Albin 28 / Cummins Engine - poor exhaust design

[Pitou]

I never did get a reply from Coastalrunner (it appears he sold his boat this summer)

Robb - If you want to try giving him a call, I've got his cell number from when I sold him a trolling valve for the 28. Let me know and I'll PM or email it to you.

Nice work on the ideas and mock-ups.

[RobS]

Robb nice job on the presentation. Top mount turbo is the best way IMO. Those tight clearances via the other options could get you in trouble or even dead ended in things don't go as planned.

Having spent last offseason working several months side by side with a veteran fiberglass guy doing my transom door project I know now more than ever that almost anything can be done and look better than ever IF done right. Many people aboard my 28TE would actually say that the engine box would be better if it were a few inches higher. Higher would make for a better seat and a better table. Only drawback I foresee would be easily stepping across it. I would not want to raise the curb as that would result in less access to the all sides of the engine. I think cutting it mid-height and then adding a filler of the needed height would be the way to go. The outside would be faired out smooth and sprayed could be perfect. The interior of the box would show the work but that would all get covered with sound insulation.

[chesapeake albin]

My boat is parked right down the road from where coastalrunners boat was sold from. I don't know the guy but I know where to find him. He mentioned that he could make several of these from a jig or template.
Did he have to reglass anything or would it be as simple as getting loop part from him if he is willing to make a few?
Sadly, his boat was not for sale when I got mine,
Travis

[Nancy]

Robb,

We've wrestled with the same puzzle. For now, we've decided to live with the original configuration. Our spillover is 12"-13" above the waterline depending, I think, on who is measuring and whether we have an extra case of beer on board (just kidding). Anyway, at that height, we're borderline safe, and we were able to reconfigure the exhaust hose this past spring to get some downhill pitch on it between the wet elbow and the elbow where it turns to meet the muffler.

Like you, we had to replace the turbo and exhaust elbow. The damage preceded our purchase of the boat in early 2012. We did the work in early 2014. Like you, we had extensive consultations with Tony about how to proceed, and we decided that the simplest solution would be to top-mount the turbo and raise the engine box. We talked to our fiberglass guy about how to proceed, and he'd be inclined to remove the trim piece on the bottom of the hatch and add material to increase the height. At the joint of old & new, he would install a new aluminum half-round trim piece. The existing bottom trim would be reinstalled on the (new) bottom edge. He said he could also eliminate the trim piece at the joint and make the new fiberglass match the old. That would add 5-6 hrs. to the job.

We've now been through two seasons since replacing the turbo, and at the end of each season, we have pulled the exhaust elbow to look at the turbo. It's doing just fine so far. Of course, being in a fresh water lake doesn't hurt a bit.

I really appreciate the brainstorming that happens on this forum.

cockpit-4-082315-1200.JPG

[RobS]

Nancy the boat looks great.

Fresh water helps no doubt but also how one uses the boat is an important factor too. Fishing in high seas vs. inshore cruising and gunk holing.... a marginal spillover height would be much less of in issue for the 2nd scenario

[Robb]

After a talk with Tony this evening, that is the route that I have committed to- moving the turbo to the top mount and raising the engine box. Tony is tied up for the next month on a big project, but I will post more as I get and install parts.

Nancy, I'd be much more comfortable with your 12" of height, I'm currently about half that. Your boat looks great compared to mine. Almost 20 years of fishing has left her a little rough in the cockpit, but she is well maintained and capable. Thanks to both you and RobS for giving me some ideas on the engine box extension.

Travis, I'm not sure if he had to do fiberglass mods or not. He posted that the EGT temps were good on the loop design but that he thought the exhaust we too close to the insulation for his liking. Not sure how he solved. I'm committed to moving the turbo to the top to get the extra vertical height. Most of my fishing is offshore and a fair amount is drift fishing with the motor off. Sitting beam to can slosh a lot of water around.

More to come in a few weeks...

[Nancy]

Robb, I think you're making the right decision going top-mount. It's the simplest approach with the fewest components to piece together, and everything is pretty much accessible - a huge plus. I hope you'll post photos as your project moves along.

Thanks for the nice words about our boat, and say hi to Tony for me when you talk to him.

[jetter]

Robb, I see you have put a good deal of effort into a solution to this problem. I visited my boat on hard today to determine if I have the same issue. My boat was manufactured in the fall 2000. Launched 2001. The exhaust configuration is a little different. The muffler in encased in fibreglass. I do not see a downward exhaust section that you identified on your boat. I wonder if Albin made modifications to later model due to water egress issue? See photos attached.
Cheers
Russell

[jetter]

Additional photo showing the muffler

[Robb]

Russell, Thanks for the photos. Your exhaust angle does look better than mine and should be a little better design, but static water level is still static water level and I think the spillover height is still below the recommended 12". I was also surprised how much larger the later model muffler is.

[Robb]

Started on the conversion this weekend. With a predesigned kit of parts from Tony Athens at Seaboard Marine, the change over of the turbo was pretty painless, about 4-5 hours. He did a great job and everything fit up great. I have attached a few photos of the progress. Now we are working on the exhaust system design- I'll post as we get further into it.

Thanks RobS for the cut idea on the engine box. This is exactly what I am going to do. It looks like 18" is a standard bench height so the "improved" engine box might be even better to sit on.

[Nancy]

Looks great, Robb! Keep the photos coming!

[Jokerhigh]

hello everyone
I been reading this thread trying to find things to look for when dealing with the Cummins engine.everything I read up to this point has been great. I'm currently in the process of purchasing a 1997 Albin 28 with a 6bta 5.9 m3 Cummins 315 with 1600 hours. should I be worried about this exhaust issue? does any body know if it was a design issue just for a couple of years? it looks like the 2000 model exhaust system was modified. Is this something i should bring up in the survey?

Does anyone have a recommended maintenance schedule for the Cummins engine , I'm curious if there are any major things that need to be done at 1,000 hours or at 2000 hours that i should be aware of

any information will be greatly appreciated

regard
Eric

[chesapeake albin]

hi,
I wanted to introduce myself, as we have virtually the same boat.
I'm Travis, I have a 96 in the magothy with the same engine.

I just got the boat and have a lot of questions too. I currently have a guy in Pasadena helping me with the 1000 hour maintenance that is outlined in the manual

I don't know what to think about the exhaust, seems poor design but there are a lot of boat with a lot of hours like this.

Let us all know if you decide to change something and how it turns out.

Travis

[chesapeake albin]

Robb,

can you give an update as to what you have done with your exhaust?

Thanks
Travis