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  • #76865

    pwrobert
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    I am new to engines with aftercoolers as my previous diesels were either naturally aspirated or simply turbocharged. After reading Tony’s Tips on aftercooler design/faults/maintenance I had a thought I would like to put forward.

    For a few years now I have coated the inside of my generator’s heat exchanger end caps and portions of the riser with Belzona epoxy products. I also perform Fresh water and SaltAway flushing whenever the boat is back at the home dock and going to sit idle for more than a week or two and find it has doubled the life expectancy of my units needing replacement parts. These heat exchangers are made from aluminum, Bronze, and with cast iron end caps and elbows – a really terrible mixture.

    I was wondering if cleaning and prepping the inner aluminum passages and casting and then treating them with a similar process would be worthwhile – or has anyone already tried any of these products in this fashion. The stuff ain’t cheap but a little goes a long way.

    https://www.belzona.com/en/products/4000/4341.aspx is a high temp water immersion coating suitable.

    However I see the salt water is supposed to be confined to the inside of the cupernickel portion so coating the inside of the aluminum housing where there is only hot air may not gain much.

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  • #76896

    Tony Athens
    Moderator
    Vessel Name: Local Banks
    Engines: QSB 6.7 550 HP
    Location: Oxnard, CA
    Country: USA

    IMO, the method you propose to decrease corrosion in the areas of the Cummins designed cooler would not be applicable unless you were to increase the ID of the first inch of end depth of the casting about 1/8″, then coat the machined surface with ????? (your “last forever” secret sauce) to bring the ID back to about 4.940″, and then re-machine again accurately to 5.000 +/- .010″…………………………… Doable?–sure—– —————————Cost?? More than a new aftercooler housing costs at typical Calif labor rates, unless you work for free and already have the in-house to do the work………………………….BTW, Think of what you propose as a “plastic insulating sleeve”–It’s been on my drawing board for close to 10 years.

    Tony

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