Antifouling Price

[oldgit]

Changing impellers.
Nothing ruins a boaters day like an overheat alarm breaking a blissfull underway doze on the flybridge , while waiting for the next waypoint to arrive.


Depends how much you use the boat and where you use it. ?
Normally do around 120 + hours a year much of it offshore/coastal.
The very last thing we need is a impeller crapping out halfway to somewhere.
A couple of impellers, around £50 each every couple of years and changed while the boat is firmly secured to the pontoon with a fan heater keeping you cosy, the cup of tea + biscuits along side or listening to an alarm go off several miles offshore , then rolling in the swell, hoping like hell you have stopped the engine in time ££££££ and the propect of long sloow limp to your destination and then recovering all the blades/bits distributed thoughout the cooling system afterwards.
Get 90% of the bits out and call it quits.

£ 50 impeller vs major overheat...........Hmmm !
Always keep old impellers aboard just in case and yes have changed an impeller underway, ( more than once) fortunately the boats were all fairly ancient and builders had not yet found cunning methods to completely prevent access to the oily bits without dismantling most of the boat.

 

[paradave]

I truly don’t understand people who don’t do this. Learn by own mistakes or from others?

 

[oldgit]

I truly don’t understand people who don’t do this. Learn by own mistakes or from others?

all it will take is one failure in the wrong place and the wrong time ?

 

[Bigplumbs]

I truly don’t understand people who don’t do this. Learn by own mistakes or from others?

I know of many people who wont learn from the fact that the impellers in my many boats last on average 5 years........ Those are facts from real life. If you waste the planets resources by changing them every year you will never know how long they will last now will you. Do you even change them yourself........ If not are you sure they have been changed or do you just believe what is written on the invoice.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Changing impellers.
Nothing ruins a boaters day like an overheat alarm breaking a blissfull underway doze on the flybridge , while waiting for the next waypoint to arrive.


Depends how much you use the boat and where you use it. ?
Normally do around 120 + hours a year much of it offshore/coastal.
The very last thing we need is a impeller crapping out halfway to somewhere.
A couple of impellers, around £50 each every couple of years and changed while the boat is firmly secured to the pontoon with a fan heater keeping you cosy, the cup of tea + biscuits along side or listening to an alarm go off several miles offshore , then rolling in the swell, hoping like hell you have stopped the engine in time ££££££ and the propect of long sloow limp to your destination and then recovering all the blades/bits distributed thoughout the cooling system afterwards.
Get 90% of the bits out and call it quits.

£ 50 impeller vs major overheat...........Hmmm !
Always keep old impellers aboard just in case and yes have changed an impeller underway, ( more than once) fortunately the boats were all fairly ancient and builders had not yet found cunning methods to completely prevent access to the oily bits without dismantling most of the boat.

That old pony has been written so many times. Real life tells me it simply is not true

 

[Boat2016]

Changing impellers.
Nothing ruins a boaters day like an overheat alarm breaking a blissfull underway doze on the flybridge , while waiting for the next waypoint to arrive.


Depends how much you use the boat and where you use it. ?
Normally do around 120 + hours a year much of it offshore/coastal.
The very last thing we need is a impeller crapping out halfway to somewhere.
A couple of impellers, around £50 each every couple of years and changed while the boat is firmly secured to the pontoon with a fan heater keeping you cosy, the cup of tea + biscuits along side or listening to an alarm go off several miles offshore , then rolling in the swell, hoping like hell you have stopped the engine in time ££££££ and the propect of long sloow limp to your destination and then recovering all the blades/bits distributed thoughout the cooling system afterwards.
Get 90% of the bits out and call it quits.

£ 50 impeller vs major overheat...........Hmmm !
Always keep old impellers aboard just in case and yes have changed an impeller underway, ( more than once) fortunately the boats were all fairly ancient and builders had not yet found cunning methods to completely prevent access to the oily bits without dismantling most of the boat.

I once owned a boat with a Yanmar and they certainly get the award for one of the most awkward impellers to change, only way was pump off and that was a job I would not want to do at sea and while it was off to be checked each year a new impeller was fitted, I really didn’t see the point in fitting the old one back in then just waiting for the day it lets you down. Have heard of a few Volvos that overheated straight after relaunch where the pump has airlocked, they don’t run dry for long.
I spoke with a charter boat operators once who said changing a working impeller was completely unnecessary and he would only consider looking at it when the engine overheated, wouldn’t be too Impressed if I was one of the paying guests and the day out was ruined through lack of maintenance.

 

[Bigplumbs]

If it aint broke don't fix it

 

[oldgit]

Real life tells me it simply is not true

real life could be hanging upside down in the engine compartment with the working engine whirring around next to your ear hole while changing an impeller with the only tool to hand, a leatherman, having just knocked up a gasket from a corn flake packet using the end of spanner to tap out the shape.
The answer to most folks next question would be Vaseline !
Must have been my imagination

 

[Bigplumbs]

real life could be hanging upside down in the engine compartment with the working engine whirring around next to your ear hole while changing an impeller with the only tool to hand, a leatherman, having just knocked up a gasket from a corn flake packet using the end of spanner to tap out the shape.
The answer to most folks next question would be Vaseline !
Must have been my imagination

Not my experience.................... How many perfectly good impellers have you sent to landfill. Simply no logic to do it every year..... Why not every 14 month 2 weeks and 3 days. Or some other random number.

 

[Portofino]

You supposed to remove and inspect them every so many hrs or annually if do not you reach said hrs .If you winterise it may be pulled anyhow .
MAN recommend replace about 5 yrs or sooner if it starts to crack fails it’s preliminary inspection or exceed a certain hrs .
Jabsco pumps so pretty meaty things ,and pricy …..a few hundred € s a piece for one in a manufacturers packaging .

Having said this you don’t really want to , or I don’t really want to end up in scenarios OG has correctly outlined. Messing with a failed one @ sea in a hot ER .
Decent yards have environmental credentials with necessary waste disposal bins for gen service items , in the EU they add a tiny % to the bill to cover this .

Some of the bigger engines have a inlet water pump pressure measurement so at least you can see if the pressure is dropping out be it gradual or partial , or at least compare both sides to get a feel there’s a possibility of a lost vane . Nice to see that flicking through screens imho .


My geny impeller for the ubiquitous Johnson 1FB pump costs about €10 off the self .I carry 2 spares and they don’t seem to last .It’s 50 / 50 they last a season .Normally the hub / bush separates .They are so small and tiny I suspect relatively a smaller surface area for the rubber to attach to the brass hub .….. working on the geny is easy quick and simple compared to the main engines .
I have carefully glued the rubber back on the hub/ bush in fresh ones .

It seems to me from experience the longevity improves with the size .

How ever I don’t think parking them up for months on end does them any good , the rubber develops a set , this may potentate cracks and shorten there life if otherwise turned over or taken out over the winter .

Theres no one size fits all answer here to rubber impeller maintenance.No bodies wrong .

 

[paradave]

Not my experience.................... How many perfectly good impellers have you sent to landfill. Simply no logic to do it every year..... Why not every 14 month 2 weeks and 3 days. Or some other random number.

In reality, for most people, it would be a random number that is approximate to a year.

For what it’s worth, I think you’re totally wrong with your approach and have been lucky to date. It’s a cheap item which is relatively easy/cheap to replace - there’s no great conspiracy around changing them annually, it just makes sense. Especially if the boat’s not used over winter.
Your persistent ‘real-life’ argument only works as long as you’ve been lucky and then it suddenly seems like a regrettable choice. I’d also wager that most on here have much more real life experience than you do, given the journeys and adventures many go on.

 

[Bigplumbs]

In reality, for most people, it would be a random number that is approximate to a year.

For what it’s worth, I think you’re totally wrong with your approach and have been lucky to date. It’s a cheap item which is relatively easy/cheap to replace - there’s no great conspiracy around changing them annually, it just makes sense. Especially if the boat’s not used over winter.
Your persistent ‘real-life’ argument only works as long as you’ve been lucky and then it suddenly seems like a regrettable choice. I’d also wager that most on here have much more real life experience than you do, given the journeys and adventures many go on.

Well.... Lucky with about 12 engines for about 10 years + . I would say that is proof not luck....... Never had an impeller fail yet..... I have had then go weak and pump slow.

If you have never left one for more than a year you would not know would you.

No matter what the cost changing them every year is just wasteful. As I said many times if it aint broke don't fix it.

I always laugh when people with money say £50 is not much money....... Go tell that to 40 % of the UK population and tell me what answer you get............ As I said it is about the real world.

Happy Christmas and here's hoping you get a rubber tree

 

[Bigplumbs]

You supposed to remove and inspect them every so many hrs or annually if do not you reach said hrs .If you winterise it may be pulled anyhow .
MAN recommend replace about 5 yrs or sooner if it starts to crack fails it’s preliminary inspection or exceed a certain hrs .
Jabsco pumps so pretty meaty things ,and pricy …..a few hundred € s a piece for one in a manufacturers packaging .

Having said this you don’t really want to , or I don’t really want to end up in scenarios OG has correctly outlined. Messing with a failed one @ sea in a hot ER .
Decent yards have environmental credentials with necessary waste disposal bins for gen service items , in the EU they add a tiny % to the bill to cover this .

Some of the bigger engines have a inlet water pump pressure measurement so at least you can see if the pressure is dropping out be it gradual or partial , or at least compare both sides to get a feel there’s a possibility of a lost vane . Nice to see that flicking through screens imho .


My geny impeller for the ubiquitous Johnson 1FB pump costs about €10 off the self .I carry 2 spares and they don’t seem to last .It’s 50 / 50 they last a season .Normally the hub / bush separates .They are so small and tiny I suspect relatively a smaller surface area for the rubber to attach to the brass hub .….. working on the geny is easy quick and simple compared to the main engines .
I have carefully glued the rubber back on the hub/ bush in fresh ones .

It seems to me from experience the longevity improves with the size .

How ever I don’t think parking them up for months on end does them any good , the rubber develops a set , this may potentate cracks and shorten there life if otherwise turned over or taken out over the winter .

Theres no one size fits all answer here to rubber impeller maintenance.No bodies wrong .

Lots of theory there and lots of words........... I know the truth from many years of experience

 

[paradave]

Well.... Lucky with about 12 engines for about 10 years + . I would say that is proof not luck....... Never had an impeller fail yet..... I have had then go weak and pump slow.

If you have never left one for more than a year you would not know would you.

No matter what the cost changing them every year is just wasteful. As I said many times if it aint broke don't fix it.

I always laugh when people with money say £50 is not much money....... Go tell that to 40 % of the UK population and tell me what answer you get............ As I said it is about the real world.

Happy Christmas and here's hoping you get a rubber tree

Well despite you not asking, I have had one fail that was <2 years old and had I replaced it, it would have saved a lot of money so it was actually wasteful leaving it.

Maybe you’ll experience it one day, maybe you won’t. I don’t really care to be perfectly honest, I just disagree with your opinion that is based on a vanishingly small sample.
Happy Christmas.

 

[Bigplumbs]

So how much does it cost to Antifoul a boat

 

[oldgit]

I always laugh when people with money say £50 is not much money....... Go tell that to 40 % of the UK population and tell me what answer you get............ As I said it is about the real world.

Any claims from any boat owner that £50.00 is going to affect their boating in any significant way when spread over a couple of years is an interesting point of view !


Pucker VP . Reassembly suggested just how much remained inside the cooling system , recovered most it...eventually.

 

[NBs]

Hi,

I'm thinking, if you clean the old antifouling out, why not a new waterproofing with epoxy * 2 layers and then a new antifouling, and you'll get peace of mind from osmosis.

NBs

 

[NBs]

I know of many people who wont learn from the fact that the impellers in my many boats last on average 5 years........ Those are facts from real life. If you waste the planets resources by changing them every year you will never know how long they will last now will you. Do you even change them yourself........ If not are you sure they have been changed or do you just believe what is written on the invoice.

Hi,

this is a job that everyone should know how to do in my opinion.

I personally check the impeller 2 times a season, this is not a Wau job, but I find it a useful routine to maintain the skill to do it if it dies in the middle of nowhere.

I have several impellers with me when cruising and only the Genny impellers (jabsco) have broken down in the middle of the season for only 50-100 hours, I found another manufacturer's product with which I drove the genny for more than 400 hours and it's still good ( CEF Finnord Marine)

The main engine's impeller is still faultless for 5 years and about 2000 hours,
SMX Super 27 Impeller - Fits all SMX Seawater Pumps & all Cummins QSB's

I'll change impeller it next season for no reason, it's a Seaboard Marine (US) Sea Max pump + impeller to replace the poor Sherwood pump that started leaking already at 400 hours Cummins QSB 5.9 engine.

May be best raw water pump to Cummins QSB engine
SMX QSB Seawater Pump

NBs