heaters and holding tanks

[Brian]

Hi All,

Happy New Year.
We are considering a few upgrades to the Tainui II...our Albin 25.
A heating system and a holding tank are what we have in mind.
I have some questions to those out there who may have some
experience...
Espar heaters;
-I'd like to heat fwd & aft cabins, which would be suitable D2 or D4
-what size ducting to use
-how loud are they / is a muffler needed
-do they get gummed up with lack of use
-do I have to have a separate fitting on the diesel tank or tap into
fuel line for engine
-what type of preventitive maintenance is needed
-any complaints/issues/problems with these units

For heating cockpit (helmsman) and defrost windscreen, I'm considering
a bus heater;
-would a single or double fan unit be sufficient
-any preffered point for tapping into water lines
-any complaints/issues/problems with these

I have also discovered Wallas heaters, anyone have anything to say about them?

I'm considering a typical Jabsco manual toilet connected to a
rectangular tank mounted on it's side against the aft wall.
I'm thinking of 1 1/2" inlet on top, 1 1/2 pump-out fitting with dip
tube on top to deck, 1 1/2" outlet on bottom to thru-hull, 5/8"
fitting on top for vent, two 1/2" fittings on side connected to a
length of clear tubing for level indicator. (Similar to other boats out here)
If the toilet was mounted on a new floor slightly higher, I could move
it outboard slightly and get past the spray chine of the hull? (would
give a little more room to manuvre)
Ronco (California) has a 15Gal 8.5" x 18.5" x 24", Industrial Plastics (here in BC) has a 12Gal.
8" x 16" x 24" (we are a 5 member family). I think the heater ducting
could come through the wall above this. We have no sink in the head
compartment. So;
-is this a crazy idea/anything seem wrong with this plan
-any complaints/issues/problems with these toilets
-are these toilets easy to fix & maintain
-any other tank manufacturers
-is it OK to use saltwater for the toilet
-if using saltwater, do we need two vents to keep the tank good &
"airated"
-if the tank drain is on bottom, can we just drain it or do we need an
extra hand pump

I'd like to see all of the improvements you have all made to you boats
but the family really needs this for enjoying this coming season. We
were up in Desolation Sound and again up to Cortez this past summer
and we could not stay away from an outhouse (for the manual dump-out)
for more that two days.
We look forward to coming down to one of the meets in the Gulf Islands
this summer.

Thanks,
Brian Klassen
Halfmoon Bay, B.C.

Tainui II

[bottom line II]

Hi Brian;

I just removed a john and the holding tank from a project boat. 1977 delux. A25. To bad your not on this coast. But thought you might like to look at the pictures just for information. I do believe this was installed by Albin. the tank was pretty close to where you think it should go. It, the john seems to work find but I don`t like to have it in the boat. I use a porta potti with a spare bottom.

[joe.baar]

We have a Wallas "range", which is a cooktop that functions as a heater when the lid is down. Sorry I don't have the model number at hand, it's up in Everett on the boat. The unit fits in the same space originally occupied by a butane single-burner stove.

This Wallas is fueled by diesel from the main tank and is really simple to operate: flick the on-off switch to "On", turn up the heat dial knob and wait about 2 minutes for a nice blast of hot air to issue from the slot just beneath the lid. With outside temp at 32 deg F and inside about 40, the Wallas will warm the saloon and pilothouse to 59 in about 20 minutes.

Shut-down is also simple: flick the switch to "Off" and turn the heat dial knob to zero. The unit will continue to blow hot, then cooler, air until the red LED begins flashing, about 15 minutes, when the fan will shut off.

I believe these units are "catalytic" which means, if I understand it right, there isn't any actual fire involved. Operation is also totally automatic as described, and mine has worked flawlessly. It was probably installed in 1996 but hasn't had a lot of use.

I haven't been able to measure fuel consumption because it's so minimal compared to the 132 gallon tank on our 28TE.

The unit vents via a through-hull on the starboard side about 8" above the boot-top stripe. Every year I use Flitz on the almost invisible streak below the vent. So far I have no reason to believe this streak is abnormal for a unit of this age.

[Brian]

Thanks for the reply guys.
Joe - thats good to know how well and simple to use the Wallas is.

Bottom Line II - hey, too bad as we're thinking of swapping out our 5Gal porta-potty for a toilet/tank!
Where was your tank installed in the boat?- in the head compartment against the aft bulkhead?

[bottom line II]

HI Brian;

The tank was just outboard of the steering station aft of the bhd. The punp out fitting was just above it .
I think the tank was about 12 to 15 gallons.

This is my second A25 the first we took to Florida on the ICW and it worked out find . Thats with the two bottoms. Of course there was just the two of us and I tried to tie up at a marina about every other day.
But there were times we could go four a week easy .

Happy new year

[glk34]

Hi Bottom line II, we are in the same "boat" as Brian, planning to install a waste holding tank. I like your 2 bottoms setup you used. Would give us about 10 gals which should be good for 5-7 days with a little management. I am also looking at the sealand unit that has the holding tank integrated into the base of the head. Would mean a deck pump out but saves the hand carrying and dumping of waste.

thanks for the ideas.

iron jack

[Brian]

Well the transformation is underway!
I have glassed in wooden blocks to the bilge for tank supports. The septic tank is immediatley stbd of the engine and the twin batteries further stbd of that on another platform with wiring and ducting below that.
The Espar D4 is mounted on the side of the hull (where they were installed from the factory) with ducting splitting and one going fwd and eventually to the fwd cabin and the other heating the aft cabin.

I have run into a snag now and hoping for some help from some of you (and not necessarily just us 25 & 27 owners).
The tanks I have had made locally have "spin fittings" that are bonded in. The "in & out's" are 1.5" and the vent is 3/4" and are standard tapered pipe thread. The fittings I have bought are Marelon male pipe thread to hose adaptors...http://www.forespar.com/products/boat-m ... lbow.shtml
Being "pipe thread", I thought these fittings would be tapered as well, but they're not. I have tried them in the tank with teflon tape but they keep threading into the tank and don't tighten like I thought they would. I guess these are not the correct fittings to use? What type do I need? Help!