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Removing water heater

D

Dave and Petra

New Member
Hi All,
My first post here. Thanks for having me.

My girlfriend and I have recently acquired a 1982 Morgan 383. She's in rough shape ( the Morgan 383... not my girlfriend.)
Termites have been at work for a long time, and if it's made of plywood, it's toast. These little critters are savage.
We are removing the insides down to the fibreglass. Half way there. Should be done excavating in a couple of weeks.

On a personal note, both my girlfriend and I are singlehanders with multiple transat passages. Petra sails her 1981 Malo 116 and I sail a 2000 leopard 38 catamaran. Our new to us Morgan is our joint project.

We are both pretty handy with tools and boat repair and maintenance. Replacing bulkheads, high quality woodwork, repowering etc. are all within our skillsets.

With that said, along the way we will have some specific questions that I hope you folks will answer.

First question is Perkins specific: I am removing the water heater. Do the coolant lines get attached together to form a closed loop, or simply plugged ? (I did this on my yanmar 3jh5e and the answer was plugged. Perkins I don't know...)
 

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Hi Dave and Petra,
Welcome to the Morgan owners website. We've bypassed our water heater a couple of times when it was malfunctioning. You can just put a short length of hose, maybe 12 or 18 inches on the engine outlet and bend back to the return inlet. We then plugged the two hoses to the water heater with corks. But if you are removing the water heater I guess just take out the hoses too. In the photo, the bypass is the horizontal hose at the top of the engine.
Ken20210427_155103.jpg
 
Side note, I think a lot of us would be very appreciative of pictures of the teardown. We mostly know how it all goes together, but some spots we haven't seen yet. Enjoy your project.
 
Yes, Happy to post pics as we go. So far only ugly pics of savage termite damage. As we subject them to habitat loss they are quick to establish new camps downstream of our work. Amazing little critters !
 
Next question: There appears to be a leak about 10cm up from the bottom of the forward fresh water tank. It does not appear to be close to the supply fitting at the aft bottom of the tank. It is well glassed in so there is little room for inspection. I have removed the fibreglass on the top of the tank and plan to lift it out
 
Haha..sorry, never got to the question...
Best way to raise the tank ? It's hard to get a handle on. I'm guessing, remove the bulkhead and lift from below. Any alternatives ?
 

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Dave, when I replaced my water heater, everything was still intact, and I had to raise it straight up and out of the cabinet. Brute force essentially. Two people help in that somene can aslo get a hold on it as it comes out.
Wasn't easy. But I did it.
Mitchell
 
Hi Dave and Petra, and welcome to the best forum on the internet.
When I rebuilt my Perkins I installed two valves where the lines attached going to the water heater. I have not reinstalled the heater but installed a on demand gas heater that I hang on the aft railing with quick disconnects into the water system.It works good most of the time. As far as the connections and bypass the valves are shut and never saw the need for a bypass. The Perkins maintains the proper temperature with the standard cooler configuration.
 
After years of having to run the engine to get hot water, we switched over to an Espar diesel hydronic heating system on the boat. A small diesel fired burner located in the port cockpit locker provides hot water to two radiators, one in the Vbunk and one in the main cabin, and also runs thru the hot water heater to heat up our water for showers and dish washing. The engine is no longer in the hot water loop.

When we arrive somewhere, it takes about 15 minutes for the Espar to provide the hot water for showers. If we are anchored somewhere for a considerable length of time, hot water is available on short notice, without having to run the engine. In cool weather the radiators heat the cabin by using the fans in the radiators to spread the heat. In warm weather the radiators are not used and we get hot water.

Attached are a photo of the burner in the port locker and a diagram of the heating system.

Jim
 

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Jim, exactly where in the locker did you put the Espar. My locker already contains a water maker and my refrigeration compressor. And where did you run nthe water lines? Under the icebox? or behind the galley cabinet? And how much diesel does the unit use? Did you install a day tank or plumb into the main tank? Thanks.
 
Terry
Attached are the diagram for the diesel heater system and a couple of photos. One photo is the Espar unit installed in the port locker just aft of the Frigaboat compressor which is on the bulkhead behind the icebox. The other photo is of the 6 gallon day tank I had made for the Espar which is located at the aft end of the port locker near the wheel. We still have and use the original canvas locker bags that came with the boat. All this stuff in that locker fits nicely with still room for a little more. The Hydronic heating system uses 2- 3/4" heater hoses to circulate the hot water. I was able to get the hoses past the icebox just below the countertop and into the pot locker behind the stove. The Espar unit sips diesel at about 1/6th of a gallon per hour. The hose that runs from the tank to the unit has an ID of 3/32". If you look at the photo of the tank, to the right, on top, you'll see the feed hose turn down and enter a 1/2" water hose that I used for protection. To fill the day tank, we have an electric fuel pump in the line from the main tank to the engine. We close a valve to the engine and open a valve to the day tank, run the pump to fill. When it's full, reverse the valves and it's back to the engine. That electric fuel pump is also the backup for the engine driven lift pump.

Jim
 

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