Cheap heater!

[talltigeguy]

I have seen that the heaters we buy are pretty pricey. A buddy of mine who just bought a 2006 24Ve and is a big jeeper, asked me if this heater would be better than getting beat up for $600+ at the dealer.

Honestly, I think it looks terrific. If he does it, I will post his results with it.

It seems that sometimes, you add the word 'marine' to anything and the price doubles.

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.aspx?partID=4691

[chpthril]

I dont see a thing wrong with those. I've looked at the same one at JC Whitney.

[spenchey2]

i think that any heater put in your boat is a waste of money, when we start using wet suits i'm not even cold when i get out of the water and unzip the suit, and if i am its nothing a towel can't fix.But i suppose if you boarding in really cold weather its worth it, but not for me. The coldest weather that we go in is the 40s and thats about the time we put the boat away.

[Razzman]

i think that any heater put in your boat is a waste of money, when we start using wet suits i'm not even cold when i get out of the water and unzip the suit, and if i am its nothing a towel can't fix.But i suppose if you boarding in really cold weather its worth it, but not for me. The coldest weather that we go in is the 40s and thats about the time we put the boat away.

That's because your only 17 Wait until your older and have women on the boat that hate the cold and let's see if you feel the same way then.

[chpthril]

i think that any heater put in your boat is a waste of money, when we start using wet suits i'm not even cold when i get out of the water and unzip the suit, and if i am its nothing a towel can't fix.But i suppose if you boarding in really cold weather its worth it, but not for me. The coldest weather that we go in is the 40s and thats about the time we put the boat away.

Yeah, I remember when my metabolism allowed me to run around all winter in shorts and T's

Now I carry a 0* down sleeping bag, while camping, anytime the temp will be below 32*.

[talltigeguy]

Spenchey,

Have you ever been in a boat with a heater?

Maybe being young, you have a greater tolerance for the cold, but the heater is a huge bonus, will not have another boat without one. Mine has one, and when it is cool outside, it makes the riding a bit more sweet.

[Razzman]

Yeah, I remember when my metabolism allowed me to run around all winter in shorts and T's

Now I carry a 0* down sleeping bag, while camping, anytime the temp will be below 32*.

Gimme five brother!

[rensink]

Spenchey,

Have you ever been in a boat with a heater?

Maybe being young, you have a greater tolerance for the cold, but the heater is a huge bonus, will not have another boat without one. Mine has one, and when it is cool outside, it makes the riding a bit more sweet.

yes he has mine i had the 3 vent heater in my Rz2

[spenchey2]

That's because your only 17 Wait until your older and have women on the boat that hate the cold and let's see if you feel the same way then.

By the time i'm as old as you guys my knees will be so bad that i won't even want a wake boat, well at least not to wakeboard. And by the way i think the cold is the devil himself.

but i see your guys point

[Big Wave]

I have to say I am with you guys. When we bought our boat for use on Lake Mead it had a heater, we figured we would never use it.
Last weekend we were out early and the wife was complaining about the cold (65deg) I remembered the heater, we were never going to use, and turned it on, no more complaints and wifeee thinks it is the best feature on the boat.
Heaters rule

[Jason B]

By the time i'm as old as you guys my knees will be so bad that i won't even want a wake boat, well at least not to wakeboard. And by the way i think the cold is the devil himself.

but i see your guys point

LOL
he said you guys are "old"

surely this should be good fodder for the ego cannon

[mtnsmith]

The only thing with that heater is the output is only 28k btu...that's not very much if you look at the other heaters in the heatercraft line-up, but they do get more expensive. That's why I put in a danhard heater. It too is an aftermarket vehicle heater but it makes 48k btu for about $250. Either way I think a heater is nice to have if you have the room and want to stay comfortable. I know I have gotten a lot of grief about putting a heater in the boat and I live in Florida, but we used it this weekend and it was very nice to have some warm air on the trip home once the sun started going down.

[talltigeguy]

What determines how many BTU the heater puts out? I guess the radiator has different sizes. I'll have to climb into the compartment of my boat and see how many BTU my current heater says it is.

Thanks for the heads up, MTNSMITH.

[anhaney]

Spenchey,

Have you ever been in a boat with a heater?

Maybe being young, you have a greater tolerance for the cold, but the heater is a huge bonus, will not have another boat without one. Mine has one, and when it is cool outside, it makes the riding a bit more sweet.

I have to agree with Tall. That is one of the things that sold my wife on our boat. She even uses it in the spring and fall when the water temp is in the low 80's.

[R&T Babich]

What determines how many BTU the heater puts out? I guess the radiator has different sizes.

The heater BTU rating is determined by the size of the heat exchanger and the airflow capacity of the fan/s. The total will be limited to the amount of heat that can supplied by the hot water lines. Insulating the water lines would help get more to the exchanger.

Northern makes a 3 port model that is a bit narrower, I think because it uses 2 fans instead of a larger squirrel cage.
http://www.northernfactory.com/speci...asp?part=AH457

I've seen discussions about not enough hot water at idle, and an adapter to boost the hot water flow. What I've not seen is exactly how that works. Our engine runs fairly steady at 175 deg, idle or at speed. At low RPM the raw water pump is not pushing as much water thru the engine. But the water at the intake port for the heater is still going to be 175 deg. Maybe it has something to do with total volume flow. The raw water pump output pressure wouldn't seem to change much.