One of the most important yacht services in Fort Lauderdale that you can get is the regular maintenance and inspection of your marine exhaust system, along with your annual fire inspection. The exhaust system is one of the most crucial features of your yacht, but boaters often overlook its maintenance until it’s too late.
Excess water intake
The high performance engine on your yacht pumps a significant amount of water through its cooling system every few minutes, emptying the exhaust through holes located right on the waterline. If you don’t keep up to date on the state of your exhausts, your yacht could end up taking a drastic amount of water into its bilge, particularly if it’s an older model.
Exhaust system damage
Excess water is just one of the most common problems, however. Your exhaust system is a finely tuned machine comprised of several parts that can easily sustain damage. It’s important to obtain regular yacht maintenance in Fort Lauderdale to identify any bent piston rods, seized turbochargers or other damaged parts. These will need to be repaired immediately to prevent your exhaust system from suffering further damage.
Another problem yacht owners frequently encounter is metal erosion. Diesel engines emit exhaust that contains sulfur, which, when combined with water injection, results in a potent sulfuric acid that can eat away at your exhaust system’s water injection section. Once the erosion begins, it’s only a matter of time before your exhausts begin leaking onto nearby equipment and possibly destroying electronic components.
Even rust on your spray rings indicates a problem with the electrolysis. Spray rings that are rusted inside can be removed and replaced, but only one time. After that, the seawater filled exhaust components only have ten years or so before the sulfuric acid ruins them. Only regular inspection and yacht maintenance in Fort Lauderdale can identify these problems and reverse the damage before it’s too late.
The silent killer
One of the deadliest problems that can arise from a malfunctioning exhaust system is the buildup of carbon monoxide. If you don’t include regular inspections in your yacht services in Fort Lauderdale, you run the risk of your engine or cabin building up lethal amounts of carbon monoxide, altering your ability to drive the yacht back to safety and even threatening your life.
Exhaust systems are also very prone to leaking gas as well as carbon monoxide. Because exhaust gas is very corrosive and is a strong abrasive, it can completely destroy the cylinders in your engine air intake. Most of the newer yachts’ engines are equipped to handle exhaust gas leaks for a short period of time, but older models often aren’t. By the time you notice a problem, it’s already too late for your engine.
Fortunately, Starboard Yacht Group LLC offers comprehensive yacht maintenance in Fort Lauderdale, and can perform a rigorous inspection of your exhaust system along with your annual fire inspection. Such inspections are the only way to ensure that existing or potential problems with your exhaust system are caught and addressed in time.