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From: Albin43SDtr (no email)
Date: Sat Apr 26 2008 - 19:14:24 EDT
Kevin and All,
>All of the water heater installation manuals I've seen have recommended a
>check valve on the input, and an expansion tank in the system. However, I've
>yet to see a boat with an expansion tank, and my current boat does not have
>one.
When I built the interior of our old sailboat, I did not put in
either a check valve or expansion tank in the hot water system. The
water heater had a heat exchanger as well as 120V element. The first
time I ran the engine long enough to thoroughly heat the water from
"cold", I blew a hose off of a fitting. "Must have been loose"... so
I reinstalled and retightened the clamp. All of the hoses were nylon
reinforced vinyl so the expansion was limited. I had several
failures. I then put in both a check valve and an expansion tank and
had no further problems.
On the Celestial, I never had any hose/connection failures, but when
heating the water up to engine operating temperatures of 180-185
degrees, then opening the faucet, it blasted water super hot water
until the pressure was relieved. I installed an expansion tank (Sears
1 gallon tank), and have no further chance of scalding someone. I
installed the tank under the sink in the forward head so as to place
it as far away from the super hot water, just in case the lining
diaphragm could not withstand the temperature.
The Sears tank had no mounting lugs, so I used Liquid Nails to attach
two 2x2 boards that I had cut matching curves on. The mounting boards
extended out past the sides of the tank a little so that I could put
4 screws in to mount it with. I had to reduce the air pressure on the
diaphragm to accommodate the lower pressure delivered by the pump - a
simple procedure.
Just my experience and solutions to experienced problems. The
Celestial went many years without the expansion tank before we owned
her. The previous owners apparently did not perceive the pressure
build-up as warranting correction. One work around is to open the hot
water faucets as the water heats up to periodically relieve the pressure.
Take care and be safe.
Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL
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