Cracked fitting on water heater

[Gunn]

So tonight I went out to work on the boat to replace the port side engine check valve to hopefully solve my vapor lock issues. I was all bent up twisted back beside the engine, leaning on batteries and....the water heater. Instead of fixing one problem, I ended up accidentally leaning on and breaking a fitting on my water heater, right flush with the water heater itself.

This fitting leads to the hose coming from the top of the engine used to heat the hot water with the engine. This fitting (and the other similar one going to hose from bottom of engine) had some corrosion around it to begin with. You can see in the photo the one I broke; bottom right side of the water heater.

At that point, I gave up for the night. This fitting doesn't look like the others in that it doesn't look like I can unscrew the remainder and insert a new one. Or is it? Are there any options out there to fix this, other than removing and replacing the entire water heater? I don't even know if it can come out without port side engine removal.

Would the water heater still work if I just connected the two ends of these hoses together, eliminating the engine heat-exchanger portion? I'll need to close the loop on these hoses so that I can at least run it without pumping seawater into the engine room I assume...

It's a nice boat, but every time I need to work on something in the engine room, I can't believe how crammed in everything is. Not to mention cuts and puncture wounds on my left thumb, top of the left hand, right forearm...and a busted knuckle on my left middle finger. And I didn't even fix what I set out to do!

Thanks,

Tom

 

[lope4946]

Not sure if the valve can be fixed but here are directions for replacing the hot water tank. Good news is that the engine does not have to come out.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/56623-2002-280-hot-water-tank-replacement

 

[Henry Boyd]

Tom,

The amount of heat absorbed by the heater from the engine is quite low compared to what needs to be dissipated, so there would be no downside to the engine if you bypassed the heater. If you can live with an electrical only heater, that works as well.

However, unless you really stomped that hose nipple, it should not have broken. Looking at the rust staining on the deck, I'd venture to guess both are signs the heater is shot.


Henry

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[gerryb]

Yes, you can connect the engine hoses together and all will be fine. You'll just not be able to heat water using the engine. Many hot water heaters are installed without use of the heat exchanger, mine being an example. By the look of the corrosion on the fitting, might have been a stroke of luck that this broke for you now and not underway somewhere.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Yup - you can get rid of this heat exchanger portion of the heater and just rely on the electric part. All the heat exchanger part is, inside the heater, is a just a coil of metal tubing. Easiest thing to do is probably just remove one of the hoses from the engine and connect the other hose to the, now, bare barb. Or, if you want to remove the hose barbs from the engine all together, a standard garboard drain plug will fill the hole. I have a feeling that if that fitting broke off the way it did, it might have actually saved you from dealing with this out on the water. If it's the original heater - probably time to R&R.

 

[Gunn]

You guys are great. I was all beside myself after doing that. Now I feel much better. So I guess I was fortunate I did that myself! Dennis, thanks for the tip on how to close the loop; off the top of my head I was thinking I'd have to visit West Marine and hope they have some fittings and/or hose to tie these together so I could run her this weekend.

John, the link you sent on your procedure for replacing our tank was awesome; bookmarked for sure. Looks like this may be an off-season project for me. I like the idea of replacing it with a stainless steel model too.

The water heater worked well otherwise, so hopefully it will continue to do so using electric heat. Funny thing is, because of the warm temperatures in the ER when the engine is running anyway, even our cold water is hot after a short cruise, so I don't think I'll miss the engine heater whatsoever.

Tom