Cabin Heater

[DesertAlbin736]

Here's a guy trying to cook with a Heat Pal 5000. Didn't work too well. Don't think they were intended to function as a cook stove. By the way, the 5100 model is a bit different from the 5000 model, for what it's worth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWFvldXF23Y

Here's a really cheap $3 version of the flower pot trick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QplSiZf2WoE

[kerrye]

It was never going to cook that way. Pot needs to be right on the flame inside the stove. I have seen a video of someone cooking on it that way. I don't see why it could be any different than other alcohol stoves if the pot were right on the burner.

[carlreller]

There's no thermal advantage to putting a clay pot over a burner. However, people may do this to indicate the burner is on so no one gets too close as the alcohol flame can burn nearly clear especially in strong light.

[Andrew cook]

WillieC, I replied earlier but it got lost in the shuffle or I wasn’t logged in.

The only mod to the berths is the bead board replacement for the hull liner.

Under the heater is a grey slate tile.

The hanging locker mod worked especially well, you can gain a couple of shallow shelves against the hull, use the bottom and still hang a few things.

We use cheapo battery powered co detectors. They all have high QC standards for certification testing.

Finally, the flower pot helps for heating in that it holds and radiates heat.

Andrew

[WillieC]

Thanks, Andrew. I see now that the tile under the heater is at the same level as the berth. Slick. I think I have seen another A25 with a flue farther forward, apparently with the stove in the front of the v birth or some such thing. Your solution looks totally do-able without taking up too much cabin space. How badly does the vent obscure vision from the helm? The other thing, we use that cabin top for outdoor lounging. Every square inch counts on these old boats. Thanks for posting.

[Andrew cook]

Picture a 28oz tomato can centered on a tuna can, not much of an obstruction really. the tuna can is the double walled vent pipe, the tomato can is a wind and waterproof cap.

No chance of getting burned or deck damage but I shudder to think what a SS Charlie noble would cost here in the 21st century.

My lovely wife reminds me that while the stove was deeply discounted, it was originally very expensive (she has no idea what the tomato can cost .

Andrew

[Dieselram94]

Got the photo today. It’s stamped as a “Cole Heater” bought about 30 years ago. In 30 years never had a smoke or leak problem.

Do you have any pictures of the exhaust for your stove on the deck?

Do you keep your boat in Rockland harbor?

[Andrew cook]

Diesleram94,

The Albin25 “Resolve” is in the driveway and has been since 2011 when we bought an Albin 33 aft cabin (actually a Marine Trader 34 but identical). Diligent was at Journeys end for a decade. We love Rockland and Penobscot Bay but the big boat is very expensive and a lot of work (although we’re headed up to our Samoset timeshare next week)

After a 10 year project list Diligent sold last September for what we paid, not counting 50k$ material and more for inside storage and dockage. But I’ll never regret an hour or a dollar.

Meanwhile, I was just onboard Resolve (on the trailer) getting ready to refresh her for Lake Champlain, and possibly sale. We bought her in 1984, in buzzards bay, took her to Boston Harbor, for a decade then to Vermont. I’ll get you pictures of the Charlie Noble soon and Resolve when she’s presentable again.

Andrew Cook

[Dieselram94]

Looking forward to the pictures! Rockland is a awesome place to keep a boat. It’s cleaning up all the time. It’s light years ahead of where it was in the ‘90’s.

[Andrew cook]

Dieselram94 , we came to Rockland which we knew well, with our new trawler, thinking that we would exhaust our interest in a couple of years. Starting with “cruising the Maine coast” Belfast to Rockland and the near islands fully occupied us for 3 years, never got old, changed every visit. Then outside and over to Northeast harbor the most comfortable, safe, accommodating, affordable mooring field we’ve experienced.

Then back to explore those small (go carefully) coves , stone islands, inlets, anchorages, everywhere you want to stop. We stayed a decade, almost all summer long. In Penobscot Bay.

We anchored everywhere and Never dragged or got hung up. We got stuck in a lobster bouy line (once) (it was a string of 20 traps) and were rescued by a gracious lobsterman. The harbor masters are great, just remember if you come, cruising is a conditional activity not a scheduled one.

We’ve been fogged in solid for a week, and our son and his wife were on board, intending to fly back to the west coast. Two couples on a 34’ trawler for a week, one of our favorite memories, in Seal Bay.

They used to say, “Camden by the sea, Rockland by the smell” rudely ignoring the working waterfront, now the NY Yacht club comes to Rockland. I will post pictures!

[Dieselram94]

Looking forward to the pictures!!! Rockland is certainly up and coming. Belfast is another favorite of mine. They have cleaned that town up a ton from years ago as well. I’m half kicking around the idea of buying a mooring in belfast as well.

[Scudrunner]

Where was the original heater located and where did you mount your Webasto? I'm looking into where to place it but haven't found the ideal place. The plan is to stay in Maine through the summer and motor or pull south in the fall.

Maine's waters are cold even during the dog days of summer and mornings in a boat are chilly. I have a Mr. Heater but want something more permanent and possibly ducted to the aft cabin.

We used a Mr. Buddy propane catalytic heater to warm the cabin up prior to sleeping & again on waking up - i.e., the Engineer got up shivering and warmed the cabin until the Captain was able to climb out of the winter sleeping bag. But having propane on a boat can be problematic. Several years ago we visited Hera on her A25 Shatoosh the day after the Seattle boat show in February. When we stepped into a warm boat, the look on the Captain's face was all it took for me to move the boat heater up in the priority list.

So this winter's project is the installation of an Espar Airtronic D2 diesel fired heater in the A25. After searching online and visiting the Seattle boat show last year, the D2 was the final choice. The Webasto & Espar heaters are very close in design and operation; however, there were a few reasons for the selection of the Espar, such as being able to optain pdf files of the tech service manual, troubleshooting, marine installation, etc. In addition, Portland Oregon has an Espar dealer that has extensive stock of parts and offered very competitive pricing as well as the no-sales-tax in Oregon.

The main D2 unit was purchased as a Truck kit over the internet with all the marine specific parts, such as the thru-hull, ducting, air distribution fittings, fuel tank, etc. purchased from the Portland dealer.

There are dealers in Seattle that will install the Webasto or Espar - cost is a bit high however.

If anyone does go the Webasto/Espar route, one thing to consider is going with the largest discharge hood that the unit will take. We went with the 75mm discharge rather than the 60mm - this of course means all the ducting is larger (less pressure drop) and the holes in the bulkhead must be larger

Albin original Espar htr.JPG

This is a photo of the original Espar heater that was factory installed in some A25s. The new D2 should install in the same location - hopefully.

I'll post a photo of the D2 kit & all the duct, exhaust, thru-hull fittings, etc. once the ice storm is over and I can access the shop where the boat is stored.

[dkirsop]

Here are some photos of the installation on my boat which I took while working on another project.

IMG_2501.jpeg

I think it is installed near where the original heater would have been. The small black hose hanging down is the air intake to the combustion chamber.

IMG_2503.jpeg

The hot air outlet is on the left, note the wye at the bottom dividing the duct to the fore and aft cabins. The cold air return is through the short duct on the right.

IMG_2504.jpeg

This is the hot air outlet in the main cabin along with the control switch and thermostat. The rear cabin was inaccessible as I was moving stuff to access the holding tank under my batteries.

[WillieC]

I think I see one of the number 18 wires is mislabeled.
Better correct that, Mr. K.

(Holy cow! That is how it is supposed to be done. Nice work, as always.)

[DesertAlbin736]

Primo work as always Dave! The part below the floorboard is usually where a holding tank for the head is. Where's yours? Or do you have one? Of course cabin heat is the least of our worries. The other day I was over at the boat (parked on the trailer where we normally store it). It was 94* F (34* C) outside & 110* F (43* C) inside the closed up cabin. And that was a mild spring day for us. It only gets hotter from here on out. By this time next week the high is expected to hit 100* F (37.8* C ) at which point it'll be pushing 120 (49* C) inside the cabin, roughly equivalent to the boiler & engine rooms on a steam ship.