Engine rm heater

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:24 am

Hi all,

Well as I said earlier, I bought a BOATSAFE heater for the engine room, so I wouldn't have to winterize our boat. Paid about $300.00 for it. It has been hooked up for at least 3 weeks. I can see no evidence that it is working. It is suppose to come on at 45 deg and go off at 55 deg. The electric meter has not moved at all, which shows no electric usage.

It got down to 21 deg's last night, so this morning I rushed to the boat to see how it was. I have a temp gage on the dash of the boat and another setting on top of the engine.

I lifted the hatch and looked at the temp gage on the engine and it read 30 deg's. The heater was not running as it should have been.
I then took it home and plugged it in downstairs and I heard the fan come on. I ran it awhile, but little heat, if any came out.

I then took it upstairs and plugged it into a kitchen plug in, it did not come on, I then took it back down stairs and plugged it back into the same plugin and it did nothing, and it's been over an hour now, and still nothing. It is below freezing downstairs.

I then fixed up two shaded clamp on lights and took them to the boat and put one on each of the engine. I know some will say that is a bad idea, but if the engine freezes up, I'm out of the boating business!

I will call BoatSafe tomorrow to see what they are willing to do about it.
I am hoping for a refund. That's a lot of money (for me) to pay for a piece of crap!

Larry

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:46 am

I sure boatsafe will help you , I not a fan of lamps but you have to do something and its much safer then a home type heater

Imo you did the right thing

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:52 pm

I have one heat lamp in the engine room and if the temp gets too cold I sometimes might use two, and have been doing this for all my boating life without a freeze-up. The Indian fishing fleets and commercial fishermen in this area have all used the same method as long as I can remember, thats where I picked it up. It may not be new tech. but it works and I have never heard of a boat burning due to a heat lamp.

g36 · Post by **g36** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 8:12 pm

i have a boatsafe heater and i think it does a great job of keeping the engine room heated. there is a small hole over the the thermostat that you can spray with freon or some cold spray that will trigger the unit to turn on to test i do this each year to verify operation. the newer apparentlay have an addtional way to trigger. should be a reference in your manual. you may give that a try also. but you may have gotten a unit that does have a problem. i wouldnt say they are all crap just maybe the one you got was. heres some faqs from the boatsafe site
http://www.boatsafeheaters.com/pages/faqs-testing

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:55 am

when i bought my f32 back last february, i noticed three "bilge" heaters on the boat. two in the engine bilge, and one in the rear bilge with the water/fuel tanks.

being my first time with a trojan, and only my second boat, i assumed these heaters were factory/original. but after reading these posts about heat, i'm starting to wonder if that is indeed the case.

these heaters appear to be bilge heaters like others i've seen, with the exception that these all have ciruclar knobs with which you can control the temp. kinda like old wall/baseboard heaters, if you will...except these are the size of bilge heaters. other bilge heaters that i've seen don't have knobs with which to adjust the heat. they simply come on at a cetain temp (usually 50) and kick of when it gets warm enough.

i'll take some picks in the next couple of days to show you more experienced "trojaneers".

until then, does that sound like these may be originals, or older aftermarket...or worse, jerry-rigged?

either way, these, coupled with the small ceramic heaters i leave on low in the cabin, have kept it rather warm so far...and it's gotten kinda nipply in the last few days.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:35 am

You better be sure there bilge heaters

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:34 am

Your right, not all Boatsafe heaters are crap, but the one I got sure is. They said on site they will give a new heater replacement for one that doesn't work, within the one year time limit.

But, it may be difficult for me to trust the heater, even after I get one that does work. After getting a new one, and right out of the box, it wouldn't work.

If the next one fails later on, during use, and the engine is ruined because of it, what then?

I will first ask for a refund, but if they won't give me one, and they send another, I will use it. But as a backup, I may put a light bulb in the beilge. But the light bulb by it's self may keep the temp above 45 deg's and never let the heater come on, then I'm wasting my money!

I guess I'd rather waste $300.00, than have to spend thousands for a new engine.
But I think a backup is wise in that case.

Larry

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:41 am

Larry most stuff like that fails right away or lasts a long time . remeber that heater is only 250 watts ( unless you got the big one) and the say they do not get hot only warm ( for safety they say )

good luck

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:23 pm

I hope your right. Just called Boatsafe, and they were very nice. The lady I talked to said they would send me another today, and I should have it in a couple days.
She said I could send them the other one after I got the replacement. She also said it was rare that this happens. I sure hope she is right.

I'll know in a few days.

Larry

g36 · Post by **g36** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:50 pm

even though i have a heater i am very anal about the boat and i will stop by just about each day when it is extremely cold and last year when it was in the single digits i spent the night. my boat fortuneatley is on my way home and about 4 miles from my home. i enjoy using it year round so i cant see winterizing it. as i stated earlier i do verify its operation but if it fails i would blame myself because this is my choice. i do keep digital thermometer that records high and low temps and have it sitting so i can see it if i walk up to the boat without going in to make a quick check if i am just passing by quickly. i have the large unit for my f32

tuck i hope you have those ceramic heaters strapped or bolted down in case you get some unexpected waves etc. i know you are pretty far back in there but it would be ashame if they tipped and something happened and their safety doesnt kick in to turn it off

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:15 pm

I think what I'll do, if the replaced heater works is to leave one shaded clamp-on light on, to act as sorta of a backup, in case the heater does go out. They will compliment each other.

I also live very close to the marina (2.2 miles) and will check each day when the temp gets low enough that I should.

Larry

Danny Bailey · Post by **Danny Bailey** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:42 pm

What about an engine block heater Larry? Would that do the job?

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:20 pm

Larry any update on the heater ?

larglo · Post by **larglo** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:39 am

Real sorry, I thought I had replied days ago. Been so darn busy around.

Yes, I did get my new heater. After receiving the new one, I took it down stairs where it was cold and plugged it in. The fan came on instantly and I could feel warm, (not hot) air coming from the vents. I plugged and un plugged it several times, and each time it came back on.

I later placed it in the engine room on the boat, but left one shaded clamp on light bulb on the opposite side of the heater, thinking it could be a back up?

It has been a few days now, and yesterday I went to the boat and checked the temp, I had a temp gauge laying on top of the "dash" I guess you would say, and it read 38 deg.

I then lifted the hatch to the engine, and reading another temp gauge I have laying on the engine,,,,it read almost 50 deg.

So, as far as I can tell,,,,,it's working! The BoatSafe people, I must say were great about the whole thing. I have returned the old heater to BoatSafe, and they even paid for the return postage.
They said they will call me as soon as it gets there to let me know it arrived. So, you can't beat their service.

Even though the heater, to me, was very costly, I'm glad I went with it. I didn't like the idea of having to winterized, then un-winterize, and the cost of doing each. The heater will pay for it's self this first season.

Plus the fact, I can use the boat year round, when warm days offer themselves.

Now, all I have to do is survive the winter and going nuts, not being able to enjoy Ms Glory!

What do all of you do during this sad time? I though about taking up needle work!

Larry

jddens · Post by **jddens** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:14 am

Larry.....my boats in the water year around too. While I don't go out near as often in the winter I still go to the boat almost daily. I have an inexpensive electric heater in the cabin. Great time to work on the inside....polishing cleaning, organizing and, of course eating, reading and napping...............John