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Bart, anti-freeze and drinking water - smart to disassociate?
How many here have a hot water heater that works with the engine's coolant system as a heat source?
It is a very thin line separating that toxic material from your drinking water supply. The closed engine coolant loop may reach 15 psi when hot, and could easily outmatch the force in the fresh water system, especially if you run dry or turn off your on-demand pump for any reason. A pin hole or a crack in the hw heat exchanger could have deadly results. In my work as a boiler tech, we were never permitted to use toxic anti-freeze in boilers that produced domestic hot water (summer-winter boiler packages). I've replaced tens of those coils due to leakage! Just a thought, but Bart's recent comment about galvanic isolation got me thinking. Maybe I'll get that RedDot heater that Ole Thom has mentioned, remove the anti-freeze loop from my fresh water supply, and use those lines to supply aux heat in the cabin. Scout |