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Water heater not heating


Kharikola

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Hi! The water is only being heated to a mild temperature.

Burners are ok and pilot light doesn't go out and I have a good water supply! Heater did make a noise like a gushing sound

It is a Morco D61e about 5 years old

 

 

If this is truly the case then the water flow rate must be too high, given the sudden onset of the problem.

 

New water section is the most likely fix I'd say, £50-ish on ebay.

 

OTOH, the burners may be lighting but at too low a gas pressure. Do you have a manometer?

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Also....check to make sure your gas bottle isn't freezing. As the gas is released....it draws heat from the bottle. Thats why those large space heaters end up with frost on the tops of the bottles. As your bottle is probably quite cold anyway...it wouldn't take much, the result being much slower gas flow. Sometimes its a good idea to 'siamese' 2 bottle together....which is what they often do with the very large space heaters.


By the way...I assume you have tried descaling the heater...?

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Plus, this time of year, the colder the water entering the boiler will effect the heat of the water exiting it.

 

Along the same lines could it be low gas pressure given recent low outside temperatures.

 

I remember hugging a small Camping Gaz bottle on the frozen deck of a Jenneau to get the LPG to evaporate enough to get a morning cuppa.

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He might be running on 'butane-blue bottle' instead of 'propane-red bottle'. But expect he has a gas cooker and has not complained about that so probable propane. It is pretty essential that these water heaters are mounted on a bulkhead dividing the bathroom and galley so that its close to the tap-shower outlets. Shower head directly behind the heater one side of the bulkhead and galley taps over the sink close by the heater, so that pipe runs are as short as possible so as not to loose heat through extensive pipework.

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Along the same lines could it be low gas pressure given recent low outside temperatures.

 

I remember hugging a small Camping Gaz bottle on the frozen deck of a Jenneau to get the LPG to evaporate enough to get a morning cuppa.

 

Yes, but Camping Gaz is Butane, where the effects of typical low British temperatures can be very significant.

 

Unless the OP is running their boat on Butane, (Blue cylinders if using Calor), I don't think this is the likely problem.

 

Providing thy are using Propane, (Red cylinders if Calor), temperatures are highly unlikely to fall low enough in the UK for it to be an issue.

 

OP - Do you know what gas you are using, please?

 

Do other things on the boat, (hob, oven), seem to be working at normal rates with normal sized flames?

 

If you try and run the Morco whilst you have the hob or oven burners alight, do the flames on these stay the same size as you are trying to do so?

 

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Mountaineer Chris Bonnington for the 1966 expedition climb of Everest wanted to eliminate the use of Tilley paraffin pressure stoves as they were heavy to carry and a bit tedious to light especially when there's a nip in the air at altitude and your fumbling about with meths and all, with gloved frost bitten fingers, frozen nose and gangreney toes trying to make afternoon tea on a at 20,000ft high 9''wide snowy ledge.

So Bonnington and his gang approached I think it was Gaz to come up with something that would work at high altitude, as pure butane was a total no go as it was too cold those to work even at base camp. Up until then only butane was used in those camping gas cylinders,''still is'' I think. For some reason they don't do em with propane, more danger of exploding I expect.

Anyhow, all Gaz could come up with was a concoction of butane- propane mix which proved to only work down to the low temperatures at about 9,000ft. So that was that, they soldiered on with the Tilley camping paraffin pressure stoves which would work up to very high altitudes, well, as high as they were able to operate them with frost bitten mits. The last push from the topmost camp to the summit was always a rush, climbing light with just oxygen gear.

That poor mountain must be one hell of rubbish dump and cess pit, what with discarded oxygen bottles, Gaz canisters, unwanted food, empty bean tins, spilt bood, severed gangrenous fingers and toes, blood, not to mention the whole ensemble swilling about in raw sewage.

If all the snow ever melted the Himalayan's would be everso embarrassed. Incidentally I think three climbers lost their lives on that expedition.

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Mountaineer Chris Bonnington for the 1966 expedition climb of Everest wanted to eliminate the use of Tilley paraffin pressure stoves as they were heavy to carry and a bit tedious to light especially when there's a nip in the air at altitude and your fumbling about with meths and all, with gloved frost bitten fingers, frozen nose and gangreney toes trying to make afternoon tea on a at 20,000ft high 9''wide snowy ledge.

So Bonnington and his gang approached I think it was Gaz to come up with something that would work at high altitude, as pure butane was a total no go as it was too cold those to work even at base camp. Up until then only butane was used in those camping gas cylinders,''still is'' I think. For some reason they don't do em with propane, more danger of exploding I expect.

Anyhow, all Gaz could come up with was a concoction of butane- propane mix which proved to only work down to the low temperatures at about 9,000ft. So that was that, they soldiered on with the Tilley camping paraffin pressure stoves which would work up to very high altitudes, well, as high as they were able to operate them with frost bitten mits. The last push from the topmost camp to the summit was always a rush, climbing light with just oxygen gear.

That poor mountain must be one hell of rubbish dump and cess pit, what with discarded oxygen bottles, Gaz canisters, unwanted food, empty bean tins, spilt bood, severed gangrenous fingers and toes, blood, not to mention the whole ensemble swilling about in raw sewage.

If all the snow ever melted the Himalayan's would be everso embarrassed. Incidentally I think three climbers lost their lives on that expedition.

Just did a quick google and there are over 200 bodies on Mt Everest, above a certain height nobody collects them, including "When snow cover is light, climbers have had to step over Paljor’s extended legs on their way to and from the peak.", his body having been there for over 20 years.

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Just did a quick google and there are over 200 bodies on Mt Everest, above a certain height nobody collects them, including "When snow cover is light, climbers have had to step over Paljor’s extended legs on their way to and from the peak.", his body having been there for over 20 years.

Good lord, how awful!

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Just did a quick google and there are over 200 bodies on Mt Everest, above a certain height nobody collects them, including "When snow cover is light, climbers have had to step over Paljor’s extended legs on their way to and from the peak.", his body having been there for over 20 years.

That must concentrate the mind

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Yes, but Camping Gaz is Butane, where the effects of typical low British temperatures can be very significant.

 

Unless the OP is running their boat on Butane, (Blue cylinders if using Calor), I don't think this is the likely problem.

 

Providing thy are using Propane, (Red cylinders if Calor), temperatures are highly unlikely to fall low enough in the UK for it to be an issue.

 

OP - Do you know what gas you are using, please?

 

Do other things on the boat, (hob, oven), seem to be working at normal rates with normal sized flames?

 

If you try and run the Morco whilst you have the hob or oven burners alight, do the flames on these stay the same size as you are trying to do so?

 

 

Take your point although Camping Gaz is actually a butane/propane mix. The bottles happen to be blue but their content is not the butane of simillar coloured trad Calor gas.

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Hi! The water is only being heated to a mild temperature.

Burners are ok and pilot light doesn't go out and I have a good water supply! Heater did make a noise like a gushing sound

It is a Morco D61e about 5 years old

 

These heaters just put a constant amount of heat into the water, so the colder the water going in the colder the water coming out. And the faster the flow the less the temperature rise. So could this just be a case that with the water in the tank being only a degree or two above freezing, and the hot tap being full on, the water just doesn't get heated up to a high enough temperature? There's not much you can do about the cold water temperature, but if the tap is turned down to the lowest flow rate which keeps the burner alight, that will give the highest water temperature.

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Take your point although Camping Gaz is actually a butane/propane mix. The bottles happen to be blue but their content is not the butane of simillar coloured trad Calor gas.

 

I'm not sure about that.

 

Several sources would appear to say that the cartridges are a Butane / Propane mix, but the refillable bottles contain only Butane.

 

Is seems to be confirmed by this actual Camping Gaz Information page.

 

As you said "Camping Gaz bottle" my assumption was a refillable type that I think is probably Butane only.

 

If you use a refillable Camping Gaz cylinder, I think it is equally likely suffer problems with poor gas delivery in freezing conditions as a blue Calor Gas one.

Edited by alan_fincher
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Take your point although Camping Gaz is actually a butane/propane mix. The bottles happen to be blue but their content is not the butane of simillar coloured trad Calor gas.

Ah'so the Camping Gaz use of a butane-propane mix almost certainly must have stemmed from their experiments with it for the 1966 Chris Bonnington expedition to Everest, Their problem was the use of lightweight aluminium canisters was needed instead of steel.

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These heaters just put a constant amount of heat into the water, so the colder the water going in the colder the water coming out. And the faster the flow the less the temperature rise. So could this just be a case that with the water in the tank being only a degree or two above freezing, and the hot tap being full on, the water just doesn't get heated up to a high enough temperature? There's not much you can do about the cold water temperature, but if the tap is turned down to the lowest flow rate which keeps the burner alight, that will give the highest water temperature.

Good point. I just had a look at the spec for a Morco D61b and "It gives a flowrate of 6 litres per minute at a temperature rise of 25 degrees celsius above ambient. Maximum power input is 11KW" So if the tap is on full and your water is at 5c then the best you will get is 30c at the outlet, which is luke warm.

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Hi! The water is only being heated to a mild temperature.

Burners are ok and pilot light doesn't go out and I have a good water supply! Heater did make a noise like a gushing sound

It is a Morco D61e about 5 years old

 

As mentioned, the temperature knob on the front should be increased which reduces flow through the heater, boosting the outlet temperature.

 

Bear in mind also if the water temperature from the tank is near freezing, it will only heat about 3.5 litres/min to a typical shower temperature.

 

Without any measurement, there's a risk of wasting time, money, and trouble chasing a problem that isn't down to the heater or the install, it's just the effect of wintertime water temperatures.

Edited by smileypete
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I'm not sure about that.

 

Several sources would appear to say that the cartridges are a Butane / Propane mix, but the refillable bottles contain only Butane.

 

Is seems to be confirmed by this actual Camping Gaz Information page.

 

As you said "Camping Gaz bottle" my assumption was a refillable type that I think is probably Butane only.

 

If you use a refillable Camping Gaz cylinder, I think it is equally likely suffer problems with poor gas delivery in freezing conditions as a blue Calor Gas one.

 

Thanks I stand corrected blush.png

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Good point. I just had a look at the spec for a Morco D61b and "It gives a flowrate of 6 litres per minute at a temperature rise of 25 degrees celsius above ambient. Maximum power input is 11KW" So if the tap is on full and your water is at 5c then the best you will get is 30c at the outlet, which is luke warm.

 

 

That's only half the story. Reduce the water flow below 6 litres a minute and the resulting temperature rises considerably above 30oC, even when heating near-freezing water.

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That's only half the story. Reduce the water flow below 6 litres a minute and the resulting temperature rises considerably above 30oC, even when heating near-freezing water.

At camp 6 on Everest they attempted to reduce the flow when having a pee in order to retain a bit of body heat and all they got for their troubles was frost bitten knobs, for exposing them for too long at - 52c.

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At camp 6 on Everest they attempted to reduce the flow when having a pee in order to retain a bit of body heat and all they got for their troubles was frost bitten knobs, for exposing them for too long at - 52c.

 

Presumably with a long thin stick of frozen weewee poking out the end?

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