Dramatically Extend the Life of Your Heat Exchanger
It seems like the common opinion on boat heat exchangers is they are only going to be good for a while until it needs cleaning. Then, you can clean the heat exchanger once, and use it for a few more years. But, after that first cleaning, you can’t hope to clean it again. And, many resort to buying a new heat exchanger at this juncture.
This statement is true if you use inappropriate cleaning techniques. But, Flushing Services can restore a heat exchanger ready for cleaning to its former function. And, by using the right approaches and technology, ones that don’t irrevocably damage a heat exchanger, you can restore the device time and time again.
Yes, it is true, if you know how to safely and effectively clean a heat exchanger, you can just keep reusing the same device. Yet, it is going to take a heat exchanger cleaner that knows how to appropriately clean it to achieve these results!
DIY hacks and tricks are, probably mostly used when cleaning these devices. These hacks can irreversibly damage your boat’s heat exchanger. Leaving you with the need to eventually replace this device. You may have even been told by a shop owner or boat repair man that you can only clean a marine heat exchanger once. But, this is not the case when you have a professional clean it right!
Heat exchanger cleaning hacks also jeopardize the function of your entire engine. Let’s talk about why it is paramount to let a heat exchanger cleaning company handle this project.
Why you Need to Outsource your Boat Heat Exchanger Cleaning
Sometimes, it may be more dangerous to use a partially cleaned heat exchanger than keeping a dirty one around. This is because the crud, gunk, and complex fouling inside of it is probably in a stable state; i.e., it won’t dislodge too easily.
When a non-professional attempts to clean a heat exchanger with basic tricks and hacks (like an acid bath) this leaves behind a substantial amount of agitated, loosened debris and sediment. And let’s face it, most boat mechanics and shops are going to use nothing but hacks and basic approaches to clean a heat exchanger. If you’ve sought their council already, you’ve probably heard a few of these risky approaches!
The reason why a professional needs to clean your heat exchanger is pretty simple! Only professional cleaning can remove all of the contaminants and fouling in a dirty marine heat exchanger. Other “quick fix” or “shop tricks” are not going to be safe for your boat engine!
Improper cleaning leaves behind a good amount of fouling and debris. The small debris, metal flakes, rust, and other crud still in the partially cleaned device is free to dislodge and flow into the system it is connected to. And, if you have an expensive engine, the last thing you want is a good mix of small crud washing around inside of it!
Although you might not have any problems, this small sediment could irreparably damage your boat engine. Additionally, any small leaks or pinholes generated by improper cleaning will allow fluids to mix inside the device. This wouldn’t be the best for a costly boat engine!
So, unfortunately, there is no easy solution when it comes to this important aspect of boat maintenance!
Using Acid / Boiling Out a Boat Heat Exchanger
If you are thinking about boiling out your heat exchanger with acid at a radiator shop, know that you can only do this one time if your device is made of copper or aluminum. The acid bath that shops put heat exchangers through will erode and damage the metal. Yes, your heat exchanger will get cleaned, but a significant amount of the metal will go missing!
If you boil out your heat exchanger more than once, you risk the possibility of cracks and holes forming in the device. The result is that the engine fluid and sea water could end up mixing. This, would spell sure disaster for your boat engine!
Another major problem with using an acid bath is that the metal in contact with that acid will rust. Acid essentially is a substance that will donate a hydrogen ion (H+). Metal can easily shed a negatively charged electron to bind with the positively charged hydrogen ion. In the process, the metal becomes less negative in charge.
Hydroxide ions (OH) are negatively charged and can share an electron. The metal, lacking negative charge, is more susceptible to hydroxide as a result.
The end result of using an acid on a heat exchanger is the metal becomes more susceptible to oxidation; i.e., rusting. Rusting in the process of a metal oxidizing.
What all this means for your heat exchanger, is that it will rapidly rust once you clean it out with an acid bath. If the acid didn’t leave pinholes and cracks in your device at first, eventually, rust will form these imperfections.
I know we are repeating ourselves, but this is another essential reason to let a professional clean your heat exchanger. We know the chemistry and other details that aren’t apparent to layman cleaning one of these devices!
In essence, if you are unfamiliar with cleaning heat exchangers, you would resort to an unusual solution like boiling it out with acid.
Let’s face it, radiator or mechanic shops aren’t experts on heat exchangers. They do not have the technology to safely clean and restore a heat exchanger. For a thorough cleaning, all they can do is provide a risky solution that might permanently damage your heat exchanger.
If a safer approach is taken by these shops, that preserves the integrity of the device’s metal, this will probably result in a poor cleaning job. Discussing this topic often involves repeating this same statement: poorly cleaned heat exchangers can damage the complex engines / systems they are integrated with.
Let us Bring Life Back to any Kind of Marine Heat Exchanger
If you have found this article, you probably have a boat heat exchanger that needs to be cleaned. And, if you have a marina, boat repair shop, or any kind of business that sees heat exchangers / oil coolers, we would like to work with you!
Flushing Services cleans heat exchangers for many high profile companies, and the United States military. Some of our contracts we are not at liberty to disclose; yet, suffice it to say, we are trusted by large organizations with a lot on the line when it comes to their heat exchangers.
When your engine is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, you cannot merely experiment by running a solvent through a heat exchanger or oil cooler for that engine! No, although many mariners might be satisfied with such solutions, when the risk is high enough only a professional will do!
Flushing Services wants to offer you this same high caliber, proven service to individuals and companies alike. We have been in the heat exchanger cleaning business for over 30 years. And, we have both patented and proprietary technology at our disposal that allows us to handle any job.
Even if your boat engine doesn’t cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, your boat is likely not something you want to be damaged due to a heat exchanger problem. And, by using our service, you can mitigate costs by not having to buy a brand new unit.
Let Flushing Services show you how simple we can make getting your marine heat exchanger pristinely cleaned and ready for many more years of use.
If you are a shop owner, or work with boat engines, we would like to work with you to be your outsourcing solution for heat exchanger restoration and cleaning. We want to save your customers time and money by thoroughly restoring their heat exchanger. By partnering with Flushing Services, we hope all the boating enthusiasts you work with will know you can use us to repeatedly clean heat exchangers!