11 replies to this topic

[Gatekeeper]

I have an original Polarmo on demand water heater on GK that works amazingly well, but with the reality that nothing works forever I found this.

http://www.precision...s-water-heater/

Built in the USA. Price is reasonable. The unit employs a power vent system and can can be mated with up to 20' of 2" exhaust flue, so mounting it in one of my very deep cockpit lockers becomes an option.

Anyone have any experience with these units??

[jackdaw]

That's clever Gate. I assume the exhaust would be quite cool and only require a surface grill. Do you know if that's true?

[Gatekeeper]

Jack

I think so...with enough volume of air I assume the exhaust temp could be reduced to a safe level...and it can go on a vertical surface so there are more options.

This from the manual. In my case the outside of a coaming would work very well.


The duct can be up to 20’ long to the outlet and
must be secured in place. Use an outside metallic vent terminus that can not be closed and
has at least 7 square inches of open area. The vent pipe must be above the water line and
should be sloped toward the outside to prevent water from entering heater.

['No.6]

This is the same person who designed the Wolter Hot Water Heater. IIRC Wolter went out of biz because of a couple of lawsuits over CO asphyxiation. The Precison Temp HWH's were designed to address the reasons for the short comings of the original Wolters HWH.

[Gatekeeper]

Are the problems sorted out?

I have a CO detector aboard GK because of the range not being vented outside...it has never gone off except when I test it.

['No.6]

Well the old Wolters had no blower. Proper installations included a flue with a stack to vent fumes outside. I think the problems arose from folks installing them without proper ventilation. That is to say they were installing them in lockers figuring that there weren't enough fumes to be a concern...much like your cooker never sets off the CO alarm.

I will say this. I thought about putting one on my boat. Felt they were up to par and that Wolter had solved any potential issues with the forced air flue. The reason I was thinking about it was unlimited showers, particularly when hooked up to city water. The reason I decided not to was because I have a teenage daughter.

[Gatekeeper]

Amazing....a couple of poor installations and the supplier is to blame.

Our 30 yr old Polarmo on GK can empty both water tanks (80 gal total) under pump pressure that is no less than I have at home...right down to the last drop of water it'll be so hot you can't touch it, and that's set on med-low.

[4knotSB]

If it's not broke , why fix it ?

['No.6]

Basically yes. I seem to recall the final straw was a large powerboat that had installed the Wolter in a hanging gear locker adjacent to the shower stall. Girl died from taking a prolonged shower much as you describe with your 80 gallon story. For several years folks were hawking parts from discarded units to get some more years out of their own.

[Gatekeeper]

If it's not broke , why fix it ?

I'm not replacing it until I can't fix it anymore...the heat exchanger had a water leak last year but an automotive rad shop took care of that repair. If I have any issues with the propane controls then I'm toast.

I had given up any chance of having this type of water heating again...I only posted it as a plausible replacement or upgrade for some here.

[Beau.Vrolyk]

Basically yes. I seem to recall the final straw was a large powerboat that had installed the Wolter in a hanging gear locker adjacent to the shower stall. Girl died from taking a prolonged shower much as you describe with your 80 gallon story. For several years folks were hawking parts from discarded units to get some more years out of their own.

I heard exactly the same story. There was only one more addition. The girl was cold and closed the port hole and hatch in the head. The owner of the boat had specifically told her not to, but she was cold and had no idea WHY she was to leave them open. The painfully obvious solution is to always mount these sorts of heaters in a space that is separately vented to the outside, a fan to exhaust the air around the heater might be a good idea too - it wouldn't take much.

Gate, one thing to consider. I have a couple of friends who have put the exhaust for this sort of heater on the side of the hull and it's unusable when the boat is heeled over. Also, when the weather gets really snotty, you don't really want to give away a hot shower or warm water for dishes. So, my friends are all slowly moving their exhaust to the transom, up high near the centerline. It works well for water heaters and also for the forced air diesel heaters. The only difficulty is if you like to anchor from the stern, as I do, you'll smell the darn thing a lot.

BV

[Ryley]

Basically yes. I seem to recall the final straw was a large powerboat that had installed the Wolter in a hanging gear locker adjacent to the shower stall. Girl died from taking a prolonged shower much as you describe with your 80 gallon story. For several years folks were hawking parts from discarded units to get some more years out of their own.

I heard exactly the same story. There was only one more addition. The girl was cold and closed the port hole and hatch in the head. The owner of the boat had specifically told her not to, but she was cold and had no idea WHY she was to leave them open. The painfully obvious solution is to always mount these sorts of heaters in a space that is separately vented to the outside, a fan to exhaust the air around the heater might be a good idea too - it wouldn't take much.

Gate, one thing to consider. I have a couple of friends who have put the exhaust for this sort of heater on the side of the hull and it's unusable when the boat is heeled over. Also, when the weather gets really snotty, you don't really want to give away a hot shower or warm water for dishes. So, my friends are all slowly moving their exhaust to the transom, up high near the centerline. It works well for water heaters and also for the forced air diesel heaters. The only difficulty is if you like to anchor from the stern, as I do, you'll smell the darn thing a lot.

BV

I don't think you're going to smell a propane heater at all. our Newport Dickinson going full blast doesn't have any smell on deck or anywhere else, and this seems a lot more efficient than that. The diesel heaters are another story.