CapBonnieB
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- R-27 (Outboard)
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- Bonnie Blink
Heating water in the RT27OB
- Thread starter Tippetknot
- Start date
CapBonnieB
Active member
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- Feb 12, 2025
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- Location
- South Puget So7nd
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-27 (Outboard)
- Vessel Name
- Bonnie Blink
Dr Cube, you indicated that you were going to have Ranger Tugs install an additional 175 Watt solar panel and an addition house battery; Did you have this done and if so, how well has it met your needs? Was it well worth the extra money?
Dr Cube
Eva Anne
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- Oct 21, 2024
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- Eva Anne
I don't even have my boat yet. It's a little cold in upstate NY, so it's currently sunning it's transom in Pensacola.
I wanted to add more than one panel and would have done two, but that would have added complexity because it'd require pulling new wires and changing the MPPT controller. Adding only one is relatively simple because you can just plug it in. I also added another house battery. I'm very anxious to know if a 5 days of charging at the dock will sustain 2 days and nights on the boat. I'm almost certain it won't in chilly weather though. Martin from Channel Surfing has a lot of data on this, but his system is pretty custom.
Midwest Jeff
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- Looking to buy R27
Why not install an on demand 12v water heater. Or a portable unit and use it in the cockpit for au natural showers. Seems like a way better solution than heating a tank of water. Here in the great lakes, suck fresh water right out of the lake and take as long a shower as you like. Just sayin!
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Dr Cube
Eva Anne
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- Eva Anne
Hot water isn't really my big concern. I doubt I'll use the shower. It's heat. Spring and Fall can get a bit nippy in upstate NY.
CapBonnieB
Active member
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- Bonnie Blink
Thanks Dr Cube.. I’ll reach out to Submariner.
Jeff: thanks but the water heater is not my only concern. The hot water heater is a large power draw no matter using the Ranger Tug heater or an after market heater but it is just one of the components that must be factored in when determining battery and solar needs.
Jeff: thanks but the water heater is not my only concern. The hot water heater is a large power draw no matter using the Ranger Tug heater or an after market heater but it is just one of the components that must be factored in when determining battery and solar needs.
Submariner
Channel Surfing
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- Feb 2, 2020
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- 1,620
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- Everett, WA
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- www.letsgochannelsurfing.com
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- R-27 (Outboard)
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2702C021
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- https://tinyurl.com/yrv84xdm
- Vessel Name
- Channel Surfing
- MMSI Number
- 368187810
I've wrote up a lot about hot water on the R27-OB, specifically... and really, it applies to the R25 and probably the R23 as well. Hot water was the main reason I converted my NW edition over to LFP. Other than that, Channel Surfing isn't much different than the LE's being sold today.
The short version... its' a 6.5 gallon hot water heater on the R27-OB, and is 750 watts. With the LE's that have LFP... it'll take about 135amp-hours to heat that water from 45 degrees to 167 degrees. But that's a lot of hot water, and a lot of electricity to heat it. I have measured this with a CerboGX and a temperature probe on the tank.
I turn on my hot water heater and set a countdown timer on my phone for 45 minutes. It'll consume 50 amp-hours and provides plenty of hot water for 3 adults to take a submarine shower and provides left over to do dishes. (a sub shower... get wet, shut off the water. lather. rinse. done.).
What's the power draw on that on-demand 12volt water heater?
The short version... its' a 6.5 gallon hot water heater on the R27-OB, and is 750 watts. With the LE's that have LFP... it'll take about 135amp-hours to heat that water from 45 degrees to 167 degrees. But that's a lot of hot water, and a lot of electricity to heat it. I have measured this with a CerboGX and a temperature probe on the tank.
I turn on my hot water heater and set a countdown timer on my phone for 45 minutes. It'll consume 50 amp-hours and provides plenty of hot water for 3 adults to take a submarine shower and provides left over to do dishes. (a sub shower... get wet, shut off the water. lather. rinse. done.).
What's the power draw on that on-demand 12volt water heater?
Last edited:
Submariner
Channel Surfing
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- Everett, WA
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- www.letsgochannelsurfing.com
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- R-27 (Outboard)
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- FMLT2702C021
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- https://tinyurl.com/yrv84xdm
- Vessel Name
- Channel Surfing
- MMSI Number
- 368187810
Also note, the factory has used several configurations of LFP for their LE's.
First iteration was (6) 100ah Dakota batteries. For 600ah total. This consumed the entire port lazarette and left no room for storage.
Then Dakota came out with a G31 size LFP battery that was 280ah. This config freed up the port lazarette, allowing the two batteries to fit up under the cockpit storage locker (or cockpit fridge option). This was 560ah total.
Then Dakota came out with the same G31 LFP battery in a 320ah size. Two of them brought the LE to 640ah.
They are now switching to Epoch LFP batteries (the R25-OB at the boat show had them). These are G31 in size and are 300ah each, for 600ah total.
In each instance, 80% of the available capacity is usable with LFP. These changes were generally made in mid-year, and don't align with the manufactured year of the boat.
Other changes the LE has seen, they used to come with a Balmar battery monitor and now all come with a Victron BMV battery monitor.
The air conditioner has also changed. It used to be a Webasto FCF 16000 and is now a VelAir unit.
For comparison, Channel Surfing has a single 320ah Lithionics LFP battery, and no air conditioner, and isn't really factory. 🙂
First iteration was (6) 100ah Dakota batteries. For 600ah total. This consumed the entire port lazarette and left no room for storage.
Then Dakota came out with a G31 size LFP battery that was 280ah. This config freed up the port lazarette, allowing the two batteries to fit up under the cockpit storage locker (or cockpit fridge option). This was 560ah total.
Then Dakota came out with the same G31 LFP battery in a 320ah size. Two of them brought the LE to 640ah.
They are now switching to Epoch LFP batteries (the R25-OB at the boat show had them). These are G31 in size and are 300ah each, for 600ah total.
In each instance, 80% of the available capacity is usable with LFP. These changes were generally made in mid-year, and don't align with the manufactured year of the boat.
Other changes the LE has seen, they used to come with a Balmar battery monitor and now all come with a Victron BMV battery monitor.
The air conditioner has also changed. It used to be a Webasto FCF 16000 and is now a VelAir unit.
For comparison, Channel Surfing has a single 320ah Lithionics LFP battery, and no air conditioner, and isn't really factory. 🙂
Dr Cube
Eva Anne
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- Oct 21, 2024
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- R-27 (Outboard)
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- Eva Anne
Do you have the Webasto diesel heater?
Midwest Jeff
Well-known member
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- Mar 22, 2023
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- Looking to buy R27
I wasn’t replying to your comment. I was commenting on the original thread. I am a lifelong boater and an avid RVer. These days 90% of RV’s have on demand hot water systems. Isn’t Ranger Tug and Cutwater the “RV of Boats”? The added weight and inefficiency of heating a water tank (especially with 12v electricity) is antiquated. While I understand that they come with a hot water tank already installed. The expense and added weight of the solar generator makes no sense to me. I have used portable on demand systems and they work amazingly well.
Submariner
Channel Surfing
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- Feb 2, 2020
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- www.letsgochannelsurfing.com
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- R-27 (Outboard)
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2702C021
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- https://tinyurl.com/yrv84xdm
- Vessel Name
- Channel Surfing
- MMSI Number
- 368187810
Channel Surfing is a NW edition with a LiFePo4 house battery bank (320ah). She has a Webasto diesel heater instead of an air conditioner.
Submariner
Channel Surfing
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2020
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- 1,620
- Location
- Everett, WA
- Website
- www.letsgochannelsurfing.com
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-27 (Outboard)
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2702C021
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- https://tinyurl.com/yrv84xdm
- Vessel Name
- Channel Surfing
- MMSI Number
- 368187810
RV on demand water heaters off 12 volts are generally gas powered (propane). Propane being heavier than air, would settle in the bilge next to the gasoline tank. The propane stove has a solenoid safety switch with a leak detector setup to shut it down should gas leak. Also, the stove doesn't use a pilot light as an on-demand hot water heater would. The stove is in the cabin with propane bottles in a designed/dedicated propane locker on the transom with a vent overboard to prevent gas build-up.
My father had an on-demand hot water heater on his RV. It was situated and accessed outside the RV, vented to the atmosphere, on the outside of the RV.
The larger boats, (29, 31 and 43), being diesel inboards get hot water via engine cooling, and have an 11 gallon hot water tank that holds the heat longer than the 27' and smaller boats. They get hot water on their way to the anchorage. Us with the outboards aren't so fortunate, since we're raw water cooled.
The boats just aren't that big to accommodate such a system in my opinion due to safety concerns.
Regarding solar, I wouldn't own a boat without solar. 80% of the power we consume onboard comes from our 420 watts of solar.
Jcat2010
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- Sep 4, 2022
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- Barchetta
I do have a safety question about the Grecell. Does it have a bonded neutral? If not, be aware you may have a potential issue where the boats ground fault protection will not work properly. If it doesn't have the bond, there are plugs you can buy (made to address the issue for unbounded generators) that may solve the problem. The risk here is without properly working ground fault devices, you can become the ground in the circuit.