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From: Brent Trathen (no email)
Date: Sat Apr 26 2008 - 20:07:00 EDT
When I used to go on vacation or a cruise I used to turn off the water to my
hot water tank as it was over 20 years old. I also turned off the gas
heater and pilot. One year returning home late from a several week cruise I
lit the pilot and turned up the thermostat and sat down at my computer. I
do not remember how long it was but within less than a hour the hot water
tank blew up. Scared the hell out of me as I was near it. I forgot to turn
on the water input. The pressure relief valve failed for some reason. It
was a big mess but I shut everything down within seconds and now have a new
one.
My boat does have a large accumulator. I am not sure about a check valve.
Brent
-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:]On Behalf Of
Albin43SDtr
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 4:14 PM
To: Trawlers & Trawlering List
Subject: Re: T&T: A Water Heater Question
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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