Waterlift Muffler

[Cheechako]

#1 fiberglass.....
#2 Plastic
#3 SS
#4 JMHO

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by sabray

It is not designed for straight gas temps. A few minutes of direct uncooled gas will melt a vetus exhaust lift.

Doesnt matter, the hose will melt anyway....

[boatpoker]

Whenever I come across a plastic waterlift muffler in a survey inspectio it gets an automatic comment ........

Plastic mufflers are known to melt quickly if raw water flow is halted. Installation of a raw water flow detector and alarm is advised.

[donradcliffe]

Just encase the current leaking muffler in fiberglass.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Whenever I come across a plastic waterlift muffler in a survey inspectio it gets an automatic comment ........

Plastic mufflers are known to melt quickly if raw water flow is halted. Installation of a raw water flow detector and alarm is advised.

Do you make that comment on the rubber hose also?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Whenever I come across a plastic waterlift muffler in a survey inspectio it gets an automatic comment ........

Plastic mufflers are known to melt quickly if raw water flow is halted. Installation of a raw water flow detector and alarm is advised.

The rubber hose cooks way before the water lift muffler would.

You must make that comment on all your inspections since 90% of boats have plastic or fiberglass = plastic mufflers.

Maybe you should just buy a rubber stamp to save making the automatic comment.

Make another rubber stamp for the leaking SS mufflers to save you more time.

[Whaubner]

I can confirm the hose will outlast the plastic lift muffler.


A sensor in the hose with an alarm is a simple install and insurance to make sure raw water is flowing vetus sells both.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Do you make that comment on the rubber hose also?

The inside of the hose seems to turn to a carbon like surface and holds up for a bit. Longer perhaps than a thin plastic muffler.

[Cotemar]

Last time I forgot to open the cooling water">engine cooling water valve it was in just a few minutes before I smelled what I thought was a tire fire below. Its a pretty good sign that your water cooling valve is closed.

Did that two times in five years and the plastic muffler never had a problem.

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Plastic mufflers are known to melt quickly if raw water flow is halted. Installation of a raw water flow detector and alarm is advised.

+1 (personal experience!)

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

The rubber hose cooks way before the water lift muffler would.

Plastic muffler will certainly melt before the exhaust hose...

[sabray]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Doesnt matter, the hose will melt anyway....

well no. I screwed up and the hose did not melt the first elbow on the vetus burned through. It does not take much straight exhaust to melt plastic. been there screwed up.it is what happened.

[YankeePSC34]

Under normal operations the fiberglass and plastic muffler do outlast stainless steel for many years. That's the only matter that counts.
If you experiencing frequently upset conditions in your raw water feed, you need to address those and you better install a raw water flow indicator because checking the exhaust water flow and listening to the splash does not work for you. I have a Vetus muffler installed for 20 years. And when it fails: NO STAINLESS STEEL replacement.

[delmarrey]

Yeah! But.........

[mcerdos]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Whenever I come across a plastic waterlift muffler in a survey inspectio it gets an automatic comment ........

Plastic mufflers are known to melt quickly if raw water flow is halted. Installation of a raw water flow detector and alarm is advised.

Why would you comment on it when it is a perfectly good muffler? Isn't the purpose of a good surveyor to be objective and point out known hazards or potential failures. A plastic muffler is none of this. It is just your opinion, which in my opinion doesn't belong on a document of seaworthiness.

Also, regardless of the muffler, all boats would do well to have installed a water flow detector and alarm. This is just plain $100 common sense to protect the $20,000 engine.