Conference unifix::sailing

    It depends on the model but generally they have 2 inlets, the air to
    heat and circulate and the air for the combustion.  Some Suggestions
    are to re-circulate the cabin air through the unit and back into the
    cabin so that you heat hot air, however that is not how mine is
    installed.
    
    I like my espar although I use it very little.  I should use it more
    but Polar socks, a Polar fleece shell etc. do me in our boat ( put that
    in the perspective that when friends come to visit our home they
    sometimes wear long underwear! - the family is somewhat impervious to
    cold).  However my BIG concern with the ESPAR is the huge power drain
    that it takes.  When I use it, I usually run the engine as well to save
    the batteries and that aint right.  
    
    I would suggest though that if you have the unit mounted in the cabin,
    and if you have the slightest doubt about the correctness of the
    installation, I would pull it out and re-mount it in a cockpit locker
    that has fresh air venting and no path for fumes back to the cabin. 
    Its just not worth waking up suffocated one morning.
    
    Graham

    I have one and use it every weekend. (in the winter) I have mounted it
    in the engine room and it smells !  The warm air is free of smell,
    but the engine room is smelling really bad.
    I have no visible smoke comming out of the exhaust.
    
    If you remove the unit for inspection, be carefull. When you have
    the unit in your hands, watch your feets and the teak and holly .
    Black stuff is coming out and creates a gigantic mess.
    
    
    Peter 

    After much sniffing and playing around, i think i may have fixed one
    problem but another remains. The first problem was a small exhaust
    leak; it produced a wierd smelling deisel exhaust smell. Now after
    fixing the exhaust fitting, the diesel part went away, the smoke
    decreased, but it still smells, probably like Peter's (.-1)

    The smell is like a burnt rubber smell, reminiscant of the first power
    on of some electronic kits i used to build :-)

    The fittings where the exhaust and combustion air exit/enter the heater
    have a rubber gasket. It's a somewhat soft gasket and i don't think
    i've ever seen rubber like that that can take these temperatures. I
    might replace it with some generic head gasket material and see how
    that works. On-line Flash. It's not even clear that it's a gasket, now
    that i think of it. It's probably more of a vibration isolator because
    it is the only point of contact between the mounting bracket and the
    heater body. I'll check it out tonight.

    Anyone know how to get hold of the current Espar importer?

    BTW, the smell (formerly smoke and smell) problems are only at high
    speed when the thing sounds like an L-1011 warming up). At low speed it
    works like a charm, but takes a while to go from 10�F to 50�F.

    tnx,
    paul

    Yup, the same. But it is not rubber. Its red silicon and can take much
    higher temperatur. Its used to silence the vibrations.
    
    I was told, not to install it inside the boat. Due to the smell
    it creates.
    
    Usually, this heaters are installed in the cabin of trucks. They
    cut a hole in the floor (special tool available). That red silicon
    is used to protect against water and silence the vibrations.
    The exhaust is mounted outside of the truck, the heater inside.
    The exhaust gets extremly hot on "high". Thats where the smell comes
    from. They have no problems in trucks, as the exhaust is completly
    outside the truck. 
    
    If you are stuck, I can send you the detailed installation procedure.
    (it took me 1 week to install it)
    
    Peter

    Peter, thanks for the info.

    I am reluctant to re-install the heater because of the amount of work
    both for the re-instllation, and the fixing up the existing one. If,
    when the average tempurature in New England rises above 10 degrees
    (F), the heater cannot warm up the cabin in a reasonable time at the
    low setting, then i'll have to move it.

    Reinstalling the heater would be a pain. It is technically straight
    forward, but involves working in many small spaces, lotsa cable and
    ducting runs, etc. I may just learn to wear an extra sweater and keep
    the heater on low. I don't think the smell is toxic, just anoying. My
    only concern is with carbon monoxide escaping in, but i'm going to see
    about getting a dector for that.
    
    tnx,
    paul

    As I said, it took me 1 week to install it and another few days
    to relocate it to another place.
    My biggest problem was the exhaust tube. It gets so extremly hot
    and I tried everything to isolate it. Its possible to buy isolated
    exhaust tubing from Espar, but I did not know, neither the shop
    I got the unit from. I ended up in using isolation material used
    for chimneys. 1 layer was not sufficient and I had to add a second
    layer. 
    
    What type of isolation is used in your installation ?
    
    
    Peter

    speaking of ducting ......  my ducting is of the corrugated paper type
    with foil lining.  From other ESPAR installations I have seen this
    seems pretty standard, however I does get beaten up when the exposed
    parts get cans and things dropped on them.
    
    I had thought of replacing the exposed duct with PVC pipe of similar
    (2.5 " dia).  This would be far down the duct that I do not believe
    that there would be a melting/overheating problem.  Has anyone else
    done something similar ?
    
    Graham

re .7 pvc pipe:

You probably could use 2.5" flexible plastic hose as well, e.g dryer hose type
or shop vac hose. This might be easier to install and cheaper. The main
advantage of the corrugated paper pipe is that it is insulated and the exterior
of the pipe won't be as warm. Typical PVC pipe is designed to handle hot water
to about 160�F without getting soft. It probably can handle boiling water, but I
haven't tried it. I'd guess your heater is putting out air at well below 150�F,
but you might want to check this out before you change you ductwork.

--RS

    Peter,

    My exhaust installation has a thick asbestos-like woven cover wrapped
    around it. I can touch it while it's running very hot and can grab it
    with a thin pair of gloves on. I've had no problem with this part.

    If your heater is installed in the cockpit area, how did you set up
    the exhaust so as to not get water in it from boarding seas?

    Where mine is now (the head), the skin fitting goes through the coach
    roof wall (this is probably not the correct nautical term. Its the
    vertical part going from the deck to the cabin top.) In this position
    it seems unlikely to take in water, but still possible. I haven't even
    looked; is there an automatic cover that is normally closed when the
    unit is not working?

    We'll see what happens this weekend when i take it apart again.

    tnx,
    paul

    Paul, I made my own thru hull to save money. I used a normal thruhull
    used for water, isolated on both side with asbestos replacement stuff.
    I installed a 90 degrees elbow on the thruhull looking upwards and 
    installed the ss exhaust on this elbow.
    
    The installation manual recommands to drill a small hole in the
    exhaust deepest point to allow water to drip out. (Makes sense under
    the truck floor, less in a boat)
    
    I have more problems with the fresh air inlet. This summer, I got
    some water in and the thermostat inside the heater got destroyed.
    
    I checked my heater this Sunday; the smell in the engine room comes
    from the exhaust connection to the heater. Its not completly air
    tight. 
    
    Re: -2  I used PVC in the beginning. Its just to hot and the elbows
    almost smelt away. I have now a combination of both: the straight
    ones are PVC, the corners are paper/aluminium.
    
    
    My dreams have always been one of this diesel free standing heaters,
    no 4 amps continuous current, spare burner in storage.......
    But I could not find a place to install it, the boat is this well
    known 3 feet to short.
    
    Peter
    
    
    
    

    Well, i think i reached a steady state in dealing with the heater. I
    had it on the low setting all weekend and it ran like a charm. It
    brought the cabin temp from about 25�F to 68�F and kept it there
    running at about a 75% duty cycle. The smell down below was no worse
    that the normal boat smell without anything on; that is, a mixture of
    deisel, bilge, head, mildew, and wet dog.

    It was the first nice weekend since the boat was delivered, so i was
    outside mostly, and managed to construct a winter frame and cover.

    I can live with things as they are now, but may try to get it to work
    correctly at high speed in the future.

    I will probably have to somehow plug up the exhaust outlet when in big
    seas, or maybe build some sort of dorade-like fixture that lets the
    forced air out, but doesn't let water in (mostly).

    BTW, i seem to get about a 2.5-2.8 amp draw at low speed, which is OK
    with me.

    paul

    re: .3  The Espar distributer in the Northwest is Boat Electric in
    Seattle (I don't have the phone number).
    
    We purchased and had professionally installed the latest Espar model
    that produces around 20,000 btu.  It has a more analog type of control
    that uses four speeds/heating levels.  It is very conservative on
    electrical usage compared to the older models.
    
    The installer used the standard flexable ducting with foil inside, but
    also encased the duct with a special neoprene based insulation.  In
    areas where the ducting was exposed in a locker he built a small runway
    out of marine ply to protect the insulated ducting.
    
    We have had no problem with smells or smoke problems mentioned in other
    notes. In designing the installation the routing and placement of the
    exhaust pipe was one of the most critical aspects.  I would recommend
    consulting with the distributer and or a qualified installer to insure
    that this aspect of the heater is properly designed and uses the
    correct materials.
    
    Our overall satisfaction with our heater system is very high. The
    coldest conditions that we have used it in was an outside temp of 15
    degrees with 20 knots of wind.  The interior ws "stone cold" when we
    arrived. Within 20 minutes the boat had warmed up and the heater kept
    the interior at around 68 degrees while running on the lowest speed.
    
    I might mention that we have fully insulated our hull with closed cell
    foam (above the water line) which makes a big difference in the cold
    and the heat.  The comfort level of the interior is now comparable to
    any well insulated home.  It is easy to heat and there are no drafts. 
    We did all of this work in order to make Viking Rose comfortable to
    live aboard year around.
    
    Regards,
    
    	Howard

    As an update, the smell seems to have "worn out". That is, there is no
    exhaust smell anymore, and the burning smell has almost completely gone
    away on high speed  and is nothing on low. The total aroma is quite
    tolerable, and no worse that any other boat smell. I guess that
    whatever was burning, finished burning. I checked the whole
    installation quite carefully for leaks and found none. Nevertheless a
    CO monitor is on order. Now if i could teach it to use fewer amps, i'd
    be completely happy.

    tnx for the ideas,
    paul