Engine compartment/bilge heater

[EdHut]

Our 2017 R25 has a Twin Hornet 45, 700W bilge heat installed. Is this from the factory or later owner installed? If factory, is it on a circuit breaker or wire directly to shore power? If on a CB, which one?

It is labeled auto on at 40F. I have not been able to detect that it has ran, but water temp in Lake Union (Seattle) has only been about 40F.

 

[Mastercraft]

I have the same engine heater in a R29 2017 in Kenmore on lake Washington. I just installed it before the cold spell three weeks ago. It works great. I can hear it if I listen carefully. Of course you only hear it when it runs. I put an hand held induction amp meter on cord to also verify it. I also put a wireless thermometer in engine compartment. Stops at 43 deg just like spec. It comes with a very nice 25 ft cord so I ran it thru engine wall and plugged it into bed cave under table.

 

[SJI Sailor]

Twin Hornet would be an add on (and a great one, as Mastercraft notes). It would be plugged into AC somewhere, perhaps, as ours is, into an always-on shore power pass through outlet on the inverter.

They have a test capability. Get a can of "super cold" spray and find the little test window on the back side of the unit, it's a small silver cutout near the power and intake fan. Briefly spray that and it should get cold and turn on. Because it has dual systems for everything it should be highly reliable.

+1 to a high/low or monitoring thermostat as a way to check. Our monitor thermostat mounted in the engine room shows an almost exact match to the Twin Hornet specs, staying in the range of 41-46.

 

[Diatom]

Same results with a Caframo Pali bilge heater mounted on the board ahead of blackwater tank. I ran the AC cord thru port lazarette to spare outlet behind microwave with a Wemo switch on it: permits local/remote control via iPhone and reports time on & wattage ("on" time was <1 hour/day through the cold snap). Yes had to snip/reinstall a plug, 2 minute job. Average ocean temp was around 8°C though ocean surface froze during the cold snap in Ganges harbour (Gulf Islands air temp low was -13°C). I left hot water heater on & heated Vberth with an el-cheapo 2-element heater aimed at staircase and trigger set to about +18°C (likewise on a smartswitch); that one ran continuously for two weeks. BRNKL reports helm temperature range +8°C to +18°C over the ice age. On reflection I left potable tank near full (without knowing the precise layout of water system, better to rely on the heat capacity of lots-of-water and density of ice than to risk a puddle freezing in a sump somewhere). Treated the head with the obvious yellow bio-antifreeze. But: power contingency caught up with me this morning during heavy snow, a couple of multi-hour power failures hit us; my only backup is to run down to the marina & start her up. Also: left router on Rogue Wave feed, ultimately contingent upon local cable to marina - failed alongside power; should have used cellular antenna (haven't gotten around to setting up auto failover yet).

Biggest issue for me during the cold snap: frozen lines - how do you tie a cleat hitch in a piece of rebar? Melting the ice off the lines with a cup of warm water accomplishes little - the nylon itself is petrified.

/tmm

 

[hwhayes]

I monitor my bilge heater operation via wi-if using one of theses:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TWMSNH5/re ... UTF8&psc=1
The Govee WiFi Temperature Humidity Sensor tracks the temperature and humidity, displays it in real time and also on a line graph by the hour, day, week. It’s good to have confirmation of the temperature in the engine compartment whenever I want to check. Powered by “AA” batteries and it even monitors battery condition and lets you know when the batteries are nearing replacement time.

 

[FlyMeAway]

Biggest issue for me during the cold snap: frozen lines - how do you tie a cleat hitch in a piece of rebar? Melting the ice off the lines with a cup of warm water accomplishes little - the nylon itself is petrified.

If it’s “tying” a clear hitch you want, dunking the line in seawater and working it while submerged usually does the trick. Only works for a rope already off the cleat, though (I have also dumped buckets of seawater on cleats, which works when it is just below freezing but I’m guessing not when it’s much colder).

What kind of docklines do you have? As any northwest climber will attest, there are definitely rope constructions that stay workable when they are wet and the conditions are freezing.

 

[Diatom]

Thanks @FlyMeAway... lines are Seadog nylon multiple braid, 3/8 for fenders, 1/2 for dock lines.
The weather was exceptional, have seen the lower Fraser (tidal) freeze before but never ocean harbours.
Just surprised me how brutally unworkable the lines were esp. when frozen around cleats.
They indeed "thawed" once temperatures got close to normal - workable at -1 or -2°C but not -10°C.

/tmm

 

[FlyMeAway]

I spoke to a few climbing friends of mine. For freezing conditions, they wash their "rope" in a Nikwax product like Polar Proof (replace the detergent you'd normally use to wash lines). It prevents it from absorbing any moisture and thus prevents freezing. I've heard it'll last a full season or more. If things get very cold where you are, might be worth doing at the start of the season.

 

[Diatom]

Interesting idea (Polar Proof). Their literature focuses upon wool, but it's on my list of things to try. Another is simply to use newer ropes: it's clear that nylon absorbs water which acts as a plasticizer until dry, and that older ropes absorb appreciably more water. Was surprised to read of the (reversible) strength reduction of nylon rope when wet. And - that while unworkable when frozen, strength is restored until thawed!

/tmm

 

[FlyMeAway]

I also would not under any circumstances buy Sea Dog products. There are quite a few better purveyors of line/rope: Samson is a good one (based in the PNW), New England ropes is another (though not quite as well regarded in the sailing community at least). There are also a few custom manufacturers at reasonable prices; I have heard great things about Miami cordage (and am looking into replacing docklines with ones from them).

 

[Chimo]

Same results with a Caframo Pali bilge heater mounted on the board ahead of blackwater tank. I ran the AC cord thru port lazarette to spare outlet behind microwave with a Wemo switch on it: permits local/remote control via iPhone and reports time on & wattage ("on" time was <1 hour/day through the cold snap).
/tmm

What model of Wemo switch please? I'm assuming the switch needs WifI to work?

Thanks

 

[Diatom]

The switch I'm using is the old Wemo Insight. Bulky, expensive. But magical: it handles 15A and reports both time on + present & average wattage. The newer Wemos are vague on that point!

And yes, I connect through my onboard WiFi. Like most smarthome devices, it works on 2.4GHz only.

/tmm