What is this black canister with hot exhaust water pipe in and out?

[1911tex]

Trying find the easiest way to get to the stuffing box for drip adjustment.

The canister label is at a difficult angle...think it says "Marine wet exhaust muffler"? Did not know our Ericson had a muffler....after all this time solving more important boat problems I can now see some light at the end of the tunnel..so I decided to explore a little...while having to reduce stuffing box 1 drip every 6 seconds to 1 a minute...engine off.

PO replaced stuffing in '18 and never readjusted the stuffing box nut..I have put 12 or so engine hours getting in/out of marina over time in order to sail, so stuffing should be well broken in. The resulting stuffing box water in the bilge along with mast rain runoff accumulates maybe a gallon +/- a week with no rain. Maybe the bilge pump pulls some out.

Will make the bilge crawl to the stuffing box this weekend. My brawny son will be available to pull me out in reverse if I get stuck. Curious about this black canister....?

 

[Afrakes]

It is a water lift muffler.

 

[1911tex]

It is a water lift muffler.

Al: I learn something new everyday on this terrific forum !:

What is a boat water lift muffler
Water-cooled inboard engines inject cooling water into the exhaust pipe, which cools the exhaust and muffles engine noise. ... Mufflers are always mounted above the waterline, and usually have some sort of check valve in-line to prevent backwards water flow, which might damage the engine.
The exhaust then pushes the water out the exhaust pipe. This is known as a wet exhaust system. Wet exhaust systems have the advantage of using the heat-absorbing and sound-dampening qualities of water to cool and quiet the exhaust. Jun 25, 2019

 

[wynkoop]

Pro-tip - find the drain on the wet exhaust and if you plan to start the engine in the dead of winter drain the exhaust before freezing happens.

I was stored in water one season and decided to start up my Palmer P60 at about 15 degrees to make heat. I had a heat loop off the engine. It started, then POP the wet exhaust exploded and exhaust gases filled the boat.. Ice had blocked the system and the pressure of the exhaust blew the exhaust.

 

[Christian Williams]

Tex--On my model it's quite easy to remove the muffler to grant access to the area. Apparently not true on other models such as 38-200. But if you can, it;s just a few screws and hose clamps, and it makes working down there more enjoyable. Some of this may illustrate:

https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/marine-diesel-cooling-system-upgrade-2020.17240/

 

[1911tex]

Tex--On my model it's quite easy to remove the muffler to grant access to the area. Apparently not true on other models such as 38-200. But if you can, it;s just a few screws and hose clamps, and it makes working down there more enjoyable. Some of this may illustrate:

https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/marine-diesel-cooling-system-upgrade-2020.17240/

Funny you mentioned this...just got back from the boat trying to do the stuffing box job to stop the 6 second drip...I got stuck around the muffler/hoses and my son had to pull me out...needless to say, your note is quite apropos!! I did note that if I did remove the hose, there was enough slack to cutoff the old hose clamps end and re-insert, but what I did not realize that the boat would not explode if I removed it! Will try again this week. 99 degree Texas summers are also a limiting factor in a suffocating bilge!

Christians note; in my case it blocks the access to the stuffing box:
"Yes, on the E381 the muffler and hose are what block lazarette access to the heat exchanger. I was surprised to find how easy it is to remove them.
The long 2" exhaust hose pops off the top of the muffler easily, and its end can be temporarily stuck into the cockpit well.
The 2" hose connecting muffler to exhaust elbow comes off easily, too.
Now the four screws of the muffler can be removed and the muffler easily lifted out.
Engine access becomes much better, although unnatural human contortion still required. Adam should have had two elbows per arm, the Designer really cut corners on that one."

 

[Loren Beach]

Apropos of Whatever.... back a few years when I did a bit of grinding and glassing, down inside out boat....
I rigged a home style box fan over a hatch & turned it up.
Kind of like working in a low speed wind tunnel, but along with drinking extra water made the work a LOT more bearable.
As for that grinding, I rigged an old shop vac (which stayed out in the cockpit) to put a sort of large cardboard funnel on the end of the 3" hose and taped it down about a foot from the out-fly from the right angle disk. Not "dustless", but close.