Hot Water

[Hilltop119]

I am having trouble with my hot water I am moored in a marina and on land Line. My cold water is fine but the hot water keeps running out of Pressure close it off for a few minutes and then it will flow again Do I need to put more air in the tank even if the cold is working or have I  got a problem with the Clarifier ????????

[ditchcrawler]

Is this a gas water heater or a calorifier?

[MtB]

47 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Is this a gas water heater or a calorifier?

 

The latter, I would imagine.

 

 

49 minutes ago, Hilltop119 said:

or have I  got a problem with the Clarifier ????????

 

 

Sounds to me as though there is a valve partially closed supplying the calorifier.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

10 hours ago, Hilltop119 said:

Do I need to put more air in the tank

Is the tank you refer to the accumulator, expansion vessel, or the water storage tank? The water storage tank needs water in it, not air. The other two will likely make no difference to the problem you describe.

Possibly a partially closed valve, as @MtB suggests. Possibly a non return valve sticking There is often one of these in the pipe feeding water to the calorifier and preventing back flow of hot water when a cold tap is opened.

 

[system 4-50]

How long have you had the problem or have you recently acquired the boat?

What has changed on the system recently if anything?

[Hilltop119]

18 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Is this a gas water heater or a calorifier?

hi its electric calorfier

[Hilltop119]

7 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

How long have you had the problem or have you recently acquired the boat?

What has changed on the system recently if anything?

Had the boat 14yars lived on her 13 years I have had the problem about 6 months its not been a reall problem until this week and it is getting worse the only thing I have done with the plumbing is fit two new taps on the kitchen could I have caused an air lock??

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Hilltop119 said:

hi its electric calorfier

 

For the sake of clarity are you talking about a calorifier that can be heated by the engine but it is fitted with an immersion heater that you are using, or is it something else. if it is a calorifier + immersion then I would be looking for some kind of valve or thermostatic mixer that is playing up, as others have suggested.

 

Some boats use separate pumps for hot & cold water. If yours is like this it might be a hot pump fault.

Just now, Hilltop119 said:

Had the boat 14yars lived on her 13 years I have had the problem about 6 months its not been a reall problem until this week and it is getting worse the only thing I have done with the plumbing is fit two new taps on the kitchen could I have caused an air lock??

 

Air locks are very unlikely on pressure pump systems, if there is air in the pipes they usually just make rude noises as the pressure pushes it out of the tap.

[Hilltop119]

Sorry my fault yes its a calorifier heated by the engine or an immersion heater 

[Tracy D'arth]

Bottom of calorifier full of lime scale from 13 years of using an immersion heater?

[ditchcrawler]

34 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Bottom of calorifier full of lime scale from 13 years of using an immersion heater?

Yes that can happen especially in hard water areas. Not on boats but in houses I have dug them out with a table spoon on a stick through the immersion heater boss.

[Tracy D'arth]

33 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Yes that can happen especially in hard water areas. Not on boats but in houses I have dug them out with a table spoon on a stick through the immersion heater boss.

Why not on boats? Same water, same heater exceeding precipitation temperature.

[ditchcrawler]

8 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Why not on boats? Same water, same heater exceeding precipitation temperature.

You miss understood. I have experienced it a lot in houses, I haven't on boats because I don't change immersion heaters on boats or anywhere else now because I'm an old fart.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Hilltop119 said:

Had the boat 14yars lived on her 13 years I have had the problem about 6 months its not been a reall problem until this week and it is getting worse the only thing I have done with the plumbing is fit two new taps on the kitchen could I have caused an air lock??

 

Not an air lock but I'd bet my bottom dollar it is something to do with you fitting the new taps.

 

How did you turn off the hot water? 

 

Is the problem the same on ALL the hot water outlets or just one?

[OldGoat]

This may be 'a blind alley'

But    IME...

 

modern taps (are all designed for mains supply high(er)) pressure which invariably rely on a cartridge type valve (building regulations...)

AND

consequently don't work well on boats where the water pressure is lower.

On a boat there are 'transmission losses' through the calorifier  pipeworks which results in having to open the hot tap  mor than the cold one .

To make the challenge even greater single throw mixer taps  don't work well with sifferent supply presures for hot and cold.

I don't have a solution - i fixxed my boat tears, sorry - years - ago. Apologies and I don't have a pat solution - except possibly fitting a larger pressure  / capacity pump which will be expensive and / or of a non approved type.

IM(H)O caravan fittings don not work well on the sort of 'duties'  required by today's boaters.

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by OldGoat

[Tony Brooks]

Modern taps seem to work well enough when being fed from a tank in the loft and I suspect a boat pressure of 2 bar plus is higher than what they produce in an upstairs bathroom with maybe a 6ft head.

[MtB]

26 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

modern taps (are all designed for mains supply high(er)) pressure which invariably rely on a cartridge type valve (building regulations...)

AND

consequently don't work well on boats where the water pressure is lower.

 

Hence my question asking if it is the new tap only with the problem, or all the taps.

 

So far not answered.

[Drayke]

If it's all of the taps playing up then it sounds like either scale build up in the calorifier or on the cold feed fitting to the tank.