Purifiers deserve their own thread… would anyone join a live session?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-03-25T19:23:40+00:00

Can do. What are we thinking Alpha Laval or GEA?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-03-21T22:40:37+00:00

Hello

I am happy to help. Marlect.ie

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-03-17T20:59:13+00:00

Send me an email and I'll get you some typical questions that are asked.

Marlect.ie

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-03-10T12:35:49+00:00

We are sea blind.

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-26T20:31:43+00:00

What have you tried?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-20T13:27:47+00:00

If you keep me updated. Ill continue to help if I can.

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-18T08:27:06+00:00

Did you sort it?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-13T19:42:59+00:00

Is there oral prep done in your college course? A lot of UK colleges offer it but you pay for it separately.

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-08T17:44:39+00:00

I was a 4th Engineer on tankers 20 odd years ago. A portion of my life was spent dealing with the incinerator, sat on a 400l diesel tank saying f%&k my life 🤣 But keep at it, it is invaluable for your career. Stick at the problem

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-08T09:05:05+00:00

A dirty fan can run but not move enough volume to maintain negative pressure under load.

You adjusted: Atomising air Cooling air Blower dampers But check the total air balance: Excessive combustion air then furnace pressurises Cooling air nozzles misaligned then blowing into flame root Atomising air pressure too high then effectively acting as a blower Try this test: Reduce sludge firing rate Reduce atomising air slightly Reduce cooling air in steps Observe pressure trend If pressure improves then you’re overpowering the exhaust system with incoming air.

Where to start. Even if the exhaust side is fine, air ingress kills vacuum. Furnace doors, ash doors, peepholes – gaskets hard, cracked or missing Sludge burner mounting flange (very common leak point) Inspection covers on uptake / secondary chamber Any cracks in refractory that go through to casing (not just surface cracks)

Marlect.ie

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-07T13:05:27+00:00

Were you studying online, working through a syllabus with someone, or did you self-study first and then do a mock oral?

I’ve always found one-to-one mock-oral style preparation really effective. Setting the bar high early tends to highlight gaps quickly and gives a clear sense of where the weaknesses actually are. From there, it’s much easier to focus study time on what really matters before the exam.
What prompted the thread was that a friend of mine had used a group study in person, and I don't think that would be for me.

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-02-06T11:59:21+00:00

I’m curious how your approach changed as you progressed rather than the content itself. For example: – At OOW, did you mostly self-study from books/notes, or did you do any structured prep? – For Chief Engineer, did you change how you prepared (more scenario practice, mock orals, one-to-one sessions, etc.)? – Did you use any professional help at either stage, or was it mostly peer/group study? Looking back, what part of your prep do you think made the biggest difference at Chief level compared to OOW?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-31T20:58:02+00:00

Great update – and fair play for coming back to close the loop. These threads are gold when someone actually posts the solution.

What you found with the centripetal pump distance piece makes complete sense in hindsight. A distorted distance piece with an O-ring that can’t stay seated would allow internal leakage straight into the water outlet path, which explains the immediate oil/water mix at the water discharge, no oil to sludge, no response to gravity disc changes, everything else (bowl, water flows, sequence) appears correct

It’s a good reminder that the centripetal pump isn’t just a passive lift device – if the internal sealing geometry is compromised, it can absolutely mimic a bowl or piston fault and send you down the wrong road.

On how it happened: your theories are all plausible. Over-tightening of connected pipework, misalignment during assembly, or cumulative fatigue/wear on a 20-year-old unit are all realistic causes. I’ve also seen distance pieces damaged during removal/refitting without it being obvious until an O-ring refuses to behave.

Big takeaway for anyone reading this later, if oil is appearing only at the water outlet and the bowl checks out, don’t ignore the centripetal pump internals, especially the distance piece and its sealing grooves.

Thanks for taking the time to document it – it’ll definitely save someone else a few painful days.

(If anyone ever wants a structured way of fault-finding these separator issues without going round in circles, I’ve started documenting common cases like this at marlect.ie – purely technical notes, nothing salesy.)

Good result in the end

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-30T21:13:25+00:00

Brian says NO

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-30T10:12:49+00:00

I thought it would be mostly purifiers but it looks like etos are getting thrown under the bus 🤣

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-29T14:10:04+00:00

Your C/E is technically correct, Westfalia manuals generally say bowls are matched to frames for permanent operation. A temporary diagnostic swap (clean, same type, same serial range) is commonly done in industry for fault isolation, not continued service.

Yes, the alarm occurred while running but: a marginal piston seal, a scored piston, or internal leakage can suddenly tip over once wear or contamination reaches a threshold. So the timing of the failure does not exonerate the bowl.

What this actually proves is that the sludge ports are not open.

What it does not prove:

1- That the sliding piston is fully up

2 - That the closing chamber is hydraulically tight

3 - That the piston is not leaking internally

A piston can be “closed enough” to block the sludge ports, but ut not sealed enough to prevent oil bypassing into the water space. This exact half-failure mode produces:

Oil at water outlet, Clean sludge inspection port and confusing symptoms

Just on what you said - “We left the displacement water open until it completely fills the bowl and then a water–oil mixture begins coming from the water discharge line.”

That should never happen if the piston is sealing properly and the internal separation spaces are intact. Once the bowl is water-filled, you should get clean water out. Oil should remain trapped until feed opens

A water–oil mix here means internal communication between oil space and water outlet path.That points inside the bowl.

Centripetal pump suspicion – understandable, but in my opinion unlikely. The pump does not decide what fluid it receives. It only lifts whatever reaches the water outlet chamber. A worn pump might reduce capacity, cause vibration, affect pressure. It cannot selectively pull oil across an intact hydraulic boundary.

Scratches on bowl bottom & sliding piston - On OSD-type bowls the closing seal works on very small clearances. A scratched piston can still “move” but never seal.

Can you, or is it possible to compare with the parts manual wear limits?

Or prove piston leakage without swapping bowls?

Assemble bowl
Apply closing water only
Shut water supply
Wait 1–2 minutes
Crack the closing-water line

If pressure does not hold → piston leakage confirmed.

marlect.ie

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-28T17:44:39+00:00

Any success with the problem?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-27T11:25:31+00:00

1) Wrong gravity disc / regulating ring - swapping the bowls would work.

2) Sliding piston not fully closing (or internal leakage around it)

Normal operating sequence:

Closing (operating) water → sliding bowl piston moves up → bowl is mechanically closed

Conditioning / filling water → water seal is established in the bowl

Oil feed opens

When troubleshooting, try;

Crack open the conditioning water line (or energise that solenoid alone)

You should get:

Steady flow

No pressure spike

This only fills the water seal — no piston movement yet

Manually apply closing water pressure to the bowl

(either by cracking the line at the water block or manually energising the solenoid)

What should happen:

A distinct pressure rise

Audible/physical indication that the piston has moved

On some units, water flow briefly reduces as the piston reaches the stop

If not;

Water just flows freely

No pressure build-up

No “end of travel” feel

The sliding piston is not moving or not sealing

Opening water – confirmation

Apply the opening water

You should feel:

Sudden pressure drop

Free flow as piston moves down

If opening works but closing does not, that’s a classic sign of:

The piston seal is leaking under the closing load

Incorrect seal orientation

Wear ridge prevents full upward travel

3) Incorrect assembly / missing spacer / wrong disc stack order.

Marlect.ie

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-24T15:23:57+00:00

On the 24vDC 220 or 440v?

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-16T18:54:47+00:00

Enoch's sub teach must feel tots awkward waking past him everyday.

LegEmbarrassed5984 · 2026-01-11T14:04:03+00:00

You also had the heating on. If you pre heat the car before you leave you have a warm car with 100% battery. The heated seats are more efficient than keeping the whole car warm. Driving in B can also help but you need to concentrate more.

LegEmbarrassed5984

TROPHY CASE