It's official. I'm a trawler owner.

More engine room work this weekend. I brought my father in law who is also mechanically inclined so we got a lot of work done.
I was on the HX side of the engine.
I was able to replace the heat exchanger with a new one. The old one was about 40 to 50 clogged and had an old anode in it from days past. The existing anode was only about 30% there as well. The new one fit perfectly and I was only missing 2 hoses. I used one of the old hoses as I know I can get the correct one this week. The last hose that didnt match needed a custom one that I was able to cut out from a stock hose at NAPA. It was the last raw water hose that connected to the exhaust. It turned out to be a pretty good match- better than the existing one.
Later that day I happened upon a (open) radiator shop while trying to recycle the old engine oil and dropped it off to have it cleaned and repainted. If it holds pressure, I'll keep it as a spare or put it on ebay.
We fired up the engine and it ran great. No leaks. I also replaced a few coolant hoses on that side of the motor as well as they were pretty tired looking after 2700 hours.
Im considering replacing the hoses that run all the way back to the water heater as well, but that is pretty far down on the list as of today.

My father in law wanted a project, so I cut him loose on the genny. We knew it had a bad impeller, so he started there. It was absolutely shredded with no sign of any of the pieces so we broke down the heat exchanger. The job was actually a lot easier than I envisioned. Having a good set of mechanics tools helped a lot as well. It was an educational process for both of us. It is interesting to see how the manufacturer seals off the coolant from the seawater around the heat exchanger. Inside the heat exchanger, we figure there were parts to at least 2 impellers, maybe three. We decided to remove the HX core and have it serviced as well. The genny has about 2200 hours on it so we figured it was time. (The original owner must have been a real power hog to put that many hours on it as I know the PO used the boat as a dock queen most of the time and was on shore power. Or maybe he just ran it all the time at anchor or under way) The HX appears to be clogged about 40-50% as well. We didnt have it out at the time we had the main HX out, so I brought it home and may have it cleaned locally if I dont have time to do it myself. It was late Saturday when we left the boat and I forgot the generator manual, so I cant even order parts for it. I cant even remember what brand it is. I think its an onan or a northern lights, but who knows. The impeller I took out of it has a Jabsco number on it that isnt any good. I'll post pictures of it later for laughs. Also worth noting is that the raw water pump for the genny was not the original. I have a suspicion that it was replaced with an aftermarket pump. I counted three identical spare impellers on the boat that do not match the main and are too big to be for any other pump on the boat. Here is a picture of the water pump from before we started the project. If any of you know it by sight , please say so as I dont have a clue.
He also drained the rest of the coolant out of the genny which looked pretty bad. I doubt it was ever done before at all. He also changed the oil in the main transmission as well. He got a lot done. It was great to not only have his help, but his company down in the engine room was welcome as well. Of course, we now have to wait for more parts and another weekend to take another shot at getting the genny running.

Here is the mystery water pump.

On the gen, that's the later model NL pump with mechanical seals. Give me the model of the gen and I can look up the impeller number later this afternoon. That's a good pump, I think a Johnson.

Consider replacing the boots that secure the HX core, they are inexpensive and provide the barrier between seawater and coolant.

On the main engines, did you clean the main engine gear oil coolers? Those are restrictive and clog easily.

Nice work bligh . Looks like Frisky is getting some long overdue love

Yup Northern Lights gen. Nice work, only a little nit pick, I would have painted the heat exchanger Cummin's color before installing.

Here is the old impeller and the impeller parts we fished out of the HX.

Ski in NC said:

On the gen, that's the later model NL pump with mechanical seals. Give me the model of the gen and I can look up the impeller number later this afternoon. That's a good pump, I think a Johnson.

Consider replacing the boots that secure the HX core, they are inexpensive and provide the barrier between seawater and coolant.

On the main engines, did you clean the main engine gear oil coolers? Those are restrictive and clog easily.

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Ski, thanks, but I dont even have a clue about the model number. I have been working on so many different things, everything about the genny has slipped my mind. Maybe I can run up there this week and get the manuals.
I did bring back one of the rubber boots with me along with the HX core. I was thinking the same as you are . Just replace those boots. Maybe even the core if its cheap enough.

Marlinmike said:

Yup Northern Lights gen. Nice work, only a little nit pick, I would have painted the heat exchanger Cummin's color before installing.

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Mike,
I thought the same exact thing when I took the picture. It would have taken me about 2 minutes to spray paint it here at the shop before we installed it.. I may try to brush paint it on the engine when we get around to it.

Another question. The new heat exchanger came with a bolt and nut on it that is for grounding the exchanger to the engine block. Do you think it would be helpful to install this wire even though the old exchanger didnt have one? The new HX does have a new zinc installed in it.

Check the continuity of the zinc to ground, if its a good connection no need, if a high resistance I would add the ground strap.

bligh said:

Another question. The new heat exchanger came with a bolt and nut on it that is for grounding the exchanger to the engine block. Do you think it would be helpful to install this wire even though the old exchanger didnt have one? The new HX does have a new zinc installed in it.

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Give me the year and the kW of genset, that should be enough.

And what about those gear coolers??

Ski in NC said:

On the main engines, did you clean the main engine gear oil coolers? Those are restrictive and clog easily.

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I totally replaced the tranny oil cooler altogether. It was the worst 'offender' in the whole raw water system.

Looks like a Northern Lights M-643 or 743 Genset, and a 25-12057 pump. Great pump but I sure hate those ceramic seals.

Those mechanical seals are a PITA to service, but once installed right, they can last dang near forever. My 643 has the old lip type seal, and I've replaced it I think 3 times in 1700hrs. Annoying.

Ski in NC said:

Give me the year and the kW of genset, that should be enough.

And what about those gear coolers??

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Ski, honestly I dont know much about it. The year should be a 98 or 99.
the impeller that came out of it was a jabsco 18673-0111.

Ski in NC said:

Those mechanical seals are a PITA to service, but once installed right, they can last dang near forever. My 643 has the old lip type seal, and I've replaced it I think 3 times in 1700hrs. Annoying.

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I'm pretty sure these are the originals.

I am curious about mounting my fuel polisher. It came mounted on a nifty board already, but I am unsure what to mount that to. I found an open space in the engine room on the starboard side that I can install some vertical uni-strut from the decking in the engine room (not hull) up to the sole of the pilothouse. I am completely clueless as to what the pilothouse 'subfloor' is made of. Would it be fiberglassed marine plywood? or just fiberglass? or balsa cored fiberglass? or just marine plywood? I was told teh roof of the pilothouse and main salon are cored fiberglass, but I dont know if they would use that inside the boat as well. If any tug owners could chime in I would appreciate it as I would like to stay off the SENTOA list so the PO doesn't call me on the phone and tell me I'm a moron (long story). The entire engine room is wrapped in some sort of foil material- maybe sound insulation or fireproofing -not sure. I am also curious as to how thick the material would be. It seems that at the engine room hatch, the total thickness of the pilothouse floor is about 1.5 to 2" thick.
Thanks
Scott

healhustler said:

Looks like a Northern Lights M-643 or 743 Genset, and a 25-12057 pump. Great pump but I sure hate those ceramic seals.

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Ceramic seals in the raw water pump? I can't picture it. I'll check the parts diagram when i get the manual.

Ceramic seals are industry standard for the best pumps. No fear!! Tricky to install, but once right, last long.

Generator

Ok Ski,
It's a Northern Lights.
Here is the tag on it.

I brought the manual back. Im going to get a set of those rubber boots for the HX as was suggested.

Electrical

Does anyone know what this is? It is a device that replaced something else. I am thinking that it replaced a battery isolator, but I am not experienced enough to understand the electrical system.

Now that my engine is mostly squared away, understanding and modifying, if necessary, the electrical system is one of the major undertakings I have on my list.

Hydraulic thruster problem

No work was done this weekend. I was cruising with the family.
I used the (Dickson) stern thruster a few times. It's pretty cool since it is hydraulic and you can run it for long periods of time. You dont really need it for docking with the big screw and large rudder- but I used it to spin the boat around a few times for fun.
However, when I checked out the engine room the next day, there was a puddle of it and it looks like it has water mixed in with it. When I bought the boat,the two hydraulic lines from the solenoid to the thruster were both replaced as one had burst. I am not sure how water could enter the system. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Fathers day weekend cruise

Some pictures of this weekends cruise.
Stockton Marina
Mildred Island
Riverboat Marina
San Joaquin River
Google Barge
Craw 'dad'

That device is a 60 amp BlueSea ACR (automatic charge relay). It has voltage set points (the small pots) Look at the BlueSea website under ACR's. This is the smallest in the BlueSea ACR series. This device is a better way to charge an auxillary battery it doesn't have the voltage drop that a battery isolator would have (-.6VDC).
Bill

It's great to see you and the family using that boat.

Billylll said:

That device is a 60 amp BlueSea ACR (automatic charge relay). It has voltage set points (the small pots) Look at the BlueSea website under ACR's. This is the smallest in the BlueSea ACR series. This device is a better way to charge an auxillary battery it doesn't have the voltage drop that a battery isolator would have (-.6VDC).
Bill

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Interesting.. I'm not sure how it was hooked up on the charge end of it.. I think all the batteries are connected to it on the charge side... Probably not a good thing... I wonder how I should separate the banks of batteries.

Either end can charge, it can be either direction (bi-directional), one direction or the opposite direction (charging current flow).
It should be wired to only charge an aux battery off the primary battery, a battery charger or the alternator. The green light is lit meaning it's combining the charge. One other point I would clean up the negative buss bar it's got a decent amount of surface corrosion on it. Perhaps spray it with WD40 (the negative buss bar) after loosening the grounds then re-tighten.
Bill

I would be more than happy to help you sort out the battery's (DC) electrical systems on your boat. A good place to start would be to draw a diagram of the system starting at the 1st battery. Locate anything be it a battery charger, ACR, Isolator, alternator, battery switches and all ground and positive buss bars and fuses.
Bill