Our boat is already 20 years old. It has Volvo MD2030 engines, and in the last years I have been reading more and more posts about older Volvo engines and problems that seem to originate from corrosion. Coolant disappearing, rusty coolant, leaks.
The MD2030 and many other marine engines has a freshwater and a saltwater cooling system. They are supposed to be separated. But with wear and corrosion there are possibilities that the saltwater can enter the freshwater system. The freshwater coolant can also find disastrous ways as a result of corrosion. The latter happened to us this summer.
We found ourselves in a small island harbour with hydraulic lock in the port engine. Could not be turned. Water in the cylinders was the first thought, and it was correct. All 3 were full of coolant. But where did it come from? The heat exchanger housing had been off a couple of years ago, looked OK, so a cracked engine top was suspected. After dismounting it nothing wrong was found. Luckily, via some social network groups I was steered to inspect the heat exchanger housing thoroughly. A tiny hole was found in the exhaust area. Probing it, the edges fell apart, and the hole was suddenly big. Corrosion had eaten the area.
Hello Captain,
SvarSlettgood, clean work! That should last a long time.
Thanks for the hint with facebook, maybe I will get an account to get more info.
I would be interested to know if you have a heater on board, maybe a warm air heater. And if so, where you have installed it and how the heating hoses are laid.
I am just starting to plan to install a Planar 2kW heater in every engine room.
Many greetings from Northern Germany
Carsten
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Hello Captain,
SvarSlettgood, clean work! That should last a long time.
Thanks for the hint with facebook, maybe I will get an account to get more info.
I would be interested to know if you have a heater on board, maybe a warm air heater. And if so, where you have installed it and how the heating hoses are laid.
I am just starting to plan to install a Planar 2kW heater in every engine room.
Many greetings from Northern Germany
Carsten
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Hi, nice that you have joined the Privilege Facebook community. I hope you will find it friendly and useful. And like you, I am also a bit sceptical to social media. Sometimes it is really beneficial though. Originally we had a 9KW Webasto installed. Had a lot of starting problems, so changed it with a China-model that was very close to the same, at least in dimensions. However,I am not so satisfied with it. Had problems with attaching fan control and it can not be set to run more than 90 minutes. The installation, by original owner, is a waterborne system. I am not sure, but given space could be found for the ducts, I would probably prefer a lighter installation with two heaters like you plan, the with warm air. I do not think the waterborne system is highly effective, it is just OK for temperatures above freezing. And all the water plus hoses represent some weight I believe. The advantage is that it can possibly be coupled to the hot water system and provide hot water at anchor without using the engines. I have not started working on that project until recently. The waterborne system is quite sensitive to air pockets, and with the up and down travel of coolant in a catamaran, bleeding can be a challenge.
Slett