Cooler cleaner or snake oil?

[Jen Wren]

I was at a fishing show yesterday and found a product made by Maritime Expressions. It is a biodegradable descaler that the exhibiter claims can be circulated through an engine raw water system to clean scale and deposits from heat exchangers and after coolers eliminating having to disassemble. 

Does anybody have any experience with this type of product. Tony, I would appreciate hearing you view. 

Topic

[Rob Schepis]

My take on running a descaler through the raw water loop (Rydlyme, Barnacle Buster or any other flavor)  is that it is a “quick fix” to avoid downtime for when temps start to creep up in the height of the season….Get the temps down for the remainder of the season and then on layup pull the coolers for the proper “on-bench” servicing.  

[Tony Athens]

There are plenty of very good de-scalers on the market……….Best to read thru this web site to get an idea of how it’s does and what it can do……But they are not a “fix-all” for poor maintenance–be sure you understand that………………… http://www.apexengineeringproducts.com/products/rydlymedescaler/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=CI7G-ZqVmtICFU9cfgodj2gPIA   With that said, they are all very high priced and if you read the  ingredient list MSDS Attached) , you will see that they are all based on a mixture of water to HCL ( common pool acid–About a 10:1 mix..)  That’s what we use..       You might also read this post– Somewhat related.. I was pretty tough on the poster, but as I said, bad info has no place when taking about these engines.. http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s6/acid-flushing-your-engine-30070-2.html#post518445 #33 and some before it.     Tony

[Author]

Replies