Heat exchanger cleaning

[Robo]

I just pulled my heat exchanger off. Was able to carefully push a wire thru the tubes. I think it could use chemical cleaning. What are you guys using? I'd like to use safe acid but can;t find it anywhere

Robo

 

[BillD]

I just pulled my heat exchanger off. Was able to carefully push a wire thru the tubes. I think it could use chemical cleaning. What are you guys using? I'd like to use safe acid but can;t find it anywhere

Robo

Rydlyme is safe...smells good too !

 

[tomy]

Well for the not DIY crowd. You can call Stew Holt at thermaflow and they do an exam and boil out all your cooling parts .just sent may aftercooler and oil cooler to them.

Tharmalows located in watertown Mass.

 

[Badlatitude]

Apex - RYDLYME Marine is a safe, biodegradable, non-toxic, non-corrosive marine descaler. RYDLYME Marine is designed to dissolve the toughest water scale, lime deposits and rust deposits.

Any decent radiator shop should be able to hot tank, clean and inspect it for you

 

[BillD]

Well for the not DIY crowd. You can call Stew Holt at thermaflow and they do an exam and boil out all your cooling parts .just sent may aftercooler and oil cooler to them.

Tharmalows located in watertown Mass.

Tomy,

How much is Stew getting $$ per piece?
Heat exchanger and after cooler ??

Did you take the after cooler apart and send Stew the bundle of send the whole cooler?

 

[captainlarry84]

Rydlyme No need to disasemble anything. works like magic.

 

[tomy]

Hi Bill...took off whole unit..let him take apart. the oil cooler is /was located below and behind aftercooler, so it made sence to take both.

The report from stew was that there was NO electrolysis showing. which leads me to again think my prop problem is/was ALL cavitation

Have no $bill yet, so dont know.


Do you know where I can get some RYDLYME ?

 

[BillD]

Hi Bill...took off whole unit..let him take apart. the oil cooler is /was located below and behind aftercooler, so it made sence to take both.

The report from stew was that there was NO electrolysis showing. which leads me to again think my prop problem is/was ALL cavitation

Have no $bill yet, so dont know.


Do you know where I can get some RYDLYME ?

Not sure locally.
Internet !
Apex RYDLYME Descaler & RYDLYME Marine Descaler Distributor, New York

 

[BillD]

Hi Bill...took off whole unit..let him take apart. the oil cooler is /was located below and behind aftercooler, so it made sence to take both.

The report from stew was that there was NO electrolysis showing. which leads me to again think my prop problem is/was ALL cavitation

Have no $bill yet, so dont know.


Do you know where I can get some RYDLYME ?

Tomy, if you want to clean the heat exchanger yourself, easy enough to do with muriatic acid. His some pics of a 6BTA heat exchanger. Same as your 6CTA, maybe a bit smaller. Less expensive than Rydlyme.

I pulled the following off a boatdiesel post by Tony Athens.

"Do it yourself.. Take it off, rod it out initially with a 1/8 welding rod.. Then put the cap and gasket back on the alternator end.. Stand the unit upright and fill the saltwater side up with 10:1 water & HCL ( pool acid) and let it bubble smoke and puke for about 2-3 hrs.. Keep filling as needed.. It will be perfect when you are done.. Remove the zinc and plug that hole too..

Way better than the radiator shop and easier on the unit "

 

[Robo]

Rydlyme

I did a fair amount of looking for Rydlyme online. Looks like Mack Boring in New Jersey has by far the best price. Haven't confirmed that though, will order some as soon as I get a few minutes. Can only order from them by phone at 908 964 0706

Robo

 

[captainlarry84]

Great stuff. I swear by it. Why take things apart if not needed. It was simple to do. Here is the step by step:

• Remove all zinc pencils & replace with empty caps.
• Pinch off the water feed for the shaft log.
• Get a submersible pump and place it in a 5 gallon bucket
• Disconnect the raw dump into the exhaust riser and connect the pump to the riser

This will give you the reverse flush.

• Shut the seacock.
• Disconnect the seacock from the raw water intake pump & feed that hose into the same 5 gallon bucket. This will be your discharge and re-cycle.
• Fire the pump up with a full 5 gallon bucket of the Rydlyime Solution.
• Baby sit the flush you will watch the Rydlyme turn to an odd color as all organic material in the exchangers & coolers breakdown.

The process is like watching a magic show. I was amazed no worries about broken bolts, loose clamps or anything.
PS I got the product from Mac Boring.

 

[tomy]

capt Larry and Bill D...thanks to you both...you guys are the best!

 

[dogtagger]

Capt. Larry and all. This is great information. It sounds like you are flushing back past the pump impeller. Is there any chance the acid will damage the impeller blades? Should the impeller be removed first?

Thanks

 

[captainlarry84]

NO …NO the impeller pump is by pasted the return line dump is the hose that goes from the impeller pump to the first stop on the cooling system. That is where you dump out and return to the bucket.

Once you use this stuff you will never go back to nuts & bolts again. I did not believe the mechanics at my marina until they set me up and let me use there pump system.

This link is helpful also:

http://www.apexengineeringproducts.com/assets/1/7/Heat_Exchanger_Brochure.pdf

http://www.dolphinheattransfer.com/Downloads/Brochures/Rydlyme_Marine.pdf

 

[petrel]

Sounds pretty slick. Thanks for the how-to Larry.

 

[BillD]

NO …NO the impeller pump is by pasted the return line dump is the hose that goes from the impeller pump to the first stop on the cooling system. That is where you dump out and return to the bucket.

Once you use this stuff you will never go back to nuts & bolts again. I did not believe the mechanics at my marina until they set me up and let me use there pump system.

This link is helpful also:

http://www.apexengineeringproducts.com/assets/1/7/Heat_Exchanger_Brochure.pdf

http://www.dolphinheattransfer.com/Downloads/Brochures/Rydlyme_Marine.pdf

And for the Cummins guys with 6CTAs or 6BTAs who take the after coolers off for servicing/cleaning and GREASING and also want to clean the heat exchangers ON the engine can use Larry's setup and circulate the Rydlyme or mild acid through the RAW WATER side of the exchanger.

Couple of pieces of hose, two clamps, bucket and a pump.

 

[dogtagger]

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Tower Todd]

Larry,

Could I continue running it through the raw water pump (instead of removing the hose there like you recommended) and also go through my gear cooler and remove the rydlyme after the gear cooler, thus flushing the entire system?

 

[captainlarry84]

No you cannot run it thru your pump. You need to run it thru reversed. You gear cooler is already tide into the raw water side. Also keep in mind. The process takes about 5 hours of constant recirculation of the solvent.

 

[WC1966]

1 suggestion

Great stuff. I swear by it. Why take things apart if not needed. It was simple to do. Here is the step by step:

• Remove all zinc pencils & replace with empty caps.
• Pinch off the water feed for the shaft log.
• Get a submersible pump and place it in a 5 gallon bucket
• Disconnect the raw dump into the exhaust riser and connect the pump to the riser

This will give you the reverse flush.

• Shut the seacock.
• Disconnect the seacock from the raw water intake pump & feed that hose into the same 5 gallon bucket. This will be your discharge and re-cycle.
• Fire the pump up with a full 5 gallon bucket of the Rydlyime Solution.
• Baby sit the flush you will watch the Rydlyme turn to an odd color as all organic material in the exchangers & coolers breakdown.

The process is like watching a magic show. I was amazed no worries about broken bolts, loose clamps or anything.
PS I got the product from Mac Boring.

I did see a suggestion to place the 5 gal bucket above the height of the heat exchanger to eliminate having air pockets. Makes sense to me