Barnacle Buster treatment for heat exchanger?

[Sir Reel]

Has anyone used Barnacle Buster treatment for the raw water intake and heat exchanger? I am not having any problems but would like to keep it that way so am wondering if this is a good thing to do every year or 2?
I have a Volvo diesel so things could get expensive if I don't keep it in good running condition.
The boat does not sit in the water and I flush it with fresh water after every use.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/trac-ecological--barnacle-buster--P015373285

 

[agentaqua]

Seems to be Phosphoric Acid. See: http://trac-online.com/sites/default/files/MSDS-1208-M.pdf

 

[wolf]

Do you have the rubber end on exchanger? take both ends off and inspect if so i just look at it after every season ive never found barnacles, but salt ive just air blow them out be VERY CAREFUL not to try and jam a metal rod thru it like ive seen if you damage one of the channels off to a rad shop it goes....

Good luck Wolf

 

[Sir Reel]

I think mine is different that yours Wolf. I have had the end cap off of the exchanger and I could clean the passageways.
However my system also has an oil cooler and inter-cooler so the barnacle buster would flush the whole system. I run non toxic antifreeze through the system in the winter and I can use the same setup to run BB through. Think I will try it as online reviews are good and seems to work on many different engines. If I see crud coming out I know it worked.

 

[TenMile]

Recently I used Rydlyme. Similar stuff to Barnacle Buster and you can find it locally. After I did it, I had to pull one of my Aftercoolers off and it was perfectly clean. Basically, what I did was fill a bucket with a 60/40 dilution with water. Get the engine warm first then let my raw water pump suck it into the boat until I saw it coming out the exhaust. Let it sit for an hour then ran the engine normally. Tons of black crud rinsed out afterwards. 1 gallon of Rydlyme can dissolve 4lbs of calcium and crud. A treatment every few years isn't a bad thing -- cleans your heat exchangers and aftercoolers, oil and fuel coolers. Completely safe for any hoses etc...

 

[Sir Reel]

Thanks for the reply Ten Mile. Exactly what I wanted to hear about someones experience using a product like that.

 

[Sir Reel]

Hey Ten Mile. Where did you get the Rydlyme?

 

[TenMile]

Got the Rydlyme at Trotac. Plan on 2 gallons per engine.