automatic raw water drain

[Boatsb]

There was a system to flush you rengines after using them that circulated fresh water to clean the HE and other parts.

It worked so well my buddy got a new generator and a pair of rebuilds soon after installing it. The inventor was pretty sure of himself too.


I design and install systems that can be cutting edge BUT have proven components and logic. I would not destroy an engine to save having to do maintenance. FWIW I bet the orings and seals would fail if never replaced either.

I stick with what works and believe if it were that simple the manufacturers would include it as a feature tha made their engine better than the others. I guess the conspiracy theorists will be chimeing in real soon.

[jim rosenthal]

Without making this personal, I think that of course you can install the kind of system you describe, but I think you would get the same results from regular changing of zincs and yearly flushing of the system when you winterize the boat. And you don't have the complexity added.

[bostonhatteras]

Of course it can be done, that's not the issue. But the risk/reward ratio is way out of balance in my opinion, but I have been wrong about a lot of things over the course of my life.

Most of the engines we have here are turbo charged, so what of the after/intercoolers?

Why, in the entire history of marine diesel engines, hasn't an engine manufacturer recommended (and installed easy to use valves) draining the raw water side after every use?

By all means go ahead and install this on your boat and report back to us. Someone has to go first, why not the inventor?

As I said, I have the manual valves in place and drain them every time I come back. I do not have to run acid through them yearly. I do replace the zincs yearly regardless of the very little wasting of them. The coolers have lasted 4 years between maintenance so something is working correctly. I would say that EVERY engine manufacturer has installed this. They are called pipe plugs! I simply replaced the plugs with valves. I would imagine the expense to the manufacturer on a unit basis would preclude doing this. Additionally it is peripheral equipment and usually installer or operator installed.

[workingonadream]

I agree with the others, that the reward ratio is slim, also what about the intercooler, the fuel rail etc. I know it is usually the exchanger that more often gets cleaned, draining it to get anything out of there that can grow is definitely a good idea, but on the other hand, yes salt is water soluble, but if there is no water present for it to be soluble, it will start to coat your exchanger and act as an insulator which will cause you to have to clean the exchanger anyway. I would approach this a different way if I was trying to accomplish the same. I would try to figure some sort of fitting that goes on the raw water pump that has a fitting for a garden hose, but that can also be blocked off when not in use so as not to suck air, i never gave this idea much thought but if it could be done from there, your whole motor gets flushed every time you come back to the dock and life is good. i have seen flushing systems on gas jobs i remember it was an express boat but i do not recall the manufacturer. in the end it is your boat so do what makes you comfortable and enjoy

[bostonhatteras]

I agree with the others, that the reward ratio is slim, also what about the intercooler, the fuel rail etc. I know it is usually the exchanger that more often gets cleaned, draining it to get anything out of there that can grow is definitely a good idea, but on the other hand, yes salt is water soluble, but if there is no water present for it to be soluble, it will start to coat your exchanger and act as an insulator which will cause you to have to clean the exchanger anyway. I would approach this a different way if I was trying to accomplish the same. I would try to figure some sort of fitting that goes on the raw water pump that has a fitting for a garden hose, but that can also be blocked off when not in use so as not to suck air, i never gave this idea much thought but if it could be done from there, your whole motor gets flushed every time you come back to the dock and life is good. i have seen flushing systems on gas jobs i remember it was an express boat but i do not recall the manufacturer. in the end it is your boat so do what makes you comfortable and enjoy

This set up you mention is exactly what I have on my genset. To flush the heat exchanger on it I simply installed a wye before the raw water pump. One side of the wye goes to the raw water strainer and the other side goes to a ball valve with domestic water connected in turn. To flush I simply shut the raw water strainer and open the domestic water ball valve. It works pretty good. I simply assumed the water consumption of the main engines was just to great to be supported by the domestic water supply on the boat.

[workingonadream]

I think you would be fine because you would not be running for a long time and you would be at idle. I guess I would keep an eye on the temp gauge and maybe let the boat cool down for 20 minutes or so before you flush.

[bostonhatteras]

You guys are mentioning fuel rails and intercoolers and aftercoolers. Only the aftercooler is raw water cooled. (at least on detroits) The others are cooled by the coolant. The aftercooler only sees heat when the engine is running so draining water from that most likely wouldn't be an issue but I'm not sure.

[workingonadream]

my intercooler is raw water cooled I know this because I cleaned it. I have 8v71s my rail is also raw water cooled

[Mike36c]

I came up with and installed a stupid simple fresh water flush that incorporates the stuffing box cooler hose, manual in operation and back feed flushes the entire cooling system using the ship's tank. Two years now and works perfect, zincs last over a year and the aftercoolers are happy.

[bostonhatteras]

I came up with and installed a stupid simple fresh water flush that incorporates the stuffing box cooler hose, manual in operation and back feed flushes the entire cooling system using the ship's tank. Two years now and works perfect, zincs last over a year and the aftercoolers are happy.

What does your set up consist of?