[C320-list] Hot water bypass

[Martin Rosenberg]

When my water heater started to leak at the end of last season, I also
discovered that the heater hose (engine to heater) had a small leak. I
opted to remove the water hear AND the hoses from the engine. I used a
piece of the old hose to connect the in and out at the engine and will
replace the hose with new when I replace the water heater.
Martin Rosenberg
Avalon  #823

On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 12:25 PM, Jeff Hare <Catalina at thehares.com> wrote:

> Hi Mike,
>
> No long term effect to bypassing the HW heater really but there are two
> things to be aware of:
>
> 1) If you've got a leak in the HW tank from rust or corrosion of the tank,
> then the anti-freeze heating coil could be corroded and might fail as well
> before long.  This would allow your hot toxic engine antifreeze (which
> heats the water in the tank) to leak into the tank, and then out into the
> bilge as well.  This would most likely fail when you're under way, so it's
> best to do it while it's easy and before it fails.
>
> 2) If someone turns on the HW heater shore power breaker, then this could
> be dangerous to have the heater element running without water in the tank.
> Most likely, it'll just burn out the element in short order, but it's not
> meant to be powered when the tank is dry.
>
> So, if I were going to bypass the hot water tank for more than
> winterization, I'd pull the feed/return heater hoses at the engine block
> and do a short loopback between the two fittings there as well.  I'd just
> leave the heater hoses routed over to the HW heater so that when you're
> ready to replace the tank, they can be detached from the old tank,
> re-attached to the new tank and then re-attached to the engine.  And I'd
> also consider properly disconnecting the AC Breaker power to the HW Heater
> or Heater Element.  You could tape over the breaker switch but that'll
> likely make a mess of the panel that you might regret later.  BE SURE TO
> disconnect the Shore Power cord and shut off any inverter you might have
> before you mess with the AC Electrical...
>
> Just my $0.02
>
> -Jeff Hare
> #809
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On
> Behalf Of Michael Kowitt
> Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2015 6:43 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Hot water bypass
>
> Hi all,
> This list has been so incredibly helpful.  I'm coming back to it once
> again.
> Just discovered a pretty serious leak coming from the bottom of my hot
> water heater (checked all of the usual other fittings for leaks, and
> nothing).  For me, anyway, this will be a pretty big job to replace the
> HWH.  I'd like to just bypass it for the moment and get along with cold
> water only.  Right now, I can't use anything since starting the water
> pressure fills the tank and then causes it to leak right into bilge.
> Anyway, in the past, there was a long discussion of bypassing the HWH for
> the purpose of winterization.  Bill Lowe offered some pictures where he
> connected the cold water input to the hot water output of the heater.
>
>   before the bypass:
>
> http://www.catalina320.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20091018100451183
>
> After the bypass:
>
> http://www.catalina320.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20091018100728844
>
>
> Here's my question:  Can this arrangement also be used, not just for
> winterization, but in an ongoing way.  Is there any other risk to the
> system, the heat exchanger, etc. by operating under this bypass?
>
> Many thanks to all,
> Mike Kowitt
> Elusive
> #903
>
>