes which I threaded through to the removable  panels under the windscreen wiper motors. There is plenty of room between the skins of the boat using an electricians pull through.

 

After a bit of testing I just used the jets supplied although the GRP is a bit thick for the length of thread on the jets as they are made for a steel car panel. I was thinking if the pressure was too low I would take the supply tubes up the wiper blades instead of using the jets. I even bought some SS glands to pass the tube through the deck. However It works fine with the jets supplied.

The electrical wiring was connected into the wiper circuit although a separate fuse would be preferable.

Using two separate pipes may have been the saviour on this one but it was just as easy to thread two separate pipes as it would have been to use one.

I saved some money on this job but I have just bought a replacement plastic drivers seat which mysteriously cracked and it cost me £227 from Jeanneau.  That hurt!

Don.

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[bluesea46]

Hi Don,
thank you so much for your advice on the washer topic. Got boat launched last week and now able to remove the drying salt water from my windscreen.
Enjoy the long Summer ahead.
kind regards,
Patrick