Best Marine Electric Water Heater?

[whatever]

Obviously we live about aboard a "floating condo" our motoryacht has most all the bells and whistles, not that we installed them, but she does have them. We replaced a leaking water heater in Oct 2005 with a Force 10- 11 gal, and now it too, is leaking from the bottom apparently. So that aluminum tank must have a hole in it, we haven't drained it yet to see if we can eyeball it. need to get opinions from all you mariners, which do you think is best? Thanks for all your input!

[captsam54]

I am wondering that myself.. Depending on the size boat and demand requirements, they can get very expensive.. Then they rust and rot..!!
Nowdays.. putting in inline instant heaters may be the trick..

[Vasco]

I've found the Atlantic marine water heaters to be superior to the Force 10 ones. The Atlantics are stainless.

[whatever]

Thanks Captsam54 and Vasco. Until we read again our paperwork on the Force 10 we assumed ours was all Stainless steel, only to find out the tank was aluminum, and the outer case was the stainless feature. Vasco, Do you know if the Atlantic is all stainless?

[Vasco]

Yes I've got one.

[whatever]

Vasco, After reading your earlier reply, I went online to search for the Atlantic and found that the company that made them has gone out of business. Holland Marine in Canada bought all parts left and apparently you can't get the water heater anymore and the price for the thermostat in the Atlantic thru Holland is really high. Some people I found are replacing the thermostat with a steel case one instead of the brass as it calls for ...anyway..back to our search..has anyone had long term success with the Raritan?

[Christian Van H]

Whatever, IMHO you want a SuperStor ( Heat Transfer Products - Marine Water Heater ) or an Isotemp ( Isotherm ) unit. Stainless tank and superior insulation. REALLY high build quality and insulation that limits heat loss to way under a degree an hour. No comparison to Force ten or even Raritan units. Practical Sailor agrees with me!

[whatever]

Thanks Christian Van H, I saw those on the Defender site and was going to show them to the Captn. I was impressed with the info on them, not sure the Capn will want to part with that much $ but you get what you pay for! Thanks

[s/v Jedi]

Isotherm is what we have and love. Stainless inside AND outside. No problems after 5 years of continues use while our superstor did fail after 2 years.

What I especially like is the horizontal mounting and the integrated strong stainless feet. 40 liter capacity (that's about 10 gallons) is perfect for a crew of two living aboard and use for washing the dishes, lotsa showers and washing machine. With 6 crew it was still doable but barely.

cheers,
Nick.

[Christian Van H]

Hey Nick! What failed on your SuperStor? This is the first failure I've read about...

[s/v Jedi]

It was leaking somewhere and the water came out around the cold inlet... but the leak might have been elsewhere, I never bothered to find it. I also wanted to go smaller (it was 20 gallons) so that's how the 10 gallon Isotherm came aboard.

cheers,
Nick.

[whatever]

Thanks for all the info, I hope that we are able to get one that will last us at least 5 yrs like s/v Jedi has! Thanks...happy sailing