Great Water Heater ? Copper lined

[ColdEH]

I just came across this company in the UK , they seem to have a different approach to hot water tank construction.

Any one seen one of them before ?

Surejust | Manufacturing equipment for the marine industry for over 25 years

Regards

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by typhoon

I just came across this company in the UK , they seem to have a different approach to hot water tank construction.

Any one seen one of them before ?

Surejust | Manufacturing equipment for the marine industry for over 25 years

Regards

not sure what you see as different construction , personally I would prefer stainless as its more robust against high Ph water.

dave

[ColdEH]

Copper seems to work great in the home environment, wonder if it would hold up to the marine environment

Regards

[s/v Beth]

I had copper plumbing in my boat until last year. I think it lasted at least 20 years. Just needs to be properly protected against torque. I will probably put it back in if I can't find a good hose. The clear hose with web in it is toast after 2 years.

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I had copper plumbing in my boat until last year. I think it lasted at least 20 years. Just needs to be properly protected against torque. I will probably put it back in if I can't find a good hose. The clear hose with web in it is toast after 2 years.

My Boat as well , still works great ,not sure if I want to ever go to plastic or rubber hose.

Regards

[sailorchic34]

The UK copper water heaters are very nice. With proper installation they should last a really long time. Be aware that installation will not be exactly like your use to in the US, due to metric fittings, lower working and relief pressures, etc.

They don't meed US plumbing codes so can't be installed in a building here. But for a boat, they are the bees knees. Pretty darn fine in other words

The stock heating element will be 240V, though looks like they have a 1000 watt 120V option too. Some UK manufacturers units need a pressure reducing valve on the cold water inlet (due to lower tank working pressure) and a thermal expansion tank is required.

Their (UK) plumbing codes are a wee bit different then in the US, so the design standards are not the same. They would not be compatible with typical US plumbing working pressure for example.

With all that said, I love the copper water heater design. Just lovely engineering.

[Cap Erict3]

PEX is latest and greatest hose. Many new houses and a lot of boats using it these days

[ColdEH]

Found an US builder of copper lined water heaters. Looks like great stuff.

Solaris Marine Heating

Regards

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by typhoon

Found an US builder of copper lined water heaters. Looks like great stuff.

Solaris Marine Heating

Regards

Solaris is manufactured by Sure Just in the UK and marketed as Solaris and sold through Marine-Tec in the USA for boats only. There are no US manufactures of copper water heaters. Though one or two manufacturers did offer copper lining as in option. But that was for large ASME commercial water heaters.

The British water heater design standards are not the same as in the US. They use a lower maximum working pressure, which allows for copper tank construction. It is a very nice long lasting design. Just need to follow strictly the manufacturers installation instructions.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Solaris is manufactured by Sure Just in the UK and marketed as Solaris and sold through Marine-Tec in the USA for boats only. There are no US manufactures of copper water heaters. Though one or two manufacturers did offer copper lining as in option. But that was for large ASME commercial water heaters.

The British water heater design standards are not the same as in the US. They use a lower maximum working pressure, which allows for copper tank construction. It is a very nice long lasting design. Just need to follow strictly the manufacturers installation instructions.

On a boat , however the installations would be similar if not identical. The systems in homes dont use boat stuff anyway

What I don't like about us calorifiers is the alumiumin. Construction. Equally I don't like calorifiers without covers. I've found much better models then this from the likes of isotherm et al.

Dave

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Cap Erict3

PEX is latest and greatest hose. Many new houses and a lot of boats using it these days

Yes, I re-plumbed my entire house with it, original copper lasted 30 years. Pex is even supposed to withstand freezing, only weakness is I think Ultra-Violet light will do it in pretty fast, so it can't stand sunlight.
Oh yeah, you have to buy a special crimping tool to attach fittings to it though

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Yes, I re-plumbed my entire house with it, original copper lasted 30 years. Pex is even supposed to withstand freezing, only weakness is I think Ultra-Violet light will do it in pretty fast, so it can't stand sunlight.

Personally I still use copper and soldered joints , but I'm Old school. On the boat I like the idea of fully flexible hose like the whale system. Currently have Pex

Dave

[DoubleWhisky]

I do have a Sure Cal on my present boat and had one on previous one.
Very effective and no single problems for many years. Well built euipement.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

On a boat , however the installations would be similar if not identical. The systems in homes dont use boat stuff anyway

What I don't like about us calorifiers is the alumiumin. Construction. Equally I don't like calorifiers without covers. I've found much better models then this from the likes of isotherm et al.

Dave

No question, aluminum is a retched material for a water heater/calorifier.

Actually while the installations look the same, the standards used in the UK and USA are not at all the same. The UK Copper water heater has a much lower maximum working pressure, generally around 30-35 psig.

The UK pressure relief valve is sized to relief about 5 psig over maximum working pressure. US water heaters are designed for 80 psig working pressure as most all cities have 50-70 psig (or higher) city water pressure. US pressure relief valves are generally set at 100 psig

The copper water heaters require an expansion tank as the copper tank wall can not resist thermal expansion. This is the case even with a VSD water pump. On high pressure cold water (over 35 psig or so) a pressure reducing valve may need to be installed on the cold water inlet to the copper heater.

The copper heaters in the UK are used in homes and boats. In the US they should only be used in boats and don't meet US plumbing codes.

With all that said, the copper UK heaters are probably the best there is for boats.

Oh, on PEX, Just to clearify, PEX does resist freezing in that it does not break on the first few freeze /thaw cycles. It will however fail given enough freeze /thaw cycles. The PEX walls do get weaken in the freeze thaw cycle.

[Tantalus]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Yes, I re-plumbed my entire house with it, original copper lasted 30 years. Pex is even supposed to withstand freezing, only weakness is I think Ultra-Violet light will do it in pretty fast, so it can't stand sunlight.
Oh yeah, you have to buy a special crimping tool to attach fittings to it though

You're right about the UV. They have connectors now which require no tools to install. I've tried both types and they seems to work just fine, so far. 5 yrs old at this point.