Closed Water Cooling System. Now What?
Closed Fresh water cooling system
Since I write this sort of stuff every day, it can seem like I know what I am talking about. HA! Here is a little… large obvious secret. I AM CLUELESS. I can kinda write, and I can take an iphone photo. And best, I am consistent. But CLUELESS. You the readers are the real energy thats smart. As a community, we are stronger, and smarter.
Ignorance is bliss. And I am a very blissful person
With this all in mind, last week Steve Bunda from Antique Wood Boat Restoration sent me a Closed water cooling system for STINKY. He didn’t need it, and I didn’t know I did. SO hell ya, send it. And it’s something I don’t understand. So it can be a story.
Its got metal things! With metal bolt on stuff.
Sweet Pea has one and its great. I think. I know it keeps fresh water as cooling and also uses the salt water as cooling? And thats the left right turn where I am lost. And good god, the drawings look like spaghetti, only a wiring diagram is worse.
Now, I think I know that this is a post war system. Because of the color. And general look, pre war must have been the tube at the bottom of the hull deal, which is some sort magic trick.
This looks very official
And what the hell is this white powder in the thing. Steve, am I a drug mule now? I did sniff it, taste it. No way Covid is going to get me now! So comment freely, no one can be dumber than me.
Whatever it is, it left a mark of the table top! Yikes
Its blue!
Regarding the VOTING. A Huge thanks to all that voted. We hit over 700 Votes, Which was a huge win. I will say though, Miss Smarty pants votes grew by 100 votes between 10PM and 4Am the other night. Something is very fishy. These online voting things are the slimiest things out there. We did it by the book here and played fare. And I am proud of that, and so is LOWTIMERS. So a huge thanks to you all. You did make a HUGE difference. And for those of you that unfollowed us on your email list. It’s safe to come back! THANKYOU from the bottom of my bilge!
CALL JIMMY!!
The white powder is anthrax. Don’t worry about it, ignorance is bliss.
Closed cooling is simple. You have the “fresh water” which is actually the old stale water that’s been in there a long time. Maybe with antifreeze. The fresh stale water circulates in the engine to cool it by getting hot.
Then you have the raw water which is sometimes super salty like canned chicken soup, but it is never cooked, and hopefully not too hot. The raw water is used to cool the fresh water. This is done by passing them through the same tube things in very close proximity but with proper social distancing so no salty raw water gets mixed with cooked stale water that we call fresh.
That’s about all you need to know. Well, that and Jimmy’s phone number.
You can always make it into a post-war, color correct one-of-a-kind still. Just tell the authorities you’re making hand sanitizer. And for gods sake flush that crack out of it.
or my phone number…been there done that…many times…
you have been gifted a great and important addition to Stinky…get it on there…though space will likely be a problem.
John in Va.
Ditto on the space issue. I couldn’t even get a thermostat on my KL without hitting the rear seatback.
The other issue is keeping barnicles out of the salt water side but you already know that with Sweat Pee.
I think this explains the heat exchanger thing using an every day object – duck feet, pretty well Matt
Duck meat spaget!
Simply salutation—–move to the great lakes and you don’t have to worry about salt in ersion or is it diversion or converson.
Yay, boat stories! Better yet: raw and fresh. What’s not to like?
Sorry about the vote, that crochet circle must have a wicked GOTV program. I think I was able to vote three or four times, however many times you posted on it. Clearing the cache didn’t work for me to vote more than once a day.
I am on the great lakes and would still love to have a system like this. I would run antifreeze in the closed loop and be sure the freshwater side was self draining to really extend the boating season!
It’s really very simple: The heat exchanger is a radiator and the raw-water pump/circuit takes the place of the engine fan and airflow across the radiator when the engine is running. The expansion tank is where you monitor and fill the radiator with coolant/antifreeze, the sea strainer sort of like the grill on the car – keeping the big stuff out of the way so the exterior cooling flow is uninterrupted. Better check all the components – that white stuff is corrosion/salt – I’m guessing from the sea strainer. I set up all my boats (except outboards, of course) with closed cooling. “Stinky” will be a happy boat for a lot longer with those components in place.
Dick Dow and Craig Magnusson installed a closed fresh water cooling system in my Continental a number of years ago when we installed a Chris Craft 350 that we had removed and rebuilt from a cruiser. This is why I was able to take the boat through the Ballard Locks and cruise over to Port Orchard on Puget Sound several years to attend the Chris Craft Rendezvous.
Here is a picture of me there giving Chris Smith a ride. He was a very gracious man and said ” I never turn down a boat ride!”
I do not believe this could be done on a Hercules K, M, W, block due to the way the water flows through the block and then out of the exhaust manifold. Usually all of the water that goes through from the lake passes through the exhaust manifold only on a closed cooling system them through the heat exchanger and back out the exhaust again. The anti-freeze just goes through the block and through the secondary coil of the heat exchanger on a close school system if this makes sense.
Brad, it can be done. You have to modify the flow so the coolant circulates back in and the raw water cools the manifold and goes out the exhaust.
I think that adding those closed system components to Matt’s specific boat is a non starter. No room, and adding a second pump….no way…..I would not begin the effort.
Just flush her after a run and Go Boating!
John in Va.
So anti-freeze circulates through the lower part of the manifold? Then the top part of the manifold has just raw water in it? Is that correct thanks Brad
Also need a second non positive pressure pump where do you mount that and how do you run it. The pump shown in the picture is the raw water pump.