Exhaust sooty when submerged?

[Justin Hall]

Hi all,

New to the forum (and sailboats in general for that matter) so this may be a silly question, but any thoughts are greatly appreciated - I have an ericson 30+ and was out motoring around the other day and noticed that when I go above around 60% power (which we try not to do often) the exhaust pipe is sometimes fully submerged underwater, is this ok? It also gets very dark and sooty. There doesn't appear to be any oil in the water but it looks a little alarming, is this normal?

I believe the engine is an Atomic - 2 cylinder diesel, 16 horsepower and appears to run very well.

Thanks in advance,

-Justin

 

[WhiteNoise]

Fully submerged?

Hi Justin

Welcome to the group.

Do you mean consistently, as in becoming below the waterline? As in bubbling because it is under water?

I have a 30+. Mine is close but doesn't submerge.

What year is your 30+. Mine is an '84 and has a Universal M-18. I believe prior to that year the model was the 5416 which would make sense if you say it is 16 hp. Make sure though as they are different. The model is usually on the valve cover but may be covered by soot or paint if the PO sprayed it at some point.

If it's under water I would have to say this is not normal and it would actually be of concern. If the water splashed in that general area I wouldn't be concerned.

A better description may help or even a pic if possible.

Anyone else want to chime in?

 

[Frank Langer]

My 1984 E30+ with the Universal 5416 16 hp motor has the exhaust outlet very close to the waterline, but it's normally not submerged, though it's close. It also leaves soot on the transom. I understand that it's best to run diesel engines at about 80% of full throttle, and not let them idle or run at low speeds for too long. Estimating 80% is hard on the E30+ because I think most of them were made without tachometers, so I simply throttle back a bit and estimate.

My engine also runs well, with only about 735 hours on the engine. I do regular oil changes, etc. to keep it running well.

I also would be interested in hearing from other E30+ owners on this topic.

Frank

 

[Justin Hall]

Sooty exhaust and waterline issue

Thanks for the reply guys,

I am pretty sure it's an 1983 - I'll find out for sure tonight when I go out to the boat, I will take some pictures of the the exhaust/engine as well and post them.

We have been running it really slow - the engine only has about 60 hours on it or so (the guy we bought it from just let it sit for 30 yrs), good to know we should be using a higher power setting though. Usually what we do is just put around slowly, runing it up to 80% power or so very occasionaly just to clear everything out.

Any ideas on what would be causing it to squat so much under higher power settings? The exhaust is fully submerged any time we run at say 60-70% or higher - sounds like this is not common and not good to say the least.

thanks,

-Justin

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Balance?

Hi Justin and welcome to this great group of Ericson folks.

I am not familiar with the 30+ and you may have already checked this out.

Could you have too much weight stowed towards the stern? When tied up, how does the water line match up with the water line mark? Perhaps extra weight aft could be making her squat especially when you power up.

A friend of mine had a similar problem with his E-25 until he moved his supply of cheap beer forward. Several cases I am told.

By the way, there are no silly questions here but you might get a silly answer now and then.

 

[mherrcat]

I understand that it's best to run diesel engines at about 80% of full throttle, and not let them idle or run at low speeds for too long.

I've heard this a lot and am curious how accurate it is. Is there some definitive research that supports this? I came across this article that may not be applicable to the Universal diesels that are common in Ericsons but it's got me wondering:

http://sbmar.com/Articles/Low_Speed_Running.cfm

 

[Gary Peterson]

When new diesel engines are run in at the factory, it is usually about a 3 hour run in schedule with about 50% of it at wide open throttle. Sailboats are on a cubic prop load curve, or lesser, so 70-80% RPM of max is about 50-60% of rated power. Gulf coast crew boats put on more hours in a year than the average sailor will put on in a life time.