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Another Update STILL Its the heat exchanger joints

knuckle47

knuckle47

Advanced Contributor
"Darn,

I really thought I

"Darn,

I really thought I was looking at an intake gasket but today after reinstalling the raw water pump and heating up the engine to check things out. I SAW the coolant connection to the top of the heat exchanger spit a super tiny syringe sized stream of coolant at the carb and into the top of the manifold. So, I still need to solder that nipple. Dead center top at 12 o'clock."
 
At least you know where the le

At least you know where the leak is!

Jeff

PS: Good luck! I can't solder for beans.
 
Apparantly NEITHER CAN I !

Apparantly NEITHER CAN I !

The problem is that I am trying to make a solder fillet to bridge the air gap between the drilled hole in the heat exchanger and the nipple that hold the anti-freeze hole. This gap is about 1/16 " due to the curvature of the top of the tank.

I did buy a small roll of silver solder for added strength...here's hoping
 
"1/16" is a pretty big slo

"1/16" is a pretty big slot to ask solder to bridge. try to deform the nipple in that area to close that space. Or, maybe a copper shim."
 
"Gotta ask - what is "the

"Gotta ask - what is "the anti-freeze hole"?

if you are talking about the filler neck, you should be able to get a new one from a local radiator shop.

As far a soldering goes, the mechanical joint shouldn't depend solely upon the solder to maintain integrity....not always easy when it comes to HX's. The larger the metal-metal contact area the longer the joint will last. The silver solder will help, too - make sure you have enough heat though."
 
"I don't want to get too t

"I don't want to get too technical...."the anti-freeze hole" is the one that the antifreeze goes into on the top front of the tank via a hose from the engine. The filler neck is on top. I only figured I would define it separately from the "raw water hole" !

I have some strip copper and I am thinking of making a "shim" to help seal the part. It's not that the mechanical joint is weak anywhere else it is just that when the two circles come together and 1 is larger, the contact tangent is only a small part of that diameter. The largest "open" area is at the top of the fitting. I use that MAP gas yellow cylinder....seems to work well.
294780.jpg
hx
 
"The MAPP stuff should be OK.

"The MAPP stuff should be OK.

I'd refer to the culprit joint as the Hose barb/nipple where the coolant returns to the HX, from the manifolds.

It is ironic - that's the same fitting the 'transmission wizards' cracked when they fixed their mistake on mine many years ago. weh it leaked, after reaching operating temp and building some pressure, it would "P" on the coil. the engine would stumble, the rpm would drop, and the stream would stop as the RPM fell. It too a few cycles but we eventually found it. If you had my luck, it would have been aligned so the stream would have entered the carb and 'cleaned' your combustion chambers...

If you can't find and shape the shim stock, I bet "Solder-Wick" would work well. Its nothing more than a fluxed, fine braid of copper that's been flattened. real easy to conform and comes in several different widths."
 
"Actually, that is a good idea

"Actually, that is a good idea. A friend of my wife's uses it to remove extra solder from her leaded glass soldering. I gave her a solder extractor. Uses a trigger release instant suction from a plunger."
 
"I'd get that brazed if I

"I'd get that brazed if I were you (and that I can do). Much stronger, and it can fill in wide gaps.


Jeff"
 
"Hey Jeff,

I'm so much

"Hey Jeff,

I'm so much closer to Allentown, NJ BUT I DO appreciate the offer. I have about 3 lbs of brass rod but I had loaned my torch and tanks to a "friend" who moved last year. Now he's 3 hours away. His comment...."come on over, I'm home""
 
"Al - what is the makeup or br

"Al - what is the makeup or branding on your 'silver solder'?

If your 'solder' has a high melting point, you wind up 'brazing' anyhow."
 
"Mark,

I don't know. I

"Mark,

I don't know. I got it from a guy in Texas who says this is the solder they use to join band saw blades together. ? It was not expensive, about $2.96 for 5 feet."
 
that's a relative measurem

that's a relative measurement.

I think the magic number is 44% silver - if you stay below that you can declare its use as brazing rather than soldering. i think as long as the 'gap' is small you can probably use any type of 'hard' solder and be fine.
 
"I'll bet you don't th

"I'll bet you don't think I know where Allentown, NJ is, eh? Wrong. Been through there a few times. I also know where Allentown, MD is!

Jeff"
 
"Hey, I know where that is and

"Hey, I know where that is and I don't have any desire to go back...."it just ain't what it used to be"."
 
"Mark, I was using it today an

"Mark, I was using it today and the othe rspool I had says "Oakey" Silver Solder ...I did not get the silver quantity...I did fix the leak however, took all of 20 seconds and another 45 to replace the hose and clamp.

Jeff, I am about 20 minutes east of there and a little south. That Allentown is actually very nice. A LITTLE too far to commute to NYC so it stayed a nice little quiet town. WHen I moved to where we are now, the 6 acres we have was just about what every one had. Today 100 acre fields try to support 200 houses and an Sh#$ load of attitude"
 
20 seconds - it had to take lo

20 seconds - it had to take longer than that just to get it hot enough.

Did you just use the SS or did you 'fill' it with the stock or braid?
 
"Actually, I used the silver s

"Actually, I used the silver solder. The guy told me it is better to use acetylene to heat it as it is more like brazing and use a mask. The thinner diameter made it melt quickly so it stuck, it worked and it is running fine. The MAPP gas seems to heat spot areas very fast. The old solder ran off in much less time. I wire brushed it, fluxed and soldered. Afterwards I ran the engines for about 25 minutes to be sure it was ok to run.

I have noticed that when cranking the starboard engine, (damper repair engine) that the new starter although the correct part, does spin faster to start the engine. Almost reminds me of a diesel. Mind you, neither crank slowly but there is a difference in the newer starter...works fine though.

I like the idea of using the braid but I did not have any and I made the trip to get it done...its' done

Seas look to be 1 to 2 feet according to NOAA so I'm going this weekend !"
 
"..."that the new starter

"..."that the new starter although the correct part, does spin faster to start the engine. "

So why complain!

Jeff"
 
"Oh, I ain't complaining.

"Oh, I ain't complaining. I actually like it so much I am tempted to replace the old one if I didn't have to bend under the heat exchanger ! especially that I have it in my shed since the LH / RH confusion...Smooth and quiet too. Must be that new ring gear!

The teeth on the old one really looked rounded and used in places. The new gear is very square edged"
 
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