New water heater= 18" eng room door= 17 1/2"

[MikeP]

The new water heater is here and I'll be putting it in tomorrow. Unfortunately, it is exactly 18" in diameter while the eng room door is 17 1/2" The other 53 MY I checked before ordering the heater, with exactly the same eng room layout and the same water heater had eng room doors of 18" width. I assumed that mine were the same.

However, all is not lost! Looking closely at the door frame, I discovered that there is a 1/2" batten attached to the door jamb all the way around. I had never noticed it before because it was obviously attached at the factory and then painted so at a glance it looks like a part of the jamb itself.

I found that with a razor blade and a scraper I was able to separate this batten from the jamb. It's purpose is to hold the inner seal for the eng room door. I haven't removed it yet but at least I see that getting that 1/2" won't be too difficult and the batten will go right back on the way it was. If you pull them off both sides you can pick up a full inch! May not sound like much but if you ever put a side-by-side new fridge in a 53MY, you know that 1/16" (the thickness of the screw heads protruding from the back of the fridge) can make the difference between the new fridge fitting between the lower helm and the breaker panel.

If boating was easy, everyone would be doing it!

 

[Angela]

Been there; done that, Mike! We had to remove the door jambs from the galley/pilothouse all the way back to the master stateroom to get our new water heater in - it lives in the master SR closet area under some cabinetry.

The original 40 gallon water heater was most definitely installed before the interior of the boat was finished. We had to beat it to death with a sledge hammer to get it off the boat. Not even with door jambs removed would that thing go through. It did last 26 years, though. Enjoy.

Most people cringe at the thought of replacing the refrigerator - my cringe threshhold comes with the water heater. Replacing the refrigerator was a 10 minute job - so fast, I forgot to take photos.

 

[MikeP]

Ang - 40 gal is BIG water heater; I can't imagine dealing with that! Ours is only 20 and I just finished removing the batten. The old will now come out/new go in without any problem. Of course, NONE of the existing fittings will line up so I have to remake all of them. Not that that's a big deal in the scheme of boat maint!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I know of a 60MY that recently got a new water heater. They removed all of the fittings on the water heater as well as the outside covering and insulation to get it in. Then, once in the ER, they reinstalled the removed components.

 

[Capt K]

Years back, I replaced our 30 gal with one from Sears. Some are short and fat and some are taller and thinner (the water heaters). I managed to squeeze one in without dismantling any trim on the engine rooms.

The real bonus is that the old one was 110v and new one was 240v which is more efficient.

K

 

[REBrueckner]

:...The real bonus is that the old one was 110v and new one was 240v which is more efficient...."

No so...240v will heat faster only if the element wattage is higher...but it's not "more efficient"....

 

[MikeP]

The new one is in but I have to say that if I had it to do over, I would rethink copper/flare fittings. It's a huge hassle bending the tubing, flaring it and getting everything to align. It's much more difficult than fuel lines, for example, the water line require tight turns that are very hard to bend and sometimes requires a 360 degree turn to make a connection (like oem) where a flexible line would be 6-8 inches long and that's it. Took all day. With flexible fittings I would have been done by mid morning instead of at 6PM.

I realize that copper tubing is excellent stuff but I frankly don't see any reason to use it for this purpose. OTOH, since there needs to be valves to shut off the flow to the heater and bypass it, the copper provides it's own "support" for the valves where hoses would not. So heck, maybe it is the best material overall...

I was shocked at the price of copper tubing and associated brass fittings...it's been 6-7 years since I bought any. I'll post some pics tomorrow...

 

[Canuck Dennis]

It really helps if you use the flex st stl tubing for the last 18 " or so. Water htrs are a pain, here in Vancouver if we get 7y rs out of one we are lucky, the soft water really attacks the interior and the anode fails early.

 

[DAlter]

Mike,

I am surprised at you for not measuring your own boat first. I looked for months when I replaced my water heater. I finally found a Whirlpool model at Lowes that just fit through the ER door. It has been fine for the past few years. Now, when I replaced the water heater in my old 36 Mainship I had to take it apart and then reassemble it in place while I was crouched down between the engines because it wouldn't fit down the hatch in the salon floor....that was alot of fun.

 

[MikeP]

Doug, you are right, of course, I should have measured MY OWN eng room doors instead of another 53MY. But the guy who installed it showed it to me in his 53 with the exact same eng room layout so I just ASSumed that our doors were the same and measured his!




Here are a few pics

The old water heater in place note bottom rusted out - the actual tank looked pretty much the same!

The strip on the door that was actually pretty easy to remove to get that 1/2" I needed - only needed to pull one side.

And the new WH in place. To it's right is the shell of the LaMarche charger, now a tool cabinet!

Just for historic info (?) this on was the bottom of the WH bracket in case anyone recognizes the initials...