Aluminum water lift / muffler repair

[NYSail]

Hello all!

On my Pearson P36-2 I have an aluminum water lift / muffler that appears to have a slight leak in one of the welds. I was told that rewelding a joint can cause problems due to the heat. Would it be better to fix the seam with marine tech or some other epoxy type fix?

I would love to get some more time out of this unit if possible. A replacement is about $350, which is reasonable however the economy is affecting my job and would love to save a buck or two this year and spend that money as I have planned on needed halyards instead.

Thanks as always!

Greg

 

[kloudie1]

The problem is that there is most likely a bunch of corrosion on the inside that you can’t see.. Corrosion usually will attack the HAZ (heat affected zone) of a weld first. Best fix that would probably last a long time would be to remove the muffler and clean up the outside then fiberglass coat it using epoxy as the matrix.. This would give you a pretty good corrosion resistant fix and would cover the holes that are about to appear.. but have not yet. Good luck with it.. My muffler is made of fiberglass so you’d not be doing anything that would be a problem.

 

[Chuckbear]

Greg, Aluminum and salt water do not make a good combination so unless you are in fresh water you should probably replace it. Any repair on the outside will be very temporary at best and most likely there are other spots waiting to let go. A back issue of good old boat had a how to from someone that built their own waterlock from epoxy and fiberglass.

 

[Hermit Scott]

On my 18 gal. aluminum fuel tank there was a pin hole in the bottom. I had a friend tig weld anything that looked suspicious. Then I bought the large tubes of JB weld and coated the entire bottom. I could have used fiberglass resin, but JB weld is made for metal so I went with it.
I have my water muffler sitting in my shop right now. I havn't seen an easy way into it. It appears to be sealed shut, and not meant to be taken apart.
I would not spend $350 on something like this, but I have more time than money right now. What would be wrong with wrapping it in fiberglass roving cloth and epoxy? It would almost be like building one out of fiberglass if you covered it completely. The only concern would be the dividing wall inside may be corroding away. Can you look inside anyway?

 

[NYSail]

When I take the thing out I will try to inspect the inside. Does anybody know exactly how the inside is routed? Mine is a rectangular boz, has a bottom front/center inlet and top side outlet. Have been searching the web for a diagram, but have had no luck...

 

[kloudie1]

A new glass muffler is not too bad cost wise if ya don't want to mess with the old one.. Here is typical, but there are a couple of manufacturers in the business.. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...eId=10001&Ntk=Primary+Search&ddkey=SiteSearch
The top outlet probably has a dip tube (a continuation of the nozzle tube inside the muffler) internally that goes down to slightly above the bottom of the pot. The inlet may have an internal extension that curves up to almost the top of the pot.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Water+lift...ctical-sailor.com/marine/waterliftmuffler.pdf

 

[RichH]

If your water lift is essentially a 'vertical pipe' thats mounted to a bulkhead with the exhaust inlet on the bottom, the water injection on top, and the exhaust exit about 3/4 from the bottom ..... simply remove and take to a fabricator for a rebuild - easy to do.

A fabricator will simply cut it open, inspect the thickness of the plate, reweld/repair .... and IMPORTANT on a Pearson design water lift: replace the 'witches hat' thats inside. The 'Witches Hat' prevents the injection water from spraying down the inlet tube; and, does easily rot out due to the temps and corrosive gases. Without the witches hat you can easily 'backflow' water into the engine / combustion chambers. The typical pearson "Steam Riser Pipe" is a good design ... just need to be sure that the 'witches hat' is intact; once you get the leakey seams repaired.

 

[Amere]

Muffler

Greg,

I had a similar problem on my P38 two or three years ago and had it welded and pressure tested at our marina (Brewers) but, I believe it cost as much as installing a new one. Check out the post on the Ask a Pearson Owner forum.