Hi Dennis, Thanks for the great resource to heat exchanger maintenance. FWIW, I keep several 1/8" wooden dowels aboard (Walmart or Michaels) to ream out the scale buildup in the heat exchanger of my Universal M4-30. It makes a huge difference cleaning the tubes out and I do that each fall after I change the oil and before I pump the pink stuff throught the engine. The wooden dowels come in a length I can break in half and I keep them in a Rubbermaid container onboard labeled "Engine", with spare belts, oil filters, fuel filters, oil absorbent towels, spare raw water pump impellers, zinc anodes for the heat exchanger (I have to use a hack saw and cut off the shelf anodes to fit my heat exchanger) and spare zincs for the Maxprop and shaft. I've never replaced the gaskets or the O-rings on the end cap bolts in the 16 years I've had the boat. But wooden dowels have saved me several times when the engine was overheating.
Now I'm cursed and will have to order those heat exchanger gasket parts. > On December 3, 2018 at 1:51 PM "Dennis C. via CnC-List" > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Dave, > > Yes, broken heat exchanger anodes is a common issue. Happens on Touche' > frequently. :( > > First, you can simply take a dowel or rod and tap the anode piece into > the exchanger. Depending on how many other anode bits are in the exchanger, > you may be fine. HOWEVER, IF this has been done a bunch of times, there is a > potential for one pass of your exchanger to be restricted and you will suffer > engine overheating. > > I went through this last year with my Universal 25XPB. Fix is > straightforward but may be complicated by access to your exchanger. You'll > need to remove the exchanger end caps and remove ALL the anode bits. Flush > the tubes liberally with pressure water. Chances are the tubes are fairly > clean but inspect them to be sure. Due to access issues, I shined a light in > one end while looking with a mirror on the other end. If clean, reinstall > the end caps with NEW gaskets. You can install the new anode before you put > the end caps on just to see what it looks like inside the exchanger. Just > helps with visualization. > > Here's a good article on the issue: > > > https://marinehowto.com/westerbeke-universal-marine-heat-exchanger-cleaning/ > > Dennis C. > Touche' 35-1 #83 > Mandeville, LA > > On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 11:18 AM David Knecht via CnC-List < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com > wrote: > > > > > > #2- I removed the engine heat exchanger anode that I put in a few > > years ago. The cap came off without the zinc itself. I first interpreted > > this as the zinc being completely gone. However, when I tried to insert a > > new one, it was blocked from going in at all. I am guessing this means the > > zinc core broke off and is stuck inside. If I take the end cap off, can I > > get to the piece inside? Is this a common problem? > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each > and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > >
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