Michael Quelch

Hi Chaps, so so going off up the river is now off the cards for the time being, we are just going to pop out of the marina a very short distance about 30min chug to get out for a couple of days so the kids get too see a bit of the river. I have decided to go with a heat exchanger to the central heating system for a bit of extra cooling but also for the extra heating, I will be getting her out next year and have a larger skin tank fitted on the outside. As I fitting the engine hoses myself can someone please confirm if they are plumbed in correctly I.e in the right direction? Which way does the water flow around? The pipe ups from under the engine header tank is attached to the top of the skin tank and the bottom hose off the skin tank then goes to the gearbox cooler on the prm 150 the first image is my engine and the second is a similar set up that I’ve found on the web showing the gear box cooler

What size would you recommend, also where is best to get them from as seen a few on ebay but going for silly money, the stove I have is putting out about 5kw in power which should have been matched to the rads giving around 12000 btu's. hopefully someone on here may be able to work out how much additional cooling this can provide the engine cooling system, am I right in thinking that you would want it plumbed into the engine skin tank and not the collarifier circuit due to the greater circulation of water?

I already have a circulation pump for three radiators running the length of the boat to the back boiler on our squirrel stove. So could easily fit a heat exchanger into the circuit not to worried about the interior of the boat getting warm as that’s easily vented and would be free extra heating in the winter lol That could be a potential option thank you.

It is def not a case of bodging it, it’s more about looking for the most cost effective solution, we live on the boat and the closest place to pull her out is booked up for months and also it’s about a days travel away. if the only solution is to wait until next year and have her out of the water that’s fine but I am looking for alternatives, engines are cooled in various ways through raw water, skin tanks and air these are not classed as bodges I’m asking people advice on potential alternative ways to cool her for the time being that is safe.

So after a bit of thinking and looking at the advice on here one option that I might go for is to fit another skin tank on the other swim, looking at the room internally I can get a good 4 foot area. My plan will be to get it fabricated as a complete tank with steel on both sides and then fillet weld it into place, making sure that before its fitted I use a thermal paste or substance to fill any air between the two steel plates, I believe this should give me the extra cooling I need but without having to worry about getting the welder into the tight space to get a full seam weld. What's your thoughts on this solution as it would mean that we don't have to have her out of the water and it is better than adding a car rad like I did think about?

Thanks again for all your advice, I’m still thinking about what can be done. But in the long term a new second skin tank will be fitting on the other swim. As Tony pointed out it’s only over heating when we have pushed here hard for a while so a slow chugging pace is the answer for now and not going to far in one hit so an hours slow chug then stop for a bit.

Thanks for your help chaps, the boat was designed not to be moved a lot and we sort of expected it to have issues seeing as it was never designed for rivers and it was built on a budget, but saying that the fit out is good and perfect for our needs with me the wife and our twin 10 year old daughters. We only shelled out £20k for her and have been told by everyone that it was a bargain so bound to be some short falls, I will be getting the welder out when she’s next out of the water and look at the solutions you have surgested above. i am thinking I might be able to get enough temporary cooling with an additional rad like thishttps://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302644208149 i understand it certainly not a perfect solution but the engine did run for 2 - 3 hours before over heating. Anyone on here able to work out the addition cooling requirements needed if using this type of additional rad?

I for got to mention that it was stood for 12 years and the skin tank and engine had no fluid in the ports were all capped off I.e as it was delivered from the manufacturer. Blackrose, I was hoping that was not going to be the case as not sure what I can do in a week to rectify the size of the skin tank

Skin tank measures 55cm by 102cm by 3cm I also built the steel frame and boarding

Hi all, I am having issues with my engine over heating which has happened on a couple of occasions and I really need to get to the bottom of the issue. we bought our boat about 1.5 years ago and when we did it came with a brand new Isuzu 38 which had been put in the engine room but had never been fitted as the previous owners never moved the boat so never got round to having it plumbed in. So when we bought her the engine room was empty apart from the engine just sitting on its new mounts. The boat was built in 2004 and I installed the engine myself I following the installation instructions that came in the engine manual and it runs fine apart from on a couple of occasions it has over heated and I’m wondering if it’s something I’ve done wrong. Having read the previous posts on a similar issue with another Isuzu I have removed the thermostat and checked it in hot water and it’s opening fine. I am going to be taking her out for a short holiday in a weeks time so wanted to gain any insights that people can offer. To make thing easier I will be posting some pictures so you can see how she is installed and spot any obvious issues visually. Our boat is a 72 foot narrow boat with a trad back and we believe the shell was built by measham boats, now called star line I think? We have fitted the colarifier to the engine but the first time she over heated was before this was connected up so not sure this is the issue. I will I’ll also be measuring the skin tank size later and post that to rule out an undersized cooling tank issue she first over heated when we moved her down from the Ashby canal to where we are now at billing aquadrom on the river nene, we had the guy from RCR come out and he disconnected the buzzer saying it was the temperature sender that was the issue? But he did no tests on it and the engine is def running hot when pushed. The last time we went out all was fine for 2 hours then it spat a hose off and emptied Everything into the engine bilge. ive reattached the hose and refilled her but have not moved her since. really don’t fancy braking down on the river so any advice is very welcome as soon as the wife’s up I will get in the engine bay and post some pictures