u/CubistHamster

Coupling Got a Little Warm

I'm an engineer on a Great Lakes ore freighter. This is what's left of the motor coupling for one of our main ballast water pumps. (This happened last year, and we've switched to a different type of coupling that allows for a lot more misalignment.)

We'd had alignment issues with that pump for a while, but never resulting in a failure like this. Usually they just disintegrate into chunks. This one got just warm enough to melt slowly and spray itself onto everything in the immediate area.

u/CubistHamster — 3 days ago

▲ 2 r/MarineEngineering

Wondering if anybody has ever used UV-fluorescent dye for finding ME coolant leaks.

There are plenty of products out there, but every one I've found seems like it's primarily aimed at smaller gasoline engines.

Mostly curious if anybody knows about negative interactions with coolant additives, or other potential damage to the coolant system. (Given the tiny quantities involved, I'm skeptical, but selling my Chief/Port Engineer on it could be a challenge if I can't point to something that says "this won't hurt anything.")

*(Engines are MaK M32Cs; 4-Stroke, medium speed, for reference.)*

reddit.com

u/CubistHamster — 16 days ago