Water heater replacement

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cmariner32

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My 22 yr old Raritan 12 gal. water heater needs replacing. I will be replacing with a 6 gal. heater. Does anyone have opinions or experiences with Force 10, Seeward or other brand heaters? I cannot see paying 3 times the cost of these heaters to replace with a Raritan heater and cannot understand why such a high difference in price for the Raritans. Advice and opinions appreciated.
 
Rick, the fact that the Raritan water heater lasted 22 years would seem (to me) to be justification for the higher cost. You're likely to find that the "cheapies" don't last anywhere near that long... Also note the going prices for an Isotemp or a Super-Stor marine water heater; you'll find that the Raritan models are very competitive in price with them.
 
I just replaced my 33 year old OEM tank with a Force 10 11 gallon heater. I don't have any history with it, though, since it's only been in for a couple months. I did remove the temperature restrictor which would have limited the temp to 140*. Now there's hot water on day 2 on the hook. I had no problems with the install.

Why are you downsizing to the smaller unit?
 
I've had the boat 7 yrs. and have used the hot water exactly twice in those years. We don't do a lot of overnighting and when we do, we stay in a marina and use their facilities. The water heater shell was in very rusted and in bad condition when I bought it-from many years in salt water environment but it still produced hot water-again, not that we used it all that much. Because of the infrequent use and the location of being on the front side of my starboard engine, I'm considering a smaller heater for easier access to the starboard engine as well as keeping down expenses. I don't see us keeping the boat for more than maybe 5 more years and am actually considering just eliiminating the tank completly although I'm not sure what effect that would have on the rest of the water system. I temporarily capped off the supply line to the tank and have discovered that the tank acts as an expansion tank for the water system. If the pump doesn't come on immediatly or I shut the pump off, I lose all pressure in the system instantly. Does that sound right Vic?
 
That would be the case if you don't have a separate expansion (accumulator) tank. The water heater tank acts as an accumulator tank.

That's the reason why, in some cases, when taking an onboard shower you'll get a blast of scalding hot water when the pressure pump comes on - the hot water side and the cold water side are out of balance. Theoretically, you should have an accumulator tank on the cold water side that is the same size in gallons as the water heater.

This doesn't happen at home because the piping is way longer than onboard a boat, where you have a small, tight system that can easily become "unbalanced" when the pressure on one side is higher than that on the other side.

So getting back to the original topic, if you're going to take the water heater out of the system I'd suggest you either add an accumulator tank on the cold water side or get one of those variable-speed pumps that maintain the same pressure regardless of how much water you are drawing. Otherwise, you'll have a situation where the pump will come on as soon as you open the water tap and will shut off as soon as you turn it off - and the pressure will be all over the place.
 
Thanks Vic. Having to add an accumulator tank makes the idea of eliminating a heater less prudent.
 
If you take the heater out do you think the next buyer and his surveyor will notice it missing? Then they will wonder what else did you do to the boat.

Bad idea IMHO.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Robyns Nest

If you take the heater out do you think the next buyer and his surveyor will notice it missing? Then they will wonder what else did you do to the boat.

Bad idea IMHO.
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I agree. Even downsizing the tank would (should) have an effect on the boat's value.

As for the Raritan's price, as Vic stated, 22 years from a water heater is very, very good service.

We spend much of our "boat time" at the marina and we use the showers and bathrooms there (most of the time). But, we cook on the boat and hot water is much better at cleaning up than cold water. No sense in paying all that money and then living like you are in a pop-up camper.

If you plan on selling the boat in five years, a less expensive heater should not make a difference as long as it's the same capacity. Remember though, replacing anything with an identical product is usually easier than using a different brand or model.
 
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