Tractors, Mowers, Chippers, Trailers, Chainsaws, Generators, Boat Engines, Flood Control, & Census.

The cavitation erosion occurs hand in hand with the development of carbolic acid.

All fluid systems have pockets of swirls, Eddie's or turbulence. These points are where the carbolic acid resides and erodes the point prematurely.

Reduce that and you extend the cooling system life.

Fuck! I'm supposed to be retired, not arguing on the internet.

I gave up this shit 2 years ago!

You sneaky bastards! I didn't even notice getting sucked into my old job!

Going for a beer .

 

It's valid info for our members with diesel engine tractors. They should be using an anti-cavitation erosion additive if their engine manufacturer requires it.

As far as corrosion prevention and scale prevention is concerned. someone asked me if Thermo-Cure was an acid the last time I mentioned it. Here is the back of the bottle with the pH listing of 6.1 which is pretty neutral. It's why I chose it for my aluminum block GT engine.

 

What was you daily job before you became a Toro guru?

 

High pressure steam/feed water supply. Not a chemist. 26 years as a tech.

I learned what high water temps and shitty water could to to a 2 million dollar boiler. I saw the mistakes made and I wasn't gonna repeat them.

Think of me as a pool water analyzer.

All those terms listed above are familiar to me, but they will tell someone not in the trade nothing, but they may be impressed . . Which may have been the intention of the person writing up the description .

 

I never meant to argue, I just felt we were talking about different things. My mention of the anti-cavitation additive was brought on by @six5crèéd s post of the bottle of additive. Sorry if you felt like I was cavitating attacking you.

 

No issues on my end. It Just brought up a chapter if my life I've moved past .

I do like to learn the basics of what some chemical additives consist of . (Yes, pun on the word basic for the chemical nerds lurking the Convo).

Shit! Must be the 'Timers ...

With that said, I'm constantly noticing companies trotting out the " totally organic" cleaning cleaners. Pretty much all cleaners are organic, so it's a redundancy that makes me laugh . Remove the perfume and you have an organic cleaner.

The acid from a battery is just as organic as the acid from an orange.

New topic please. I gotta leave this thread for a bit .

 

At my way back job I ran a powerhouse: 20,000 pound/hour steam and about 5300 tons of process cooling. I handled the water treatment for both the boilers and chillers plus about 15 closed loop systems.

Funny, I used to be able to rattle off the specifications for all the equipment and products used... Don't remember hardly any of it now...

 

It used to be very easy to cool and protect engines with antifreeze, they were basically cast iron, steel and used a brass radiator. They were thick and since they were mostly similar metals, the rate of expansion and contraction was relatively equal. Then they started using aluminum, magnesium, cast iron ,[blocks], some steel, some brass in places, and you had tons of galvanic corrosion, thinner coolant walls were being eaten, head gaskets were being eaten, normal different expansion rates of the different metals created leaks over time, and if they occurred early on, manufacturers ate the repair costs.

Now, coolants and their additives are as much a means of cooling an engine as they are a way to keep galvanic corrosion under control AND to keep warranty costs to a minimum. As long as some corrosion occurs, the additive package gets used up to control it and that is why coolant have a service life. It's not they can't still cool as well as they always did, it's that they can't keep corrosion under control with the depleted additive package.

It's also why you really can't put off doing coolant replacements like you used to be able to do, they have a longer service life but they WILL use up the additive package at some point and the least noble metal in the cooling system will become the anode [likely the aluminum and any magnesium] and will begin to weaken and corrode. [Honda had some very thin cooling castings in the block and some would begin to leak]

Put off replacing coolant at your own [and your pocketbooks] risk nowadays.

And for the sake of your engine, use the PROPER coolant, the old green stuff isn't going to work well even if you change it frequently and some aren't very compatible with each other. I still have a couple cases of the green stuff, bought when it was dirt cheap, however, I only have one vehicle that uses it now and that is on a 2-3 year replacement schedule, the newer rides all are on 5 year replacement schedules no matter the miles, internal corrosion never stops though the lower the temps, [engine not running/in storage] the slower it is.

 

Excellent explanation, with that being said, wonder what percentage of anything with an engine actually gets changed out every so often?

I know it’s not very often at all for me. I need to change that

 

I finally broke down and spent a Jefferson on a coolant replacement kit. Oh man, it makes it SO much easier to do, no muss, no fuss, I fill on a 20 degree little slope so air wants to rise to the highest point. I drain on the downside of the slope then just turn around. [heating system is open, engine warmed so thermostat is open]

Sludge in a cooling system is almost always dissolved metals, not much can get into a properly sealed system so it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out what the ''goo'' is.

 

Lumber has came down a little, just priced treated 2”x8”x12’ for the small trailer, $173 and change for 9. Not long ago it was almost $300

 

Whee! Now one only needs a home improvement loan instead of a complete refi cash out HELOC!!!

 

I’m hesitant about buying lumber, not because of the price but because I need to redo the entire trailer. New wiring and since the floor is out I may as well put a fresh coat of paint on it

 

Thanks for the inhibitor / coolant education folks. I think I'm going to pick up some premix 50/50 green stuff and find some inhibitor/scale remover once it warms up a bit here so I don't have to worry about freezing temps. It's probably safe now, but I'm not in a rush and no harm in waiting a bit. My tractor doesn't have a water temp gauge, but I have never heard it whistle and I don't recall being alarmed looking in the radiator last time I checked.

WSM says every 500 hours clean cooling system and I am around 535 Hrs. now (and almost 30 years), so it's probably about time to do it.

 

I’ve been looking at LED backup lights, all the ones I find are 4”, when I added these I welded a piece of pipe on and installed some 3”. Guess I’ll have to grind them off and make them current. I don’t use them much but they are nice at night when hunting. I did find a stop, tail, and backup combo that is 5”. I may go that route and make it fit.




Ye ole floor is about done, it was from another trailer when I put it in about 18 years ago. The metal plate covers a hole where I dropped a stump on it with the skid steer.

 

I installed some combo LED lights on my trailer since I back up into a storage unit at night and the light is nice. That being said if I had to do it again, I would just wire in some crappy fogs as the combos don't put off that much light for backing up, or at least I would like more anyways.

$52 Blazer International C7425 LED Square Trailer Light Kit with Integrated Back-Up Lights

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XSGVBYM?ie=UTF8

These are what I use. They are ok, but eh.

 

TSC has a selection of small LED work lights that don't pull much power.

I retrofitted a set on the old Ford GT that I plow with -- what an improvement over the original plastic lense with a back up light bulb setup.

 

I found these 2.5"

$19 Partsam 2Pcs 2.5" Round White 13 Led Side Marker Clearance Lights Reverse Backup Lights with Grommets/Pigtails for trailer truck, Waterproof 2.5" Interior Courtesy Light Auxiliary Utility Light

https://www.amazon.com/Partsam-Clea...efix=round+back+up+led+lights,aps,123&sr=8-18

 

That may work! Thanks!

 

I may have to look at putting those on the welding trailer