Marine Cooling Systems - The Heat Exchanger - Maintenance Mondays

I replace the heat exchanger on one of my generators and give you a "how to" on replacing yours.
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[@alanbutler]

I’ve only had a boat on freshwater lakes. I can only imagine the level of maintenance that needs to be done for boats on saltwater. Great video!

[@BigGreasyDaddy]

Just a couple of observations or tips from an experienced boat tech(20+years). Mechanically everything’s was right. You may want to look for a petcock to assist in bleeding the air out of the cooling system on the initial fill. Also, there are 2 different coolants out there, conventional and Diesel engine coolant. You can use both but with conventional, you’ll want to add a diesel coolant additive on a Diesel engine obviously. Be sure to observe the concentration as it is important depending on capacity. The Diesel engine additive(which is already in Diesel engine coolant) keeps cavitation erosion from occurring on the engine cylinder liners. The conditioner coats the liners and takes the cavitation erosion instead of the liners. Which is why the conditioner is a consumable. Also, do not over concentrate the conditioner, it will fall out into solids over time and plug the heat exchanger particularly when it sits for a long period of time between uses. Hope this helps in maintaining your vessels power plants.

[@thgenral]

The advice to take a picture before proceeding is one of the best tips you could give. I do the same these days for almost anything in addition to lying removed parts out in order of removal to give me a reassembly order. Has helped a number of times in the past as reassembly order is not always obvious and sometimes the correct order can seem wrong. Saves a lot of time having to tear a device apart again to correct the assembly.

[@allaboutyachting]

I love the diesel engine sound in the beginning 😍 I just had a big service on my generator, including the disassembling and cleaning of the heat exchanger. Preventive maintenance is king💪🏻

[@Blanchy10]

With most engines, replacing coolant you should run it long enough for the thermostat to open. That will help get rid of any air. Also there may be a coolant bleed screw somewhere.

[@zzzxxzzz3248]

I like the episodes where you do electrical work and catch things on fire ! Show more of those !! Thanks for sharing !

[@stretch34318]

If there is a thermostat on the generator, its going to block coolant flow to the engine until the engine reaches the right temperature. So, check top up the coolant after its ran and warmed up to temp and cooled back down. Never open the coolant cap when its hot as it will spray hot coolant all over the place. Ive even left the cap off as the engine comes up to temp but some of the coolant will come boiling out right before the thermostat opens, then the fluid level drops and can top it up.

[@charlesmasfen7492]

Great job B just a reminder razors on next shopping list

[@dickdaley9059]

Please continue with Maintenance Monday. One of the most entertaining aspects of boating is fixing your vessel in exotic locations. In this regard, boating is infinitely more enjoyable than aviation! 🇺🇸⚓️

[@DC-si8xw]

This is I didn't do the maintenance Monday. You did zero maintenance until it broke lol. Im a big fan and love this type of content, thanks for posting. Looking forward to more marine repair and upgrades.

[@matrixmerlin]

This is to Stephanie...Stephanie sooooo glad you are on the show. You are the best..!!! Please ask Bobby if he ever needs any tools, meters or parts to keep me in mind. I may be able send him what he needs at no cost to you guys. Just a suggestion. Thanks

[@AustinBoil]

This is replacement NOT maintenance. Maintenance prevents failures BEFORE there is an issue. Big difference. (proactive vs reactive) You don't wait for the impeller or zinc to fail, then decide to do what should of been done before hand. Regular scheduled replacement of both prevents all the nasty things that happen that can cause major issues at the wrong time.

[@pumacat1637]

This guy hasn’t got a clue about maintenance the only reason he even done this replacement is it failed, a seasoned captain has a preventive maintenance program and check list that is to be completed atleast yearly, not when there are issues with the equipment. One would think that if someone considers himself/herself a captain that they would have more on the ball

[@AustinBoil]

@@pumacat1637 Nailed it. Glad he doesn't have an aircraft!

[@jeffprice6421]

Really interesting how small a liquid-liquid heat exchanger is compared to a air-liquid heat exchanger. Very Cool!

[@jeffh1266]

great info... I always used the analog of the heat exchanger being the equivalent to a radiator... except that it's sea water rather than air... and it was interesting to see the "No Step" decal under the gen cover....right where a foot was ;)

[@jreutp]

Love maintenance Mondays. Thanks Bobby.

[@lancerman]

Excellent job Bobby as always. Ah those damn sacrificial anodes or combination of the saltwater. That’s why they suggest changing them out once a year. Great preventative maintenance tips Bobby

[@arrsea7947]

🏳️‍⚧️🤝🏳️‍🌈 🤝🛗

[@johnroux4919]

I must confess, it's smaller than I expected. That being said, there's no point in it being any bigger than it needs to be to do the job well. Seriously though, thanks for the informative video! My wife and I hope to be cruising in a few years and these maintenance items are crucial to having a pleasant and carefree cruising experience! I'm looking forward to the next Maintenance Monday!

[@Aerostar509]

Water is much more dense that air.

[@johnroux4919]

@@Aerostar509 it was sort of a joke. Maybe not quite as funny as I thought it was.

[@CarneyFelonLawyer]

"Fins" equal copper tubing inside the heat exchanger. You can have those boiled out or do it yourself with a bucket and some "Barnacle Buster."

[@francoisbyvoet]

Thanks a lot Bobby for the honnest presentation of "the other side" of Saling Dooldes life style : living on a boat means fixing jobs are never finished ;-)

[@CGT80]

Well....we know what everyone else is here for and didn't get! Me too, but I thought Bobby explained the heat exchanger quite well, even though I I have done many jobs like this before. Others complain about it being all about T&A.......Bobby can't seem to make people happy, but I won't say he can't win. His job and location is much more glamorous than where I have replaced heat exchangers.

[@nealfenster8056]

Bobby check the replacement coolent. Usually you don't want pure coolent. A 50/50 mix of coolent and fresh water is more efficient. Great information video.

[@CGT80]

Look closer at the bottle in the video, it says 33% on it. It is an export prestone product that is pre mixed......you, of course, are correct about 50/50 being most common. I buy concentrate and mix my own to 50/50 to save a few bucks.

[@xamitz58]

Definitely my new fav video.

[@Hotspur37]

There is not a lot of repairs the average person can do on engines anymore but the few you can do is always very satisfying to do yourself

[@CGT80]

It depends on the engine and age, of course. I agree, and try to do whatever I can on my vehicles and equipment and toy hauler trailer.

[@tommanning7395]

Bobby would you please start wearing Maxiflex gloves !!! You won't regret it 🤙🤙

[@thgenral]

I agree with other viewers, Bobby. I like the occasional maintenance video and the bits you include in the normal vids. Interesting to see some of the things that can happen on a boat one would not think of. Bigger boat, more chances of failure.

[@richardschneider9508]

Don’t forget the cooling system pressure cap (radiator cap). Automotive cooling systems must be pressurized to work properly. It looked like a pressure cap you took off the generator to refill the antifreeze. If it has a pressure rating on the cap, it needs to be tested. I would think it would be inexpensive enough to just replace it. I enjoy your videos, thank you.

[@Ronbc000]

A neat trick, copper coolant loop pipe line fitted outside hull, maintenance free engine cooling. 👍

[@gjones9842]

Love watching the maintenance Monday almost as much as watching your crew work the boat.

[@MrTopgear67]

Installing an in-line strainer would prevent debris from the pump to go in the eat exchanger. Those strainer Y style are very affordable and would ease next maintenance if the impeller ever breaks.

[@nicke6394]

That was really interesting, yes please lots more of them 👍😁

[@btrent9244]

Maintenance Monday 👍👍👍. It’s nice to see the mechanics of boat maintenance. Thank you 👍🇺🇸😎...

[@briandale8386]

I’ve got a Perkins 6354 that needed remarinized . The old bowman heat exchanger was toast. It cost around 6000 grand just for a refit parts . The old exchanger isn’t made anymore . 15 years ago you could still get them . Wait for it . Ten grand. I think they called them mani coolers. The exhaust and intake and exchanger was one piece on the side of the straight six . I can’t find the sacrificial on my northern lights generator. 150 bucks the gods where in your favor. Sv Bohemian

[@jasonmcintosh2632]

A heat gun is good for heating up the rubbery hoses and makes it a lot easier to take off and put on.

[@LostCloudx4]

Yay finally no clickbait girls! & even a flying doodles episode! back to the good stuff well done ;)

[@brucerhodes8197]

We use a heat exchanger in our carpet cleaning service truck... but we're doing it to make hot water rather than to cool the motor... we have a 130 gal fresh water tank on the truck, we run it through the heat exchanger and back into our cat pump, which is similar to a pressure washer, spray the carpet with a cleaner, then rinse at about 450psi with a wand and extract as you rinse...the water is usually in the 200 F range. One of the few maintenance videos I've watched where I understood it completely... lol

[@CGT80]

Guess what happens when that heat exchanger gets an internal leak? That motor will not like 450 psi running through the cooling system. It happened on a unit I used in the past......my buddy/boss told me about it recently. He ended upgrading to a bigger unit that will run 2 wands at the same time. Actually, now that I think about it, I replaced part of the heat exchanger on that machine a couple years ago. It is great to scavenge the heat from the motor, but it sucks when it fails. We also ran 4 big pressure washers mounted on trucks and trailers, but they just have diesel boilers after the pumps. While I have only been on a sailboat once, between having an RV in the past and a toy hauler trailer and various equipment, it is easy to relate to what he shows. I think he did a very thorough job explaining the process.

[@brucerhodes8197]

@@CGT80 That's exactly what my former boss did, set the truck up so it could run 2 wands, although in the 10 yrs we worked together, we never ran 2 at a time... better heat exchanger, bigger vacuum pump...

[@johndeverteuil136]

I occasionally will do a fresh water flush on the motors and generator. Pretty simple process. 1- Close sea cock. 2- Open strainer. 3- Hose with salt away 4- crank up motors and run for about 5 minutes. If you do this after long runs as well as when you are leaving the boat for a while. Perko makes a system that you can simply attach a hose and turn it on and then start the motors.

[@kevwheeler4814]

If you haven't been told already, those hose clamps are called Jubilee Clips in the UK..

[@dociswatching3266]

Wish you would have posted this a month ago. I recently learned the hard way. Lol. Great episode!

[@TheWizardonline]

Captain to Captain....I like these Maintenance Mondays videos

[@tonywalker6745]

Great informative video 👍 much appreciated thanks 😊

[@randyhorstmann8254]

Wondering if Bobby ever fix Taylor plumbing???

[@kbar9273]

Beaches and hoses. Thats the life.

[@superior451]

Yea Bobby!

[@jockneyranger]

Great stuff Bobby. 👍🏼

[@leeturnbull2759]

Nice job, never done the powerboat thing, anything is fun on the water in the BVI’s though 👍

[@MrElement1968]

Love these. Thanks so much. Thanks from NOLA.

[@dooley9621]

Thanks for sharing Bobby.

[@kennethwright4463]

Thanks man.. very thorough and understandable... you rock Bob

[@ST-lo6fm]

Wow that was awesome. So glad the d-bag-beard is back.

[@Yodie208]

It would be interesting to see the result of soaking the old heat exchanger in a bucket of plain vinegar for a week to see how much of the rust and corrosion is is disolved and removed.

[@SlightlyFrozen]

Did you drain the coolant into your bilge? Isn't that kind of bad as that will be pumped into the ocean eventually?

[@mikenelson1387]

Good job

[@larrykaminski3269]

Excellent tutorial✅ thanks

[@Ricu52]

Interesting! I like it! Great job, thanks.

[@arthurgoldstein1156]

excellent

[@sailingpillager4685]

Awesome video

[@Mike-01234]

The green coolant turns acidic after 3 years rust out your block make sure change it every 3 years. The newer stuff orange will not do that but you can't mix the two really can't get the old stuff out that easy even filling and draining still have some in the low spots of the block. The only way is to open the drain plugs on the block drain and refill with water run drain again then it will be cleared out. Lot of times I don't even bother with the new stuff if the engine had old green in it just keep using that and flush once every 2-3 years.

[@kaskl5403]

Seems the work is never done, at least your in a lovely place to do it.

[@jeffwalston8110]

Some boaters like to say that cruising is a series of working on your boat in exotic locations.

[@royedwards8713]

nice job

[@renemmedina]

Nice video!

[@gerhardvanwaltsleben8944]

Lekker man lekker

[@michaelgregory1013]

Great Video…

[@derkhawkins2575]

More, please.

[@ecostatic5739]

Worth watching... Thank you!

[@Plysomack]

Every day of the week could be Monday, so long as they were Maintenance Mondays!

[@Glide1992]

I was hoping Steph would be there to hand you wrenches.

[@tita1170]

Good Instruction !

[@jayltd.7030]

T&A BABY

[@deibertmichael]

ZINKS can erode fast in heat exchangers. Warmer water they can go in 30 days.

[@michaelbaumgardner2530]

The nuts and bolts of cruising.

[@markmccarren827]

very informative, good stuff, thanks!

[@GolfMates]

love this channel

[@tinkwilkinson9446]

Mix anti freeze with distilled water.

[@CGT80]

He used premixed antifreze and it was already a bit weak at 33%. I do buy concentrate and mix my own 50/50.

[@ricbailey170]

Maintenance Monday, on a Monday. Amazing!👍🏻🤔🤣😂😎

[@SykoCTSV]

Nice job, thank you

[@barryhendrickson4775]

Good video, but what do you do with the coolant that went into the bilge. Do you just let it pump overboard with the bilge water?

[@jerryfield5815]

It would be nice if the main engines heat exchangers were as cheap as that one.

[@robertbeasley2070]

It's good to see the hard work behind the dream! Great Job!

[@andrewhouldcroft1116]

A ground connection on a boat, didn't know about that, every day is a school day.

[@stevegillis2392]

Great job on explaining in detail , very easy to follow, kudos, or ...lol you get a slice of rasin pie!. Great job Bob Hefner, lol

[@milkoberben2963]

I love it that your not only a pretty face but you can actually do something 😂😜

[@groovetrain397]

Where did the old coolent go???

[@johnmccormick175]

Great video,very informative..ty

[@matthewpritt3242]

Hey Bobby I know this is off the subject. How is Taylor doing? We havnt seen a video from her in a long time. We miss her.

[@davidbrown7213]

Great video

[@rustymacneil3227]

Bobby, without filming time, how long start to finish? Love your vids brother, quick question, sail or power??

[@HopeOfJoe]

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice ✌🏻️ Thanks Bobby as this helps a ton to know what to expect. ✨🌊🏝👙🌞✨

[@DeezNutzRHugeous]

You should right a book.

[@BrianMegilligan]

This is great! Question though: why would the rubber parts of the impeller be designed to break down and then clog the heat exchanger? Sounds like a racket!

[@pavichapin]

If replaced at a max of every two years it will never breakdown. That one should have been replaced the day the boat was purchased.

[@ianlawrence92]

They’re called jubilee clips here in the UK.

[@superbear617]

Nice! How did you gather & dispose of the old coolant??

[@davidtagliaferri388]

I had the same question!

[@shawnbarnes1949]

Yes I was wondering the same.Bobby?

[@andrewfranko593]

I thought the same thing

[@daneulekowski929]

most people use a shop vac and empty that into a head, which would get pumped out when refueling. For the most part these area's don't share the main bilge area, otherwise it would empty into the ocean which is what needs to be avoided.

[@dubrovink66]

It ran in the bilge...

[@timsullivan1531]

Good one. Keep it up.

[@rickhern15]

Is there a strainer on the raw water before the pump?

[@BlmCtySanDept]

Great video, Bobby. Love this kind of content. Us RV owners would love to see this on Glamping Doodles as well. Peace out.

[@rayland8553]

Anyway you could get Steph to be your assistant? 😍

[@lonnieciallela1526]

love maint mon

[@45searay]

Great……get some knee pads ….love the tech stuff….

[@johndubose1395]

did you have any specific training before you started cruising or did you just pick it up as you go along ?

[@jenspetersimonsen4235]

So, I take the cooling system on a naval engine is a bit diff from that in a car engine with it's surge tank, hence your topping off with coolant? :-)

[@MaximumDiver]

Very interesting, Captain! Thanks for sharing!!