Any Aqualarm users?
 

I'm finding the Aqualarm raw water flow alarm to be a much better idea
in theory than practice. I'm going to call them soon and would be
like to hear any other experiences.

Basically, the calibration seems to drift constantly. I resigned
myself to having to recalibrate it every time I start the engine which
isn't a big deal while I'm waiting for the engine to warm up. I just
set 1000 RPM and push the collar until it just shuts off. That leaves
it set to come on at the water flow corresponding to about 800 RPM
which makes it a nice warning that I'm letting the engine get slow
enough that it might stall during docking.

However, I restart the engine when the wind dies after sailing and the
alarm is going. About half the time I can get it to shut up by
running the RPM briefly up into the cruise range. The rest of the
time, it won't stop beeping until I go down and shove the adjusting
collar to a lower setting. I would think this is my raw water system
draining down and the pump losing its prime except that plenty of
water is coming out the exhaust.

I have a small engine and am using it near the bottom of the unit's
calibration range where it probably isn't as stable. It must work
better with engines 50 hp and up than with my 20 hp Yanmar or it would
have been off the market long ago.

--

Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:

It must work
better with engines 50 hp and up than with my 20 hp Yanmar or it would
have been off the market long ago.

Not necessarily. It might even improve sales & profits. Gadgets of
any degree of uselessness are a big money industry for people who
aren't content with a fully-sufficient temp guage, other direct
observation of normal watchstanding, & the feel & sound of the little
plant. Changes in these things will tell you more than any new
instruments, and they cost nothing with no maintenance. But they do
not bring the emotional satisfaction or bragging rights of another cool
device aboard. ;-)

"Roger Long" wrote in
:

I'm finding the Aqualarm raw water flow alarm to be a much better idea
in theory than practice. I'm going to call them soon and would be
like to hear any other experiences.



I'd be concerned this alarm not going off would make someone complacent to
the engine temp guage going up and not being noticed....

Does your Yanmar have the freshwater coolant recovery tank with the hose
connected to the cap? The hose under the cap is a PRIME suspect in
overheating. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. The hose falls off
and the cooling system sucks in air instead of coolant every time it cools
off...emptying the cooling system far enough to cause overheating. You
look at the coolant recovery tank...it looks like it's got plenty of
coolant because it's overfilled, when, in fact, the heat exchanger on top
of the Yanmar is nearly empty, filled with recovered AIR from the leaky or
loose hose under that cap. Stupid, Yanmar...STUPID!

If you've got a temp guage and overheat alarm, you don't need this other
alarm problem going off. Dump it. It's only a diesel engine, not the
Space Shuttle....(c;

--
Larry

This jerk called my cellphone and was nasty.
Continental Warranty -- MCG Enterprises -- Mepco-
24955 Pacific Coast HWY Suite C303
Malibu California 90265
888-244-0925
Fax: 310-456-8844
Email:
Read about them he
http://www.ripoffreport.com/view.asp...3&view=printer

I fail to see the philosophical distinction between a temperature
gauge which is a gadget and a water flow sensor which is a gadget. A
agree with your comments on watchstanding and paying attention to your
machinery but it's nice to have back up on some critical things.

The simple panel for my engine only has a temperature alarm light and
buzzer which just tells you that the situation has already gotten so
bad that you'd better shut the engine down right now. Knowing right
away that the water has stopped buy a few minutes that I could use to
advantage.

I wouldn't have put this in if I had a good temperature gauge but
there was room for the little light and not for another dial.

--

Roger Long



wrote in message
ps.com...
Roger Long wrote:

It must work
better with engines 50 hp and up than with my 20 hp Yanmar or it
would
have been off the market long ago.

Not necessarily. It might even improve sales & profits. Gadgets of
any degree of uselessness are a big money industry for people who
aren't content with a fully-sufficient temp guage, other direct
observation of normal watchstanding, & the feel & sound of the
little
plant. Changes in these things will tell you more than any new
instruments, and they cost nothing with no maintenance. But they do
not bring the emotional satisfaction or bragging rights of another
cool
device aboard. ;-)

In article ,
"Roger Long" wrote:

I'm finding the Aqualarm raw water flow alarm to be a much better idea
in theory than practice.


Considering the rest of the thread, I'm inclined to agree with you.

Our high-temp alarm has been tripped three times in 12+ years and 1500
hours. Once, a brand new impeller failed; the next was when a BIG seed
plugged the intake; the third was 55 minutes after firewalling to the
1-hour maximum RPMs. The Aqualarm wouldn't have caught that last.

For a few minutes' warning every 700 hours or so, I'm not sure that
another failure-prone gadget is worth it.

If an alarm goes off, you stop and figure out what's wrong. Adding an
alarm with such a high false-positive rate seems counter-productive.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

It's a raw water cooled engine with only a high temperature alarm and
no gauges other than the tach. If I had a temp gauge so I could watch
the trends, I wouldn't have bothered with this thing. In retrospect,
a temp gauge would have been a better choice but I was way
overextended with refit projects and the Aqualarm was much quicker and
easier to install. The problem is, it just doesn't seem to work
reliably.

--

Roger Long



"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" wrote in
:

I'm finding the Aqualarm raw water flow alarm to be a much better
idea
in theory than practice. I'm going to call them soon and would be
like to hear any other experiences.



I'd be concerned this alarm not going off would make someone
complacent to
the engine temp guage going up and not being noticed....

Does your Yanmar have the freshwater coolant recovery tank with the
hose
connected to the cap? The hose under the cap is a PRIME suspect in
overheating. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. The hose
falls off
and the cooling system sucks in air instead of coolant every time it
cools
off...emptying the cooling system far enough to cause overheating.
You
look at the coolant recovery tank...it looks like it's got plenty of
coolant because it's overfilled, when, in fact, the heat exchanger
on top
of the Yanmar is nearly empty, filled with recovered AIR from the
leaky or
loose hose under that cap. Stupid, Yanmar...STUPID!

If you've got a temp guage and overheat alarm, you don't need this
other
alarm problem going off. Dump it. It's only a diesel engine, not
the
Space Shuttle....(c;

--
Larry

This jerk called my cellphone and was nasty.
Continental Warranty -- MCG Enterprises -- Mepco-
24955 Pacific Coast HWY Suite C303
Malibu California 90265
888-244-0925
Fax: 310-456-8844
Email:
Read about them he
http://www.ripoffreport.com/view.asp...3&view=printer

We sail out of an urban fishing port so it's a high trash area.

I 100% agree with you though. Something like this has negative value
unless it works precisely.

I'll let you know what Aqualarm says.

--

Roger Long

I have used the Aqualarm for 4 years on my Lehman 135 and it works
flawlessly. Did you tighten the little set screw on the collar once you
calibrated it? If not, it'll vibrate and move around. Mine alerted me
once when I started the engine with the seacock shut off. Saved my butt
(and RW impeller!)

It is very easy to add a reasonably reliable thermocouple-type temp
guage to almost anything - and even quite cheap if it is not "marine."
Once could even easily have multiple switchable thermocouples to
monitor potential trouble spots, like that heat less-than-ideally
arranged exchanger, if desired. Raw waterflow is only one potential
overheating/disaster cause, & by your descr you have no basic
instrument to help protect. Hand-feeling the engine once per watch (or
per day trip, your call) helps verify that the temp guage is
working/reading within range. Larry can probably tell you how to make
a good one for $25.

I called Aqualarm. They recommend (although not in the package
literature) having the unit 12" from any elbows or fittings that could
upset the flow. My installation does not allow for this and I have a
180 degree hose bend just before the alarm. They don't know if this
is the cause or not but they would expect a pipe elbow to cause the
inconsidtent behavior I have observed.

They say the sensing is stable all the way to the low end of the
calibration. They can't explain why I sometimes can't get the alarm
to stop even by running RPM way up. That is an indication that it
should possibly be returned and checked but I don't want to take it
out this summer.

Their recommendation is to use it at lowest calibration which is 1 1/2
to 2 gpm. This is what I have been doing the past few days. It won't
give me early warning that the strainer is plugging or the water pump
failing but will alert me to the seacock being closed or a bag getting
over the intake. I think that is worth keeping it in the boat
although I think I would go with a proper temperature gauge if I was
doing it over.

--

Roger Long



"Roger Long" wrote in message
.. .
I'm finding the Aqualarm raw water flow alarm to be a much better
idea in theory than practice. I'm going to call them soon and would
be like to hear any other experiences.

Basically, the calibration seems to drift constantly. I resigned
myself to having to recalibrate it every time I start the engine
which isn't a big deal while I'm waiting for the engine to warm up.
I just set 1000 RPM and push the collar until it just shuts off.
That leaves it set to come on at the water flow corresponding to
about 800 RPM which makes it a nice warning that I'm letting the
engine get slow enough that it might stall during docking.

However, I restart the engine when the wind dies after sailing and
the alarm is going. About half the time I can get it to shut up by
running the RPM briefly up into the cruise range. The rest of the
time, it won't stop beeping until I go down and shove the adjusting
collar to a lower setting. I would think this is my raw water
system draining down and the pump losing its prime except that
plenty of water is coming out the exhaust.

I have a small engine and am using it near the bottom of the unit's
calibration range where it probably isn't as stable. It must work
better with engines 50 hp and up than with my 20 hp Yanmar or it
would have been off the market long ago.

--

Roger Long