Diesel Boat Heaters

Discussion in 'Powerboats' started by Boston, Apr 19, 2010.

  1. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    Armaflex.................
     
  2. TeddyDiver
    Joined: Dec 2007
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    Location: Finland/Norway

    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler

  3. apex1

    apex1 Guest

  4. TeddyDiver
    Joined: Dec 2007
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    Location: Finland/Norway

    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler

    Thats a good alternative.. :) A bit Jotul look-a-like.
     
  5. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    Yes, a bit. My favourite at home the old Jotul!
     
  6. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    I love the idea of wood/oil but those look a bit dated (for me).
    I just got off of the phone with my Espar rep. He said 2000 to 3000 hours on blower motor and gaskets that seal the blower motor from combustion chamber. Quote; "if those dry out and leak, it'll run crappy. They work better to run kerosene thru them once in a while. I don't remember what that wiring issue was. Those seven day timers were a disaster...now that we just have a rheostat, they are much more reliable...but the new ones are pretty much plug and play. We have one guy with five years with only one replaced ($500) blower on it." - The wiring issue was the strangest thing. I was one of the first around here with the newer generation computor-controlled Espars. I think that they were actually designed for installation in a truck's wiring harness. We had to remove a wire (figure out which- I think it was blue) and insert it into a different receptical of a nine pin framus. No instructions were given on how to do this nor warning that we were going to have to tear into our brand new $2,000 worth of German engineering. Finally, we got a hand-written drawing from Seattle. Then, seven day timers started freaking out and showing fault codes that didn't make sense - you could have five different fault codes in five shutdowns, it would have to be "reset" after, I believe, three, shut downs, got THAT sorted out by changing to rheostats, then the seals started leaking and blower motors started going out right after the warranty. They burn kinda dirty with time and most here have switched to kerosene at least part of the time, even tho there is noticably fewer BTUs.
    The rep did mention, (he shouldn't have done that!) that some boats have gone to the smallest house model Toyo and the marine one isn't made anymore.
    Okay...2,000 to 3,000 hours. If one runs twenty-four hours a day (like the Toyo owners do - I know one that even removes his from his boat and takes it to moose camp every fall, then to his shop in the winter - effectively running 300 plus days a year 24/7) 2,400 hours is 100 days, if only acknowledged likely-to-fail parts fail. Richard, I guess that's 15 years for some people but within a week I will be cod fishing and my crew stays on the boat when we are in port, then we will start taking tours in June, then rockfish and pollack until December. My Espar will be asked to run from the first of May until it quits, gets a new blower and seals then maybe makes it until next January when I again go indoors. Thats 4,300 hours if nothing goes wrong. A diesel stove, on the other hand, will start smoking more when it is failing. You order a new regulator, and when it gets in, you take twenty minutes to replace and your cabin has hardly cooled down.
    Granted, the Espars, et. al., are more efficient in fuel burn - especially when they don't work!
    All of this being said, a generator, which one may have anyway, powers the cheapest electric heater you can find. When it one day gets a spot of rust, you make a fish house out of it and plug in another.
    I got off the phone with the guy who got five years continuous with just a blower change. He verifyed that the origional blower motor "squawked" and was replaced or repaired under warranty almost immediately and has not had a problem since. This model is D4. Mine, which I origionally selected because it had a lower amp draw, and many other problem children, are the a D3-LC.
     
  7. apex1

    apex1 Guest

    Horses for races Mark.

    If you like the pnp stuff go for a "Eberspächer" (Webasto / Espar and all the other kickoffs). When they are in regular use, they do´nt fail for some ten or more years (the exhaust is corroded then).
    When you want it simple and always reliable the "Refo" is hard to beat.

    Regards
    Richard
     
  8. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    I absolutely love the idea of that one and am going to investigate. I can imagine hanging on hook in the rain in some protected cove, the crew, which are beach-combing anyway, bringing back some beach wood which is storm-tossed up into the trees and dry, and some coal chunks (we have a lot of that on the beaches here) and watching the fire burn, listen to the rain splat, the wavelets lap, just a little too much wind to stick our nose out - "maybe tomorrow". I am almost there!
     
  9. Easy Rider
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Location: NW Washington State USA

    Easy Rider Senior Member

    I've been running Wabasto's for 8 years and once I get the air out of the infeed fuel line they have been flawless. I should have bought the bigger unit though. I'm on my way to a heating system of three heaters. Wabasto, small Sigmar (like Newport) and Red Dot type buss heater. When it's cold none of them alone would make it toasty and it would be almost certain at least one would function so it would never be cold either. The Wabasto is best at night because of the thermostat. We also have plug in 110VAC w thermostat when wer'e in port w shore power.

    Easy
     
  10. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    In my eyes, computers are the parts that, in the past, have been the Achilles' heels. If one simply knows, as you now must, that at so many hours, the filter needs cleaning and the blower needs replacement (fast spinning little motor - they are on a schedual) they become viable. What model do you have, Easy, and how many hours do you estimate you have on it?
    One final notion - take your COMBUSTION air from the head (not the air that you will blow all over your boat!) In fact, if you have room under a sink, or such, draw air directly out of the head for combustion and draw air from outside for heating distribution. The heater and ducting are enough to keep the head reasonably warm but not too warm and the outside air is good for displacing moist breath/raingear air in the cabin. No gasses/smell ever need leave the head (they get incinerated and blown overboard). A problem with small boat heads is that we tend to leave the door closed (thank-you) and they get cold - this solves that without smell.
     
  11. TollyWally
    Joined: Mar 2005
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    Location: Fox Island

    TollyWally Senior Member

    I ran nothing but kerosene in my espar. The thermostat was grand. I break into a little grin everytime I light my Dickensen.

    I like EZ's philosophy of more. I am a sissy in my old age. :)
     
  12. mark775

    mark775 Guest

    Me too. What are YOU doing up?
     
  13. TollyWally
    Joined: Mar 2005
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    Location: Fox Island

    TollyWally Senior Member

    I've been feeling poorly lately, sleeping has been quite irregular. I hope your reasons are better than mine.

    Who is your espar rep? Out of Seattle or local?
     
  14. capt littlelegs
    Joined: Apr 2010
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    Location: England

    capt littlelegs New Member

    Drawing combustion air from inside is fine if the flue outlet is vertical but if on the side they really should be an outside balanced flue/air inlet. The reason for this is that in certain circumstances a strong wind on the side can cause a blowback of combustion gasses into the boat, even when running although I have to admit this would be rare with such a small pipe it does happen with larger types.
     

  15. Easy Rider
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Location: NW Washington State USA

    Easy Rider Senior Member

    TW,
    Sorry you're feeling punk. I've been having some issues too. Working too muck for one!
    Mark,
    It seems my Wabasto computers have both been good boys as I've had no trouble. I've never done any maint and I've always run engine fuel. I take my combustion air from the cargo hold (behiend the engine compartment and below the salon deck). Helps ventilate the bilge, lazerette and engine compartment too. Don't get any more diesel smell than from anywhere else in the boat. Before the Willard I had an Albin 25 and it had a very clever vent system. Engine air came from a vent on the deck (cat walk) just above the transom (it's an aft cabin boat) and made it's way to the engine compartment via a glassed in rectangular tube that was part of the hull. Except for this the engine compartment was air tight. The head was vented through a hole or slot about 3/4" high and 4" wide built into the roof of the fwd cabin. The passageway ran from the head to the fwd end of the fwd cabin and out a traditional deck vent. With a breeze over the vent it evacuated the air in the head promptly. As to my Willard head I removed the heavy teak door to same. So far I've had no modest guests.http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/images/smilies/tongue.gif I do, however have a conventional deck vent through the overhead of the head. This came to pass as the door frequently got in the way. Mark, I like your more uptown system. I don't have a hrs # but lots basically for a 2 yr old unit. It's the 12K BTU "Airtop" unit. Just air ..no water.
    Capt Littlelegs, I agree.

    Easy
     
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