Heater Craft hot air heater install

[Bill_AirJunky]

Do you know if Malabu is using that new pump on the 13s?

Ha! No way. Last I heard Malibu still installs heaters the old way, before the Y adapter.

[Ndawg12]

I like your idea Bill, I'll have to do some measuring to see if it will fit there along with a hot tube mounted under there. I think I want 2 coming out of the gunnel on the starboard side and 1 mounted on my sub somehow.

Still struggling with the 1/2" vs 5/8" supply fittings to hose... What are the dimensions of this fitting?

anyone???

[FastFreddy]

I like your idea Bill, I'll have to do some measuring to see if it will fit there along with a hot tube mounted under there. I think I want 2 coming out of the gunnel on the starboard side and 1 mounted on my sub somehow.

Still struggling with the 1/2" vs 5/8" supply fittings to hose... What are the dimensions of this fitting?

Hard to tell but to me it looks like the fitting is 1/2"npt to 5/8"barb.

[Ndawg12]

Hard to tell but to me it looks like the fitting is 1/2"npt to 5/8"barb.

Yeah, hard to find at a local hardware store. I called Heatercraft and they said try a hydraulic fab shop, we actualy deal with them every day at my work, l'll call them on Monday.

Keeping with the recent spirit of the board and the holiday season I have to give a manhug to James at Heatercraft for pointing me in the right direction

Edited December 1, 2012 by Ndawg12

[shawndoggy]

Like this?

[Ndawg12]

Like this?

not sure how to verify dimensions but, looks good to me....

[shawndoggy]

Lol pm me. For $1b ndawg bux it's yours

[Ndawg12]

Lol pm me. For $1b ndawg bux it's yours

Thanks Shawn, but I actually ending finding it at a different Lowes when I wasn't even looking for it!!

[FastFreddy]

doubt it, but it's not a break-the-bank upgrade:

http://store.hamilto...90-/4,5493.html

Why not use one of these instead, slightly less flow but it looks like a solid little unit. At that price you can't go wrong.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-marine-utility-pump-9576.html

[Bill_AirJunky]

Why not use one of these instead, slightly less flow but it looks like a solid little unit. At that price you can't go wrong.

http://www.harborfre...-pump-9576.html

Interesting. I'm all over going the inexpensive route. And have plenty of HF tools, including a couple of outdoor pumps that have gone thru several winters without an issue.

I haven't done this install yet, but one concern I have is that if the pump is off, or seizes up, is it starving the engine's water supply?

I haven't seen the HC install doc yet so I'm not sure if ithe pump goes before or after the engine.

[NorrisMike]

Bill, wouldn't the seized or blocked pump just starve your heater? How would it starve your engine if the pump was in the heater loop? There are a bunch of 12v pumps on ebay for cheap as well.

You bring up a good point though. If you install the pump does it always have to run to get hot water to your heater? Or will water still flow through it when in the off position just like it would without the pump? I would assume you could have it off and still get heat seeing that HeaterCraft supplies a separate switch for the pump in their kit.

[shawndoggy]

yeah, the pump is in the heater loop, so it won't do anything to the motor.

I think the pumps that heatercraft uses are impeller based, so off is going to be OFF (no flow), just like your shower.

The thing I'd worry about with the HF pump is whether it's ignition protected?That sort of thing down low in the bilge ...

[NorrisMike]

what if you mounted the pump in the return line right after your heater? This way it is out of the bilge. And you can put 2 disconnects in the bilge for winterization. When it's time you unhook the lines and turn on the pump to drain your heater system for winter. In theory....

[shawndoggy]

should work. I don't think the pump really cares where it's mounted. Might have issues if the pump fails (wherever it fails). If it fails in the bilge, you get a wet bilge; if it fails under the helm, you could have a wet sub.

[Nordicron]

what if you mounted the pump in the return line right after your heater? This way it is out of the bilge. And you can put 2 disconnects in the bilge for winterization. When it's time you unhook the lines and turn on the pump to drain your heater system for winter. In theory....

That will work awesome to drain your heater! I actually hooked my heater hose up to my shower pump yesterday and sucked out all the water from the heater core, worked great. I will for sure be adding a inline pump for the heater this winter!

[tvano]

my heater suck side hose is attached to the "Y" between the hull fitting and the raw water pump input.

that's pretty normal, right?

just how does this new/additional circ. pump push water past the raw water pump impeller in order to establish circulation through the engine in order to borrow heat from an engine that isn't spinning?

[NorrisMike]

good question

[Nordicron]

my heater suck side hose is attached to the "Y" between the hull fitting and the raw water pump input.

that's pretty normal, right?

just how does this new/additional circ. pump push water past the raw water pump impeller in order to establish circulation through the engine in order to borrow heat from an engine that isn't spinning?

My guess is that you wouldn't use the y pipe fitting with the inline pump.

[tvano]

My guess is that you wouldn't use the y pipe fitting with the inline pump.

so where does the heater return get ported to?

[shawndoggy]

Water pump (engine circ pump)

[FastFreddy]

I don't think the HF pump would have a catastrophic failure and leak everywhere. The worst thing is that it fails and since it is a PD pump it will not allow flow thorugh your heater. This has no effect on the engines water supply at all.

[Ndawg12]

Sorry if I missed it but would this pump take the place of the "Y"....because it's about half the price!!!

[tvano]

sorry, i think i got lost in this thread.

item #34 in this thread is talking about an auxiliary pump that allows heater to maintain heat even w engine off.

i think i have (incorrectly) been referring to this aux pump as circ pump. my bad..

back to that aux pump. how does it get plumbed in w/o having the impeller block the flow w the engine off?

[NorrisMike]

This is how I was thinking about running it. Please correct me if I am wrong or there is a better way. This way still utilizes the Y pipe and uses the extra 12v circulation pump as a boost. However, I don't see how this way could give you heat if the engine wasn't running.

Is there a place to put a return line right into the engine on the opposite side of the heater circuit supply line? If so, this would allow you to circulate warm water through the motor while not running the engine and you won't need the Y pipe. You would be relying on your 12v pump for heat.

[wakebrdr94]

Not that I need a heater, the only time I would use one is during our annual Christmas boat parade in the harbor. That said, I hear salt water can tear apart a heater pretty quickly. If that'Us not the case, I'd consider it

Great work by the way

Edited December 18, 2012 by wakebrdr94