Heat Exchanger/Hot Water Heater

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Geof

I have a C310 with a Universal M25XPB 26 HP engine. My hot water does not get hot from running the engine. It worked fine earlier in the season. The water temp reads 160 deg. Any suggestions where to start the troubleshooting? The manual is of no help with this problem. Additionally at idle or underway the max RPM I can get is 2200 (the manual states max is 3000 RPM) any suggestions?
 
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Tim Dranttel

Maybe.......

Geof, How are things in Deale? I grew up in Cape Anne just down the road. Made money as a kid cleaning fish at the Happy Harbor for the charter boat customers. I have a 86 30TR and had some of the same issues. Start with the obvious. 1-The bypass valve that sends the engine coolent through the hot water heater should be closed. At least in my configuration if it is open then the hot water heater is bypassed. 2-On the fresh water side of the house there is a check valve between the pump and the hot water heater. If this has failed there might be a possibility that the hot water tank is not able to hold water. 3-Don't know what else it could be as long as you don't have any leaks on either the coolent or the fresh water side. My hot water heater gave up the ghost last week and leaks fresh water as fast as the pump can pump! Found out because with the pressure pump on and all the faucets closed the pump should only run to pressurize the system and then stop. As long as there are no leaks and you don't turn on a faucet the pump should stay off. I think mine would cycle on every 10 minutes or so to keep the pressure up. With a leak it will cycle on more frequently and in my case just about stays on! Hope this helps Tim
 
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Ed

Troubleshooting

Have you felt the hoses at the water heater? You need to do some troubleshooting to determine if the engine's hot coolant is getting to the water heater in the first place. Otherwise it's just a guessing game. Let us know Ed
 
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Bill Schmitz

Trouble shooting - another opinion

I had the same concerns with my 310. After talking to the Dealer yard staff the real first problem to get over is you are heating 20 gallons of water and that takes time to heat up. You can do a quick check of the inlet and return hosed from the heater to the engine and if they are hot after the engine has had time to heat up its all a matter of time. Once I gave it sometime it worked fine. The RPM problem is bit out of my area. I would look to see if any of you cable is binding or there are loose connections. That side of the deisel is eazy to view and reach. You need someone to work the controls as you look for what moves at the cable connection end on the engine.
 
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Tim Dranttel

RPM

Had the same problem with my boat. Did everything I could think of and eventually called a mechanic. First thing he did was put a light gun on the fly wheel. Turns out that I was getting full RPM (3200) but the tach was only showing 2200. If the boat is obtaining hull speed with no vibration or black smoke it is probably a instrument problem Tim
 
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Geof

Thanks for all of your support!

The boat is hauled for the winter, however in the spring I will try your suggestions during the spring recommissioning and report back. Thanks again! Geof
 
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Steve Wark

Hot water problems

Had problems with hot water on my 310. Two things to do, especially in the spring after commissioning... Bleed the hot water tank by opening the water relief valve with the water pressure pump on... Make sure the hot water tank is full... Bleed the coolant resevoir at the hot water heater... Mine had a white translucent fitting with a pressure relief/bleed valve... Careful with this one if the engine is up to speed and the coolant is hot... You want to do that with the engine running... Good luck...
 
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Tom Soko

Easy Check for RPM

Any easy check of the RPM is to put a piece of tape on the flywheel. At the dock, plug in a portable fluorescent light, and hold it near the flywheel with the engine running. At 1800 RPM the piece of tape will appear to "stand still" at four spots on the flywheel. Adjust RPM until it does, and then adjust the tach to read 1800. Good Luck with the project. Tom Soko Julandra #659
 
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Bill Babbitt

Hot water and other concerns

We had the same problem with the hot water on our 310 this season, until we left on a weeks cruise in light air and ran the engine for five hours. After that we hot water for the whole cruise by running the engine an additional hour or two hours a day. Once the water in the heat exchanger has been brought up to temp it stays warm for quite a long time. As for the PRM reading, that seems to be prety common also. Several folks on the C-310 mail list have reported that their tach's needed to be calibrated. I'd like to enquire if you have any vibration problems and what type of prop you use. We are trying to build a database of 310 problems to see if we can get some help from Catalina.
 
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Geof

Bill Babbitt

Bill, no vibration problems and I have a standard two-blade prop. Also I have tried to contact Catalina about my heat exchanger and tachometer problem at the same time I requested support from other owners. I have yet to hear from them. This is the second time the owners have come through for me and the corporation has not! Thanks for your support. Geof
 
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