Well, Ain't This Great.......

[R W]

Finished up a job this morning, and as I was shutting down the Genesis, I heard the distinct sound of an exhaust leak. Genny owners will hear this sound when the diverter flap breaks, and exhaust is escaping out of the flap rod hole. Well, just my luck, it wasn't the diverter flap....it was the pipe leading from the exhaust manifold to the diverter. It is about a 1 1/2 inch 45* elbow, and it broke off right at the manifold. Also, just my luck.....Powerclean is closed this week, and I have jobs booked already. This isn't a part that any dealer would stock. I think I can build a part out of steel pipe, probably a street "el", and a short nipple. I have the machine apart already, and pulled the waste tank for powerwashing tomorrow.

QUESTION......is there any sealer for pipe treads that will withstand the temps that the exhaust manifold creates??

ALSO........there were no exhaust manifold gaskets......is this normal, or were they left out during engine assembly??

You know what I'll be doing this weekend......

 

[Dolly Llama]

what do you need thread sealer for, RW??

can't be that much exhaust leak from a screwed in pipe, can there?

at any rate, i don't know if they make a pipe sealer for that kind of heat.
i know you can buy muffler cement at the auto parts store.
You can also buy high temp sealant/caulk for cast iron wood burners at Lowes or HD
maybe goop the threads with that???

You can borrow my mig welder if you want.


..L.T.A.

 

[R W]

Thanks, Larry....I got a mig in the shop. There is another elbow exiting the bottom of the diverter that is just a bit loose, and i wanted to seal it. I guess I shouldn't mess with it....it ain't broke, yet.

 

[Kelly]

Ive never really ever been a fan of the genesis machine or really any 59, the up side is you got a mig welder that truely is a plus

 

[DevilDog]

Can you explain your comments Kelly?

DevilDog

 

[Shane T]

I thought this only a problem on the Victorys. You need to remake the elbow with stainless steel. But as a short term fix go to Auto Zone and get inch and a half exhaust pipe, cut and weld. I cut the old flange off the broken part and reused it. The problem I had was finding a flange gasket that fit.

 

[The Magician]

RW if you need some help give me a call.

 

[Jim Martin]

The problem I had was finding a flange gasket that fit.

get yourself some gasket material and a ball pin hammer and you can make one a perfect fit everytime in about 2 min

 

[bob vawter]

Diverter valves....pods.... limit switches...yous are all way too funny!

 

[Shane T]

Jim, What kind of gasket material can you buy that will hold up to these temps?

 

[Jim Martin]

Flexitalic Thermculite (spelling is not right )gasket material


are the best IMO they are fairly easy to work with and will hold up to some pretty high temps.......

also most auto places carry sheets of different high temp gasket material.........

went out to garage and found a sheet of novatec...........
and it can handle up to 825 degrees....I got this at a Merell's auto parts

little stiffer to work with

 

[John Watson]

Used to be called Asbestos, don't know the modern name for the synthetic..

 

[Shane T]

The material that came with my TM from the manufacture is layered material that looks gold flake pressed together. Any idea what its called?

 

[Jim Martin]

not 100% sure but is sounds like a ceramic type pressed fiber paper.......

they went to this type to get rid of the asbestos type gaskets......

if it is what I think this stuff can withstand over 1000 degrees of heat......

cuts clean pretty light weight stuff........

 

[steve r]

a friend of mine has a wire edm machine and will cut me a copper gasket if i get the material which i can get in sheets with different thickness.

we just measure or trace what we need and he fixes me up.

ive also used the asbestos stuff from the auto parts store like jim says. its just not as clean looking.

 

[R W]

Well, I'm heading out to look for fittings for the diverter. As for the sealer, I just wondered if there was a sealer for the pipe threads that would withstand the heat. These are tapered pipe fittings, and should seal OK. As for the diverter gaskets....they are a flakey, asbestos-looking material, and they with stand the heat of the diverter, but they wouldn't serve as a thread sealer. Besides....I didn't take the diverter apart....I just removed it in one piece.

Here I go......


....and the calls keep coming in, of all times of the year!!

 

[Shane T]

I think you should be able to tighten the pipe thread adequately to prevent it from loosening but if there isn't a flexible fitting somewhere between the engine and diverter it is possible for the threads to wear from vibration.

 

[Ron Werner]

for a sealer, just use a red liquid gasket material, like in a squeeze tube. I made an exhaust gasket of it once, worked pretty good. Should work fine as a thread sealer.

 

[R W]

Well....it's going slow. I found some black pipe fittings that should work. I decided to clean out the waste tank, after 3 years, and man what a mess. I'll bet I got 50 lbs of silt off the bottom. That's the trouble with APO's.....you still gotta clean the tanks of silt once in a while.....

 

[Jim Martin]

high temp Teflon tape would probably work fine (red)

should be able to find it a a local plumbing store..........

 

[floorguy]

dude go to a muffler shop and have them weld something up for ya, they have the benders etc to custom make one up..


best damn thing i did when i had an exhaust issue

 

[R W]

Well, it's back together. I found a 1 1/4 inch 45* "street el", and a close nipple. They actually lower the diverter box down about 1 1/2 inches, so I had to find some fine threaded rod today to extend the reach of the solenoid. It's working so far, but I haven't let it run for an extended period to allow it to heat up. I also raised the waste tank so that the vac ports from the tank to the blower actually line up....they were about 1 1/2 inch off from when it was new. My only concerns now are the SS flexible exhaust pipes.....I had to move them some, and they were creakin' and crackin'. I just hope that I didn't create an exhaust leak in the flex pipes.

I will fire it up tomorrow morning and let it run for an hour to check on heat and leaks.

I have photos on my phone, but I can't transfer them to my computer. Can anybody receive phone photos and post them for me??

 

[Kelly]

Thank goodness you got it back together ok.

 

[R W]

The Genesis is up and running today. I tested it out on an empty, dual wanding to put it to the extreme use. It runs smooth and quiet-er......with the exhaust not leaking.


Hope it holds up till I can bring the Vortex home......