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05-15-2016, 07:41 PM
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#1
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Newbie
City: Bremerton
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1
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Heat exchanger cleanout
My Lehman 135 is running slightly hot. I took the heat exchanger off and would like to clean it out. Any suggestions on how best to do this?
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05-15-2016, 07:43 PM
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#2
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Enigma
City: Slicker?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 16,566
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Greetings,
Welcome aboard. How does the HE look?
__________________
RTF
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05-15-2016, 08:08 PM
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#3
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Veteran Member
City: New Bedford, MA.
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wenders
my lehman 135 is running slightly hot. I took the heat exchanger off and would like to clean it out. Any suggestions on how best to do this?
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Rydlyme...
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05-15-2016, 10:33 PM
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#4
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TF Site Team
City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
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Put it back in place and flush it with Barnacle Buster for 4 hrs. It solved my heat rise to 190-195*. Now it runs 165-170*. I couldn't be more pleased.
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05-15-2016, 10:39 PM
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#5
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Veteran Member
City: Gig Harbor
Vessel Name: SEAFOOD
Vessel Model: Striker 44 Sportfish
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 78
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Pictures are worth a thousand words...
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05-16-2016, 08:03 AM
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#6
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Valued Technical Contributor
City: Litchfield, Ct
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,786
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Take the end caps off and with a heavy brazing rod or a 22 cal rifle cleaning rod, push through all of the tubes to open them up. Then either reinstall and circulate Rydlime or Barnacle Buster through them as indicated above, or you can fill the tube side on the bench with those products and let it soak for a while.
David
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05-16-2016, 10:28 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
City: PNW
Vessel Name: EXILE
Vessel Model: HANS CHRISTIAN TRAWLER
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 134
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What temperature do you consider to be "slightly hot?"
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05-16-2016, 11:18 AM
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#8
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,682
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Since you have it off, take it to a radiator shop for cleaning.
How old is the heat exchanger? It has a finite life and is readily available for around $600.
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05-16-2016, 11:25 AM
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#9
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wenders
My Lehman 135 is running slightly hot. I took the heat exchanger off and would like to clean it out. Any suggestions on how best to do this?
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You shouldn't have taken it off. You can flush the entire raw water cooling system by leaving all the coolers on and flushing through them.
You just need a bucket, pump, hoses and a couple of fittings.
You can use Rydlime, Barnacle Buster, muriatic acid, etc.
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05-16-2016, 11:29 AM
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#10
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyWright
Put it back in place and flush it with Barnacle Buster for 4 hrs. It solved my heat rise to 190-195*. Now it runs 165-170*. I couldn't be more pleased.
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165-170 is a bit to cold IMO. 180 is what I like to see a Lehman run at.
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05-16-2016, 12:01 PM
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#11
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TF Site Team
City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
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My engines are Perkins 4.236's. The lower helm indicates 165-170, the FB gage shows 5 degrees warmer. I'm OK with that.
They say a man with a watch always knows the time. A man with two watches is never quite sure.
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05-16-2016, 01:30 PM
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#12
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Guru
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
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What's a temp gun or mechanical gauge say?
Constant low temps are not the best thing for most diesels.
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05-16-2016, 01:37 PM
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#13
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Guru
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,037
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I believe Bob Smith says 170 F with a mechanical gage at the expansion tank for a 120 Lehman.
My temp gun verifies.
Mine runs right there, but shows 175-180 on the sending unit gages.
(higher number on the bridge prob due to long old wires).
How about a man with 3 watches? LOL
We have several old pendulum clocks at home. We don't run them. Right now they show the correct time twice a day.
__________________
Jay Leonard
Ex boats: 1983 40 Albin trunk cabin, 1978 Mainship 34 Model 1
New Port Richey, Fl
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05-16-2016, 03:27 PM
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#14
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Veteran Member
City: Palm Coast, FL
Vessel Name: Miss Maggie
Vessel Model: 1990 Grand Banks 36
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 41
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Just removed our heat exchanger from our FL 135 for cleaning - ordered 2 rubber end caps and pencil zincs from American Diesel - as stated in the engine manual, use a 3/16 " wood dowel on each tube -.i used a 10 % solution of muriatic acid and it cleaned up great - new coat of paint - checked all the hoses while reinstalling - good for at least another 1000 hours
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07-20-2016, 06:40 PM
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#15
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Guru
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
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Looking at doing this as one of the first things on the NT855 mine has
(if the lift on Monday goes well and I part with the balance)
Looked at the rydlyme MSDS and it says
Hydrochloric is $8/litre
Water is free
I wonder if I could mix my own
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07-20-2016, 07:46 PM
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#16
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Guru
City: Powell River, BC
Vessel Name: Northern Spy
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 26
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,075
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Pretty sure the other 10% is an inhibitor to protect the metal. That would be the proprietary part.
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07-20-2016, 07:50 PM
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#17
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Guru
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Spy
Pretty sure the other 10% is an inhibitor to protect the metal. That would be the proprietary part.
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If I am not mistaken, after the system is flushed of googlies and drained it gets filled back up with coolant choc full of inhibitor goodness anyway.
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07-20-2016, 08:02 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
City: Maryville, TN
Vessel Name: malu lani
Vessel Model: Albin 27 FC
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 113
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The inhibitor is included in the formula to prevent metal loss DURING the cleaning. Hydrochloric acid is very corrosive without it. Ben
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07-20-2016, 08:58 PM
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#19
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Guru
City: Queensland
Vessel Model: Milkraft 60 converted timber prawn trawler
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 5,482
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tego
The inhibitor is included in the formula to prevent metal loss DURING the cleaning. Hydrochloric acid is very corrosive without it. Ben
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Straight Hydrochloric is but we are talking around 10 % or less for an hour at most.
I believe when you send steel off to get galvanised it goes in a hydrochloric bath of around 10% and sits for several hours. If it was that corrosive I doubt they would use it, especially for structural components.
I may be wrong.
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07-20-2016, 09:34 PM
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#20
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Guru
City: Powell River, BC
Vessel Name: Northern Spy
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 26
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,075
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Heat exchanger cleanout
Depends on the metallurgy of your heat exchanger. Copper, and most copper alloys, no problem. But any contact with ferrous metals, HCL creates ferric chloride which can pit the base metal fairly quickly. Like "as you watch" quickly.
All I can get out of the chemical rep (Nalco) is that HCL is typically inhibited with an organic cation.
So if you pull your exchanger bundle and you are sure that its metallurgy, (tubes, tube sheets and brazing filler) are compatible, sure go ahead. But if you are flushing while in place, I'd reconsider. High risk? Probably not. But low reward. For a few bucks more, I'd want an inhibited acid cleaner.
Barnacle buster, which I believe is Phosphoric acid, is probably safer anyways.
I'm not a chemical guy what so ever. But I have seen operations groups, trying to save money or time, due considerable damage to vessels, boilers, and heat exchangers while chemically cleaning them. I'm the maintenance guy who gets to repair the mistakes...
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