Heater Hose Quick Disconnects

[Beau]

I want to put quick disconnects in the two hoses that go to my heater. What type of connectors have you found to be the best ones for this application?

[vette-ski]

I've done this two different ways, so I'll toss in my opinion. I started with what would be a garden hose repair kit I think from Depot or Lowes. One end is barbed with clamp, the other has either male or female gargen thread. Those seemed to work just fine, and I just made sure to install the male/female ends appropriately so I could do a heater bypass if I sprung a leak in the heater. Then I decided to really snazz it up by using the garden hose quick releases (brass), also at Depot/Lowes. Those thread into garden fittings, so you will still need the hose splice kits to put them in. They are definitely quick release, but I've also seen that they leak a lot....especially when not under pressure. IE, will be OK when you are running the boat, but leak after the boat sits. Not a big deal, except when winterizing. I made a pretty big antifreeze mess in the boat working with these new snazzy quick releases. I think I'm going to just go back to the garden hose fittings.

[crescentbar]

Maybe checkout this Tech / DIY article. Looks like a good solution to me. It's on the list of items I'd like to do but haven't gotten around to it yet.

<a href="http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=drainblock" target="_blank">http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....page=drainblock</a>

Edited April 21, 2008 by crescentbar

[tvano]

another advantage to garden hose hardware is that you can use screens, available at any hardware store, to keep trash out of the core. i stick with brass fittings. plastic plumbed into lines that connect below the waterline worry me.

[vette-ski]

Maybe checkout this Tech / DIY article. Looks like a good solution to me. It's on the list of items I'd like to do but haven't gotten around to it yet.

<a href="http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=drainblock" target="_blank">http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....page=drainblock</a>

Yep, that's basically what I did, although my quick connects don't look as "industrial" as those. Probably why mine leak.

[VinRLX]

I use the brass garden hose quick disconnects, they look similar to those pictured in the tech article, and mine don't leak. I probably should add the screens to keep crap out of the core, just haven't done it yet.