I have a Westerbeke 4-107 in my new (to me) boat. Upon checking the
pencil zinc on the heat exchanger, I found that it was not screwed into
the cap, although I could see zinc sitting in the orifice. Either it
was coroded away in the cap, or was not screwed into the cap properly.
Not sure which, although the cap was clean with no zinc residue in it.
I tried to grab the zinc with pliers, but it would not come out.
Finally, it fell into the exchanger. The heat exchanger is a horizontal
cylinder about 3" in diameter and is about 14" long, with the zinc
fitting at the 9 o'clock position. My questions a Is having zinc
scraps sitting at the bottom of the exchanger a problem? The opposite
end of the exchanger is fitted with a bolt in the center. Is the
purpose of this bolt to an access to clean out the exchanger? If so,
how is cleaning accomplished. Thanks in advance for any responses.