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Hot Water Heaters

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  PBzeer 
#1 ·
My Raritan hot water heater (w/ heat exchanger) has sprung a leak. Any suggestions on new hot water heaters?
I'm looking to connect through the engine cooling system, to have hot water while underway.
 
#3 ·
Just where is your leak? If it's not in the pressure vessel, it can be repaired without too much difficulty as parts are available and are not particularly expensive.
 
#5 ·
Highly recommend Isotherm. We relaced our old Raritan with the Isotherm 6 gal. model that heats on both shore power and from the engine. They are more expensive than the competition, but not that much more (relative to all things boating) and have very good insulation, such that the water from running the engine in the evening will generally still be hot come morning. We looked at all the competition and the Isotherm consistently came out on top when it comes to value, quality, etc. At least that has been our observation.
 
#7 ·
Highly recommend Isotherm. We replaced our old Raritan with the Isotherm 6 gal. model that heats on both shore power and from the engine. They are more expensive than the competition, but not that much more (relative to all things boating) and have very good insulation, such that the water from running the engine in the evening will generally still be hot come morning. We looked at all the competition and the Isotherm consistently came out on top when it comes to value, quality, etc. At least that has been our observation.
Ditto. replaced the crappy Raritan which had rusted out on our previous Ericson 35-3. Luckily the unit was so flimsy I was able to easily dismantle to get it through the lazarette lid.
 
#6 ·
Ensure that you do not have a leak in your pressuer relief valve which is not uncommon. If you have not replaced the anode (which is part of the hot water discharge assembly) and throughly flushed the debris out of the tank, the relief valve may be leaking intermitently with debris occassionally blocking it. When I contacted Raritan about a similar matter the technician I spoke with instructed me to remove the pressure relief valve and see if there is any evidence of debris. Then, remove the anode and use a shop-vac to suction out the debris (it may take quite a few fills/suctions before you get nothing but clear water). I replaced both the pressure relief vale and anode. (Anodes need be replaced at least every 5 years.) The outer shell can actually be replaced if necessary and dry insulation added. (I made a blanket out of "Reflectix").

With the foregoing our heater was restored for about $100 USD or so (the anode was about $62.)

FWIW...
 
#8 ·
One thing to be aware of, if replacing, many of the "cheaper" models require a galvanic isolator to keep the warranty valid.
 
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