Washer/dryer & separate freezer unit on R31s... anyone yet?

D

Doug n Meg

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2017
Messages
18
Fluid Motion Model
C-302 C
Non-Fluid Motion Model
Pre Purchase on R31s
Hi, Doug n Meg in New Zealand, looking at ordering an R31S, luxury pack for heating without the main engine running, to be delivered to Auckland, for extended away from the wharf cruising for weeks on end, any 31S's being used as liveaboards yet and who are you please? Apparently there are no R31's in NZ so looking for help abroad on this, plus keen to hear about any other specialized customization's like... a freezer unit separate from the fridge freezer for frozen foods, expanded black water holding tank(s), an additional hot water system if anyone has found they are running out, a water maker, a roof crane, and I wonder how much extra weight the R31S will comfortably hold without breaching their warranty. Wishing you all well from New Zealand, drop by & say hi sometime!
 
Hello Kiwi's,
Welcome to the site.
My mom was born in Auckland, I have cousins in the area. I have visited your beautiful country. You certainly live in "God's Country" as my mom always said. I came close to naming our boat Waiheke but then I thought I would have to explain it to everyone who asked what it means.
You will get a lot of info on this site, Rangers are truly wonderful boats.
Cheers!!
 
Thank you Brian B,
& thank you for the welcome, and your mom was born in Auckland, cousins here too, ahhh we're one big family!!
Waiheke, what a wonderful name and such a beautiful island.
Did you know... Waiheke means 'running water' and the stream that gave the island its name is high up on the hill near the airfield, the stream comes out of nowhere in the hills, meanders & and eventually makes it to the sea, on Waiheke.
Doug & Meg
https://www.facebook.com/douglas.hannay
 
One thought is, to rig your boat with a composting head, you would then be able to convert the black water tank to grey or freshwater. I wouldn't recommend converting it to fresh water after its been used for black water though.

Also, I have seen others put a water maker in one of the cockpit lazarettes and the water tank in the other, by moving batteries around.

The boats don't come with grey water tanks. Is that a requirement in your part of the world? Grey water from the shower is pumped over board, and sink grey water just empties out overboard.
 
Hi Doug and Meg,

We use a chest freezer similar to the one Baz posted above and keep it in our starboard cockpit locker. I'm sure there is a similar suitable location to keep one on the R 31. It works really well. If you do add one I highly recommend an additional solar panel (at least 280 watts total) if you plan to do extended cruising to keep your batteries happy. With two panels we can fully recharge our batts each day in reasonably sunny conditions. If you want to stay charged under all weather conditions without running the main engine or a generator I would recommend even more solar panels and a MPPT controller for higher efficiency.

For hot water and heat you may want to consider a diesel hydronic system. It would allow you to have hot water and heat while on the hook without moving the boat each day. We have the Webasto diesel forced air heater which works perfectly for heat but doesn't produce heat the water. The standard hot water tank uses only AC or the engine heat and I have not been able to find a marine propane option.

I agree with Connorkip that a composting head is a good solution for extended cruising. The benefit of using the extra tank for fresh water may also eliminate the need for a water maker depending on how "extended" you want to go. We do not have a water maker but I have looked into them. If you buy the "parts" and strategically place them space is not an issue. The biggest issues are they are expensive, use power, the make water very slowly, and require regular maintenance of the filters. With an extra water tank, composting toilet and sufficient solar power your primary limitation is likely going to be diesel fuel and fuel stops are likely to have potable water for you to fill up.

I have no experience with anyone putting a washer/dryer on a Ranger tug. Assuming you can find the space, sufficient water and power are likely to be an issue for using one during extended cruising.

I know of one Ranger Tug owner who has a really slick roof davit system to put the dinghy on top with a slider track to help get it over the side. Can't remember the name of the boat though. Maybe a search of this site will produce info on it.

Good luck and keep us apprised of your research!

Curt
 
Thank you Curt,
Awesome info and precise, very helpful and now for some research.
Doug and Meg (Meg's my fox terrier)
 
Doug n Meg":w5p0grar said:
...snip...
Doug and Meg (Meg's my fox terrier)
Click to expand...

Ditto 🙂 We have a bossy 6 yr old Wire Hair Fox Terrier named Jake.
 
Hi Doug & Meg

Just reading your post and Curt's reply. He mentioned a roof davit system that he had seen that sounded like the one my wife Diana and I inherited on our new-to-us 2011 R-31. Jim and Beverley Schuler were the previous owners and I imagine they added the davit. They are avid fisherpersons and wanted the dingy up and off the stern, that was a selling feature for us as well.

The winch is a Superwinch C1000, it's attached to a white powder coated davit (crane) which rolls from side to side on a stainless steel framework nicely built into the standard stainless rack. Not sure if Bolton Stainless in Vernon BC made the framework or not for the system but I'm sure they could....Rick Sauder at Bolton made a beautiful ladder for us that also ties in to the rack so we can access the roof and davit more easily.

This is my first post (reply?), I'll see if I can figure out how to post some photos of the davit. If I manage to do so you'll notice there's a red kayak where the dingy usually resides. The kayak is easily lifted up there by hand, the davit is absolutely necessary for the dingy though.

I've been watching this terrific Tugnuts resource from afar since last summer and gained a ton of very useful information...some I've put to use already and some I've stored away for future referrence. Such a great compliment to a great line of boats and great bunch of proud owners.

Cheers
Hal
 
Hi Hal
and thank you Curt!!
You are all so wonderful and yes, great forum for finding out how others are doing some of these things.
The Davit system to the roof sounds fabulous, very keen on more info on this please!

I've opened some dialogue with Ranger's head office on this washer/dryer issue and again, I like how they are attempting to help us on this... all in all it's fast becoming a most welcoming environment here with you at TugNuts... all for one & one for all and sounds like a whole lot of fun!

Thanks again, looking forward for more!
Doug and Meg
 
I don't understand about the additional hot water heater?? On our 2010 R-25 the engine waste heat generates more hot water than we could use in a lifetime. I installed a tempering valve because the hot water produced water that was so hot it was difficult to moderate to take a comfortable and safe shower.

The present set up allows us to take two showers in the evening, wash our dishes and still have warm water left over in the morning to get washed. I can run through the entire fresh water supply on the boat and still have hot water if I leave the engine running.

I'm not sure what problem you want to solve, but if you need more Hot water then the seemingly infinite amount our engine could generate, maybe you need an instant on heater fed by propane?


Stuart Bell
Ranger 25: Shearwater
(561) 352-1796
 
Hi Stewart,
Awesome answer! I think I see where you're coming from. I have no idea what to expect from the hot water system on a new R31 and since there are no other 31's in NZ yet, if I go on other brands of boats here in NZ, they mostly run out of hot water too soon so I'm always looking ahead for positive opinions, plus there is no designated Ranger Tug distributor in NZ so I'm looking to you and other owners for this sort of positive feedback.
And good to know about the 'tempering valve' .
Fortunately, with everyone's help so far, there are no problems, just questions and positive replies, so thanks again and thanks for the tip!!
Doug n Meg
 
Hi Kip Conner, I did see your message above, I just don't know how to reply directly to that message once there are others in the cue, oops, yet, but thanks. Grey water in NZ can basically be flushed overboard, within reason, as far as I can tell & composting toilets, I'll need to check around more about that and thanks on the water maker tip.
 
Regarding the hot water I was referring to the situation where you stay in one place for several days without shore power. The engine will heat the hot water while underway just fine but if you stay in one place the hot water will run out after the first day. If you run the engine at idle while at the dock it is difficult to get it warm enough to open the thermostat and thus heat the hot water.

For example, last weekend we were at Sucia Island at the dock for 4 days just hanging out, hiking, kayaking, and exploring on the island. There is no power on the dock so we were totally reliant on the boats systems. Solar charged the batteries all the way up every day but hot water was gone after day one. We have a solar shower and used that so it wasn't really an issue. If it were not so sunny that would not have worked however so as an experiment I ran the engine for a half hour at idle and got the engine temp up to 172 degrees but still no hot water. Idling the engine for long periods is not good for it and Its just not relaxing at the dock so I shut it off and called the experiment a fail. I have a Honda 2000 generator but chose not to bring it as I prefer peace and quiet and I expected sunny weather and thus the use of the solar shower. My neighbor boat had his Honda 2000 running for several hours which was really annoying. They are fairly quiet as portable gerators go but still annoying. I prefer not to be "that guy".

So my point is that if you are going to do extended cruising and stay in one place for more than one day in cooler weather a diesel hydronic hot water system would be the only option besides a generator that I have found. Either that or you need to move each day. I would spend my money on a diesel hot water solution before spending it on a water maker or a washer/dryer. Especially if buying a new boat when it can be installed during the build.

Has anyone seen or heard of a propane solution for hot water on a boat? (other than the little camping on-demand water heaters that I don't think would be safe on a boat!) We already have propane on the boat for the range. Not sure why they don't make marine propane water heaters like in an RV.

Curt
 
I had a


Eccotemp L5 Portable Tankless Water Heater and Outdoor Shower
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$115.00

On an outboard powered Gemini sailboat. Worked fine, no power needed, not much propane.


Stuart Bell
Ranger 25: Shearwater
(561) 352-1796
 
Yeah, I saw those. I would like to take the shower in the morning inside the boat and that unit is outdoor only. I thought about hanging it somewhere outside the head and routing it through the skylight like I do the solar shower. Still not sure how safe they are and whether I want to use that sort of set up. I would like a permanent set up. For now the solar shower is fine as we only boat in the summer and often have shore power. If I were setting up a new boat however I would look into a diesel option.
 
My propane instant on hot water heater was built into the boat. The outdoor shower head with stuff stuck in the box never used. It was plumbed in the hot water line immediately following the built-in hot water which I eventually removed.

On its own it made 100% of the hot water needed. Before I converted from an inboard to an outboard, the hot water heater made hot water in this unit top that up to the temperature I had set it to where the hot water heater beyond cool because the engine hadn't been running. It does exactly what you need providing have an area that has good air circulation to install it.

If your boat does not have an area with good circulation, the same unit is available with the chimney that you vent outside.

My sailing club installed the bigger brother of the same unit that powered two restrooms with two showers each and made her use your mound of hot water for use after races If what you want is Hilton hotel hot water this is the way you get it on a boat away from shore.
 
Hi Curt,
That's some really great feedback!! Thank you and oh no, I don't wanna be 'that guy' either and no way am I going to blame it on Meg! This info has my juices flowing now...
 
Hi Stuart Bell,
and thank you... Hilton hot water you say, righty Oe... that's what I'm looking for! NZ seems to be colder every winter. I grew up in Vancouver and now live in the Auckland region. Auckland is warmer but this country really doesn't properly deal with heating other than having a hot shower, so really, I find it colder here than the Pacific Northwest, so.... I want this tug warm, hot water 24/7 when needed anywhere and heat too, so I'm beginning to get some fabulously valuable information from you all here in TugNuts, thank you!!!
 
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