Heater install: MC 205V (X-star, X2, X1)...

In light of recent "return to seasonal tempuratures" after record warm January, I decided to start the install of our boat heat. Our boat is a 2004 MasterCraft Prostar 205V. For those that don't know, it's the same hull as the former X-star, X2, and now X1.

(Message edited by P-hat in Cincy on February 05, 2006)

Seem to be having some picture posting issues...

(Message edited by P-hat in Cincy on February 05, 2006)

Let's try again...

HeaterCraft 314HC with additional hot tube from Discount Inboard Marine. www.skidim.com


Heater location. Behind driver kick panel.


Molded in mounting brackets? Decided to try them out.


Mount spacing approximately 11".

More...

Rectangular mounting plate is 3/4" painted/sealed plywood. Others are for parallel running ballast pump install project.


Mounting plate carpeted.


Mounting plate with center bolts installed. Left bolts will secure heater and mounting plate.


Heater mounted, solidly. Additional bolts at far right (unseen) attach heater to mounting plate.


More tomorrow...hopefully.

i wish i was mechanically inclined to do that. my dealer quoted me $800 for a heater and to install it in the same boat. and that quote was 3 years ago.

Paul,
It looks great so far. I have the Heatercraft twin vent model which I mounted under the passenger seating of my Centurion Elite-V. I have the pull out vent tube for my passengers and a wall mounted vent (non pull out) for the pilot. Cutting the hole for the pull out vent was the toughest part. My pilots vent is installed in a plywood panel.

BTW, I always carry the bung plugs which I removed to install the engine hot water plumbing and extra hose clamps in case I discover a leak.

Looks great!

Made some more progress on the heater install tonight. I had to buy an additional 20' of heater hose b/c the supplied 20' is not enough for my application.

I chose to install a shutoff valve in case of a heater leak.


Be sure to use "pipe dope" or teflon tape to help seal.


Intake manifold heater connection point (near thermostat).


Be sure to leave clearance for lever.


Valve with 90deg elbow and hose-barb attached.


Valve connection in relation to Perfect Pass soleniod.


Water pump housing inlet with hose-barb attached.


Intake manifold hose routing.


Water pump housing attachment...with hose.

and lastly for tonight...

Hose routing and securing. You can barely see to water pump hose circling around exhaust.


Hose routing behind vent hose. I removed back wall, made securing bracket, and attached to transom eye-bolt.


General overview of connections and hose routing.


When available, I routed hose thru PVC wiring tubes.


I routed the hose between the hull and the starboard side paneling. Secured with wire ties.


Hose connections to heater.

Just curious: did you install a shutoff at the water pump pick up? In case of leak you may end up with some cavitation if you shut off the supply end and are sucking are at the failed core. Just a thought

Evan i was thinking the same thing... when we did our demo on our boat last fall we had a problem with the heater (someone forgot to hook it up in the factory) and when we shut the shut off valve off the back pressure from the water pump was still pushing water through the hearter core...

something you might want to think about... i know one of the first things i will be doing is installing a second shutoff valve (to the water pump side)

Guys,
Thanks for the info. I was checking around to find out best place for shutoff. I also thought about adding second shutoff, but was waiting for word back. I will post what I find out.

Paul, Aren't you going to put in a Y-Fitting between the scoop and the raw water pump. This is supposed to increase heat at idle. (Rather than connecting the hose to the water pump for the return)

Kyle,
I'm going to try w/o the Y-fitting first. I may add later if necessary.

Tonight I took care of my question on whether there should be 2 shutoffs or where proper placement of 1 should be. I decided to add another shutoff so I could effectively bypass the entire system as if it weren't there.

Pictures follow:

I had to add ~2" extension (in order to clear the water pump housing) and a 90deg elbow.


Here's the subassembly screwed into the water pump housing. I had to remove the hose going to the water pump in order to assemble into the water pump housing.


Valve and hose-barb attached.


Location of both shutoffs.


Hoses re-routed and re-secured.


That's all for tonight. Moved on to simultaneously running ballast project.

(Message edited by Phat in Cincy on February 08, 2006)

(Message edited by Phat in Cincy on February 08, 2006)

(Message edited by Phat in Cincy on February 08, 2006)

Thanks for taking the time to document your project! I hope to add a heater in the next year or two to our 205V. Where are you going to place the vents? What are your ballpark bottom line costs?
Charlie

Charlie,
No problem documenting. I figured it could be a good reference tool for people thinking on doing the same.

All vents will be in the driver's kick panel. I don't want to make "permanent" holes in fiberglass (below seats, in walkway, etc...) right now.

As for costs...I'll estimate about $500. Heaters are on sale (10% off) at www.skidim.com right now.

Hooked up the wiring tonight. I should explain that I bought the heater SWITCH PLATE from MasterCraft of Charlotte so that it matches. The ACC 2 switch is a HIGH (top) / OFF (center) / LOW (bottom) switch, so I only needed the switch plate cover. All I did was pop off the ACC2 switch plate and snap on the HEATER plate.

Since the switch only allows 2 speeds while the heater fan actually has 3, I chose to use "Low" and "High". The heater moves some air, so I thought Low and High would be a better contrast vs. Medium and High.

I'm happy to say the everything (mechanical and electrical) is working beautifully. Once I get my ballast system install caught up, I'll start putting the finishing touches on (heater tubes).

Wiring couldn't have been any easier due to clear labeling from the factory. You can see the "High" "Low" label on the ACC2 wire harness.


Wired together. The red wire (not attached) is the "medium" wire to the heater. Regarding wiring from heater, if I recall correctly, orange is HIGH and yellow is LOW.


Switch from MasterCraft of Charlotte...to match others.


Switch lit up.

Nice job Paul. I admire your patients on both the ballast system and heater. Glad to see you put a shutoff on the water pump side. May you never need it....

Since the ballast connections were made, it enabled me to move forward with the heater project...with regards to the kick panel.

The kick panel had a 'step' up that made it really difficult to remove and put back into place. It also pinched a wire-harness. Therefore, I removed the step.

I wanted to 3rd hot tube to blow on the driver, so I needed to span the gap of the sub-woofer cutout. Therefore, I made a mounting plate.

This is the mounting plate with hot tube 4" cutout.

Here is the kick panel installed with the hot tubes. I may add a driver's feet heater vent.

All hot tubes are pull outs to reach the seating areas.