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01-11-2024, 12:36
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Middle River, MD
Boat: Cal 39
Posts: 15
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
I have the stove type which works really well, but I would not leave the boat for more than a few minutes with it running. Not much that can go wrong with it, but it's not worth the risk
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01-11-2024, 12:38
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#32
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing55
Interesting...when you leave the boat for an extended period and return is it a major operation to start the heater up
again?
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Yes it is a major operation to restart it when I get back on the boat .
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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01-11-2024, 12:44
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#33
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Alabama
Boat: Pearson 385
Posts: 111
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Newhall,
You ARE being facetious, aren't you?
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01-11-2024, 13:01
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#34
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by MWGDVC
Newhall,
You ARE being facetious, aren't you?
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Retired US Navy engineer and shipwright.
I live on caffeine and sarcasm.
So yes I am
All you have to do is push the on button on my thermostat.
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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01-11-2024, 14:16
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#35
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Alabama
Boat: Pearson 385
Posts: 111
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Newhall,
I do sometimes need to re-prime my diesel heater after it sits 8-9 months unused/unneeded. I added an outboard squeeze bulb downstream of the pump, takes about 10 additional seconds, once every autumn, to recommision the heater. 2 winters in, no problems. Sips fuel, warms my boat quickly, and keeps it warm. I, like you, do run it WFO every couple of days, to keep it clean.
Mike.
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01-11-2024, 15:47
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#36
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by MWGDVC
Newhall,
I do sometimes need to re-prime my diesel heater after it sits 8-9 months unused/unneeded. I added an outboard squeeze bulb downstream of the pump, takes about 10 additional seconds, once every autumn, to recommision the heater. 2 winters in, no problems. Sips fuel, warms my boat quickly, and keeps it warm. I, like you, do run it WFO every couple of days, to keep it clean.
Mike.
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Mike if you need to reprime it consider looking at the fuel system between the pump and the furnace. I had to go for just over a year without r7nning mine and it started instantly like it was supposed to . ( dealing with wife's cancer .) All is good now cancer free . )
I actually don't run it for days on end I run it a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours every evening .
Warm clothes and baking bread keep me warm . A goose down comforter does the job while I sleep
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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02-11-2024, 18:29
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#37
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Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 6,552
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Sailing55 said: "...how do you folks feel about the safety issue of a potentially dangerous appliance running 24/7 with no one onboard."
Whatever would possess you to do that in Puget sound?
With the itty-bitty interior volume of a 40-footer, how long does it take for your heater to raise the temperature from, say, 52º which is commonly what it is when I wake up, to a nice toasty 72º?
And don't you have a Cowichan sweater? Else come on up and get one. Each :-)!
TrentePieds
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02-11-2024, 22:04
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#38
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: PNW Puget Sound
Boat: 1955 G L Watson 40' Yawl
Posts: 417
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentePieds
Sailing55 said: "...how do you folks feel about the safety issue of a potentially dangerous appliance running 24/7 with no one onboard."
Whatever would possess you to do that in Puget sound?
With the itty-bitty interior volume of a 40-footer, how long does it take for your heater to raise the temperature from, say, 52º which is commonly what it is when I wake up, to a nice toasty 72º?
And don't you have a Cowichan sweater? Else come on up and get one. Each :-)!
TrentePieds
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Ha! You folks up there in the frozen Northland are a lot hardier than us tropical Puget Sounders...60° when I get up is just right. Get up, get the galley stove running, and life is good.
But what are your thoughts on my original question? Would you be comfortable sleeping next to a boat with a diesel forced air heater running while the owner is not on board for days/weeks at a time?
Oh, and feel free to send a few of those Cowichan sweaters down here...in the interest of good cross-border relations!
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02-11-2024, 22:33
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#39
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentePieds
Sailing55 said: "...how do you folks feel about the safety issue of a potentially dangerous appliance running 24/7 with no one onboard."
Whatever would possess you to do that in Puget sound?
With the itty-bitty interior volume of a 40-footer, how long does it take for your heater to raise the temperature from, say, 52º which is commonly what it is when I wake up, to a nice toasty 72º?
And don't you have a Cowichan sweater? Else come on up and get one. Each :-)!
TrentePieds
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Takes about 30 minutes to warm my 29 defender from 45° to 65° but I run my furnace normally on setting 3 or 4. Now I go as high as 6 when the bay gets a skim of ice
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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02-11-2024, 22:36
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#40
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing55
Ha! You folks up there in the frozen Northland are a lot hardier than us tropical Puget Sounders...60° when I get up is just right. Get up, get the galley stove running, and life is good.
But what are your thoughts on my original question? Would you be comfortable sleeping next to a boat with a diesel forced air heater running while the owner is not on board for days/weeks at a time?
Oh, and feel free to send a few of those Cowichan sweaters down here...in the interest of good cross-border relations!
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Speak for yourself I'm still in shorts and a tee shirt if it's not raining .
I'm in Sinclair Inlet.
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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03-11-2024, 01:37
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Back in the boat in Patagonia
Boat: Westerly Sealord
Posts: 8,406
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing55
Interesting...when you leave the boat for an extended period and return is it a major operation to start the heater up
again?
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Nope, not ever.
New Eberspacher fitted in about 2018.
Heater not run since I left from the south for Ecuador in 2019.
Next time run either April this year or late September. September was outside maybe 8ºC. Heater was/is set to 20ºC. Pressed start button. Hour later cabin up to temp, heater shuts down, captain retires to bed. Restarts heater after rising in morning to get first caffeine fix, lets it run for an hour or so.
Can't imagine why you would leave it running all the time when not aboard unless you really want condensation to make your deckheads look like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
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04-11-2024, 10:07
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#42
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 128
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
we will leave the heater on low if its cold and damp and we are poping up the shops for example and may set the timer to bring the heater on an hour before we are due to arrive on the boat if its cold and we can predict whe we are going to get there.
BUT.
We have a Webasto heater profeshionaly fitted, we had an Eberspacher on our old boat.
I would not be doing this with a cheap chinese knock-off, the risk from a cheap product like this is too great, they may be fine but on the other hand what is there quality control like? what would your insurance say about a fire caused by somthing like that?
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04-11-2024, 21:07
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#43
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chesapeake Area
Boat: The Casbah
Posts: 4
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
I would check the details in my insurance policy. I would also read the slip contract with your marina. Unattended heaters are frowned upon and this may help with your decision.
John McDevitt
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04-11-2024, 22:32
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#44
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: puget sound washington
Boat: 1968 Islander bahama 24 hull 182, 1963 columbia 29 defender. hull # 60
Posts: 13,090
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmcdevittcaptain@aol.com
I would check the details in my insurance policy. I would also read the slip contract with your marina. Unattended heaters are frowned upon and this may help with your decision.
John McDevitt
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My insurance doesn't care and the only heating system most marinas here frown upon is wood and other solid fuel . They don't care about diesel forced air systems
__________________
Non illigitamus carborundum
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05-11-2024, 09:55
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#45
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 66
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Re: Unattended diesel heaters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailing55
I'm wondering what other liveaboards think about unattended diesel heaters on boats in marinas. I've known of three boats over many years that have burned due to diesel or propane heaters.
Other than the annoying noise of the exhaust, how do you folks feel about the safety issue of a potentially dangerous appliance running 24/7 with no one onboard.
Am I being paranoid??
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We used our Olympic in PacNw when we were gone for the day. We were fully confident in the system.
Higher quality the system the more confidence I have in it.
IMHO most fires I have seen, last 10 years live aboard are from 1. Improper load load, to much demand on electrical 2. Bad cable to boat 3. Unattended portable heat, electric and propane 4. Crappy equipment
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