Water heater plumbing

[BillyK]

My Chris Craft is a 1977 Commander, and the copper has been repaired in six or seven places. I am rewiring the boat so I figured it would be stupid to close everything back up without replacing the water system also. I removed the copper tubing, tees and adapters to the forward sink, shower and toilet, and replaced it with 1/2" pex back to the engine room. I used the red and blue pex as well as the crimp fittings not the slip on connectors. The heater plumbing was a disaster and a constant leak of some kind, or a threat to leak. So as not to bore you with pics of the pex, here are some pics of the water heater old and new plumbing as someone else may want to go this route instead of disconnecting the fittings every fall.

The old plumbing was corroded and has been repaired so often it really was scary.

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The cold water comes in at the bottom with a ball valve to close and a tee with a plug to use as a drain. I use the boat 12 months. If I were to winterize every year I would have installed a drain valve. The hot water comes out the top and also has a ball valve to close. The blue pex with another ball valve is the winterizing cross over.

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A view from the top.

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Billy K.

 

[Audrey II]

Nice job! I like the home made bypass and drain plug at the bottom.

 

[Billylll]

Great job BillyK. I did the same on my Mainship and will be doing the same on my soon to be Gulfstar trawler. The Gulfstar like your vessel is of the same vintage it's 1976. It's a bit smaller then your vessel but access is pretty good from what I have seen so far.
Bill

 

[The Other Gary]

Water heaters with engine assist are great but with diesels running at 190 degrees there is a danger of scalding from the hot water.
when I switched my water heater I got the Kuuma 11 gallon unit with the optional TCV which regulated the input from the engine to 140 degrees.
This eliminates the chance of your TPRV blowing out all your water into the bilge during a long cruise as well as reducing the risk of scalding.
It does not add much to the price of the heater.

 

[BillyK]

Thanks guys for the thumbs up. I now know why the repairs were made with hose. The existing water is run with 7/16 copper. Maybe it was common back in the 70s but I'm having trouble finding parts to make up to the pex. A word to the wise, check your existing sizes to reduce the hassles I'm having now.

Billy, I haven't had much time to read through the threads, but yesterday I read you are buying a Gulfstar 36. My dad lived on a 1976 53' Gulfstar, that he sold only about two years ago. He loved it. Unfortunately he doesn't "do that computer thing", but if you need any questions answered I'm sure he would help you out.

Billy K.