Procedure for acid flushing and pressure flushing

[sastanley]

Nice work and good synopsis BS.

I had a similar experience with the acid flush except that I was on the hard, so I was hanging the bucket to keep from spraying on the neighboring Island Piglet's winter cover.

[hanleyclifford]

Island Piglet?

Shawn - I do hope that you guys in your neck of the woods don't say that while on board!? Regards, Hanley

[sastanley]

Haha..Hanley, only if the owner is out of earshot.

[hanleyclifford]

Commercial fishing protocol

Shawn - Actually I was refering to the word itself. When I first stepped onto a commercial fishing vessel as a newbie I was given a no-no list: 1) never turn a hatch cover or a bucket upside down on the deck, 2) never piss on the deck, 3) if anyone comes looking for the captain you do not know anything about his whereabouts, and 4) never utter the "P" word (or any of it's conjunctions or derivatives) while on board. Don't know if it worked, but we didn't sink! Regards, Hanley

[Baltimore Sailor]

I had a look at that 1/8" flexible hose, and the diameter of the fitting is just too small. It looks to be only about a literal 1/8", which I don't think would pass enough water to do the job.

Next plan is to see if a short 1/8" nipple, even a closer, with a small 1/8" street el can be rotated in there. It looks like it might fit, though it will probably be a long, slow, painful rotation.

[ndutton]

Balty,
Why the aversion to removing the starter to install these fittings? Once installed you'll never have to do it again and by removing the starter now you stand a better chance of a reliable, leak free installation.

Just wondering.

[Baltimore Sailor]

I have an aversion to touching things that are working perfectly in order to get to another part, if it's at all possible to avoid. If there's room in there to rotate a 1/8" street el, I'm going to do it even if it takes an hour to get it seated (which I don't think it will).

I'm not worried about getting a leak-free installation; if I can't screw in a 1/8" fitting so that it doesn't leak, I have no business taking off the starter in the first place.

[Brett]

I am planning to acid flush the engine today while I am on my mooring. Is it environmentally safe to allow the acid solution to flow out the exhaust and into the water? Should i run some baking soda through the engine after letting the acid sit for 15 min to neutralize the acid in the engine?

[roadnsky]

I am planning to acid flush the engine today while I am on my mooring. Is it environmentally safe to allow the acid solution to flow out the exhaust and into the water? Should i run some baking soda through the engine after letting the acid sit for 15 min to neutralize the acid in the engine?

It is best if you can catch the solution as it comes out the exhaust.
Add baking soda to that to neutralize the acid.

No need for baking soda thru the engine. Just flush really well.
You may want to consider doing the PRESSURE FLUSH after the acid flush.
Many find that the acid flush breaks loose crud that finds its way to little spots where they get hung up and cause cooling issues later.
See http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5486

[Brett]

Thanks for the feedback. When performing the acid flush, can i simply remove the hose (while keeping the intake valve closed) for the raw water intake and insert it in the acid/water bucket? What is the need for the "t" fitting?

[Dave Neptune]

My way

There is a better way if you have the access and a pump.!!
I too use a bucket with the 30% concentration but I use a circulating pump, my procedure is as follows.
First I warm the engine as the flushing solution will work better with a bit of temp. After the engine is warm disconnect at the pump or "tee" fitting which ever is easier and hook the circulating (pond or centrfugal of some sort) to the "tee" fitting. Then disconnect the exit hose on the manifold and use another piece of hose to go from the "exit fitting" back into the bucket. Turn on the pump and watch the descalling begin. I leave it on for about ten minutes or so or until the solution STOPS getting darker. Then dump the bucket into another for proper disposal and refil the bucket with fresh water and a little baking soda and run the pump again to flush a bit. After that I just hook the cooling lines back up and run the engine for a bit to finish the flushing.
Circulating the acid solution for a bit really makes a differance in how clean the block gets.

Dave Neptune

[Greg Kingman]

plumbing fittings

where do you buy all those fancy fittings?

First time I heard plumbing fittings called fancy!
Yeah, you nailed it.
The 6" nipple (I love writing that word!) has a ball valve (yeah that is fancy) on it so I can "blast" the fresh water thru.
(Luckily, my marina has really good pressure on our fresh water supply.)
Anyway, I flushed out the aft water jackets (3& 4 cyls) then move to the forward block drain and do cylinders 1&2.
The crap exits out the Thermostat housing (the thermostat is removed) thru a hose to a bucket that I filter to see what I caught!
Then, finally I move to the manifold. Intake forward and output is aft.

In the pic, the GREEN hose is the incoming pressure water. The CLEAR hose is the outlet hose going to the bucket.
You can see the crud thru the clear hose while you're doing this. Sorta like a "colon blow" for the engine...

Also, while I had the thermostat out I cleaned it up with vinegar and did the hot-water-in-the-pan test.
Kinda like being in Jr High Science class again...

[toddster]

Thanks for these instructions and wonderful photos.

I am a little confused about what acid concentration is specified, although probably the exact concentration isn't very important. It looks like the intent is to get a 2% HCl solution. (?) Which you would get approximately by using laboratory-grade concentrated HCl, which is about 36-37%. This is the stuff that fumes when you open the cap and will corrode any metal stored within about a foot of the bottle. Even for just a few days. Swimming-pool muriatic acid from Home Depot is about 14% HCl, so it would take twice as much to get a 2% solution. It isn't so close to saturation, so it doesn't actively fume, but it will emit some HCl gas.

In any case, unless you have an acid storage cabinet, I would plan to just buy as much as you will use one time and don't try to keep it for next season. And DON'T leave it next to your toolbox.

[sastanley]

toddster..yeah...swimming pool muratic acid.

I've always diluted it about 3 parts water to 1 part muratic acid, which is about $8 gallon at my local Lowe's.

I do not store it on board..it is actually in a bin in the back yard with my gasoline...although it is probably safer than some of the other chemicals I am currently storing in my garage...

[toddster]

Er... no. Don't store mineral acids (oxidizers) with organic solvents (fuel). That's a formula for an explosion.