Transom Drain plugs

[Capn Jack]

Looking for input...

Transum drainplugs (thermos jug type). Do you put them on the inside of the transum (for access), or the outside? Inside, you can use them to drain out water while underweigh. On the outside water pressure helps to keep them in place, but in most cases inaccessable.

[Sea Wolf]

Capn Jack-

Here's a way to find out some previous discussions about this question that just keeps pluggin' along!

Just plug in "innie or outie?" into the Search Engine. (I can't get a link to work on the search, somehow!)

Which side of the fence (transom) are you on?

And what kind of plug do you use?

[Larry H]

Jack,

My $0.02:

Use a screw type, not the flip lever type, and put it in from the inside of the boat.

A flip lever type on the outside can be pulled out by debris or vandals.

Carry a spare plug in the boat.

If you tend to forget to put the plug in prior to launch, attach a reminder sign (or the plug itself) to the trailer winch.

If you launch without the plug, it takes about 15 min to fill the cockpit of a 22 cruiser 4 in deep! (Almost everybody does the plugless launch at least once!!)

[Capn Jack]

WOW! Sea Wolf,

Sorry for starting that one over again. It was worth the reading though..A lot of the posts cracked me up. I learned that SS Plugs are available. I have two screw type, but they are brass and require some maint. I do know if you allow oil in your bilge, the rubber on the plug will tend to deteriorate.

I think I'll, switch to a SS plug, put it in from the outside, keep my bilge pump in operating order and save the old plugs for spares next to the engine controls

[Plan C]

I love these discussions of transom plugs. They are full of great reasons for each position always, and ultimately I am not sure it often matters which the outcome is.

I count on Larry to be right about most things and rarely disagree with him. In fact I don't really disagree with him on this, as his reasoning is solid. I just disagree as far as my own practice goes.

I used to put my plug on the inside, but for a long time have put in on the outside.

Why? It's way easier than climbing into the boat and hunching down to get to the inside of the transom. That DEFINITELY is not reason itself, but it tips the scales, all things being equal.

I absolutely agree with Larry about the screw type plug. Use those only. Collect 'em. Have more than you can ever need, and have them handy.

An "inny" argument is that a vandal can tamper with the plug from the outside, removing it and having you sink. If that is an issue, put the plug inside. If not, outside works just fine. If you somehow don't tighten it adequately, water pressure is in your favor, helping to hold the plug in.

And if somehow in the unlikely possibility you lose the plug, by all means install one from the inside, at any time!

Meanwhile, spend your extra time, the time you saved not climbing in and out, to spend a few extra moments on the water.

And Larry, by the way, just how do you know it takes 15 minutes for the cockpit to fill. There's got to be a story there!

Dave

[Larry H]

Dave,

Was I embarrassed?? Oh yeh.

I launched the boat and let Nancy move to boat to the end of the launch ramp dock while I flushed and parked the trailer. When I returned to the ramp, the cockpit had that 4 inches of water in it. Quickly I removed my shoes, climbed in the boat and switched on the bilge pump. The water was just short of flooding into the cabin at the door. While the pump was working, I put a thumb in the drain hole. When the level was reduced, I got the plug and installed it.

About those vandals....A friend of mine had his $80,000 go fast boat anchored at Lake Havasu when several jet skiers came into the anchorage and pulled the drain plugs(flip type outties) on many boats anchored there. Due to the partying on the beach, the sinking boats were not noticed and several boats took on enough water to damage the engines.

Larry H

[Larry H]

Jack,

About that SS drain plug....

I would check the liner in the drain hole, mine was brass.

A SS plug in a brass tube in salt water is prone to electrolysis/corrosion and the brass tube is not easy to replace.

I put a dab of waterproof grease on the brass threads of the plug. I found that the rubber gets hard before the brass gets corroded so I replaced my plug ever two years or so.

Larry H

[colobear]

This may be dumb, but why do you even take the drain plug out? My boat is stored at home under cover and the drain plug stay in, all the time. I have a spare velcroed just above the drain hole in case I ever need it in a hurry. The only reason I can think of is to check the condition of the rubber lest the plug fail while on the water and that is reason enough to take it out every now and then but every time???

I am quite ready to change my ways, I just want to know why.

Barry

[Doryman]

I took the drain plug out of my previous (open) boat in Utah because even though I had a cover it was not enough to keep all the melting snow out of the cockpit so I wanted the water to have someplace to go.

[Capn Jack]

Colobear,

I think most of us who use salt water ramps are used to washing down the boat and quite often the cockpit after a fishing trip, then leaving the plug out to throughly drain things on the way home. Unfortunatly Pocket Yacht has to sit in the driveway, in the rain most of the winter, with the plug out and the trailer tung as high as I can get it.

[marvin4239]

With the new threaded drains if you keep your boat in a lift as I do it's impossible to remove the drain to wash down the cockpit. As nice as the threaded drain is I would gladly trade it for the old rubber plugs that I can put in and take out from the inside. If you leave one of these out at the ramp you've got big trouble!

[flapbreaker]

I use the screw type. The number one reason why I put it in from the inside is so I can tighten it if necessary.

[thataway]

Part of the answer is what boat you have, and how you use it. The CD 25 is difficult to reach the plug from inside of the boat. It should be removed, since water will stay in the bilge unless the plug is removed (the low point is foreward of the transom when the boat is "level".) For our CD 25, we remove it from the outside, each time and let the water drain out as the boat is towed to its storage place.

At least the older 22's have the plug easy to access from the inside, so for that boat I would put it in from the inside.

I agree, I don't like the "flip the level" plugs.

[Jack in Alaska]

As a previous commenter pointed out......the "outside pressure holding it in" thing is virtually nonexistent. You are talking about an approx. 2' water head on a 5/8" orifice. Not too much pressure there to worry about. Not a factor.

I use a yearly replaced lever type on the outside. It is painted bright fluoresent orange so i notice if it isn't in when walking to the boat before launch. I also have several extras (one screw & one lever) within arms reach from inside the boat if needed.

To the Whidby Isl. boater.........we all don't have covered storage for our boats. Some of us actually have to park ours on a trailer out in the rain/snow. Plug out for drainage.

[lloyds]

I had two of the screw type plugs in my old boston whaler and they lasted me 30 years. The guy that bought it from me three years ago is still using them as well. Saltwater and freshwater, they never wore out. If you buy high quality plugs they should be good for longer than you will need them.