45C Water Heater Ideas

[Traveler 45C]

Hey guys,

The 12gal heater on my 45C gave it up and I'm looking for a replacement. The bottom rusted out after 35yrs of service dumping 180gals into the bilge. I was ashore celebrating Christmas when I got the call from a friend who heard a pump running while walking past her. That was the fresh water pump running dry, she screams without water… Surprisingly, the pump was not the least bit hot when I arrived and all the water was gone.

And Thank God the shore water was turned off!!!

I wouldn't mind installing a bigger tank as I do like my showers…

I got a call in to Sam’s but am looking for ideas from you guys.

Any suggestions for replacements and suppliers? No tankless heaters for me.

[Genesis]

Raritan makes the only marine-rated hot water heaters in a "conventional" setup I'm aware of. They're not cheap (what is that has "marine" on it somewhere) but IMHO they're worth the money from what I can see.

The other alternative on a DIESEL boat (as yours is) is a standard home model of the same size from Home Depot; you may need to change the element if yours was set up for 120V (mine was) but that's not a big deal - the thread sizes are standard.

(For the gas boat owners out there - DO NOT ATTEMPT to use a home hot water heater in your boat! The thermostat contacts on them are NOT ignition protected!)

[Traveler 45C]

Here’s what I’ve found but have not purchased…..yet: http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=32631F Best price quoted thus far $864 shipped.

Mine is a horizontal unit and I like it. I’ve got more room in front of the eng with this design then I would a conventional vertical standing unit. Plus the horiz unit will go in the hole left by the old one, the vert unit would present some install challenges.

But the price…YUK! I’m not as happy as I’d like to be.

Are the Home Depot heaters really ‘street legal’? It seems to me they might not last long in our chosen marine environment.

[Paul45c]

I'll be doing a replacement soon. I'm thinking to do one of horizontal mount stainless ones. There are several manufacturers, none of them cheap. I'm just up in the air now about whether I want to have the plumbing to/fro the engine coolant. I'm leaning towards keeping it separate.

[Traveler 45C]

If I connect it'll be to the genny. When I'm anchored and need to run it to charge the batts, the genny coolant will help heat the water more rapidly. Why run the mains if I've gotta' run the genny anyway?

[SKYCHENEY]

Most generators are not run with enough load anyway. I would argue the opposite. Why hook the loop through the genny when you can use the mains?

This way you have hot water when you get to where you are going or while under way. Plus, you may not need to run the genny, especially if you have an inverter for the fridge, etc.

[MikeP]

The heater in our 53 Hatt doesn't look like anything special (marine) to me and it's still doing OK. I can't say for sure that it's the original but it looks like it as does all the copper tubing connected to it. I did have to put in a new element (7 bucks) last year when Somebody turned on the heater breaker and there was no water in the heater at the time. Three people were suspect but all claimed "not me!"

I wouldn't hesitate to put a Home Depot heater in there but have to admit that a nice stainless steel marine model would probably look really neat! Whether it looks $800+ worth of neat is one of those personal decisions.

[Traveler 45C]

Why hook the loop through the genny when you can use the mains?

Because I don't need the mains for this.

This is what I’m thinking: Here in Fl, I’ll be running the genny while underway for the AC. That’s a must. So I’ll have hot wtr while underway and when I get to where I’m goin’. In the evening at the anchorage when I need to charge those batts and cool things down a bit, I’ll be running the genny anyway. Why run one of the mains when I don’t have to?

As far as genny loading, she turns at 1850rpm no matter what load I have on it. Charging the batts, cooking, running the AC, TV, stereo and electrically heating the water should put a significant enough load on it, don’t ya’ think? After the batts are charged back up, I can shut the genny down and run off the inverter for the rest of the night.

I think the other boaters on the hook would rather listen to my little genny then one of my big, throaty DD’s.

So that’s how I’m looking at this but I’m open to suggestions…

[SKYCHENEY]

If you are going to run the gen anyway, then forget the trouble and expense of hooking up the heat exchanger. As long as you have a gen that is large enough to handle the load, just use the electric element.

[Traveler 45C]

I thought of that.

The only advantage I can see from hooking it up would be to rapidly heat the water. With everyone taking showers I can see the tank cooling off rather quickly and by using the heater element and eng heat perhaps the water could be heated quicker. I don't know, thats my theory anyway.

That's IF I end up connecting it.