Venture 23 (C Dory) Hot Water Heater?

afglobemaster

Hello, can someone please tell me what brand, type, and capacity the C Dory Venture's hot water heater is?

Thinking of adding one to the Cape Cruiser...

Thanks

Joe

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:48 am Post subject:

Most of the 25s and Tomcats were equipped with a standard tank in the 6 gallon size from Seaward.

http://www.fisheriessupply.com/seaward-products-seaward-water-heaters-with-front-connections

Many folks have taken them out because they don't use them and others have experimented with smaller models or other methods of heating water for showering or sink use.

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=15036

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=10892

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=14793&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I will likely add one of these to our boat in the near future but It has been a little hard to actually order one from over the pond.

http://www.tealwash.com/shop/handeman-motor-vehicles/

Greg

Will-C

Ours is made by Insinkerator model SST serial # 07128616162 our boat is an 2008 so things might have changed. Their stuff is pricey but our faucet and hot water heat have worked fine.
D.D.

thataway · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:58 am Post subject:

My own experience mirrors Greg. We never used 6 gallons of hot water. For a shower two gallons of mixed water is fine, when we are cruising, for each of us on the Tom Cat or C Dory25. On the 22 we heat the eater on the stove, and pour it into one of the several Sun Shower bags, if there is not enough sun to heat the water.

I experimented with a one gallon "instant", but it was not designed to hold pressure. A 2.5 gallon tank would be ideal for a shower and usually would be enough for two people who are conserving water.

Another option is one of the portable flow thru hot water heaters, which uses propane for use in the cockpit or along side the boat.
For examaple Zodi: This comes with a pump, and the case doubles as a 4 gallon tank to act as a reservoir to hold water from a lake or a hose. It only heats up to about 100 degrees, but that sure beats a 47 degree lake or inlet.

Sun shower also makes an inflatable shower enclosure, if modesty is an issue.

smckean (Tosca) · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:10 pm Post subject:

If I can side-track this thread a bit........

I too don't need the 6 gallon water heater; but it's there, so I won't fix what ain't broke. OTOH, my issue is water conservation. In my world there has never been enough water tankage on a boat. I use water sparingly (I like to anchor and don't go to marinas too often). The thing I'd like to fix is the waste of water that occurs waiting for hot water to hit the galley faucet.

I've been thinking that some sort of small "tankless" hot water unit installed right under the sink, and placed inline with the current hot water line, then set such that it would turn off at a relatively low temperature, might be slick. It would work like this: turn on the hot faucet; the cold water in the hot line starts flowing; the tankless unit heats up the water so that I get instant hot; finally the heated water from the 6 gallon unit arrives; the temp of the input water is now high enough to turn off the tankless unit; from that point on I am using hot water from the 6 gallon unit.

I've been looking around but the "mini" tankless units still use too much wattage (typically 4000 watts). I figured I could knock that down to 1000 watts by using a 240v unit with the 115v or 120v supply I get from my 1000 watt inverter or my Honda 2000i. What I really want is a low flow tankless unit -- trouble is that the manufacturers are all striving for as high a GPM rating as they can get and therefore the wattage tends to be higher than I'd like -- even in "mini" units.

"Insta-Hot" type residential units are lower wattage and cheap, but they all have tanks; and for what I want to do, a tank just defeats the purpose to a large extent. My vision would be to be at anchor; flip on the inverter; and have instant hot to warm water at any time from the 6 gallon tank (whether the 6 gallon water heater was heated up or not....or anywhere in between).

Anyone seen this done? Any units that might work for this application?

Sea Wolf · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:39 pm Post subject:

sgmfish-

Someone with more knowledge of the specific issues will have to help you with these questions, but the most efficient and simplest system I've read about here over the years was to heat the water in a metal pan over a butane stove in the cabin, then load it into a garden sprayer, pump up the pressure by hand, and then go out in the cockpit and have at showering yourself (!)

Not exactly a NASA technology level solution, but very simple, efficient, and water mindful! Cheap, too!

(Rube Goldberg would be proud!)

OK, you can laugh, now! Laughing

Joe.

Captains Cat · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:07 pm Post subject:

If you heat water on the stove, don't forget that there are 6 gallons in the water heater and you are not required to turn it on! Saving that will help your resale value too! That gives you some extra capacity.

Charlie

smckean (Tosca) · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:35 pm Post subject:

Seriously, I sort of agree with you two; however, my issue is a bit different.

It is not showers and such I'm concerned about, it is very simply the ability to get 2 cups of hot water into the sink to wash something (dishes etc) without wasting a gallon of precious tankage water getting it (long run from port water heater, around the aft part of the cabin, back thru the head, and finally under the sink).

True, I could just pull out my butane stove and heat up some water (which is what I am doing now), but many times it is stowed away. Getting it out, opening up the case, fixing the canister, boiling the water takes 10x times longer than the 30 seconds I need to accomplish whatever it was I needed some hot water for.

thataway · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:14 pm Post subject:

We tried to do this with a very small tank a few years back with the 25. It turned out that all of these that I found seem to require flow thru--where there was no valve on the end. The tank was not made for the 35 PSI of the water pump). To heat water that fast (flow thru rate), you require a very high wattage. Even a flow thru unit which produces 100 degree water requires 16 amps.

I did solve this problem in one of our cruising boats. We put a simple bypass valve on the hot water system. I put a "T" into the water line into the hot water faucet. We put a valve next to the sink valve, which opened a shunt between the hot water line and the vent line in the tank, configured so that the water flowed back into the water tank. It took about 3o seconds to get good hot water to the tap. We timed it so we turned off the shunt valve, and then opened the normal not water valve and had piping hot water, with no wasted water.

I did find this: Eemax EMT1 1.3-Gallon Mini Tank Electric Water Heater
http://www.amazon.com/Eemax-EMT1-1-3-Gallon-Electric-Heater/dp/B007BD2HIM/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

It is a 1.3 gallon heater which uses 12 amps and designed to be installed in the pressurized line. So it will work with the Honda EU 2000 I generator. It also is compatible with the wiring in the C Dory. Small tank--hot water.

Sunbeam · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:49 am Post subject:

Captains Cat · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:30 am Post subject:

williwaw · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:53 am Post subject:

Actually I don't think you could access the extra 6 gallons through the faucet. As soon as the main tank goes dry the water pressure will go to zero and your nice hot water will languish just out of reach.

A properly installed system will have a check valve on the line coming out of the main tank to prevent water from draining back in (like from a hot water tank). So recycling the water through the vent line until it's hot is a clever idea.

rogerbum · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:37 am Post subject:

The Tomcat has a 6gal water heater in it also. For our uses, it's great and I wouldn't take it out. I'm usually moored in the evening with shore power and out fishing during the day. I don't need a ton of water but I do carry 10-15gals. I heat the water up overnight and when I'm out fishing, I still have hot water late in the day. I use that mostly to wash my hands and do dishes. On the way back in, I fill the sink with warm soapy water and toss all the fishing gear we used in the sink. The movement of the boat "washes" it on the way in. I've also taken a few showers in the boat while at shore but to be honest, haven't done that too often. When we have cruised any distance, we usually hit marina's along the way and can easily replenish water. If the marina shower facilities are questionable, I can always shower in the boat. So for my needs a 6 gal water heater is great. YMMV.

thataway · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:59 am Post subject:

In comparison of the Tom Cat I owned and the C Dory 25--the 25 had the water heater under the dinette, and it was a long way to travel. The TC 255 had the water heater under the helm seat--and only a couple of feet to travel. The idea behind a one gallon tank is that it will be right under the hot water faucet.

You could make a diverter valve system to use the 6 gallons from the hot water tank--but it is probably more trouble than it is worth--both in making the system, and turning the valves. We just carry an extra 6 gallons of water in a plastic container. No hot water heater--it sure takes up a lot of room!

Will-C

This is what we have no six gallon tank required just add a feed from the standard twenty gallon water tank. See the link below

http://www.amazon.com/InSinkErator-H-CONTOUR-SS-Contour-Instant-Dispenser/dp/B00CZ3OU6A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1403802023&sr=8-2&keywords=insinkerator+instant+hot

D.D.