Water 'weeping' from exhaust / water mixer

MattS

MattS

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I noticed tonight that there are tiny beads of water seeping from my exhaust mixing elbow (if that's the right name) - very slowly, but wondering if it's a sign of imminent significant deterioration.

I've put a 20 second video on Youtube of the bead appearing, and me then wiping it away


Is this a common thing? How urgently do I need to worry about the exhaust corroding through...

IMG_0145.JPG
 
I suspected so. I guess without knowing how bad the corrosion is it’s hard to know how urgent changing it out might be.
 
Suspect you will find it coked up internally as well and may crumble to dust when you start pulling it about. Definitely a priority item to deal with.
 
MattS said:
I suspected so. I guess without knowing how bad the corrosion is it’s hard to know how urgent changing it out might be.
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If it's leaking, even a tiny bit, the corrosion is bad enough to make replacement urgent. It's almost certainly corroded from the inside, like the wings of a 1960s car. It probably won't happen, but I'd be leery of going any distance under power in case it snapped.
 
RichardS said:
I'm assuming that suggestion is made in jest. ;)

Richard
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An incomplete statement, should have finished off with - "until it is fixed"

Thanks for catching that ?

But the point was genuine, I have seen some very bad things occur from a failed exhaust elbow including fire, flooding and wrecked engines. My time as a marine engineer taught me a lot, and it is rarely that I would give this advice without a reason.
 
Hi Matt
Well I guess you have gotten the message to replace the "mixing elbow".
The next step is to get one manufactured.
You can contact a marine engineering company and pay "MARINE" rates or you can find a local metal fabricator and pay normal rates.

Next is the choice of material.
Your choices are stainless steel or plain steel which would then be galvinized or plain steel with a couple of coats of heatproof paint. This will all depend on how much you want to spend. I have a plain steel unit that is 15 years old.

So find a shop,take your photo in and talk to the staff..
If you are happy, remove the elbow drop it off an away you go with piece of mind.


gary
 
garymalmgren said:
Hi Matt
Well I guess you have gotten the message to replace the "mixing elbow".
The next step is to get one manufactured.
You can contact a marine engineering company and pay "MARINE" rates or you can find a local metal fabricator and pay normal rates.

Next is the choice of material.
Your choices are stainless steel or plain steel which would then be galvinized or plain steel with a couple of coats of heatproof paint. This will all depend on how much you want to spend. I have a plain steel unit that is 15 years old.

So find a shop,take your photo in and talk to the staff..
If you are happy, remove the elbow drop it off an away you go with piece of mind.


gary
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Probably much easier to buy the manufacturer's replacement part off the shelf (it looks like a Beta engine), although for many popular engines there are pattern parts available in stainless steel as an alternative.
 
Moodysailor said:
An incomplete statement, should have finished off with - "until it is fixed"

Thanks for catching that ?

But the point was genuine, I have seen some very bad things occur from a failed exhaust elbow including fire, flooding and wrecked engines. My time as a marine engineer taught me a lot, and it is rarely that I would give this advice without a reason.
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Both my exhaust elbows were patched up with epoxy putty (Milliput) for a year or two until I got around to replacing them.

This is Practical Boat Owner so let's use our practical skills to enable us to keep sailing whilst awaiting the replacement. :)

Richard
 
RichardS said:
Both my exhaust elbows were patched up with epoxy putty (Milliput) for a year or two until I got around to replacing them.

This is Practical Boat Owner so let's use our practical skills to enable us to keep sailing whilst awaiting the replacement. :)

Richard
Click to expand...

The OP is free to do what they choose with the advice offered, I offer mine as a time-served marine engineer. It should only take a week or so for a fabricator to make a replacement, assuming a replacement isn't available off the shelf.

Sorry, but that is the only practical advice I am prepared to offer on this subject. Best of luck to all.
 
From the weld on the original video I assumed it was a fabricated unit.
Beta replacement seems to be stainless nowadays.
As Tranoma said , the way to go.
1625742814027.png
 
Replacements for the standard elbow are aluminium and about £50. You'll probably need slightly longer bolts if your current one is steel as the flange is thicker
Exhaust System - splash-marine.com
If you have a high rise version they are 3 or 4 times the price and stainless
Edit: just looked at your photo and you have a standard rather than high rise set up so £50 and a few minutes work and you are sorted...provided you don't snap of the bolts so go easy, plus gas etc ?
 
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Thanks everyone for your advice and comments, I’ve taken them all in with interest, and have gone from not really understanding the problem I was faced with, to having a fairly good grasp of what’s happening, what the risks might be, and what I can do about it!

I can totally see that I could continue to use the boat without an immediate catastrophic failure (and have now ordered an exhaust bandage just because it seems like a good thing to have on board), but can also see the argument that using the boat unnecessarily, knowing there is a risk there, needs careful thought.

I’ve spoken to my local beta engineer, and he’s ordering in both a standard beta elbow, and a high rise version, He’s previously commented that he doesn‘t feel like the rise is quite enough in my installation, so if we can get a high rise elbow into the compartment space then that seems like a good thing to do. Otherwise we can hopefully just go with a standard beta replacement. @garymalmgren he also said it looks like it was a custom fabrication, so I guess we’ll have to see whether there was a reason for that when the parts arrive!
 
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