I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

We have the forced air type (Espar) and are very happy with it. Matter
of fact it is my weekend project this weekend. I need to replace the
aluminum ductwork as it has corroded from the salt air (it seems to
be pretty old anyway). It burns about a quart of fuel per hour if running
continuously. Duty cycle obviously is a function of the temperature.

The water type has advantages (Espar, Webasto, etc). Easier to route
water tubing than to route ductwork. Also, it can be configured to run
off of engine water.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other heating
a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

every boat I have been on -- except one -- that had the blower-type diesel
heater had had serious, and damned expensive, maintenance issues, issues that
were not fixable in the field. That single boat that had had no problems had
the heater installed only the previous month.

Worked fine, but ran a fully charged, brand new Group 27 battery flat dead by
about 2:00 in the morning, every morning.

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Hey Jax- is there any Atomic 4 heater system?

JAXAshby wrote:
every boat I have been on

Have you ever actually been on a boat?


Worked fine, but ran a fully charged, brand new Group 27 battery flat dead by
about 2:00 in the morning, every morning.

Must have been a drag putting in a brand new battery daily.

DSK

Hey Jax- is there any Atomic 4 heater system?

ah, dooglies, an Atomic 4 is an _engine_, not a heater system. ask jeffies
wife to explain the difference for you.

Have you ever actually been on a boat?

oh, my yes. and I have actually been out in 2-1/2 foot seas. how about you,
dooglies, on either item?

Must have been a drag putting in a brand new battery daily.

no need, dooglies. there was this new fangled thing on the boat that actually
put the juice bugs back into the battery. Not sure how it was done, new
technology sometimes is baffling unless you have the design manual to review.
I think the gongset (that's what it is called, or something like that) ran from
the _engine_ where it lives back and forth to the Group 27 to stuff those
little juice bugs back in. I think the gongset carred three or fours bug each
trip.

DSK

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
every boat I have been on -- except one -- that had the blower-type diesel
heater had had serious, and damned expensive, maintenance issues, issues
that
were not fixable in the field. That single boat that had had no problems
had
the heater installed only the previous month.

Would be nice to know what brand that was.

Worked fine, but ran a fully charged, brand new Group 27 battery flat dead
by
about 2:00 in the morning, every morning.

A Group 27 battery is a pretty small batery for anything but powering
some lights. A forced air diesel heater is a pretty heavy hitter. Mine
draws 17A while starting (maybe a minute) and 5-7A while running.

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Would be nice to know what brand that was.

Espar.

Mine
draws 17A while starting (maybe a minute) and 5-7A while running.

that is one hell of a lot of amps overnight. Even a much greater bunch of amps
if you don't move the next day.

btw, you might wish to actually measure just how many amps your system *really*
burns. That brand new system on the boat would run out the about 50 to 60 amp
capacity of the brand new Group 25 in less than about 5 hours. (note a Grp 27
rated in about 105 amps, gives up about half that before it is effectively
dead. That is the way battery ratings work.)

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
Would be nice to know what brand that was.

Espar.

Mine
draws 17A while starting (maybe a minute) and 5-7A while running.

that is one hell of a lot of amps overnight. Even a much greater bunch of
amps
if you don't move the next day.

Not really, it only runs maybe 10 minutes every hour. 20-30 AH per day for
heating is not too bad. Not sure what moving has to do with anything unless
you mean moving towards a warmer climate.
..
btw, you might wish to actually measure just how many amps your system
*really*
burns. That brand new system on the boat would run out the about 50 to
60 amp
capacity of the brand new Group 25 in less than about 5 hours. (note a
Grp 27
rated in about 105 amps, gives up about half that before it is effectively
dead. That is the way battery ratings work.)

I know. Such a small battery is not suitable for any forced air heating
system. Perhaps a Force 10 or Dickinson would be a choice for a boat
that does not support a serious battery bank.