Handy stuck zinc removal tool

[Dougcole]

Hi All,


Full disclosure, this is not my idea, I learned from a TF member about ten years ago, but I thought I would pass it on as some may not have seen it and it is so useful.


There is not much clearance above the pencil zinc on the heat exchanger on my Kohler generator, which makes getting to the zinc a bit of an issue. I usually get the zinc out ok, but occasionally the cap unscrews and leaves the zinc itself stuck in the hole. No problem on my main engines, I just tap it through, but on the genset there is no room to do that. I have about two inches between the zinc hole and the bottom of the water pump. Usually when this happens there is not enough of the zinc left to pull it out from inside the HE. The stuck piece of zinc prevents the installation of a new zinc, so it's an issue. The only other way I can think of to get it out is to remove the entire HE (oh boy).



So I made this little bugger. You just screw in the cap, then tighten the bolt. It pushes the piece of zinc through into the HE. I don't have to use it often, but when I do it's a life saver.


It's easy to make, easier if you have a drill press. Hope this helps somebody.

 

[Bustlebomb]

Smart idea! Thanks for sharing.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. D.

 

[Dougcole]

Greetings,
Mr. D.

LOL. Your gif game is top notch.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. D....

Bwahahaha.....

 

[Bacchus]

Doug
If the zinc anode unscrews from the cap i'd rather remove it than push it in.
I have made a slightly different removal tool from an old cap by grinding the OD threads down so the cap will screw onto the zinc without engaging the cooler housing.
Screw it on and continue to tighten the cap to spin the zinc and free it up then grab it with pliers / vise grips to pull out the broken anode.
It has saved me a few times.
Access on my Kohler is limited and I did have had to pull the Ht exchanger once.
Easier to remove on other Ht Xchgrs with more access room.

 

[syjos]

Doug
If the zinc anode unscrews from the cap i'd rather remove it than push it in.
I have made a slightly different removal tool from an old cap by grinding the OD threads down so the cap will screw onto the zinc without engaging the cooler housing.
Screw it on and continue to tighten the cap to spin the zinc and free it up then grab it with pliers / vise grips to pull out the broken anode.
It has saved me a few times.
Access on my Kohler is limited and I did have had to pull the Ht exchanger once.
Easier to remove on other Ht Xchgrs with more access room.

+1

I would not want to push too many expended zincs into the HE. Good way to get a blockage.

 

[Dougcole]

+1

I would not want to push too many expended zincs into the HE. Good way to get a blockage.

The alternative is having no zinc in place at all.



When it happens to me (twice now in the 7 years I've owned this boat) the threads twist off inside the old cap, there is not enough of a stub left to grab or pull out. It breaks off flush.


Agreed on not leaving anything in the HE. I take the cap off the end of the HE and pull out the piece of zink with curved nosed needle nose pliers.

 

[syjos]

The alternative is having no zinc in place at all.



When it happens to me (twice now in the 7 years I've owned this boat) the threads twist off inside the old cap, there is not enough of a stub left to grab or pull out. It breaks off flush.


Agreed on not leaving anything in the HE. I take the cap off the end of the HE and pull out the piece of zink with curved nosed needle nose pliers.

I replace the one zinc on the FL and one zinc on the generator quarterly. While the zinc is still semi solid and easily removed whole.

They are less than 50 cents each when purchased in bulk.

 

[O C Diver]

I have considered an alternative. I end up pulling the pencil anodes (aluminum) once a year and some times having the same problem as they are mostly still good. Was considering going from 1/2" to 3/8" and using a bushing. Then removing the bushing to inspect or replace the anode. Wished I had thought about it when I was cleaning the heat exchanger. Probably could have drilled and tapped the end caps to 3/4" and used the 1/2" anodes.

Ted

 

[Bacchus]

I have switched to PerformanceMetals.com alum pencil anodes as I'm in fresh water and had much better success pulling anodes. They have a steel wire core and hold together better. I now have one broken in my oil cooler that I need to work on to try to get out... drilling... EZ out... etc or will end up losing it into the ht xchgr.

 

[Dougcole]

Zincs are on my maintenance rotation as well. It's funny, I never have them break off on the main engines it always seems to happen to the genset. Maybe it's because the zinc there is small and there is only one, I'm not really sure.


I reuse the caps when possible. When the elements break off in the caps I've tried boiling them in acid but in the end decided it's not worth the trouble.


Our boat sits in brackish water, sometimes it is pretty salty, sometimes almost 100 percent fresh, it just depends on the water flow from lake O. We use it in salt though, so I use zinc rather than aluminum.

 

[O C Diver]

I have switched to PerformanceMetals.com alum pencil anodes as I'm in fresh water and had much better success pulling anodes. They have a steel wire core and hold together better. I now have one broken in my oil cooler that I need to work on to try to get out... drilling... EZ out... etc or will end up losing it into the ht xchgr.

I have been using Performance Metals also. Bought a bunch in 2016, but having trouble buying them last year. Where are you getting them from?

Ted

 

[Bacchus]

I have been using Performance Metals also. Bought a bunch in 2016, but having trouble buying them last year. Where are you getting them from?

Ted

I went direct and they shipped to me as no dealer in my area... worth a call.

 

[Bacchus]

I have had some success painting a band around the anode just past the cap. My thought where clearance is very small and sticking likely it slows / prevents the "corrosion" in that area that jams it. So far it seems to help. I've though about putting one in a lathe a turning it down just a bit in that same area for relief? Haven't tried that yet. Easiest is to just pull & clean them more frequently.

 

[Dougcole]

I have had some success painting a band around the anode just past the cap. My thought where clearance is very small and sticking likely it slows / prevents the "corrosion" in that area that jams it. So far it seems to help. I've though about putting one in a lathe a turning it down just a bit in that same area for relief? Haven't tried that yet. Easiest is to just pull & clean them more frequently.

Yeah, I think the tolerance on the HE for my genset is tighter than it is on my engines. Maybe I could try opening it up with a dremel, but I'd have to pull the HE to do that.



I just changed the coolant yesterday on my generator. It's a messy job as there is no clearance below the drain on the HE to get any sort of funnel or anything under it. I catch as much of it as I can in a cut open milk jug, but a lot still spills all over the lazerette. There is about 2 inches of clearance above the fill neck, so I have to use a funnel with a rubber tube attached to it to get the new coolant in. Then it airlocks (every time) and overheats, so I have to burp the coolant hoses like crazy and try to pour more coolant in through the funnel contraption as the genset is running. More mess. I get it done eventually, but I don't want to pull that HE if I don't have to. Much easier to fish the stub of zinc out of the tube as needed.

 

[LarryM]

I have switched to PerformanceMetals.com alum pencil anodes as I'm in fresh water and had much better success pulling anodes. They have a steel wire core and hold together better. I now have one broken in my oil cooler that I need to work on to try to get out... drilling... EZ out... etc or will end up losing it into the ht xchgr.

+1

 

[bayview]

You aren't leaving the old zinc in the HE with that too are you?

 

[Dougcole]

You aren't leaving the old zinc in the HE with that too are you?

No. I take the end cap off of the HE and fish out the broken zinc. It would be idiotic to leave it in there.

 

[bayview]

with some size zincs a threaded rod connector nut can be screwed onto the zinc in order to pull it out.

 

[Dougcole]

with some size zincs a threaded rod connector nut can be screwed onto the zinc in order to pull it out.

Sounds interesting. How would it attach to a zinc where the threads snapped off flush inside the cap? How much space would you need above the zinc to attach the rod?

 

[Bacchus]

with some size zincs a threaded rod connector nut can be screwed onto the zinc in order to pull it out.

On mine at least the anode threads are pretty well hidden inside the cap thread and don't project much. By grinding the cap OD threads it allows the modified cap to screw onto the anode w/o engaging the housing threads.

 

[Xsbank]

It seems to me that the reason you put a zinc in an heat exchanger is because the exchanger is isolated from the engine etc by being clamped to rubber hoses. Why not bond the cooler to the block and just not use a zinc? Some of the other coolers (like the oil, transmission coolers) on the boats I've had did not have zincs but the main one always did. I do have a raw water cooled genset and I am going to remove my zinc from the exchanger and bond the case as it's time to change the zinc and it's in an (insert boat word here)
awkward place.

 

[ssurabus]

Hi All,

I grew frustrated with the various forms of the "stuck zinc" problem a few years ago and developed an alternative plug to mitigate the issue. I've used the new zinc design on my Mainship (twin 240 Yanmars and 1 Kohler 8eoz). A few other people ranging from a friend with twin Cats on his Sea Ray, to an area boatyard to a technical editor in a marine publication have also tried them out with the small sample size of results being positive. I have patented the design and am about to produce a small sample run. If anyone would be interested in having a look and giving them a try, please contact me. I'll send a few out when I have them on hand. While the idea is patented, I don't want to discuss the details on the forum as of yet (but will do so privately). I may commercialize the design. I'm not currently in business, so hopefully this does not breach any rules of the forum. Apologies if that is the case and if so, I will not post about them again. Bottom line for me, is/was that this job should as straightforward as it seems. Plenty of other reasons to curse on the boat.
--Howie

 

[jbloyd]

Is this so obvious nobody thought it needed mentioning?

It seems to me that the reason you put a zinc in an heat exchanger is because the exchanger is isolated from the engine etc by being clamped to rubber hoses. Why not bond the cooler to the block and just not use a zinc? Some of the other coolers (like the oil, transmission coolers) on the boats I've had did not have zincs but the main one always did. I do have a raw water cooled genset and I am going to remove my zinc from the exchanger and bond the case as it's time to change the zinc and it's in an (insert boat word here)
awkward place.

If this suggestion is followed through to conclusion, can anyone think of any unintended (and unwanted) consequences? It seems so simple that I wonder why it isn't the standard way of doing things. What am I missing? And, as one who has an HE for coolant, xmission fluid, and oil on the mains as well as an HE on the genset, all with zincs to maintain, why isn't this "solution" applied to all seven of the HE's?

 

[rgano]

Doug
If the zinc anode unscrews from the cap i'd rather remove it than push it in.
I have made a slightly different removal tool from an old cap by grinding the OD threads down so the cap will screw onto the zinc without engaging the cooler housing.
Screw it on and continue to tighten the cap to spin the zinc and free it up then grab it with pliers / vise grips to pull out the broken anode.
It has saved me a few times.
Access on my Kohler is limited and I did have had to pull the Ht exchanger once.
Easier to remove on other Ht Xchgrs with more access room.

Love pulling anodes rather than pilling them up in the coolers, and I am gonna grind down an old anode holder's threads tomorrow!

 

[Al R]

I had a friend, a hobby mechanic, who had a similar problem. He took his HE pencil zinc cap (less the zinc insert) drilled and tapped it, screwed in a small bolt with an electrical connector, reinserted the modified cap,and wired it directly to the engine's main bonding strap. As he proudly said " end of problem"


I haven't needed to try this (yet) but would be very interested in your thoughts as to whether this might be workable and a reliable solution/alternative.

 

[rgano]

I had a friend, a hobby mechanic, who had a similar problem. He took his HE pencil zinc cap (less the zinc insert) drilled and tapped it, screwed in a small bolt with an electrical connector, reinserted the modified cap,and wired it directly to the engine's main bonding strap. As he proudly said " end of problem"


I haven't needed to try this (yet) but would be very interested in your thoughts as to whether this might be workable and a reliable solution/alternative.

Hey, if somebody had the wherewithal and smarts to conduct field measurements to verify the efficacy of that method, I would say go for it. In my case, with the boat mostly hanging free above the water, it would do no good. Even with the engine freshwater rinsed, the anodes continue to dissolve and thus do their job, meaning I am not about to replace them with any other method of corrosion resistance in my single engine's five coolers.

 

[Bacchus]

I had a friend, a hobby mechanic, who had a similar problem. He took his HE pencil zinc cap (less the zinc insert) drilled and tapped it, screwed in a small bolt with an electrical connector, reinserted the modified cap,and wired it directly to the engine's main bonding strap. As he proudly said " end of problem"


I haven't needed to try this (yet) but would be very interested in your thoughts as to whether this might be workable and a reliable solution/alternative.

I'm am no expert and would like to hear from others with much more knowledge in this area.
My thoughts... it doesn't make sense to me.
Anodes are there to be sacrificial for the hr xchgr as it is a little galvanic cell with different materials in close proximity. Connecting to a distant sacrificial anode will not provide the same protection as if it were close.
If this approach workef why would anyone bother with more than one plate anode on the hull as everything else, including the engine is / can be bonded to it
JMO but I won't be removing anodes from my engine anytime soon.