So, I was ready to go, cooler loaded with food, trip planned for two overnights at Panther Key, engine on, untying lines from the dock... when i decided, since it had been far too long since I'd run Athena, that I would triple check the engine room to make sure all looked okay... I even took out the stairs, which "hide" the waterlock...And, behold, there were two pinhole leaks of water shooting out from the bottom of the waterlock.
Bummer. Upon further inspection, carefully scraping away some of the corroded area, I lightly placed a finger on the corroded area and felt the thinness of the wall. I then slowly pushed my finger and realized I'd be able to push right through if I kept pushing. So, I stopped, shut off the valve to the water intake, and changed plans :(
Darn old metal waterlock. A new one is on order.
The pic is the current corroded waterlock. Hose on left is cooling water/exhaust going into the waterlock and right hose is out, then heading to the stern of the boat where it is expelled.
The waterlock is used to prevent backflow of water into the engine. It is essentially a muffler of sorts as well. Athena's engine is saltwater cooled, drawing saltwater through a thru-hull, cooling the engine, and then expelled through the exhaust hose, with waterlock interim the trip.
1 comment:
Too bad your trip was postponed but that is very interesting about how the engine is cooled.
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