need a boat heater

im i need of a heater any ideas?

http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1020
here you go

Get a heatercraft 3 outlet with two hot tubes and one Euro vent. The hot tubes are great as you can stuff them in a shirt or under a towel. The vent is for the driver's compartment so you get some heat without having to hold everything.
The BTU output of the 3 outlet is good. I've got two in my boat, but that's Canada.

We got a 3 tube heatercraft before the season. Wife thinks it's the best $850 spent (dealer installed).

I put it under my passenger bench seat so the hot water run wasn't too long. My buddies that got it from the factory have it under the drivers feet and the water run is too long and they don't get hot enough unless the RPMs are up and the water is not that cold. I don't have that problem and they are relocating their cores closer to the engine. MUCH easier to winterize too as my buddy busted his core since the antifreeze mix wasn't strong enough (circulated from the engine instead of pulling/filling it at the heater core).

I agree that putting the core closer to the engine may increase the potential for heat. And I'm sure it's less expensive for the hose, and easier to run it.

I've done several heater installs & never understood why it was buried under the driver's side dash, behind the subwoofer. I usually put it under the passenger side dash. But now days boats have a ton of stereo gear under there that could be difficult to work around, and damaged if/when the core ever leaked.

The Hot Tubes are the most used vents in most any heater. I think when I do another install, I won't bother with a regular vent & just do all Hot Tubes.

As for winterizing, a couple of suggestions. Make sure the core is installed so that the hose inlet & outlet are on the bottom side. And install either quick release hose fittings (like for a garden hose) or Prestone Flush Kit T fittings in the hoses down in the bilge area. I have always done the Flush Kit fittings, just pop the caps off & the heater drains into the bilge in seconds. I winterize my boat like a dozen times a year & never have a problem doing it this way.

And last, check into getting a couple of Hot Wrap boat blankets. We use these far more than the heater. And the two working together will satisfy most anyone.

I actually have two run in series and they both get hot if the engine is running at 1500 or higher. I think I'll add a Y fitting on the inlet side of the raw water pump to get more flow. Mine are both mounted on the hull. behind the side panel upholstery. It's a bit tricky to install the heaters but they drain well and don't take any otherwise used space. One is on the port close to the observers seatt and one on the starboard nearer the rear seat. The port one has the Euro vent blowing up at the windscreen so I can use it as a defogger if I need to and it provides general warmth in the cockpit area for anyone not using a hottube. The starboard side Euro vent is mounted just behind the throttle to blow on me (the driver) and provides general warmth in the cockpit area also.
Airjunky's suggestion of the flush T's is right on the money. Your life will be easier if you don't always have to undo hoses.

Anyone ever make one yourself? I was thinking about this and it shouldn't be too hard in theory. Heater core $20, can make a box for free from either wood or metal scrap I have laying around. That covered box for driver. Then some heater hose and a y-fitting+ball valve, or do inline with existing, maybe $30 max, a 12v fan ($$20), or alternatively just yank a heater box from a car . Add some ducting for two movable vent hoses (not much $$??). Seems to me I could make one for under $100. Just seems way too much for what they're asking, profit margin must be crazy on these things.

Thinking this could be a good winter project to start my season a little earlier next spring.

$100 easy man. DIY it! Jet

Summit Racing sells a 3 speed - 2 outlet heater for a Jeep for like $150 if Iremeber corectly. Then you can buy the y fitting and pull out tubes and hose form DIM as Harold mentioned.

Here yah go:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-991102/

If someone does this I would love to see some pics and instructions on the install.

does this 2 outlet heater put out heat real good
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-991102/

I assume so. The Heatercraft ones do OK. Better at low RPMs with the Y adapter moving your source hose to the fresh water pump. But ithe core itself has to be similar to those.

That one has the same BTU listing as the two outlet Heatercraft. It should be OK.

I built one for my 'Bu that I sold a couple of years ago. I think I had around $100 into it. I'll have to search for some pics. Basically, I picked up a heater core at an auto parts store. Same one that heater craft uses. '79 Ford Van, if I remember correctly. Used some aluminum sheet metal I had lying around for the box. Got a 4" bildge blower off Ebay for the fan (~$15). Then I picked up two hot tubes from SkiDim. It was super easy.

Thinking of doing similar Tuneman. Is the '79 Ford van heater core pretty much the biggest commonly available one? I see a high output heater core fora '79 van $28. Could make a heater box up with some foam inserts to seal it up pretty easy. How does the bilge blower work? The blower motor was my biggest concern, to get enough airflow. Would probably be a fun project actually.

Got the box part figured out but where is the best place to connect it to the eng. And I have a hard problem getting my eng hot. My engine likes to run 160-180 with NO thermostat..with 140 degree thermo it runs 220 after cutting off the engine and that scares the crap out of me?? Any help?? Jet

Cory, there are probably other heater cores you could use. I just went with what Heater Craft already used for their 2 port heater. I used weather stripping foam to seal around the core, like you mentioned. The 4" bildge blower worked very well and put out just as much air as the Heater Craft heater (I already had a Heater Craft in my boat and added the second homemade one). I went with the blower motor because I put it in the engine compartment and needed a sealed motor.

Andrew, use one of these for the return: http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=H424 and the other end taps off the engine after the thermostat. Not sure what you mean about your engine temp problems. Engine temp can jump up temporarily when you turn it off because you stop pumping cool water thru it. That's normal.

I did a bit of searching and can't seem to find any pics of the heater I built. Sorry. The only pics I found were of the result. This was in a 2002 VLX:

That is TIGHT!! Great job man. Jet

Nicely done, Tuneman. I always thought putting the heater core up by the driver's dash was a stupid idea. And the next heater I install will have all hot tubes in it..... their just way more useful. Putting it all in the back makes a lot of sense.