Anyone have experience with Isotemp water heaters?

[Tommy C]

The 6 gallon Atwood that came with my boat is leaking and I'm just going to replace it. Looking at specs, I like the Isotemp Basic 30 (8 gallon, 750 watt model) with engine exchanger. Anyone have experience with Isotemp? I like the lower wattage. 

TommyC

[Donald Fife]

Yes. I have the round one that is about 3 inches more diameter than the old heater made in China. I cut a larger diameter in the wood base for its larger size. Fit perfectly. 

The first six years the gaskets started to leak. They gave me new ones and it is all good. I purchased it in 2004. Still working great!

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 27, 2023, at 3:38 PM,Tommy C <1964...@gmail.com> wrote:

The 6 gallon Atwood that came with my boat is leaking and I'm just going to replace it. Looking at specs, I like the Isotemp Basic 30 (8 gallon, 750 watt model) with engine exchanger. Anyone have experience with Isotemp? I like the lower wattage. 

TommyC

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[Eva]

I have the round Torrid Marin water  heater … madde in N America  it’s my second one in 27 years! Very reliable and good customer service should questions arrive 

Sent from my iPhone, thus expect the likelihood of miss spells ....

Eva  

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On Jan 27, 2023, at 4:42 PM, Donald Fife <state...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Yes. I have the round one that is about 3 inches more diameter than the old heater made in China. I cut a larger diameter in the wood base for its larger size. Fit perfectly. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PassportOwners/4D4D8612-1FF6-491C-B2E2-9992F7F7020D%40sbcglobal.net.

[Marty McOmber]

Isotemps are very good. We have one and it has been a champ for 10 years so far. The Torrids are probably a step up from the Isotemps. Both would be great replacements for the leaky one.  

My humble opinion at any rate. 

Marty  McOmber. 

On Jan 27, 2023, at 8:01 PM, Eva <emtbe...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have the round Torrid Marin water  heater … madde in N America  it’s my second one in 27 years! Very reliable and good customer service should questions arrive 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PassportOwners/2E8E6BEC-86B0-4E43-AA26-2934FFA1A294%40gmail.com.

[Kyle Lobisser]

+1 for Torrid. When my hot water heater started leaking it was almost serendipitous that I drove by Torrid Marine's shop on Bainbridge Island and learned what they do. They use a unique ceramic vessel which is more corrosion resistant than typical metallic tanks. Jeff has amazing customer service and the quality is excellent. I just removed my anode for the first time in 1.4 years (Jeff recommends annual inspection, so I was nervous) and it was still in great shape. We have soft water here in Bainbridge, but I'm leaving it empty for the winter while I'm deep in projects. We have a pullman setup, and managed to fit the 15 gallon tank under the berth. The next vertical size down that would fit was like 6 gal I think, specs are not posted on the site which makes sizing a little difficult but Jeff can help. I don't think the horizontal tanks worked in our space. If you have hydronic heating, you can get a dual heat exchanger model, but we did not do this as again I think we were space constrained but decided to go with forced air heating anyway. 

[Tommy C]

Thanks Don, appreciate the reply. 

[Kenyon Stewart]

On the Isotherms, the heating element is mounted on a plate that's like 6" in diameter and mates to the water heater unit with a gasket in between.  That gasket has a seemingly short lifespan.  I don't remember exactly how long the first one lasted, between 5-7 years or something like that.  I turned on the water pump and heard water running somewhere and the gasket had disintegrated and the bilge was full of steaming water.  I guess there are worse things to leak into the bilge!  The flip side is that it is basically an access port that allows you to clean the inside of the tank when it comes time to replace the gasket.  Come to think of it, it's probably about that time again...

Kenyon

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[Tommy C]

As an update, I purchased the Isotemp Basic 30 (8 gallon capacity). Torrid is clearly a quality product, but they don't offer 8 gallons and I wanted the larger capacity. Isotemp also comes standard with a good mixing valve and some other nice features. Installing it on my 47 required that I removed the plastic water heater mounting plate as I needed every millimeter of top-bottom clearance. Fore and aft clearance was not an issue. 

[Marty McOmber]

Well pricked, Tommy.  As it happens, one of my water tanks got funky this winter so I did a deep dive clean on all tanks.   And decided to include cleaning the hot water tank and replacing the heading element while I was at it.  It is also the Isotemp Basic 8 gallon.  After 10 years, the inside looked really good.  Here are a few pics I took if you are interested.  

First pic inside the tank was before I cleaned it.  The rest are after. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JQX5DrCa3z9DkJQz6

Also, it was fairly easy to change the element, in case others with Isotemps are interested.  It was a lot cheaper than buying a new tank at any rate. I think the element cost about $50.  

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 8, 2023, at 8:43 PM, Tommy C <1964...@gmail.com> wrote:

As an update, I purchased the Isotemp Basic 30 (8 gallon capacity). Torrid is clearly a quality product, but they don't offer 8 gallons and I wanted the larger capacity. Isotemp also comes standard with a good mixing valve and some other nice features. Installing it on my 47 required that I removed the plastic water heater mounting plate as I needed every millimeter of top-bottom clearance. Fore and aft clearance was not an issue. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PassportOwners/6abd89da-ce06-4902-93c8-9d7c747fd561n%40googlegroups.com.

[Tommy C]

Thanks Marty, great photos and good to know when the time comes it's not too difficult to change that element.

[Jeremy Dinsel]

It's also interesting to see your choice of manifolds and connections to the water heater. We've made our own choices and I take some solace in knowing they are similar. I placed our expansion tank closer to the pump, but I could have done the same as you.

We, by the way, have a locally made Torrid heater with heat exchange for the engine and hydrothermal air handlers.

-j