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Project Log:  Friday, August 17, 2012

Having completed various preliminary steps during the last work sessions, now I could proceed and complete the exhaust and intake runs for the diesel heater.

I began with the intake, to get it out of the way and because it was straightforward.  I secured the intake hose up behind the cockpit well molding to a wire tie mount that I'd installed earlier, then led the hose through my chosen route to the heater itself, cutting the hose as needed.  Access to the intake fitting on the heater was tight, but possible.   To help hold the intake line clear of some nearby obstructions, I secured it to another wire tie mount near the heater.

         

Next, I led the exhaust piping to the heater, and determined its final length, which I marked on the pipe.  I left a little extra to be safe.  Then, I removed the pipe from where I'd temporarily clamped it to the outlet fitting in the hull, and brought it down to the shop so I could cut off the excess length.

With the exhaust flex pipe cut as needed, I prepared a length of insulating sock to pull over the pipe, and pre-installed it, tucking in the ends as needed.

    

Bringing the arrangement back to the boat, I fed it down through the inspection plate opening in the cockpit, and double-checked the fit to ensure the pipe was the correct length.  Since it looked OK, I continued and applied more of the Ultra Copper RTV sealant to the connection at the hull, through the cockpit deck plate, and secured that end of the exhaust permanently.  The insulating sock ended just shy of the hull fitting by design and instruction, to allow proper heat dispersion through the double-walled fitting.

         

Down once again in my cozy space abaft the engine, I secured the exhaust to the standoff fitting I'd installed earlier, using a large hose clamp to more or less hang the exhaust from the fitting.  This held the insulated exhaust pipe away from the cockpit and hull, and helped direct it towards the heater itself.

    

After a final check of the piping length, I removed the 90° outlet fitting from the heater and applied more of the high-heat sealant, then reinstalled it permanently.


Finally, I sealed the exhaust pipe connection, and secured the flex pipe in place.  Although there was plenty of clamping space, I'd hoped to pull the flex pipe further onto the outlet fitting, but this was as far as it would go.

         

Now that the whole arrangement was in place, I found a need to install one additional standoff, just a bit aft of the heater beneath the fuel filter and pump for the heater.  Here, I straightened out the mounting flange of the standoff so I could hang it straight down, and secured it to a fiberglass plate I'd installed earlier which held the fuel system for the heater.  This held the exhaust a safe distance from several nearby installations.

         

With that, the bulk of the work surrounding the heating system was finally complete.  All that remained were various wiring tasks, which I'd complete sometime later.  Quite a complicated little system, but I knew that going in.

Next, I turned to the engine exhaust.  To begin, I cut a length of 2-7/8" hose to fit through my bulkhead opening and act as chafe protection for the 2" exhaust hose.  This turned out to be a perfect fit and actually a bit tighter than I'd anticipated.

    

Sometime earlier, I'd mocked up the general arrangement of the exhaust and waterlift in the engine room, so completing the exhaust at this point was just a matter of course.  Running a 12' length of 2" corrugated exhaust hose through from the outside, I connected the end to the waterlift outlet, then secured a previously-cut length from the waterlift to the engine elbow. 

I was unhappy with how much excess clamp tail there was on these clamps, but the exhaust hose OD landed in a very awkward place where there wasn't a specific AWAB clamp size that fit perfectly:  the next size down was far too small, and the only size that fit featured a large clamping range that necessarily dictated longer tails in this instance. 

I secured the waterlift to nearby conveniences with large cable ties.  Later, I'd add some chafe gear to the exhaust hose in a couple areas, but I didn't have anything on hand at the moment.

         

Back in the after steering room, I used the remaining length of hose to form a high loop that extended nearly to the underside of the gunwale within the raw space behind the cockpit coaming, then secured the end to the hull exhaust outlet.  Reaching through a nearby access hole, I cleaned a small section of the bare hull and installed a wire tie mount, which I left to cure overnight but would eventually use to secure the top portion of the exhaust loop.  This high loop would prevent nuisance water from flowing in the exhaust outlet and down to the engine, as the top of the loop would always be well above the waterline.

         

 

Total Time Today:  3 hours

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