bilge heater question

desperado

desperado

Member
Mar 4, 2008
235
Cartersville, GA
Boat Info
2011 Sundancer 350, raymarine a98 chart plotter, radar, autopilot, bow thruster
Engines
T 8.2 Mercruiser V-drives
I boat in GA and was going to leave my boat in the water with a bilge heater. My local MM said they would install a bilge heater for around $600. that's $399 for the heater and 2 hours of labor at $90 an hour plus tax. Just wondering other options. Thinking about just letting them do it. Looked at Extreme Heaters and it seemed that to buy one from them for my boat would be $400 plus shipping and that would be just to plug her up and put in the bilge. MM would at least hard wire it to my batteries. That would be nice if there was a day or two of extended power interruption. I know you can hard wire extreme heaters as well, but since I'm already crossing the $400 mark, the labor charge may be worth it. Any other suggestions???

thanks,

JL
 
Yeah, wired to your batteries ......bad idea.
What are they proposing?
 
SORRY!!!! I wasn't typing what I was thinking. My boat has shorepower. I believe they were going to wire it so it could run off the shorepower. Sorry about that !!!!!!

JL
 
Seems reasonable to me. Maybe see if you can purchase the heater online for less, otherwise 2 hours of labor is not too bad IMHO.
 
Do it yourself. Why would you pay them $180 to basically screw down an engine room heater for you?
 
I would not suggest doing the hard wiring yourself unless you know what you are doing.
 
For the limited amount of time you need the heater, is it even necessary to get a permanently installed one? How about mounting one in a temporary fashion and running the wire up to a cockpit outlet? That way it's not sitting there in the engine compartment all season, going unused.

I agree that if you're going the permanently installed route you'd want to consider letting the yard do it right, presuming their known for it. What you really cannot do is add a 110vac outlet inside the engine compartment. It's gotta be wired directly, not using the wall plug cord on it.
 
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Good suggestion though ours is 3+ seasons old and looks like new. My guess is these are built for this environment.
 
I 've done it both ways, and for me it's a function of how much room you have in the ER. On the permanent install, I routed my wire (with ties) back to the shorepower inlet area and tied it in just downstream of the main inlet breaker so that it would be fused. No need for a switch since it cuts on (40F)and off (55F) automatically.

For a temp install, you have to get the plug OUTSIDE of the engine room to avoid the spark hazard. Depending on your boat, and what I did, was drill a hole in the bottom of the storage compartment in the cocpit, route the wire through the hole without the plug on it, attach the plug, and plug it into the outlet inside the storage compartment. After the cold season, unplug, disconnect the plug from the wire, snake it out, and go swimming.
 
I am not familiar with the 270 SLX but since I agree with the poster above that you may have no need for someone to do a "professional" install. If you have a 110V outlet somewhere in your cockpit, you could just plug it in there. (You may have to put a plug on the wire supplied with the heater). I would certainly look at that first as a possibility.

Otherwise, as others said, it's probably best if it is wired into your breaker panel with a separate breaker switch which may be a job for a professional.
 
I really didn't have a choice for a permanent installation, as there wasn't room anywhere. Last season I built a small platform out of scrap plywood and 2x4, and screwed the Xtreme heater to it; the platform is shaped to lie against the sloping bottom against the portside stringer, with the heater pointed somewhat at an angle to blow both toward the genny and down the alley between the twin 5.0s..I used some wire to make bails that criss-cross over the top so that I can easily lift the heater in and out with a boathook. I cut small slots in the lip of the deck recess for the hatch and the lip of the hatch so it could close fully with the cord coming up into the cockpit. With no 120v outlet in the cockpit, I run the cord through the partly-open portlight into the mid-cabin berth and plug it in there, sealing the rest of the opening with duct tape. A little foam cut to fit in the engine compartment blower intake and exhaust vents completes the job.
 
I just had the Boatsafe installed in my 310 Da. Scewed it inot the Starboard side andwired to the Head GFI.

Not sure whye, but y engine roon has a Duplex installed and wired from the AC junction box. Nere did and never will use it. Probaly diable that box.

Mike
1998 Sundance 310. "Nauti Dancer"
Percy Priest Lake, Nashville, TN
 
Southpaw II said:
For a temp install, you have to get the plug OUTSIDE of the engine room to avoid the spark hazard. Depending on your boat, and what I did, was drill a hole in the bottom of the storage compartment in the cocpit, route the wire through the hole without the plug on it, attach the plug, and plug it into the outlet inside the storage compartment. After the cold season, unplug, disconnect the plug from the wire, snake it out, and go swimming.
Click to expand...

I got lucky and didn't have to drill a hole and deal with properly sealing it again. There's an opening in the decking for the galley icemaker and sink hoses. It's inside a locker underneath the sink. And there's a rubberized gasket around the lines. There's just barely enough room to wedge the plug from the heater through there. I used the icemaker (unplugged of course) outlet right there inside the locker. The heater itself is mounted to a board that gets tie-wrapped to a convenient place on the stringers right between the engines. Worked fine all last season. Probably won't use it this season as the boat will get pulled out of the water.
 
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No, but maybe you're the only person that can't read posts. Even you can't be that stupid, or you're just looking to stir things up (which is even more stupid). That and I'm guessing most folks using a temporary heater this way are doing so to manage winterization problems, not reside in the boat during the time.
 
Four Suns said:
I see you went and edited your original response to cover the sealing part... and then proceed to call me stupid.

Very well.
Click to expand...

I think it was a setup.... I don't remember the part about the "gasket" in the original post:huh:
 
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