Blown hot water heater--ARGH!!

My dock neighbor had an issue this winter he winterized the water system and ran antifreeze through his shower - he even used the shower head to fill the toilet - so an entire gallon ran through his shower head - over the winter his shower head split. So possible bad antifreeze? Some water was trapped somewhere.
 
I don't think there's a way to poison anyone from a contamination because it would simply be mixing lake water with the fresh water. Probably not what I want to drink or shower with but it won't kill me.

Now, that its closed off I will see if I miss having hot water heated that way or not. I doubt it because we only shower in the slip otherwise if we do on the hook we would have to run the genny anyway since we wouldn't have had the motors running. Can't imagine needing hot water for anything that would be heated that way but it does kind of annoy me that its broke.
 
Cincy Aquaholic said:
I don't think there's a way to poison anyone from a contamination because it would simply be mixing lake water with the fresh water. Probably not what I want to drink or shower with but it won't kill me.
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Maybe for RAW water systems, but as I understand it, for those of us with closed cooling, it is coolant running through those lines. I have never has my lines off to verify but that is what I read somewhere.

Jason
 
Easy enough to check by following the hoses.
 
When we bought our boat, the water heater was leaking so I replaced it with a 6 gal Attwood. I didn't bother to hook up the heat exchanger since we boat in salt water and I can see that rotting out the coil in no time flat. We just use the heater when on shore power. If I had to have a shower while on the hook, I'd do like Ron said and just take a lukewarm shower from the residual bilge heat.
Your heater may be fine on the fresh side and only be compromized in the exchanger loop. Plug it off and see if the fresh side is ok, if so continue to use it.
 
Is there an easy way to plug off the engine, or do I still need to use a hose?
 
The fresh side is not leaking a drop. That's why I was puzzled because it took me being in the engine compartment with the motor running to find the source. No sure if capping it off is any better than running the hose from one outlet to the inlet to complete the loop. I'll look at Quint's and see how he did it.
 
Cincy Aquaholic said:
Ok, I did not have a good first full weekend despite picture perfect weather.

Started with a dvd player that no longer reads a dvd.
Then, galley/shower sump pump float got stuck and flooded the sump area while admiral took a shower.
Then, my windlass up switch began acting up due to some crud on the wire contact.

THEN, we realize my bilge pump is running contantly under power. Bear in mind, I shop vac my entire bilge dry as a bone. Before we even got out of the marina its blowing water out the thru hull. WTF?!? :smt021

Could not find a leak anywhere until I cranked up the port engine while in the engine room and saw water POURING out from under the water heater. Port engine has the circulation through the tank. Ok, temporary fix was to pull the hose from the "in" on the heater and just return it to the engine to by pass the heater.

Ok, so obviously something busted and I assume its a winterization issue. Before I go off on my shop what happened here? Bear in mind I get NO leaks from the normal fresh water system even with the fresh water pump on. Can someone explain how the engine cycles water through?
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Bill,

Sorry to hear about your hot water heater. My 290 had the same issue when I bought it.

I just removed the lines from the engine to the hot water heater, and no longer have the hot water "underway" option. Your hot water heater will still work fine when hooked up to power. Plus, your engine compartment is normally plenty hot enough to warm up your fresh water tank, so you will already have warm water out of both sides of the faucet.

This type of failure is very common with these hot water heaters (more so in salt environment). The cost to replace the hot water heater ($400) is dwarfed by the need to remove part of your Port Engine risers to get it out.

I did this to my 290 about a year ago, and have not regretted my decision to leave it in this condition. It is certainly not worth the $1,000 it would take to replace a mostly good hot water heater, so that I can have hot water while underway.
 
Take the brass plug with the hose barb out of motor and walk into an auto parts store. They will sell you a solid plug.
 
Why does anybody buy/replace/install these crappy water heaters? I had two fail on the engine water side before abandoning the idea and relying on the genny and electric heater.

In my view the problem is caused by the way Attwood weld the aluminum hose barb fitting to the aluminum heat exchanger. The HAZ caused by the welding produces electrolysis inside the weld and the whole joint rots away in a few years. I have told Attwood about this. The only solution would be to get a water heater with a stainless steel heat exchanger. Unfortunately I have not found one that would easily install in the current space.

Having said all that, I did enjoy hotwater all the time without having to remember to put the water heater on so a better quality heater would be an asset.

Nick.
 
Quint, its as simple as that? I might have to run by my boat this afternoon and check it out!
 
Gee, maybe the reason we liked that feature is we were lucky that we never had any problems. Could be a salt water thing? Last boat was 14 years old when we sold it, original HWH hooked to the starboard motor. Raw water cooled, in freshwater:huh:
 
The solid plug handles one side, the other hose requires a cap on the t - fitting of the larger engine water hose (not recommended) or a new engine water hose.....on my motor anyway.
 
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Same thing happened to me this season. Scared the crap out of me. I went to Home D and got a brass hose barb to connect the two hoses. The hose nipple on the hot water heater crumbled like plastic - looks like years of brackish water exposure in my case. I still have hot water with dock-side power, gen, etc. Not worth the hassle to replace/remove.
 
I suppose the double brass hose barb connecting the hoses would be as or more stable than the water heater so that is a quick easy option.
 
I sympathize with you guys on the hot water tank. The antifrz heated ones {closed cooling} seem to last a long time... no corosion. If blocking off the engine ,or joining the hoses together, use BRONZE fittings , not brass from the car parts store IMHO
Cheers, Gary
 
Are garboard plugs bronze? Why better than brass...harder?
 
not sure about the garland plugs...... brass will corrode out very quickly in salt water, bronze will not....
 
Good answer. I am in freshwater, but I agree replace plugs with bronze in case the boat finds its way to salt.
 
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