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Post by hawker63 on Dec 13, 2020 11:39:57 GMT -5
We have a Regal 4460 that we just moved from Charleston SC to Guntersville Alabama. I plan to leave in water and add an engine compartment heater. I expect to still be able to use it on sunny days and enjoy,the time on the water.
2 questions.
1. Any recommendation for total wattage. (Obviously were getting a USCG approved heater)
2. How have others done the wiring /adding outlets in the engine compartment for these heaters.
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Post by sgilbert on Dec 13, 2020 12:19:20 GMT -5
Dumb question from a Northerner: How cold, and for how long, does it ever get in Alabama? If only occasionally below 32 and only for a day or two, you are good to go without any heater! Only a prolonged hard freeze will jeopardize your engines.
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Post by hawker63 on Dec 13, 2020 14:25:27 GMT -5
I only arrived in Oct. So far in Nov, I had frost on windows twice, got as low as 27F. Most days in winter are low 30’s to low, mid 60’s. The slip is covered and we have full tops. We have similar weather to Atlanta and a little warmer than Charlotte.
I was thinking more as an insurance policy to protect the engines. It has closed loop cooling so I think the block is ok, but raw water goes through the cool fuel modules, the heat exchanger and the exhaust manifolds.
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Post by jimmyjet on Dec 14, 2020 18:53:41 GMT -5
We have a Regal 4460 that we just moved from Charleston SC to Guntersville Alabama. I plan to leave in water and add an engine compartment heater. I expect to still be able to use it on sunny days and enjoy,the time on the water. 2 questions. 1. Any recommendation for total wattage. (Obviously were getting a USCG approved heater) 2. How have others done the wiring /adding outlets in the engine compartment for these heaters. I am in the Atlanta metro area so our weather is much like Guntersville (my son and family just moved there from Charleston too). Most winter days are above freezing with many nights getting into the mid-twenties or mid-thirties...you may have a 3-5 day stretch where temps might not get above freezing and nights could be in the mid to upper teens but that is not too frequent (and usually accompanied by some snow accumulation). I am fairly new to boat ownership greater than 20 foot in length with the purchase in March 2020 of a Commodore 360. I just purchased a Twin Hornet 66 (1000watt) heater. I settled on the Twin Hornet as it has redundancy with two of most everything internally which helps reduce the "exposure" due to failure of an internal component. The price was also attractive when compared to Xtreme brand heaters for the actual comparative wattage. I purchased directly from the manufacturer in TX for about $330 and they offered free shipping, plus there was no sales tax charged like there would be when buying through Amazon or eBay. The heater is also ignition safe and waterproof rated. My 360 already had some sort of heater system already installed but it seemed the thermostats were not functioning properly and I was unable to find any information for them in the owner packet or searching online...so I have disabled them. As for wiring....the heater comes with a grounded ac plug and there are a couple GFCI outlets in my bilge/engine room area so it was pretty simple... I also bought a small 1500W ceramic space heater to place in the cabin and left it set to keep the area around 55 degrees. Put a couple cheap digital thermometers ($6 bucks each at WallyWorld) that record the highest and lowest temp over the last 24 hours so I can check that all is working well when I'm out to the marina. I'm told by other local owners that the water temp will also help keep things from freezing as the lake will not freeze...which I would expect the same for where you are on Guntersville Lake/TN River. Hope you enjoy the area...it's beautiful and free of the traffic jams you see in Charleston....especially trying to get on/off of James/Johns Island, etc... JJ |
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Post by jimmyjet on Dec 14, 2020 20:21:53 GMT -5
We have a Regal 4460 that we just moved from Charleston SC to Guntersville Alabama. I plan to leave in water and add an engine compartment heater. I expect to still be able to use it on sunny days and enjoy,the time on the water. 2 questions. 1. Any recommendation for total wattage. (Obviously were getting a USCG approved heater) 2. How have others done the wiring /adding outlets in the engine compartment for these heaters. Here’s a couple pics of how/where I installed The Twin Hornet...not sure I’ll leave it like that but it’s functional for the time being...   |
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 16, 2020 10:45:22 GMT -5
I only arrived in Oct. So far in Nov, I had frost on windows twice, got as low as 27F. Most days in winter are low 30’s to low, mid 60’s. The slip is covered and we have full tops. We have similar weather to Atlanta and a little warmer than Charlotte. I was thinking more as an insurance policy to protect the engines. It has closed loop cooling so I think the block is ok, but raw water goes through the cool fuel modules, the heat exchanger and the exhaust manifolds. Yes, get a 1000 watt USCG approved engine room heater but not to plug into a receptacle in engine room, hard wire it and if possible to a new separate circuit breaker at the cabin AC panel. Our is hard wired but to a aft bridge deck 120 VAC outlet so be careful if/when plugging in a separate portable electric heater into same circuit like we found out the hard way, it will trip the breaker if engine room heater and portable heater happen to be on at the same time! We dont do that anymore  Agree with jimmyjet, weather about the same as where your going! Smart to be under a roof as well. keep boat plugged into shore power, set aft cabin heat pump to 50F, and drain all fresh (hot and cold) water lines/faucets, anchor wash down and swim platform wash down hoses completely. Turn off fresh water pump, vac flush toilets, etc. Good luck and enjoy the south! |
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Agree with jimmyjet, weather about the same as where your going! Smart to be under a roof as well. keep boat plugged into shore power, set aft cabin heat pump to 50F, and drain all fresh (hot and cold) water lines/faucets, anchor wash down and swim platform wash down hoses completely. Turn off fresh water pump, vac flush toilets, etc. Good luck and enjoy the south!