Heat Exchangers & Oil Coolers
Keep every system at temperature — engine jacket water, gearbox and hydraulic oil, charge air and exhaust heat recovery. Bowman has built heat exchangers for over a century, covering engines from 20 to 2,500 kW, and Luxfords distributes the complete range in Australia with deep local stock — alongside New Zealand-made Savage units, for which we're the official Australian distributor.
One job: move heat into the water
Every shell-and-tube heat exchanger here works the same way: the hot circuit (engine coolant, gearbox oil, hydraulic oil or charge air) flows around a stack of small tubes while raw water flows through them, carrying the heat overboard. Bowman's tube stacks float inside the body — free to expand and contract — and withdraw after removing the end covers, so cleaning and tube replacement never disturb the plumbing.
Materials decide longevity: cupronickel stacks handle sea water as standard, titanium options carry a 10-year guarantee for warm or aggressive waters, and every frame size comes in marine and land-based versions at the same thermal rating. That breadth is why the same Bowman frames cool everything from yacht engines to mine-site gensets and fire pumps across Australia.
The Bowman range
Eight product families, each with full specifications, applications and downloadable brochures.
Charge Air Coolers
For turbocharged marine & land-based engines
View range
DC Oil Coolers
Compact, efficient oil & transmission cooling
View range
Engine & Transmission Oil Coolers
Protect your driveline, extend service life
View range
Exhaust Gas Heat Exchangers
Turning engine waste heat into vital energy
View range
Header Tank Heat Exchangers
Reliable engine cooling for marine & land
View range
Hydraulic Oil Coolers
Heat transfer technology built to last
View range
Stainless Steel Heat Exchangers
A quality solution for aggressive fluids
View range
Tubular Heat Exchangers
Proven engine cooling for marine & land
View rangeGuides & resources
How the system works, how to keep it working, and the specialist applications we cover.
How they work
Two circuits, one wall of tubes — the whole cooling system explained end to end.
Read guideMaintenance & cleaning
Withdrawing the stack, reading blockage symptoms early, and the spares to keep aboard.
Read guideHydraulic oil cooling
Sizing from installed power and the Bowman hydraulic ladder, 4–240 kW of heat.
Read guideIndustrial & mining
35-bar units with harsh-water tube stacks for drill rigs, crushers, gensets and fire pumps.
Read guideDeep Australian stock
As Bowman's Australian distributor we hold the popular marine sizes, oil coolers, spare tube stacks, end covers and O-rings locally — most orders ship straight away.
Savage — the Australasian alternative
We also stock Savage heat exchangers and oil coolers — made in New Zealand since the 1960s and a ski-boat and petrol-V8 favourite. Luxfords is Savage's official Australian distributor.
Cross-referencing service
Failed unit with no markings? Send photos and measurements — after 50+ years of Bowman in Australian boats, we can usually identify it and supply the replacement or just a new tube stack.
Heat exchanger FAQs
How do I size a heat exchanger for my engine?
For jacket-water cooling, Bowman makes it simple: every model carries a published 'suitable for engines up to X kW' rating, with the thermal assumptions already built in — so you match your engine's rated power to the model ladder and the job is done. An engine rated 150 kW (≈200 hp) lands on the FG100 inline cooler or FH300 header-tank unit. Our selector runs that lookup for you; for unusual conditions (very warm raw water, derated engines, non-standard flows) Bowman's computer-aided selection takes over — which is what our enquiry path is for.
Header tank or inline tubular — which configuration do I need?
A header tank heat exchanger combines the cooler with the engine's coolant expansion tank, pressure cap and de-aeration in one unit — the classic marinisation choice when the engine doesn't have its own tank. An inline tubular unit is just the cooler, used where the engine already has a header tank or one is mounted remotely. Ratings are identical between equivalents (an FH300 header-tank unit and FG100 inline cooler both suit engines to 150 kW).
What's the difference between marine and land-based versions?
Thermally they're rated the same. Marine versions are built for sea water — cupronickel tube stacks and corrosion-resistant end covers — while land-based versions for fresh or contaminated water typically use cast iron covers. For warm tropical waters or aggressive sources, titanium tube stacks are available on most sizes and carry Bowman's 10-year tube stack guarantee.
How big an oil cooler does my gearbox need?
Bowman rates its transmission oil coolers by the engine power driving the gearbox — their published tables put gearbox heat at around 5% of engine power, and the ratings bake in typical oil flows and temperatures. A 300 kW engine points to an EC140; big commercial drivelines run up to the PK600 at 8,900 kW. Give us the gearbox model and oil flow if you have them, and we'll confirm the match.
How do I size a hydraulic oil cooler?
Start from heat load: a good rule of thumb (published by cooler manufacturers like HYDAC) is that a hydraulic system rejects roughly 25–30% of its installed input power as heat. A 60 kW power pack therefore needs around 15–18 kW of cooling — a Bowman FC100 or EC160 at their rated conditions (the selector sizes on the upper figure). Oil type, flow rate and water temperature all shift the duty, so we confirm every hydraulic selection against Bowman's data before quoting.
Can I clean or service these heat exchangers myself?
Yes — that's central to the Bowman design. The tube stack floats inside the body and withdraws after removing the end covers, so tubes can be rodded or back-flushed without disturbing the plumbing. O-ring sealed covers refit quickly. We stock spare tube stacks, end covers, O-rings and anodes for the popular sizes.
Do you stock Bowman in Australia, or is everything ordered in?
Luxfords is the Australian distributor for the complete Bowman range and holds extensive local stock — the popular marine sizes, oil coolers and spares are usually on the shelf for fast turnaround. We also stock Savage heat exchangers — the New Zealand-made alternative for which we're the official Australian distributor — and can cross-reference a failed unit of almost any brand to the right Bowman or Savage replacement.
My old heat exchanger has no legible markings — can you identify a replacement?
Usually, yes. Send us photos, the tube stack length and diameter, connection sizes and the engine it serves, and we'll cross-reference it — Bowman units have been fitted to marine engines for over 50 years and many 'mystery' coolers turn out to be Bowman frames. Worn tube stacks can often be replaced without buying a whole new unit.
Keep everything at temperature
Tell us what needs cooling — engine, gearbox, hydraulics or all three — and we'll match the right Bowman or Savage units, confirm stock and quote the lot.
Selection verified against Bowman's data before anything ships — and spares advice included with every quote.
(03) 5973 6444