Water Heater on 30+

[psanburn]

I was thinking of taking my hot water heater out.

I never use it because I heat up water on the stove to wash dishes and typically don't have shore power when I need hot water.

Also it's corroded around the base and don't want to invest in a new one. I could also use the space for additional storage.

Any thoughts? Am I crazy?

Thanks
Peter S

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

On our E30+ with freshwater cooling, the water in the hot water heater heats up any time the engine is running, so you may actually have hot water even if you don't have shore power.

While the extra space can certainly be useful, a future buyer may want hot water for cruising, so taking it out may be a potential problem. While it can be added in again, many people wouldn't want to go to the trouble and expense of doing that. Just a thought....

Frank

 

[Loren Beach]

I would also vote for replacing the old tank with a modern one. Nowadays these tanks have much better insulation and some of the new compact cylindrical or rectangular models might fit in where your old one is and still give you more storage space.

LB

 

[Glyn Judson]

Hot water tank, yes or no.

Peter, I too faced the same dilemma in our boat years ago. The tank sounded like a broken Thermos bottle in a school lunch pail, ugh!! Add to that, it could only be heated in the slip on 110 volts. I had to take the sheet metal off in order to get the tank over our engine but once out, it provided space enough to add two group 31 batteries dedicated to our Adler Barbour refrigeration. Anyhow, back to the question at hand. We still enjoy great hot showers any time of the night or day the easy way. I bought a 1 gallon Hudson, all stainless steel garden sprayer, http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPA5772S674332301P. A gallon or less water heated on the 5,000BTU burner (pump assembly not installed) of our Force 10 stove for less than five minutes provides enough water to take a Navy shower in the head. I bent the wand into a U shape and by adjusting the nozzle I can regulate the heat of the water with the amount of atomized spray if the water is too hot to start with. As a matter of fact, there's enough for me to shower and rinse off and then enough left for my wife Marilyn to take her turn also. When done, I empty the remainder of water and stow the sprayer with the pump off so it can dry out, in the back of the hanging locker, out of the way and ready to use again. This way we didn't have the expense of a replacement water heater and don't need to run the engine for an indeterminate time to get the hot water we need. And best of all, we only use a gallon or less of precious onboard fresh water for two satisfying showers. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[mherrcat]

If you have the Raritan 6-gal white tank like I have it is not too hard (but a little tight) to remove it through the port lazarette. If your system, like mine, has an accumulator tank between the water heater and the engine you'll have to close that loop when you remove the water heater. (You'll probably want to drain your engine coolant before you start removing hoses to avoid a big cleanup job.) When I removed mine I was planning to reinstall it after flushing it out and checking the anode (it uses a zinc just like the heat exchanger only much larger) so I left the cold and hot water lines in place, just plugged the ends. I can still get pressure cold water if I want to, but haven't really had the need for anything more than the foot pump. Haven't ever gotten around to reinstalling it and since I haven't started doing any real cruising haven't felt the need. I like not having it installed because it makes accessing the rear of the engine, fuel tank, primary fuel filter, autopilot electronics and all kinds of other stuff much easier.