My cabin is getting a little Snugger

[welder]

Thanks John, the reason I ask is Spoiled ones heater runs both and on the kerosene it burns cleaner and is less maintanace and there is most no stink.

[goatram]

I know you know Butttttttttt Jetty does not know or understand the Cold PNW. His lil Buddy is hanging out waiting for the AC to kick in.

This might be a mod for me this winter if it works on your boat

[JETTYWOLF]

That Youtube video was funny.....Welder it was fer you!

[Sculpin]

That Youtube video was funny.....Welder it was fer you!

Actually the vid is for waiting to see who can figure out the exact volume that my odd shaped fuel tank will hold

[Sculpin]

Here is the fuel tank for the heater all tacked up and ready to be tig welded.



All tigged up using high frequency pulsed tig.





I cut some 3/8 thick rubber to lay on the deck for vibration etc. and to keep the tank from getting schaffed from the aggressive deck paint.




Continued............

[Sculpin]

Here is a shot showing the aggressive angle on the tank to suit the door being in the open position.



Here she is all installed through the cabin bulkhead to keep it in place and to be able to remove it if needed.



I installed a filler station on the Port side just like my filler station on the Starboard side for fuel c/w vent.





The unit is just about ready to go. I will hook up the hoses tomorrow. I plan on mounting my gal (ha ha) onto the trailer as well and taking her for a little dip to mark the new water line so I can finally redo my bottom paint.

[kmorin]

sculpin, rubber contains carbon which is galvanic to/with aluminum. What about a little strip of ribbed vinyl carpet runner (inert to aluminum) over the top of the rubber vibration matt to allow the water to drain and the aluminum tank to be away from the carbon in the rubber?

just a thought.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin

[Sculpin]

Thanks for the heads up about the rubber Kevin. I will look at doing something else for the bottom. What about closed cell Neoprene?

[kmorin]

Sculpin, neoprene is still a synthetic rubber mixture and it can hold (surface) water so it would promote the poultice conditions, I don't think it reacts just like rubber. But...... Styrene, propylene, vinyl, ABC/PVC, nylon, are all better choices for bedding and isolation, and if you can get those plastics ribbed so there is no place to hold moisture by capillary action then the interface dries out & drains better too.

With your fuel tank bolted to the bulkhead, I'd want it bolted to the deck as well so the 'cushion' you show doesn't allow the tank's fasteners to shear load in the bulkhead when the material compresses? I'm in the habit of treating fuel and inboard engines alike- hard and fast to the structure.


the only photo I have handy of a deck mounted tank corner is one of my welding inspector in his younger days. The corner of the 25gallon tank is bolted to the deck into a tapped block of 1/2" material- welded to the deck. The angle strip is welded to the tank to make the removal simple and the socket recess 316L screw is passivated and bedded in thread sealant. The tank has one of these on all four corners, two on the deck and two at the top outboard to mount it hard to the boat, just 1/4? off the deck. I prefer this method over any other to mount tanks.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin

[Sculpin]

Well I had a good day today and got a lot done. I got everything hooked up electrical wise, the pump, and all the ducting. I put 5 gallons of diesel in the tank and I don't think it's even 3/4 full. I ran her and it works awesome!!! This is a major addition to my vessel and I am very happy.

Here's some photos of it all installed.

I used this muffler goop for the joints of the exhaust system with clamps and wrapped it with heat cloth.



The overview.



The intake air.



I had to add a piece of aluminum plate to fill the big hole from the old propane POS furnace that came with her. I mounted the intake vent on the front of that and mounted the heater vent as low as I could on the right side of the picture.




Continued.........

[Sculpin]

Here is the "y" just before going under the passenger side front air ride seat.



Running up under the seat and through the dash bulkhead.



Coming up through the bulkhead and up to the diffusers.



The "y" for going to the two defrost diffusers in the dash.



Continued......

[Sculpin]

Here are the new not so flush defrost units I ended up going with . I think this cupped design will throw more air at the windows than the ones I posted up previously.







I ended up hooking it up to the new bus bar/ circuit breaker that was under the starboard side for all the new electronic's. This was the easiest place to hook it up. Not my first choice but we are getting into high speed mode now as the season progresses and I want to get on the water lol.

[Sculpin]

Here are a couple of vid's of the unit under operation.

The pump working away (click on the picture).



The unit firing up (click on the picture).



I hope you all enjoyed this project as much as I did. I hope it gives folks some idea's for adding heat to their forts on boats.

Thanks for following along.

Cheers,
John

[goatram]

As I said earlier. I will be adding this to the Tin Lizzy. A warm Mod for her and to keep the windows free from the Water Vapor from my little buddy heater.
Thanks for posting it and giving me a clue of how to stay comfortable

[spoiled one]

Looks pretty darned good. Hard to beat that dry heat. You have that mounted under a seat, right? It seems louder than my ESPAR, but I suspect it is just do to the space around it. Well done.

[Sculpin]

Well I got ahead of myself posting up all those great pics.

I was getting almost nothing up front on the window diffusers. I switched the first "y" around so the main cabin air is getting the secondary offshoot. The front is getting the full shot. It works way better now except I am going to replace the cupped outlets with the originals so that I can adjust the flow.

Long story short I have to start thinking like an HVAC guy damn it. The "y"'s I bought are crap really and I am going to make up some custom ones with zero restriction out of some light wall ss tubing I have kicking around. When in doubt do it yourself lol.

I need to be able to damper the flow from one window to the next for an equal air flow. It's pretty good now that I switched the first "y" and all the flow is going forward. Just need to balance the system.

Live and learn that's why I like posting up projects like this.



Cheers,

John

[Sculpin]

Looks pretty darned good. Hard to beat that dry heat. You have that mounted under a seat, right? It seems louder than my ESPAR, but I suspect it is just do to the space around it. Well done.

Thanks spoiled one. I have about 6" thick seats that go over top of her. I hope they will muffle the noise a bit. I don't mind paying less than half the price of an Espar for a little noise. I hope it all works out. I can now call myself a comfortable boater. This whole thing is kind of a guinea pig thing but hey some crazy Canuck had to do it

[spoiled one]

So, how much do you have into the heater and the ducting? I didn't realize they were that much cheaper.

[Sculpin]

So, how much do you have into the heater and the ducting? I didn't realize they were that much cheaper.

1200 hundred bucks plus the thru hull fitting around 80 bucks and some extra ducting and clamps call that 50 bucks. The two front diffusers were an additional 50 bucks. I custom build the tank which is priceless (any system needs a tank and that is extra regardless). That's it.


My understanding is the Espar unit's of the same size are around 2 grand for the unit and about 8 hundred for the kit to go with it. I didn't bother pricing it out as this opportunity come about and I went for it. Yeah there made for trucks but it is secure and out of the weather in my cabin.

I'll post up the longevity of the thing for sure. Like I said it's kind of a guinea pig thing. I'm pretty ok with that.

Cheers,
John

[spoiled one]

Thanks, John. That is a great alternative to the Espar and Webastos for sure. Thanks for posting the build. I need to start getting Patience ready for the season. There are shrimp to be caught and black fuzzies starting to emerge from their winter time holes. The price of fuel might limit the distance we go this season, but not the number of nights spent out!

[Sculpin]

Thanks, John. That is a great alternative to the Espar and Webastos for sure. Thanks for posting the build. I need to start getting Patience ready for the season. There are shrimp to be caught and black fuzzies starting to emerge from their winter time holes. The price of fuel might limit the distance we go this season, but not the number of nights spent out!

Yeah that's why I went for it. I couldn't afford the alternative. Nice as they are.

Hope to see some post's of Patience soon. Go get em man. I'm probably going to start riding around on the Honda CT90 in a week or so looking for the black fuzzies myself

My hunting buddies have been riding around just South of my shop and have spotted a few already. It's warmed up quite a bit in the last couple of weeks around here and they are out wondering around. First week of May is always great for us.

Cheers,
John

[JETTYWOLF]

Got it......

[Sabs28]

Lets see how well it works, Throw some snow on the roof & see if it melts off. Any idea what temp the cabin will reach???

[spoiled one]

Hey John. I was just thinking about the sound difference between my ESPAR and your Snugger. I believe that my exhaust utilizes a muffler. I bet you could retrofit yours with one if the noise bothers you.