First jackass manuever as a trawler owner.

[bligh]

I left the dock with my raw water seacock closed. The engine did not over heat until I ran up the rpms well out of the harbor. I shut the engine down and jumped down into the engine room to inspect everything. The raw water pump was super hot and then I noticed the seacock closed. We drifted in calm water for about 10 minutes and I turned the engine back on and the temp went right down.

I remember reading here somewhere that an owner leaves his boat keys on the handle of the seacock every time he closes it for any reason. At the time I thought to my self, " That's a great idea!." Well, from now on I will put that idea into practice. Lesson learned.

 

[Pau Hana]

Change your impeller- the excessive heat can damage the rubber.

Cheap insurance.

 

[FlyWright]

+1!

 

[markpierce]

I use this tag when the engine isn't set up to run as when having the raw-water inlet closed.

Also examine exhaust for water while/before untying the boat.

 

[bligh]

Change your impeller- the excessive heat can damage the rubber.

Cheap insurance.

I was afraid some one would say that. It is (was) a brand new impeller and a real headache to replace. I will add it onto my short list, especially since my insurance agent recommends it. I may get one of the impeller extractor tools to assist me.

 

[Giggitoni]

Also, get in the habit of checking for water flow from the exhaust after starting the engine and before leaving the slip.

 

[bligh]

Also, get in the habit of checking for water flow from the exhaust after starting the engine and before leaving the slip.

I dont get water out of my exhaust when I am idling. I am not sure how my exhaust works. I know some goes out the side above the water line and some goes below the waterline.

 

[bligh]

Ok, I just ordered two of these from amazon. About $2.50 each

 

[FlyWright]

Also, get in the habit of checking for water flow from the exhaust after starting the engine and before leaving the slip.

I dont get water out of my exhaust when I am idling. I am not sure how my exhaust works. I know some goes out the side above the water line and some goes below the waterline.

If you're asking for advice, I'd caution you against starting the engine again without changing the impeller...especially if you can't verify that the engine is pumping cooling water.

Do you see water exiting your exhaust at power settings above idle?

 

[gwkiwi]

Generally even exhausts that defer under water while under way will also spit water out at idle above water line, for two reasons there us not enough pressure at idle to expel exhaust water underwater and to show you that your cooling system is working. at least that was the case in a former boat I owned.

You should check your impeller as other have said it sounds as though a vane or two might be missing.

We also have a reminder taped at the helm which reminds us to check the fuel manifold every morning and thru hulls when we close them which is not unless we leave the boat for an extended time.

We also have a pre start check list which I use religiously it helps me to remember to turn my stabilizers to neutral, among other things and it also reminds me to turn them to center before casting off.

Some may laugh at check lists but pilots have been doing them for yeons for a reason.

 

[She-Kon]

I have one of these to go in our boat.

Cooling Water Flow : AQUALARM, Warning Systems For Land And Sea

Not too spendy at all. Just need the right place to splice it into the cooling water circuit.

 

[bligh]

Do you see water exiting your exhaust at power settings above idle?

I see a little bit of water coming out of the exhaust at cruising speeds but none during idle. There is a 2" outlet that exits above the water line and a 4" or 6" outlet below the water line. I assumed that during idle the water just drains out through the lower exhaust exit.

I dont really have any way to verify water flow through the system other than manually feeling the cooling system at its various locations when it is running. Typically after the raw water pump, I can feel that it is cold or cool as it passes through fuel return cooler before it enters the after cooler (I do have one of the IR guns- I just dont break it out unless I need something specific). I can also (carefully) put my hand on the heat exchanger to see that it is cool/warm as well. When I touched it after the temperature alarm wend off it was really hot to the touch but cooled off immediately after starting with the sea-cock open.

 

[Larry M]

I have one of these to go in our boat.

Cooling Water Flow : AQUALARM, Warning Systems For Land And Sea

Not too spendy at all. Just need the right place to splice it into the cooling water circuit.

 

[bligh]

If you're asking for advice, I'd caution you against starting the engine again without changing the impeller...especially if you can't verify that the engine is pumping cooling water.

I did verify that the engine was pumping raw water. I ran it for 30 -40 hours over the weekend after the overheating incident and engine temperatures were fine. I have a spare impeller that I will install next weekend. Hopefully I wont have to disassemble the aftercooler again to fish out missing vanes.

It would be nice to have a better indicator of raw water flow at the dock though. What about an exhaust temperature gauge?

 

[CPseudonym]

May not be a bad idea to have one of these down stream of the pump if you have the room.

 

[fryedaze]

I left the dock with my raw water seacock closed. The engine did not over heat until I ran up the rpms well out of the harbor. I shut the engine down and jumped down into the engine room to inspect everything. The raw water pump was super hot and then I noticed the seacock closed. We drifted in calm water for about 10 minutes and I turned the engine back on and the temp went right down.

I remember reading here somewhere that an owner leaves his boat keys on the handle of the seacock every time he closes it for any reason. At the time I thought to my self, " That's a great idea!." Well, from now on I will put that idea into practice. Lesson learned.

I did the same thing last fall but I didnt get so lucky and have the temps drop on restart. The impeller was only a few months old.The one on the left is the results of my lapse in memory.

 

[Larry M]

QUOTE: It would be nice to have a better indicator of raw water flow at the dock though. What about an exhaust temperature gauge?

We have both. The water flow is first. If you loose the flow, the alarm sounds before the engine temperature rises so you have a little time if you have get out of a channel or when you are docking before the engine temperature rises and the engine has to be shut down.

 

[caltexflanc]

Being a natural jackass, I found having a pre-departure checklist to be invaluable. One item of several is checking all the strainers and attendant seacocks. Checking water flow after start is another. No need to do anything with the keys or tags etc, though a tag like shown (I just used a post it note) may be handy if there was something unusual going on.

You need to find out where your exhaust water goes ASAP!! And how every other vital fluid and electrical current flows too!

 

[bligh]

I have one of these to go in our boat.

Cooling Water Flow : AQUALARM, Warning Systems For Land And Sea

Not too spendy at all. Just need the right place to splice it into the cooling water circuit.

I could install this in between the strainer and the raw water pump. Does the alarm sound when the key is on engine off? That would be great to verify the alarm is working properly.

 

[psneeld]

I could install this in between the strainer and the raw water pump. Does the alarm sound when the key is on engine off? That would be great to verify the alarm is working properly.

that's where I mounted mine....just in front of the raw water pump...

bad news is...yes you may hear the alarm on start...but most low oil pressure alarms are louder.

I'll get around to installing latching solenoids in the alarm system so I can disable the alarm noise but keep the warning lights. Too much noise sounds like an emergency which scares too many passengers and makes them less than capable of helping with the emergency/bad situation.

 

[Larry M]

We have the old style Aqua Alarm single engine, 5 system monitoring kit. The new one has a mute button for the bell. Price has gone up a little but still at less than $350, it's a simple, reliable, easy to install alarm system.

20001 Five Systems Monitoring Kit Single [] - $349.00 : AQUALARM, Warning Systems For Land And Sea

 

[LaBomba]

Rightly or wrongly I don't close my raw water inlet valve on a regular basis but I do check my exhaust for flow when I start up. I do go through a routine on preparing to start and after start up and have a checklist at the helm. Another monitor that is cheap and easy attaches to the exhaust hose and warns of high temperature long before the engine overheats.

Wet Exhaust Temperature Alarm by Borel Manufacturing Inc.

 

[markpierce]

The Coot has a similar alarm/light panel:

Post #4 shows alarm lights for the engine.

 

[Gulf Comanche]

Yep, been a jackass many time, so for that I put together a startup/shutdown list. It's a Word document & attached, hopefully; if not, PM me w/ email address and I'll send it. I laminated the doc and it sure has helped.
Mike

 

[Edelweiss]

My first jackass move:

Backing out of my slip only to discover that the yellow cable stretched out in front of my boat was my electrical cable. . . which of course was still attached to the dock power pedestal.

 

[Gulf Comanche]

Yeah, I've done the power cable pull out, also recently dropped the hot end of the power cable into the water, and pulled out w/ one of the lines still attached which was not untied by one of my buds who was supposedly handling that operation.

 

[Ski in NC]

If I do anything that means "don't start me", key comes out of ign. Tagouts good idea too.

Not a fan of sea water flow alarms, seen them fail due to fouling. Either not actuate at low flow, or actuate when flow is good. Neither good. Delicate moving parts in sea water are hard to make reliable.

My fave is a snap disc switch on exhaust mixer. Or a look over the transom for water spilling out the tailpipe. I understand the OP can't make that check, and that's unfortunate.

A dive in the ER and put hand on back of pump. Cool, it's pumping. Hot, it's not.

 

[Billylll]

I solved that problem years ago the only time they get closed other than when I excersize them is the beginning and end of the season.
Bill

 

[ghost]

Yeah, I've done the power cable pull out, also recently dropped the hot end of the power cable into the water, and pulled out w/ one of the lines still attached which was not untied by one of my buds who was supposedly handling that operation.

Bwahahahaha you really did that?

Just kidding. I did it only once, but it was the time when I took a dozen folks from work for a three hour tour.

 

[FlyWright]

My first jackass move:

Backing out of my slip only to discover that the yellow cable stretched out in front of my boat was my electrical cable. . . which of course was still attached to the dock power pedestal.

What??? I can't believe you did that....I never did that! I can say that b/c nobody saw it, so it didn't happen.

"Oh, that yellow cord in the water? Oh, that's my spare bow line!"