Remodeling of the starboard heat exchanger bracket

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AynB
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:13 pm

Remodeling of the starboard heat exchanger bracket

Post by AynB »

A known issue is that the sharp 90 degree bend in the HE bracket is brittle and eventually fails.
I've included an image of the remodel of the bracket that I had a local welder perform.
Basically, I took the upper half of the bent band and cut it out, then welded it to the outboard side of the bottom half.
I practice, the welder fixed the fractured section, then made the cuts at what would be 4:00 and 8:00 , with the flanges where the mounting hole is at 6:00 .
With the smooth section outboard, it was an easy fix to attach an SS heavy duty hose clamp to keep the HE tight to the new saddle.
Al
New Saddle style HE mount before high temp painting
New Saddle style HE mount before high temp painting
saddle.jpg (59.31 KiB) Viewed 4334 times
leigh weiss
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:32 pm

Re: Remodeling of the starboard heat exchanger bracket

Post by leigh weiss »

Al,
Your solution seems like a good idea. Mine also failed in the same manner.
I solved my problem with new OEM brackets and the inclusion of a mounting rubber pad between the HE and the back of the engine block (as shown in the parts diagram) to reduce/damp the vibration of the large mass of the HE supported by the two mounting points. When I removed my HE I found no rubber pad.
I think that if you do not suppress the movement of the large mass of the HE your brackets might suffer the same fate at the mounting holes.
Did you use the oval shaped rubber pad between the HE and the block with your install?
I have 200 hours on my install .... so far so good!!!
My original ones failed at around 200 hours.
This season will be the more definitive test.
Leigh and Donna Weiss
Brisa #155
Georgetown, MD. USA
AynB
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:13 pm

Re: Remodeling of the starboard heat exchanger bracket

Post by AynB »

Thanks Leigh, my parts diagram does not have any form of rubber gasket between the bracket and the engine body.
Considering the nature of the vibrations, a fore and aft damper of that small a gauge will do little to stifle the moment of the ( relatively speaking ) heavy heat exchanger. Those thoughts are what led me to a saddle arrangement. Barring a truly exciting experience of rolling the boat 360, just keeping the HE in the saddle should be enough.
al
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