Regal 2550 LSC

[Gazjen]

They are perfectly safe they are a variation on a diesel night heaters that are used in trucks. Vw campers and motor homes have used petrol ones for years The thing is with a gas heater is it will eventually use all the oxygen in cabin. the petrol/diesel heaters have separate combustion intake and exhaust air so they can be used as a central heating system and left on overnight/indefinitely they can also be controlled (with an optional module) by SMS so you can text it to warm the boat when its cold or pre warm it when your on your way.

Here's the diesel version:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eberspacher-H ... 3f10e48e26

I can fit a diesel one but didn't want to go to the trouble of fitting an extra tank when I have a nearly 300l petrol tank on board already

There are quite a few big boats in the marina that look quite out of place there in fact some of them are that bit there navigable waterway must only be about 50 miles long.

I'll take some pics of the boats when I down again

[Ed]

Two sources from Eberspacher, and also the boat safety scheme. If if bothers you, it will not be possible to get a certificate on a boat with a petrol heater and petrol engine.

As it happens about this time last year I purchased a Eberspacher B5W petrol heater for my boat, and then found if I ever wanted it surveyed and put on inland waters I couldn't have it.

Personally its a pain, and I cant see how a diesel heater is any safer on a petrol boat than a petrol heater. I now have a D5W which I'm going to use instead.

[Gazjen]

its a strange one that is I cant see the issue. Mine has a Boat Safety Cert now as it is on the river so I need to keep it within the regs. The diesel heaters are cheaper so I think that will offset the cost of the extra tank, its just the faff of having two fuels and the cutting for the extra filler neck. I know a boat safety inspector, I'll give him a call and ask what the issue is.

[Ed]

If you discover anything new, do let me know!

[JORIDAPILOT]

That is a nice boat, and would I be right to guess that boats like that are an unusual site on the river?

As for a petrol heater.....that sounds terrifying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I think i'd rather a little portable gas heater

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TOPFLAME-PORTAB ... B000MIIA6G

We have a combination of a little stove with an attachment to turn it into a little heater, but the drawback is this is a very expensive way of generating heat and the canisters are short lived. Similar to dpb101's version but you can also cook on it.

mini-heater-attachment-for-portable-stove.jpg (24.34 KiB) Viewed 1310 times

[Centaur]

On the upside, if you have a separate diesel tank, then you can use duty-free domestic heating diesel rather than pay filling station prices!

[Ed]

You can also run the diesel heaters of Paraffin.

[Gazjen]

I've actually brought a second hand Webasto diesel water heater to have a play with now. If it all goes well, I'll install that with a heater matrix as a radiator in the cabin and something in the cockpit for when the canopy is up.

I think red diesel is still around a £1 a litre now on the river

[Ed]

Gaz exactly what I've done.

I built a test bed for it too here:

[Gazjen]

That looks good, what did you use for a water pump or that the correct one for the heater?

Im just doing the same now, just printing off the wiring diagram while I write this then off back in the garage

[Ed]

I used this pump http://www.boschmotorsandcontrols.co.uk ... /index.htm Appears to be often used for installation in cars etc, Also have a three port diverter valve visible to the right of the expansion tank which gives interesting possibilities... I fed this into a basic heat exchanger I got from ebay. Think it was from a Vaillant boiler, with cold water going in it raised it to quite a nice warm temp instantly! Possible on board uses?!

Whilst I was building up my automotive business to the point of sustaining itself, I did a lot of plumbing and heating. This may be obvious, but some things that may help you with your designs, that I learnt from heating systems, and from playing with these heaters.

Place the pump as low as possible, these kind of pumps easily airlock, and don't self prime. Air has to be able to find a natural way to escape, either to somewhere where it can be bled off or into an expansion tank. I had a look around for the best/cheapest kind of expansion tanks I could find but nothing seemed 'perfect'. I may make one out of some alu sheet.

If possible also have the heater self prime. They will cycle about 10 attempts before giving up and need a controller to reset them. I found the exhaust to be really quite noisy and so may use two silencers to help with that. Also the exhaust is really hot, there is a lot of wasted heat. As a little experiment I piped this via another heat exchanger, like modern condensing boilers. This did work but I couldn't assess if it affected the combustion by restricting exhaust flow too much (would cause sooting up) and additionally the heat exchanger would corrode since its not stainless. Then there is the condensate to deal with, and the legalities of it all. So I'm not going to pursue that which is a shame as it would be a whole lot more efficient.

My plan is to build the whole lot into a sealed alu box as compact as possible! Did you get the same type of heater? Would be interested to know what your plans are

[Gazjen]

Cheers for that Ed

Mines a Webasto Thermo Top C. It looks nothing like the one you've got what makes that? There's a circulation pump that fits on the front of the heater, its controlled by the heater too

I managed to get it set up, just to test by having a scrat round the garage its nowhere as neat as yours but it was good enough just to see if it worked.

Very impressed with how powerful it is. I ran it for about 10 mins before it went into idle because the matrix couldn't disperse the heat quick enough.

I'm planning on having a matrix in the cabin and one in the cockpit also maybe plumb in a small clarifier.

Got to give it a service next as it doesn't always light first time, but very promising for a first run.

[Ed]

That's cool. What is the heater matrix from? Oh and my heater is a Eberspächer D5W. Another ebay find.

[Gazjen]

Mine was a late night ebay bargain

The heater matrix is a Myson Kickspace its meant for use in a kitchen plinth instead of a radiator, you can get them in a low voltage version for bathrooms too

[Gazjen]

I now have my Christmas present to myself

Still got to set it up properly and move everything forward but the main thing is I now have a tow car and trailer!