Quote:
Originally Posted by Pizzazz
I bought one of the cheaper units off eBay.com for sub $200. I have been extremely happy so far. My thinking was, if something breaks, just buy a new one.
It took about two weeks to arrive. I used the supplied metal muffler on the intake and a motorcycle muffler from Amazon for $30 on the exhaust. The motorcycle muffler was not airtight, so I used muffler cement to make it airtight. Altogether, including the welding, it cost me $120. I would have bought a marine muffler off eBay.com for $185 if I had to do it again. The exhaust thru hull you can get either from Amazon and eBay.com $55, it takes another two weeks to arrive, in my case it was from Ukraine. Again, you can get a good thru hull from the US for $150, it just depends if you are in a hurry or not.
The install and ducting is the hard part. Best is to use suremarine.com, a Webasto dealer, to get the heat resistant tubing and the air vents. It is not very expensive but once you start cutting up the boat to run the ducts, it is time consuming. I took the fuel supply directly off the second output of my Racor fuel filter, no issues so far. The metering pump is quiet.
I have been running it at night for the last 15 days, for about 11-12 hours at night continuously. It has used about 9 gallons of diesel so far. The best part is that it takes fresh air from the outside, so the boat is always fresh, dry and warm. My unit has only a variable fan control which I like better than a thermostat.
SV Pizzazz |
I am certainly happy to read Your positive experience.
Hahaha, and further more there is a smile from the cruising kitty.
She said..... I am tired of the rides with the experts and the savings represent a good part of the monthly
budget of the average cruiser.
Of course there are the big guys that donīt care and can afford to spend more then that on a glass of champagne.
I also think I can live with the two weeks
delivery time. Of course if I wait till I need an ice pick then I need it yesterday.
15 days, for about 11-12 hours at night continuously. It has used about 9 gallons of diesel so far.
I would say that is really hard to beat, specially with the added benefit of the low
electric consumption. I think You will not notice a lot on the level of the
fuel tank.
Yes, the fresh and dry air from outside gotta be a bliss.
Thermostat or not ? Well, cycling On and Off would take a lot of the energy efficiency due to the start up amps.
However I understand to prevent build up off soot in the burn chamber from time to time itīs required to burn at full power to burn it off. Well, that should not be an issue since You wanna run it full anyway when You get to the cold boat.
Time consuming running the ducts ?
I would argue that depends a lot on the lay out of the boat and how far You wanna take it with the distribution.
A marine muffler ?
Yes, I agree, the exhaust line needs some attention.
But that has nothing to do with the heater.
The way I see it, this is a fast and
cheap reliable solution for medium level
DIY without mayor headaches. For the ones with AC that should be a piece of cake using the existing ducts.
Reliable in marine
environment ?
I would say that depends a lot on the location of the heater on the boat. As long as You run it, it will stay dry and free of
salt and
corrosion.
As far as
safety ? I like it a lot more then other solutions. No leaking gas lines and
propane tanks. Less flamebility then other fuels. No hot wires from 2000 watts of
shore power.
There are also the diesel heaters like Dickinson but they get very hot. You have to find a good place on the boat and there is also the safety issue of proper
insulation. I also believe this way it will take a lot longer to heat up a cold boat and there is no constant fresh air.
Constant circulation!! That is a mayor advantage with the problem of
condensation.
How is Your experience in regards condensations so far ?
How is the
noise level ?
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