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Showing results for tags 'calorifier'.
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Hi guys, What is this? Is it a pump that feeds the calorifier? I have bought a boat with the calorifier disconnected. There are two hoses on it that should be plumbed into the engine but no obvious inlet/exit fittings. This pump must have been disconnected/blanked off as it is leaking, both from the shaft & the gasket. It's also been packed with grease, presumablyto negate the leak but it ain't cutting it. When the engine is running, it starts losing a lot of water & I can't really sort out the rest of the cooling system &/or add antifreeze until it is either watertight or swapped out for something that works. In order to fix it I would need to know brand, model & function. I'm good for air cooled motorbike engines but I don't know much about water cooling stuff such as cars, boats etc... Any ideas?
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Hi, I have recently purchased a boat and after moving on have discovered that there is no hot water coming out of the hot tap. The water does get hot just doesnt come out of the hot taps. (Cold tap has water ok) The boat is fitted with a brand new surecal 55ltr vertical calorifier with a drain valve at the bottom and the PRV and Mixer tap at the top. (Fitted by the previous owner but never comissioned) The cold water feed from the pump (at the front of the boat) feeds the taps and shower before reaching the calorifier in the engine bay. It then feeds into the bottom of the calorifier and also has a T-piece off the bottom of the feed that feeds into the mixer valve at the top. I did notice that if I turn the red cap on the TRV to the open position water comes rushing out of the hot tap but stops as soon as I release/close it. Does anyone have any ideas on what the issue might be as I dont want to keep the PRV permanently open just to get hot water. My install appears to mirror the connection instructions from surecal except on my calorifier the PRV is also on the top brass part with the mixer valve. (The bottom appears to just be a water feed inlet and a drain valve) Many thanks in advance. Sarah My Calorifer: Surecal Instructions:
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Hi, i'm new to the forum, fitting out my own boat currently! My horizontal calorifier is fitted and fed by a webasto and the engine take off hoses for heat, twin coil, and connected to accumulator and expansion tank just after the hot water out pipe from the calorifier. I only get 2 litres or so of hot water before it becomes cold, checked and bled the coolant side of the circuit, all fine, adjusted the thermostatic mixer valve to make sure it's not all cold mixing in. Water does come through from the hot tank, just a very small amount, so unlikely to be a blockage as water is flowing from the tank...im at a loss, any ideas??
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Hi, My domestic hot water is lukewarm at best when my immersion heater turned on. I'm guessing the element is in need of changing and I think I understand how to change one (there's plenty of tutorials online which seem relatively straight forward to follow). However, I was wondering if anyone has done this themselves? Any pointers/advice? The only thing that I am unsure about is a gas canister which is connected to the system. I'm guessing this regulates the pressure to and from the hot water tank? See pic Thanks a lot, George
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Hi gang, Just trying to get an idea of what might be going on with my water system, so I can decide what to do next. We have a 36ft trad. The water tank is at the front under the bow, calorifier under the bed toward the back and overflow pipe into the bilge at the back. Problem is only happening when there is water in the water tank. There is a step up from the cabin to the bow. Sometimes we are finding a significant amount of water pooling around the step. Inside the step is dry, the back of the step is dry. I am not sure where the water is coming from, other than I have a hunch it's from the main tank. The water pump makes a whirring sound every 5 to 10 minutes. The overflow pipe into the bilge is continuously dripping and the bilge needs emptying every 2 days. I have, for now, emptied all the water from the tank and switched off the water pump. I've left it for a week and there is no water in the bilge. Any ideas/ experience would be gratefully received. Thanks, Gemma
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Good morning. On Legacy we have a twin coil calorifier, 55 ltr manufactured in about 2007. The second coil is not used & is blanked off as the central heating unit has been removed. I have fitted temperature sensors to the skin of the calorifier and, after a few hours cruising, get the results : top 60C mid level 40C and lowest level 30C. Not knowing the internal layout of the tank, I don't know if the two coils are at the same level. I believe in vertical calorifiers they are but have no knowledge of horizontal ones. I would like to generate more hot water and ask if it would be practical to connect the second coil (22mm) in line with the first coil (15mm) - with the usual adaptors. Questions : could the coils in a horizontal calorifier be at different vertical levels? I have been unable to find any diagrams of possible internal layout. Made more difficult by not knowing the manufacturer. Will the engine jacket water pump be powerful enough to push the water around a second coil? Calorifier is located under the bed with 3m of pipework to the engine. Thank you Dave R
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Help and advice please! Apologies in advance for being completely clueless, but I'm here to hopefully learn how not to be... This morning I turned on the hot water (Morco gas heater) to do the washing up.. Water didn't get hot so I went back to check and the pilot light had gone out. There were loud rattling/banging sounds coming from the calorifier. I turned off the water pump and the sounds continued for about 20 seconds. I've tried turning on the pump again and the sounds come back. I have realised that the coolant for the 2 litre expansion tank has run dry.. Is this the cause? How much damage has been done by allowing the coolant to run dry? I currently have no understanding of how the system is put together so don't know what connects to what, what feeds what, etc... All I know is that sound is NOT GOOD. Any help greatly appreciated. I appreciate the info I've given is a little convoluted: please be gentle, I've only had the boat for 6 days...
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My calorifier started leaking a year ago. On top of it I can't start my engine. I had a 'recommended handyman' at the time, but he vanished from our email exchange when I wanted a ball park quote (I really just wanted a rough idea at least for the calorifier). To make a long story short, I ended up leaving it as my studies were so intense (I moved nowhere and I've been using the mooring tap since). So, I am on the look out for a good & decent priced handyman who can do both, if anyone knows one? Alternatively: is it easy to replace a calorifier? As in, can I simply unplug from all pipes, lift it out, and then insert the new one? All help is greatly appreciated! My student economy is tight, so I need someone reliable.
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Hi, when running a tap, for long enough to make the water pump , start pumping, as soon as the tap is turned off and then the water pump stops. Water is spurted out of the p r v into the canal for a few seconds. This used to happen occasionally, but now it has started happening every time I turn on the tap for a few seconds. Is there a problem ? I am not very practical minded in DIY so wondered if I need to get someone to look at it for me. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Hi all Does anybody out there have a barrus shanks engine with a calorifier installed via twin stats thanks in advance
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Hi all, Hopefully someone knows the answer to this. I have an Eberspacher that heats a calorifier. I run the Eber for about an hour and we get a decent amount of hot water for showers. My issue is the amount of time it takes for the hot water to reach the taps. I measured it this morning and it took 12 litres of water before it turned warm. This is the same every time the first person wants hot water. Can anyone suggest why this would happen? The shower is quite close to the calorifier, just a bedroom in between, so I'm finding it hard to make any sense of why it takes the amount of time. Please help!
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I've just bought an old Trentcraft GRP cruiser with a Perkins 100 series 3 cyl diesel engine. It has a heat exchanger that incorporates the exhaust manifold and uses canal/river water to cool it (and spits it out of the exhaust). There's a separate clean water supply via a header tank on top of the heat exchanger and a conventional (ie car type) water pump driven by vee belt. There's a bottom hose from the heat exchanger to the water pump but whereas on (old) cars you get a thermostat housing on top of the cylinder head and a top hose to the rad on this there's nothing like that. I assume the flow is through the cylinder head straight into the heat exchanger. According to a downloaded manual (which isn't very clear) there should be a thermostat behind the water pump, but the temp gauge varies from about 40°C on a canal to 70°C going upstream on a river so I suspect the thermostat is either jammed or missing. I'll strip it down at the end of the year and check. There are two tapping points on top of the water pump, currently plugged with threaded blanking plugs. I would like to fit a small calorifer but can't figure our where to connect to. Are the two tapped holes on the pump usable as flow and return? If so which is which, is there some way to find out? Or should I take hot water from one of those (which?) and return to a tee in the bottom hose? Any advice anyone?
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Morning, a riddle for you all. Symptoms; - Pump running intermittently (every ~30seconds), but no evidence of a leak so far (checked all joints). (I also first replaced the pump and the issue has remained, so I've ruled pump failure out). - Engine coolant is mysteriously overfull (has not been touched since I flushed and refilled before winter, and has been at a good level until now). - Taste of antifreeze when showering. These issues all arose in the same week - is there any connection? My current theory is a failure in the coil connected to the engine in the calorifier. This is causing the pump to run, pushing water into the engine cooling loop, and simultaneously leaking engine coolant into domestic supply. Given the cost and contortion required to fit a new calorifier, are there any more tests I can try to confirm? Or has anyone got another solution? Many thanks, Andrew
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When I moved onto the boat I inherited a certain amount of 'creative' plumbing. There's a double coil calorifier heated from the engine and an Eberspacher 4 hydronic (it has an immersion as well). The Eberpacher used to feed a run of radiators the length of the boat as well as the calorifier. There's a header tank too and a mass of old capped polypipe, strange little t-junctions and spurs that don't seem to lead anywhere and so on. It looks like it was put in by Central Services from 'Brazil' on a bad day. Well, I finally got fed up with the superfluous radiators and ripped them out (the stove does a much better job of space heating) but I'd like to keep the Eberspacher to just heat the water in the calorifier from time to time - so I don't have to run the engine when I'm moored up. Also I've got a timer on it so I can heat up a tank of water for early morning use. Does anyone have a clear illustration of the minimal, safe arrangement of pipes and valves that I'd need to just use the Ebbie to heat the calorifier without short-cycling, tripping out etc? I assume a balancing valve on the way in (and out?) and the header tank still included. Most of the diagrams I can find (including on manufacturer sites) either show loads of radiators, bypass circuits etc or are alarmingly vague about valves etc. (i.e. don't show any). Thanks in advance. Patrick
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Hi All, I am quite new to (canal) boating. My calorifier is leaking and I'd like to isolate and drain it as I think I know where the leak is coming from. It is an upright one with a red knob at the top. This is connected to a run off pipe which has a milk bottle at the end that I have to empty every 3 months or so. The only other tap I can see is more conventional stop-cock tap, however, this leads to the gas water heater. The only other option I can think of is to drain the whole water tank in the bow and try that. Any help or advice would be really appreciated. Thanks and Happy New Year - Daniel
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I'm busy trying to get to the bottom of what a narrow boat build would entail so my head is swimming with info - in particular heating options! Ideally the hot water tank and/or radiators could be heated from the engine, a stove or an auxilliary diesel burner, however the plans i have found tend to use the engine on one calorifier coil and the stove / diesel heater on the radiator loop to calorifier which i dont think is as flexible. The engine would be used when cruising or charging batteries (maybe assisted by solar panel), the multifuel stove would provide primary source of hot water and space heating, and a diesel burner would provide a backup/fast heat. It would be good if any of the pimaries could be fed to either the hot tank or the radiators using a 3-way motorised valve. Please see diagram below of what im thinking, which im sure needs tweaking if not scrapping completely! Is the basic principle of what im geting at workable?
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Hello, I hope you can help. I have a single coil calorifier heated from the engine. I also have radiators heated by an eberspacher. They are on separate systems. Is it possible to connect the two systems so that the calorifier can be heated from both sources? As the eberspacher is mounted higher than the engine, would there be a problem with water from the radiators circuit causing the engine cooling circuit to overfow? Thanks!
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On a small canal boat is it necessary to have a calorifier fitted? The boat has an Aldi heating unit. The engine is a single cylinder unit. Thanks
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Does anyone know the difference between a calorifier and a domestic indirect cylinder I've been told that the calorifier is made to withstand more pressure but I would have thought that the domestic one would have to deal with as much or more pressure than a narrowboat one. They both come fully insulated and also they can both come with twin coils -
Hi I've got a boat that was fitted out just over a year ago. I've got a calorifier with a 3 bar PRV but no non-return value or expansion tank. This is fed by a 30psi pump with an accumulator in line shortly after it. Everything has been working fine until now. We've just started noticing occasional vibrations when heating water in our calorifier. The whole immersion tank vibrates and triggers the PRV every 30ish minutes or when the pump runs (refilling the accumulator). I've got a non-return valve and expansion tank on order (Having read up on best practice) but I'm assuming that this wont fix the problem as it was working fine before. Any suggestions on next course of action? Thanks Andy -
From the album: Lister LPWS Calorifier
This is the kit I bought but I have been told it is for a later engine -
From the album: Lister LPWS Calorifier
Photo of water pump area on Jessica Sarah's 1992 4 cylinder lister -
Hello there, Sorry for starting a probably well thrashed-out and potentially very stupid post, but after reading this forum and googling in general for an embarrassingly long time without gaining an understanding of what will do the trick, I'm still scratching my head. I'm doing up a 45footer and I'm after a system that will provide hot water for bath/shower, taps, a couple of little radiators for chilly mornings. I've got a little multifuel stove for heating on really cold days, and I have a morco d61 which I haven't fitted yet because I've realised I won't be able to run any radiators off it (useless, I know). I'm hoping to get a combi boiler of some sort, but the only ones mentioned on here are Alde, which appear to be in the over-a-grand cost region, which is a bit of an issue....but could be managed with a bit of saving. Would any other kind of combi boiler do, would I need anything else with it, or would a tank > pump > boiler > taps/radiators setup be functional? I've read some of the really useful guides on boat heating and water systems and I'm really impressed, I know a lot more than I did but I'm still wondering if there's a reason why you can't just buy an lpg boiler like this: http://www.mrcentralheating.co.uk/Heatline-CaprizPlus-24KW-Combi-Boiler-and-Fernox-Installers-Pack?gclid=Cj0KEQjw6pGfBRD09M-TmYTBzqIBEiQAcRzH5xtPIk5-EU3__2QYKdILCB5vKBf-3YkP9BYH3YKQ08kaApF78P8HAQ& Many thanks for your help all, and sorry again for starting a new topic on this. Lucy == -
Let me tell you the problem I had with the hot water on my narrowboat. Undoubtedly, many people know the answer, but maybe newbies, like me, will have difficulties. Despite my research on the forum, I have not found. Perhaps because I have trouble reading English when words are too technical. And my owner's manual, yet documented, do not talk about this problem. Besides, I've realized that I do not have the user manual for my immersion heater (built by Thermtec Ldt). Therefore: After several weeks of sailing, we went back to our usual mooring place. A few days after our return, we had no hot water. We never had this problem before. The hot water is produced by the engine or by an "immersion heater". Upon arrival, as soon as we plugged into the electrical network, I turn on the immersion heater with a hidden switch under the rear stairs. But this time, although the switch was turned on, the water is not heated. After several days of research, I removed the wood panels to access the calorifier. On top of the calorifier, there is the head of the immersion heater. It is protected by a white plastic cover. Once the cover removed, I found two small blocks: one (n°2 on picture) adjusts the temperature of the hot water. The other(n°1 on picture) has a small button "reset". I pressed this button, there was a small "click" and a few minutes later, we had hot water again Well, if it can help someone ...
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Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me with a calorifier problem i have. Let me start by saying we bought the boat (1993 50ft widebeam) from a third party who knew nothing about the boat and could only show us it running so this has all been a bit of a learning curve, overcoming problem by problem. The boat has a calorifier fitted approximately 1meter from the engine, but we only seem to have hot water when the engine has been running and the boat moving, and even this is only after 3+ hours. running the engine at idle moored up produces nothing. I have bled the air from the system by running the engine to hot and removing coolant filler cap as well as loosening the fittings for water into the calorifier from engine and return to the engine from calorifier whilst engine was running and hot which revealed there was some air in there. each of these actions were done in turn rather than all at once. coolant is approx 30% antifreeze. Because of the length of time it takes to warm up, I believe the water is heating through thermal conductivity of the water in the system as opposed to circulating round the system. The boat used to have a siren/alarm which screamed out from the instrument panel when the ignition was switched on, which we thought was normal until I had our alternator reconditioned as it wasnt producing any power for the batteries and then the alarm stopped and hasnt been back Additionally, on the instrument panel there is a "charge" "oil" and "water" light. Charge light goes out once engine is on and slight throttle applied as I presume it has now been excited. Oil light is never on, but the water light is always on, ignition on and engine on. there is also a single very thin electicial cable with a female spade elctrical connector on top of the engine, coming from the engine where the water/coolant leaves the engine to flow through the pipe to the calorifier. I have no idea where or what to connect to this cable. Can anyone advise what they think may be the problem or what my next course of action should be before contacting an engineer (and paying dearly for it). I will take photos shortly and try to upload within 24 hours. Could it be the thermostat? circulation pump? faulty electrical connection? Thanks for your help
