I've used a product called Rydlyme Marine from the company of the same
name on both engines of our original Sanderling (2 FL-90s). The product
worked as advertised, and reduced the operating temp of the starboard
engine by 10-15 degrees to put it right where it should have been
according to the specs. A lot of "gunk" came out, having nothing to do
with the impeller.

It's easy enough to use, and the company claims it is biodegradable.
Just make a closed loop of your entire cooling system and use the engine
to pulse the solution through the system over a two hour period.

Here's the URL (not shortened because it's already short):
http://www.rydlymemarine.com/

Info and a spec sheet are available on the web site.

<><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                  Manatee Cove Marina
M/V Sanderling                              Patrick Air Force Base
Defever 41 Trawler                          Melbourne, Florida

On 8/22/2007 12:51 PM, Ownyacht@aol.com wrote:

http://rydlymemarine.com/
There used to be another called Marsolve, but they have apparently gone out
of business.

Some folks have also used the descalers from the grocery store, like CLR or
Lime-Away... you'd just have to find them in quantity to set up a
recirculation system.

Keith

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they
went." -Will Rogers
----- Original Message -----
From: Ownyacht@aol.com

Bob McLeran wrote:

As a plumbing heating & A/C guy, I frequently use chemicals to break
down calcium deposits in boiler coils, urinary salts in potties, and
calcium deposits on cooling towers. There a slew of commercially
produced and marketed products, all with some marketing claim that sets
them apart from the competition. When you get right down to it, most are
comprised of basic chemicals with additives to color them, buffer them,
etc. and packaging and marketing to make you want to pay more for them
than you would for the basic component. It's pretty commonplace in the
market. Some of the products are very successful in their marketing,
commanding several times the price for that perceived value.

Some of that value is real, some is not. As a consumer of some of those
products, I can say that there are some that are worth the extra bucks,
some that are snake oil. That being said, I went to the Rydlyme website,
and pulled the MSDS sheet.  The specific ingredients are of course
proprietary, as one might expect. But the primary component is Hydrogen
Chloride, 10%. If I remember my college chemistry, that's HCl, or
hydrochloric acid. The technical name for which is Muriatic acid.
"Biodegradable" is a broad brush that simply indicates that the product
will degrade in the environment where it is customarily disposed. I'm
sure there are colorants added that may or may not have an effect on how
the product works.

I'm not saying this product is snake oil, nor do I have any 1st hand
experience with it. It may work great, and it probably does. But,
muriatic acid will quickly remove most calcium buildup from nearly any
piece of equipment, I've got lots of experience with that to say so.
What I am saying is that you may be able to do just as good a job with
plain old acid. Mix in some phosphoric acid & you've got "On & Off".

My point in all this is that I've had success with using muriatic acid
with a re-circulating pump. It's also "biodegradable" in the sense that
it will break down when disposed. So if you've got some de-liming to do,
stop by the hardware store or your paint supply store & get a gallon or
two of muriatic acid. Take the money you saved to West Marine! <VBG>

Steve Sipe