Hot water tank heating loop leak

[Ron Hill]

Fresh : To answer your question --
It's OK to run the engine coolant thru the "coolant coils" inside the hot water heater even if there is no fresh water inside the heater. 

[Fuzzy]

Fred:
If you need a new hot water tank you may want to call Seward.  They supply the tanks and are
probably less $$ than your marina will charge.  Just a thought.
Larry

[Fred Koehlmann]

Thanks Guys,

I did check the pressure relief valve, as I did with all the other connections before removing the tank. They were all dry, but the water was around the base of the tank. Thanks for the suggestoin Fuzzy, but I already got the tank via our marina. Unfortunately our marina did not get the hose nor did they have the fittings that I needed (I was looking for 5/8" barbed brass connectors, including two elbows), so while I thought I was going to install last week, I'll hopefully do it this weekend. At least we got a nice sail out to the islands in.

I've changed my mind about replacing the hoses for now (partly because of lack of supply) but also because I believe on the MKII it looks like its a lot longer length I'll need and it doesn't look as easy as it was for Stu (in the description of his article). I'm opting to just added the bits that I cut off and then possibly do the switch-a-roo in the fall or spring.

Here are a few pics of what things look like now:

[Fred Koehlmann]

The above pic is of the coolant loop being close at the engine end. I just cut the one hose and looped if back to where I took the other off from. The pic below is of the end where it goes from under the sink and behind the drawers through the "wall" under the seat to the tank. There was no way to unscrew the connection straps at this end. All i could do was cut the ends off. As you can see the access through the floor/bottom is quite tight to pull the hose through (and the marina only had a thicker walled hose as a replacement and only 8' of it).

[Fred Koehlmann]

And finally this is the empty space where the tank once was... and hopefully will be again after this coming weekend. You can see the cold water supply connected to the hot water supply hose, closing the fresh water loop. Good news is that all last weekend the bildges were dry, so the tank really was the culprit.

I may have to do some cutting at that dividing "wall" to get the tank in. The tank fits in way too tight. I may have to cut off one of the connecting flanges at the base of it to be able to rotate it in. I'll let you know.

[Roc]

Frederick,
Now that the tank is out and you have clear access to the dividing wall, you can get a dremel and cut a nice square access hole, instead of having those two small holes.  This way you can have an easy way to get at and see the hose connections on the water tank by having better access under the galley sink.

[Fred Koehlmann]

Yes, I was thinking of enlargening the opening, but was uncertain as to how extreme to go. I guess the "wall" is to help keep stuff that falls from the back of the drawers from jamming up against the tank, getting hot and becoming a fire hazard (if it can get that hot, I don't know). Also it is a surprisingly 3/4" thick, for something that is not structural.

I also want to install a 90 degree elbow at the back to make the turn easier, and future disconnects easier as well, but am having a not so easy time finding the exact hardware. Assuming that I need something metal (brass) I looked online for barbed elbows (for 5/8" I.D. hose), with no luck. The below is the closest that I came up with. A bulky composite one that I had to make up with two barb to pipe connectors and a pipe elbows, and a possibly to small (short barb length) Pex connector (used for Pex systems).

I figured I needed metal for the "hot" coolant in the loop, but not sure if anything (like the little Pex connector) would be OK.