Bertram33 User Forum

Hello
I am a french owner of Bertram33 sf .The boat have 2 carterpillar 3208 .Concerning the hot water it's ok on Harbour but it's not working in travel
do you how to connect heat echange of the motor whith the Raritan boiler
Best regards
dominique

Hi Dominique,
Welcome to the Forum. First, Raritan makes two types of hot water heaters. One is electric only (like you describe "Harbor") and the other is a dual heater that works off the engine's waste hot water (travel) and electric. If your heater has two pipe fittings coming out that appear to go nowhere, then you have the dual unit. If you have the correct hot water tank this is simply plumbed between where the hot, waste water, that comes from the heat exchanger and would normally flow out through the exhaust manifold. One thing to be aware of, this is salt water and the hot water tank heat exchanger is prone to corrode which could cause your engine to overheat. Someone may have disconnected this feature on your boat in the past to eliminate this issue. Personally, I leave the heater in my boat electric only for this particular reason and use the generator if I need it while underway. Sail-boaters use the heat exchanger more as they can run the engine to charge the batteries and at the same time heat the water tank without electricity as they are sailing along for extended passages.

Dear,
Thanks for your prompt answer.It's a dual system
I think i will connect whith my electric convertor and don't used the eat exchange.
many thanks for your advice
Best regards
dominique

Joe,
Must be a southern thing. Every boat that I know of up here taps off the block so you are using the antifreeze protected water to run to the hot water heater exchanger.

Dominique, not familiar with a cat block but I believe you can do a similar set up with your Cat engine. Works great & doing it this way you won't have to worry about corroding the heat exchanger in the heater.
Al

Al, maybe? Never saw one hooked up using the closed coolant side.

I disconnected mine when I converted to diesel as the water was too hot (scalding really). I'm sure it's because the old 454's ran around 160'ish and the Cummins run at 180.

Bonjour Dominique

Normalement il y a 2 durits d'eau qui partent du moteur et vont sur le chauffe eau , en bas de celui ci.
Si le chauffe eau ne fonctionne pas en mer, peut être qu'ils ont enlevé les durits ou mis des vannes et fermer ce circuit tout simplement.
Sinon c' est vraiment simple 2 durits sur le moteur de droite (branché sur le circuit de refroidissement), et qui traverse la cloison pour rejoindre le chauffe eau ( modèle SF avant 1986).
Je pense qu'il ne faut pas essayer de le charger avec du 220v en mer, car un convertisseur consomme énormément et va vider les batteries