After Cooler Zinc

[wpcv1776]

Hi, everyone. I have a problem I’m running into with the after cooler zincs. I have a 2004 Tournament Express 31. It has a single 450hp Cummins. When installed, the pencil zinc at the bottom of the after cooler is about one inch from the stringer (picture enclosed). This means that the zinc cannot be changed without at least removing the bottom cap of the aftercooler and reinstalling it. One mechanic say's the cap can't be removed without unbolting the entire aftercooler. All the mechanics I’ve used in the past tell me this is 1.5 - 2 hours just to change one single pencil zinc. Has anyone had the same problem and have you found a long term solution.

Solutions we’ve thought of:

1. We thought about cutting the zincs short and changing them more often, but it turns out we would be cutting away too much of the zinc leaving only about an inch. This seems like a bad idea.

2. We’ve thought about cutting a hole in the stringer and sealing it with epoxy. I have two concerns with this, one of course is making sure the stringer is properly sealed so the wood core doesn’t rot. My other concern is how much strength I’m losing cutting what would probably a 2 inch hole going diagonally through the stringer at about a 45 degree angle.

3. I’m also curious if Cummins might offer any other options for mounting the aftercooler or possibly a different cap on the bottom of the aftercooler. Obviously I will check with boatdiesel.com on this option.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

[RobS]

Option 1 seems okay to me. A blue aftercooler? that must be the boat formerly known as "Gaudeamus"....

[DestinSteve]

We have the same issue with our 35TE and the same Cummins 8.3. 1" zincs are available from boatzincs.com and we have found this zinc at 50% of orig size at very close to the same time as the larger/longer zinc in the top cap. Be careful when removing it is easy to leave a chunk in the aftercooler if left in too long and they crumble.

[Russell]

Is there room to put the new zinc in the hole and hold it with a pliers while screwing the cap onto the zinc? Then screw the cap into the aftercooler.

[wpcv1776]

Option 1 seems okay to me. A blue aftercooler? that must be the boat formerly known as "Gaudeamus"....

Indeed it is. We renamed her " Pole' Pole' " Pronounced (polay polay ). It means "take it slowly" in Swahili.

[wpcv1776]

Is there room to put the new zinc in the hole and hold it with a pliers while screwing the cap onto the zinc? Then screw the cap into the aftercooler.

This is a good idea to try. Don't know why I didn't think of that. If I can find the short zincs that DestinSteve mentioned above and use this method to install, I might have enough wiggle room to make it work. The problem with cutting them short as I mentioned above is that with the cap on this zinc it's self would have to be only 1 inch. It will be six months before I change them again but will let you now if this works.