Water Heater Leaks
I have #266 (95) .I had to replace the tank @ 8 years. It had pin holes in in the bottom. It was`t freezing, it failed just like your home heater. When I removed it & emptied the rest of the water out it was enough to make sick. The water looked like a mud puddle with lots of sediment collected over the years.
Bob Airis
Hale kai 2...#266
David - I had to replace the temp-pressure relief valve on the hot water heater this summer. The water would heat up (either from shore power or the
engine), blow off into the bilge, fill, heat up, blow off, and kept on cycling until the tanks were empty. I first removed the tank - not the easiest job in the world - and placed a bypass on the engine side by simply connecting the inflow/outflow lines together. I ordered a new valve from Seaward - about $20.00 US - and when the new valve arrived, installed that, removed the bypass, hooked everything back up, reinstalled the hot water heater and no more problems either on shore power or engine heating. Make sure to use plumbers putty in liberal amounts around the valve as there is a tremendous amount of pressure in the tank once filled.
Note that the hot water tank never completely empties no matter how long you run the faucets. There are probably 1-2 gallons left behind of very foul
and dirty water. Unless you can blow the water out with an air compressor, water always is left behind. That is why I winterize with 10 gallons of anti-freeze in the water tanks - the water left behind probably freezes over the winter but hopefully only to slush. At the end of the day, the design of these tanks is awful for completely emptying. The drain valve is just set too high on the tank.
Hope this helps.
Allan S. Field
Sea Shadow - #808
Herrington Harbour South
You might also check the drain valve. Mine was leaking from the stem. I replace it with a standard gate valve that I bought at a hardware store.
JeffC
As far as I know every 320 has the same 6 gallon water heater distributed both by Seaward products and Force 10. The former supplied the heaters for
our Catalinas. It is model S700. Replacements are easily available as are parts (new thermostats, etc) from Seaward (http://www.seawardproducts.com/).
Pressure relief valves are standard domestic water heater items which can be purchased at a hardware store for under $10. BTW, most of this information
is on the face plate of the heater.
For reasons too long to go into here, but as explained to me by the representative of Seaward who manufactured the water heater, the pressure relief valve on the water heater should be connected to a fitting that is connected to a hose that goes into a collection bottle. I use a 2 liter former Coke bottle and it fills to the brim nearly every couple of weeks. Imagine 2 liters of water going into your bilge every two weeks! Of course, you have to remember to empty it out. While you
are at it, Check the inspection port on your water tanks. Mine were so sloppy that when the takes were even half fill, water was leaking out when the boat heeled.
Told me (and I do) the same thing hull 218. I have more of an issue with the shore power so when I leave the boat I turn off the breaker for the water heater.
I should clarify this a bit. When this problem materialized six years ago I called Seaward. Ironically they are located very close to where I grew up. They explained that although the problem does not exist in all units, it is so common that in many newer (particularly larger) boats there is an extra thru hull for this.
According to them, it does not mean that there is a malfunction in the valve (which I replaced before talking with them) nor in the thermostat (although he did offer to sell me a new one, he told me that it probably would not fix the issue).
Now, the key factor is the amount of engine and/or shore power time. If you don't use a lot of either, you won't have the problem. Again, also, not all units will have the problem.
I have found that with running the engine about one hour per week, and turning off the 110 when not using the boat, that the large Coke bottle takes over a month to fill up.