I think nearly everyone who has responded is missing something, unless
I am.

As I understand from what I have reviewed on manufacturer's web sites,
there are three options:

1) Pot burner.

No power required. Would work from a gravity day tank with either 12
V or hand pump.
Downside: Erratic at large heel angles. Can flood an produce large
flames, or so I've heard. The horror stories I know are 30 years old
so maybe they've gotten better.

2) Pressure by air. The fuel is put into a small pressure tank and
pumped up with a small internal pump sort of like a camp stove.

3) Pressure by 12 volt pump. This runs all the time that the stove is
running. Not a big draw but, no power, no heat.

I'm leaning towards #3 because maintaining power is pretty vital for
other reasons. I also like the idea of being able to shut off fuel
delivery with a switch. If a pipe or fitting broke with the pressure
tank set up, diesel would be spraying everywhere, perhaps on the
heater.

Being a gadgeteer, I might look into a hybrid where fuel can be pumped
into the small tank from the main fuel tank and then pressurized by a
small air pump. I wouldn't try to make this automatic but it would
save schlepping fuel around the boat in cans. An emergency air bleed
vent to the outside would shut the stove off quickly in an emergency.


--

Roger Long



"RW Salnick" wrote in message
...
Roger, one option to avoid the need for 12V (at least the continuous
use
of 12V) would be to put a daytank above the heater for gravity feed,
and
then fill the daytank occasionally using a 12v pump.

bob

Roger Long wrote:
I want to put a bulkhead mount diesel heater in our Endeavor 32 and
am going round and round on the type. I’d like to hear some thoughts
and actual experience.

I like the idea of a pipe running from the main fuel tank so that
the heater will simply run as long as there is fuel. However, all
the units that can be piped up this way seem to depend on 12 volts
being available and are a current draw.

The idea of the heater being completely independent from electric
power is attractive but this seems to involve pumping up pressure
tanks. The idea of getting up in a cold boat in the middle of the
night to pull out a loose can of fuel, refill a tank, pump it up,
and get the heater going again doesn’t appeal.

The only thing I’m sure of is that I don’t want a drip pot burner
set up like I saw so many of on the West Coast years ago. I
understand they are heel sensitive and I’d like my boat to be warm
and toasty when I go below after sailing it hard. I'd also like it
to not be too warm and toasty. I've seen what happens when drip
pots go wild.

I’m looking ahead to trips up around Newfoundland and Labrador so
reliability is important. I also plan some very late season sailing
in Maine with long periods aboard so I would like the heater to run
long periods with minimal attention.