3000 Express Hot Water Heater Replacement

Gundy · Postby **Gundy** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:53 pm

The hot water heater on my 3000 Express is leaking. I can't find another thread on this subject. It appears that water is coming out of the bottom of the heater, so I'm thinking the tank itself is cracked? Is it possible to remove and replace this without removing the port engine? It looks like you can remove the port engine exhaust hoses, which may allow you to remove the holding tank and get access to the water heater? Just wondering if anyone has done this? Thanks

MarkT · Postby **MarkT** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:23 pm

Gundy, what engines do you have? I have a 1999 3000 Express with the Cummins diesels in it. I have not had to remove the water heater yet but I have worried about taking it out for some time because of clearance issues. Just getting to it is a problem. Not knowing your engines you may be able to take it out in front of the port engine and down the middle. You may have to remove the vacu flush system, exhaust crossover etc to pull it out aft of the port engine. I will be putting new engines in my boat when they become available, and at that time will replace the h/w/h and all thru hulls going out the sides. I will replace the h/w/h with a rectangular stainless steel unit, if at all!

Just edited: one thing to watch out for is the cooling water of your engine. Not sure if you have hoses going to the h/w/h from the engine to heat water while under power ( I took mine off years ago) but if it starts leaking from the water heater make sure it is not engine coolant leaking out. If you have those hoses and they have valves installed you should shut them for safety until you get the unit replaced.

Gundy · Postby **Gundy** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:52 pm

MarkT, thanks for the reply. I re-powered last year with the Merc Reman 357 Horizon inboards. It would be very close if it would fit around the front of the port engine. Even if it would, I can't get to the tank to disconnect it anyway. I figured if the vacu flush system can be removed without removing the engine, it would then be able to be removed that way. It IS hooked up to the cooling water hoses. I don't believe there are valves on those lines, but I'll double check when I'm back at the boat. Thanks for pointing that out though! The water that is leaking isn't coolant (99% sure). It bubbles out of the bottom/side area of the h/w/h only when there is water in the fresh water holding tank and the pump is turned on. Maybe this proves that the tank isn't cracked and it might be the tubing or a fitting...?

MarkT · Postby **MarkT** » Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:57 pm

I think if you can actually see it bubbling out of the bottom side area it must be a cracked tank.. Maybe try this. Put food dye in the water tank and run it through the system. You can always flush it later. Once it is under pressure and you are sure it is thought the system, take a good look at the fittings. If they are leaking maybe you can fix them. If not and you see it coming out at the bottom... sorry, I would say that is the tank. Let us know.

Gundy · Postby **Gundy** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:30 pm

It was the tank that was leaking. I decided to just bypass the heater and re-connect the piping. The cooling water lines were disconnected and plugged as well. Wasn't worth the ~$3,000 in labor to take everything apart to put in a new one. At least it's fixed. I'm assuming it had been leaking slowly for a while, since I can leave the boat for weeks, come back and turn on the fresh water pump and it's still pressurized. This wasn't the case before. For anyone else with this problem.....the guy who did the work for me said that an electric water heater could be placed under the forward berth so as to not have to remove the old one (and save the labor money). This didn't make sense for me as I don't have a generator onboard, so it would only work when docked and connected to shore power.

MarkT · Postby **MarkT** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:45 pm

Sorry to hear that G. I hope to be putting new engines in within a year and at that time will pull my tank and replace. I never thought about putting it up forward, but may consider that to make it easier to service the water pump on the engines.

Gbluefin · Postby **Gbluefin** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:18 am

If you want hot water just put a little on demand water heater in they work great when they work on 110 volts so you need a generator for sure power I have a leaky one I'm going to pull it out I have the top deck off to remove my generator

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