Water Heater

C

CaptParadise

Member
Joined
May 31, 2004
RO Number
13822
Messages
14
I have a 1997 Aft Cabin 355 needing a new hot water heater (Old model 16x16x19D). Has anyone replaced the water heater? What model did you replace it with? The access hatch looks too small to get the old one out. Any suggestions?
 
I have some good news, and some bad news. When I first called Carver, as my 2002 356 water heater had an internal leak (still not sure if this was an electrolisis issue, manufacturer failure, or something else) they said - hmmmm - never had to change one before, let us know how you do it! ouch. Now that I have a 506, and have had to do major work, including a stbd engine repower, they said the same thing. Let us know how to do it. Pretty lame.

Anyhow - Its a tough job. I'm 6'2, 205 and ended up scrunched up like a circus migit along side the thing in that little space. I took one of those tiny screw drivers that has philips on one end, and straight on the other, ground it down until I could turn it, and then one screw at a time, a quarter turn at a time, removed the dozen or so screws on top of the thing. I had a friend grab me by my ankles and pull me out of there so we could drink a few beers.

Basically, getting it out is not so much the concern, as the thing is already damaged. Once the top was free ( and electric removed, water removed, and bottom connections free) we just beat the hell out of it, until we got it out.

Mine was an 11 gallon Seaward, if memory serves, and they were great to deal with. I put the same unit in, which required a tiny bit of cutting to the fiber glass, but not too much.

I also had to replace the aft head solenoid, as well as DC house bank charger, and can advise you on both topics as well. My advice - now that I realize that Carver doesnt produce a 'shop manual' for any of this stuff - is to use your digital camera, and create your own guide. Take pics to show exactly how things are plumbed, wired, etc - and use a lap top / digital camera combo as a guide when re-installing.

Good luck - Ken
 
Damn, makes me appreciate my old scow - the water heater is right under my son's bunk. It does double duty by heating that bunk just a tad on really cold nights!!!
 
I am surprised how hard it is with the 355. With my 1995 325, while its a bit of a chore to get to the fittings, the unit itself is easy to get to and pull out. It too is an 11 gallon Seaward.

I have pulled it out once, and think I am going to have to do it again this year to install dinghy davits on the swim platform.

Carver, like most boatbuilders, likely installs those components before putting the hull together. On one hand, they probably don't have a lot of experience removing and replacing after the fact, but on the other hand, its a sad commentary on the industry as a whole (with many boatbuilderss being guilty) that there seems to be little forethought as to how to maintain the boat once it goes out of the factory doors and the warranty period runs out.

I installed an air conditioner in my Four Winns 268, and it was a fairly difficult install. I visited the factory before deciding to install it, and saw how they install them at the factory. With the top being off, its very easy to install the unit; not so easy after the boat is built.

It could be worse, I have known of boaters that have had to cut cabinets out to get to stuff. The worst one I can recall is my coworker - he has a 30ft sailboat. He actually had to cut out part of his cabinetry to get the drive belt off the engine!
 
I also have to replace the Aux gas tank. Only way to get that out is to cut thru the swim platform.
PITA.
 
I feel lucky! I thought I had a rough time until I read some of these other posts.
I just replaced an 11 gal. seaward with a Force 10, on my '93 33 Mariner.

Ken was right. It's easy enough to "re-engineer" the things to get them out but you don't want to do that with a new one. On mine, I had to lift the cockpit sole, remove the exhaust hoses from the risers, and pull out the muffler. After that it was easy to drop it in and hook up.

Let me share something I picked up along the way. My 14yr. old heater corroded on the bottom due to the fact its bottom sat flat on the platform and was probably wet most of the time. I purchased a cheap 18" black rubber strap, and cut pieces to fit under the corners, sides and mounting flanges. I attached them with Krazy Glue. The whole unit now sits about 1/4" off the mounting platform with plenty of room for water to drain and air to circulate. I also added drain hoses to the overlflow valve and drain to direct water away from the heater.

Good luck with your install.

Frank
 
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