Exhaust Monitor - Silicon marine

5

5teve

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Feb 2016
Messages
262
Location
Western Australia
Visit site
HI Guys

Sorry few questions recently..

After having the hub spin out on a 40 hour old impeller leading to no raw water (most of the time but then it would grab on a restart and pump) and it being a pig of a job on the port engine.. not to mention the damage it could have done had i not noticed the exhaust note change... i'm looking at an exhaust temp monitor. Its something I could probably integrate into a system eventually but wanting something NOW is my priority..

Has anyone used the Silicon marine twin sensor? it looks like a nice bit of kit 2 sensors - interface box then comms cable up to display. Shows 2 temps, plus graphs and has programmable alarm setpoint (per engine) and I have a space on my dash where an old non functional gauge is to put it :)

The only thing that bothers me is the sensor pierces the exhaust tube.. which I have to admit I dont like doing! Most other alarms are external but are generally just disc switches that pop at a preset temperature.

Anyway I'd like to hear anyones thoughts on the kit as my family is going to be travelling over from the UK next week so can get them to bring one over.

Steve
 
I guess it's OK, imho it's best if you go through the exhaust hose, as that will give a more accurate reading.
Now, whether THAT accurate reading is needed, is another thing.
I went to the other route of tapping on the intercooler back seawater plate and adding a pressure sender there. So now if pressure reads 0 I know I have either a blocked heat exchanger (unlikely) or a failing impeller or block intake.
surely getting their kit is much simpler than what I did, still to do a proper writeup of all the sensors I've stuffed on my engines

V.
 
and to contradict myself, I fear that an external rubber hose stuck on temp sender will do as good a job as the internal thing if you want to know of a failure.
Tried reducing the flow on my 2cyl yanmar gen engine by slowly turning off the seacock, within 3-4secs I could feel the temp rising in the rubber hose (was testing something yesterday)

V.
 
vas said:
I guess it's OK, imho it's best if you go through the exhaust hose, as that will give a more accurate reading.
Now, whether THAT accurate reading is needed, is another thing.
I went to the other route of tapping on the intercooler back seawater plate and adding a pressure sender there. So now if pressure reads 0 I know I have either a blocked heat exchanger (unlikely) or a failing impeller or block intake.
surely getting their kit is much simpler than what I did, still to do a proper writeup of all the sensors I've stuffed on my engines

V.
Click to expand...

Hi Vas

I'll be keen to see the write up, it's the kind of thing I want to do when time / skills allow. I have two. 6btas not exactly filled with sensors and not always accurate either! The raw water pressure can show a lot of info, lack of water, blocked hx or aftercooler worn impeller etc etc.. certainly something for my long term plans...

The silicon marine or aqualarm or borel kit is much simpler than a diy solution but can't be as much fun...

As an aside I've been looking for twin egt and boost gauges and can't find a thing.. I think my only way is Arduino and a display or the plotter... I even asked silicon marine if they did a version of the exhaust alarm as egt .. apparently they had never been asked! Thought I could at least have matching gauges.. ?

vas said:
and to contradict myself, I fear that an external rubber hose stuck on temp sender will do as good a job as the internal thing if you want to know of a failure.
Tried reducing the flow on my 2cyl yanmar gen engine by slowly turning off the seacock, within 3-4secs I could feel the temp rising in the rubber hose (was testing something yesterday)

V.
Click to expand...

Well external must work as that's how the 2 main alarm companies work.. I'm torn between accuracy and ease of setup but piercing the hose and not piercing the hose!

Steve
 
FARSCO said:
Fitting Charge Pressure Guage kit to KAD42

post 138 onwards.....the BBQ Probe Solution ???
Click to expand...

BBQ probe solution, if it is installed with a 'normal' working KAD it at least give you a reference temperature
might give warning of an overheating issue in your engine
EGT would be nice in a KAD but not at straight forward to set up as discussed b4
 
simonfraser said:
installed this
Cooling Water Flow : AQUALARM, Warning Systems For Land And Sea
a couple of years ago, the flow unit has been installed vertically, works just fine
gives reassurance that there is cooling water flowing
Click to expand...

I looked at that and their temp sensor based ones - but raw water is a problem to tap into on my engines.. the inlet is short 2.5" and very curved!

FARSCO said:
Fitting Charge Pressure Guage kit to KAD42

post 138 onwards.....the BBQ Probe Solution ??
Click to expand...
Haha... yes would be cheaper! I've now ordered the system so will see how we go.. its a nicely made thing with a junction box and comms cable to minimise wiring.. hopefully it will work ok! Still a bit dubious about the penetration of the hose.. but we will see!

simonfraser said:
BBQ probe solution, if it is installed with a 'normal' working KAD it at least give you a reference temperature
might give warning of an overheating issue in your engine
EGT would be nice in a KAD but not at straight forward to set up as discussed b4
Click to expand...

My eventual aim is to have EGT, exhaust temp, raw water pressure, and numerous other sensors fed through to a touch screen with settable alarms - No Idea how yet - but thinking Arduino to deal with the sensors and rasberry pi to display.. I'm reading about signalK at the moment and hoping that may make things simpler than I normally make them..

Steve
 
5teve said:
HI Guys

Sorry few questions recently..

After having the hub spin out on a 40 hour old impeller leading to no raw water (most of the time but then it would grab on a restart and pump) and it being a pig of a job on the port engine.. not to mention the damage it could have done had i not noticed the exhaust note change... i'm looking at an exhaust temp monitor. Its something I could probably integrate into a system eventually but wanting something NOW is my priority..

Has anyone used the Silicon marine twin sensor? it looks like a nice bit of kit 2 sensors - interface box then comms cable up to display. Shows 2 temps, plus graphs and has programmable alarm setpoint (per engine) and I have a space on my dash where an old non functional gauge is to put it :)

The only thing that bothers me is the sensor pierces the exhaust tube.. which I have to admit I dont like doing! Most other alarms are external but are generally just disc switches that pop at a preset temperature.

Anyway I'd like to hear anyones thoughts on the kit as my family is going to be travelling over from the UK next week so can get them to bring one over.


I just installed one for a single engine. Putting the probe into the exhaust pipe was no big deal, it's clamped on using a large jubilee clip, I put a bit of sealant in addition to the rubber washer (as per instructions suggest you might want to) and it's dry as a bone.
It's works well with an ongoing graphical display which shows the trend as well of course as an audible alarm. (VPD4 260)
Click to expand...
 

Thanks Billy.. appreciate the info.. I have ordered so will install them sometime next week..

simonfraser said:
Flow alarm would have caught that straight away.
Click to expand...

Yep no doubt as would Vas's pressure readout.. issue I have is the very short very curved raw water intake pipe to get the flow switch positioned. Only other place I have is where the fuel cooler used to be (now straight ish bit of pipe) but that has to come off to replace impeller on port side so not ideal...

I think this one will do for now.. it's better than nothing and faster than external sensing only..

Steve
 
5teve said:
The only thing that bothers me is the sensor pierces the exhaust tube.. which I have to admit I dont like doing! Most other alarms are external
Click to expand...

The NASA exhaust temp monitor involves a sender that is mounted through a hole drilled through the exhaust hose, which I seem to remember from a previous thread users found satisfactory.

I think there was also a similarly mounted sender in a home made sensor/alarm system costing about £20 someone described on the PBO forum a while back.
 
Thanks LS and Bridge good to know. I'm sure it's fine, it's just with the hose being more expensive than gold.. I'd prefer to not damage it ? being silicon too it's fairly soft and squishy so hoping I can actually get the sensor to seal.. if not I'll be drilling the exhaust tube...

Steve
 
5teve said:
Thanks LS and Bridge good to know. I'm sure it's fine, it's just with the hose being more expensive than gold.. I'd prefer to not damage it ? being silicon too it's fairly soft and squishy so hoping I can actually get the sensor to seal.. if not I'll be drilling the exhaust tube...

Steve
Click to expand...

The following thread has answers to your questions (and a few of the usual types of diversions along the way!): Fitting a Exhaust Temperature Monitor/Alarm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top