T&T: New West Marine Water Heater doesn't get hot enough
Susan Woodrum via Trawlers-and-Trawlering
So our question is, does anyone in the group have one of these 6 gal West Marine (made by Camco or Kuuma) water heaters and could they tell us if their water temperature gets up to 125° or 130° which we would consider acceptable?
BTW, West Marine is more than happy to replace the water heater, but of course, will not pay for the re-installation which we will do ourselves, but it means another 2 or 3 hours of disconnect and reconnect of all the water lines, electrical, bruised knuckles, water drained into the bilge, etc.
Lon & Susie
“Eureka” 41’ Trawler
Sausalito, CA
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Rudy and Jill
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On Wed, 6/15/16, Susan Woodrum via Trawlers-and-Trawlering <traw...@lists.trawlering.com> wrote:
Subject: T&T: New West Marine Water Heater doesn't get hot enough
To: "Trawlerworld list list" <traw...@lists.trawlering.com>
Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2016, 10:53 AM
Steve Sipe via Trawlers-and-Trawlering
element is probably functioning. If you have a 120V ammeter on the
electrical panel you should be able to conclusively determine that the
heater is heating by turning the switch on and off and observing the
ammeter, it should show around 12 amps when the heater's switched on.
(Given roughly a 1500W element per the spec sheet).
I looked up the thermostat part # for the 6 gal heater, it appears to be
a Klixon type fixed switch. There's no adjustment, and it's probably set
for 120 F, deemed hot enough for safe use by the lawyers who defend the
liability lawsuits plus the government wonks who regulate these things
and know far better than the consumer what's best for them. They
eliminate the adjustment to keep you from exposing them to liability for
water that could possibly scald. If you have the exchanger piped up to
the engine water, you'll probably get about 160F water when the engine's
running, and that's hot enough to cause injury, so I'm unsure how that
disparity is reconciled with the liability issue.
If you look at the parts they sent you, you should be able to see a
temperature setting stamped on the part, usually around the periphery of
the part, and I'd guess it indicates lower than the 140F they told you,
I'd guess it's closer to 120F. If you have the thermostat that was
removed, you could test it off the heater with a heat gun, multimeter
and IR thermometer to determine the actual setpoint that the thermostat
is opening. It's nothing more than a switch that clicks open at a
pre-determined setpoint.
If you want to change the setpoint, you'll have to replace the
thermostat with a switch that matches the characteristics of the OEM
switch but has a setpoint that's closer to your desired temp. You'll
also have to do the same with the high limit switch (thermal limiter)
and it will need to be 10F or so higher or the old one will trip out at
its setting which is going to be lower than the setpoint of the new
thermostat. Both these devices will be indicated to open on rise.
There are adjustable klixon switches available, you may consider using
an adjustable setpoint for the thermostat and a fixed setpoint for the
thermal limit, set to about 160 or 170. You should be able to source
them from HVAC supply houses, the switches are used in hundreds of
applications.
Final word, I would strongly caution against enabling the heater to
provide scalding hot water. You assume any liability for changes and
automatically relieve the manufacturer from all liability. (disclaimer)
Hope that's a help.
Steve Sipe
MTOA #3962
Solo 4303 /Maerin/
Middle River, MD
On 6/15/2016 10:53 AM, Susan Woodrum via Trawlers-and-Trawlering wrote:
> We had to replace our 35 year old stainless steel water heater that had performed flawlessly until it finally developed a small leak. We went to West Marine and decided on their 6 gal 120v with heat exchanger. It is a small cube shape about 13” square. It was easy to install, but right off we felt we were not getting really hot water. There is no temperature adjustment, instead the manual says the water temperature is regulated by a thermostat to 140° F. Using two instant-read cooking thermometers we started testing the water. Occasionally we would get a reading of 120° F, but usually it is around 110° which is just barely hot enough to wash dishes and makes for a lousy hot shower. We have called the manufacturer (Camco) and they have supplied us with a new thermostat - which made no difference. Next they sent a new high temperature limiter which we installed yesterday, and still we only see hot water temperatures of about 110° - 115°.
>
> So our question is, does anyone in the group have one of these 6 gal West Marine (made by Camco or Kuuma) water heaters and could they tell us if their water temperature gets up to 125° or 130° which we would consider acceptable?
>
> BTW, West Marine is more than happy to replace the water heater, but of course, will not pay for the re-installation which we will do ourselves, but it means another 2 or 3 hours of disconnect and reconnect of all the water lines, electrical, bruised knuckles, water drained into the bilge, etc.
>
> Lon & Susie
> “Eureka” 41’ Trawler
> Sausalito, CA
>
>
>
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