As I mentioned in my last post my aging raw water cooled engine is pumping less and less water through the cooling system as time goes by. I came across this product -Barnacle Buster and wondered if anybody has had experience in using it and if it was worthwhile?https://trac-online.com/product/barnacle-buster-%c2%ae-concentrate
If you have used it what set up did you use for the pump etc to circulate the solution through the cooling system?
When flushing a marine engine, often a submersible type of bilge pump is used.
Get a good sized bucket.
Pour your chosen flushing agent into the bucket.
Disconnect engine circulating pump discharge and connect it to the bilge pump discharge with a longer piece of any type of hose.
Disconnect the engine cooling water discharge and run it back to the bucket.
Top up the bucket as the pumping action starts and let it run for as long as recommended.
Am not familiar with the effectiveness of Barnacle Buster, but as long as it doesn't cost the world, why not give a try and let us know how it works out. I have heard that vinegar does the job reasonably well.
gary
I use the acid available from Bunnings - it is sold as concrete cleaner, costs less than $20 for five litres. Dilute it slightly with water; I use about 2:1 so I get a 10 litre bucketful.. Get the engine good and hot by running it for a while, then stop it, disconnect the water intake, stick it into the bucket of acid and run the engine just long enough to suck it all in. Then stop the engine and leave it for an hour or so - you'll hear it bubbling away. Then reconnect the water intake, start the engine and rev it hard to flush it out.
For extra effect remove the thermostat(s) before doing this to ensure the bypass isn't used.
It is amazing how much this increases the water flow on a raw water cooled engine.
Select to expand quotesydchris said..
I use the acid available from Bunnings - it is sold as concrete cleaner, costs less than $20 for five litres. Dilute it slightly with water; I use about 2:1 so I get a 10 litre bucketful.. Get the engine good and hot by running it for a while, then stop it, disconnect the water intake, stick it into the bucket of acid and run the engine just long enough to suck it all in. Then stop the engine and leave it for an hour or so - you'll hear it bubbling away. Then reconnect the water intake, start the engine and rev it hard to flush it out.
For extra effect remove the thermostat(s) before doing this to ensure the bypass isn't used.
It is amazing how much this increases the water flow on a raw water cooled engine.
+1 for this. I used the same stuff on an old Yanmar. I left it in there for a few hours tho.
Select to expand quoteLazzz said..sydchris said..
I use the acid available from Bunnings - it is sold as concrete cleaner, costs less than $20 for five litres. Dilute it slightly with water; I use about 2:1 so I get a 10 litre bucketful.. Get the engine good and hot by running it for a while, then stop it, disconnect the water intake, stick it into the bucket of acid and run the engine just long enough to suck it all in. Then stop the engine and leave it for an hour or so - you'll hear it bubbling away. Then reconnect the water intake, start the engine and rev it hard to flush it out.
For extra effect remove the thermostat(s) before doing this to ensure the bypass isn't used.
It is amazing how much this increases the water flow on a raw water cooled engine.
+1 for this. I used the same stuff on an old Yanmar. I left it in there for a few hours tho.
Remember the 3 A's when diluting acid in water AAA ,,,,"Always Add Acid"
Like gary said i used cleaning vinegar, you can get it from Woolworths and stronger then normal vinegar and i also left it in there for 2 days it did the job for my motor which hadn't been started in 7 years
Also remove the anode as it will corrode it a lot quicker
