When we were in Puyuhuapi, Rich discovered that the heater was broken and he had chance to do more thorough investigation. Of course, any boat project is never simple and never involves just a small area and this project was no exception.
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| Some of the small heater spare parts were under the v-berth |
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| The pelican case with the spare units was in the forward head shower. Special caulking for the exhaust is in the cabinet by the head. |
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| Tools are under the lower bunk in the Pullman berth |
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| The salon is a staging and work area, plus more tools and manual |
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| The heater is located under the vanity on the starboard side of the aft stateroom.
Rich discovered that the vibration isolators on the boiler had failed. This caused fatigue of the exhaust ducting. Not all of the exhaust from the heater was going through the duct work and muffler and out the exit on the transom. This was definitely not a good thing so we are unable to use the heater.
As an alternative to heat the boat, we run the engine to heat water and circulate through the radiators to heat the boat. It is not very efficient but when it is 57 degrees F in the morning inside the boat, something is better than nothing.
We are not sure if we will be able to fix this in Puerto Montt, as the duct is made of a special steel that can take high temperatures ( > 700 degrees F). If we can not get it here we will get the parts when we return to the US and bring them back in the southern spring.
Until then we wear our fleece!
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It’s too bad that you had to spend several days without a working heater. Repairing it was really a big task, since Rich also had to work on the exhaust ducting. So, how are things going now? I wish you had it fixed in Puerto Montt, it can be a hassle if you have to go back and forth from one place to another.
ReplyDeleteEvon Brow @ Athens Plumbing & Well Service
Fixing a broken heater can be a hard task, especially without professional assistance. But anyway, it’s good that you were able to find an alternative to heat the boat. Like you said, ‘something is better than nothing’. Anyway, I hope you guys managed to repair your boat. Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteGordon Patton @ BisonPlumbing
Yikes! I'm sure no one wants to go home to a broken heater, so I'm glad you quickly took action when you found out yours was broken. It sure seems like it was quite a challenge to get it fixed on a boat too, seeing as how the boat looks like it got turned upside down while you were fixing it. Hahaha! At any rate, I hope you've all been faring well since that day. Thanks for sharing that! All the best!
ReplyDeleteAntonia Tran @ Mode Heating and Cooling