… for the Max from your sailing!

Heaters

Ardic and other heaters

Article submitted by Darrel Walters – Maxi 38+ ‘Carpe Diem’

I wanted to put pen to paper and let others know there is a life after Ardic Heating systems.

People who own Maxi’s yachts know all to well that Ardic are no more and that there is only one company left in the Uk that you can get Ardic Spares from. I called them a week or so ago because my fan blower in my Ardic heater was making funny noises. I did back in 2009 replace said fan so I was quite surprised to think it was on its way out again after, well lets be honest know more than 100 hours worth of work. The water pump was also making noises, So asking the company for a price for both parts came to around £600.00 I know full well the parts are not worth that and I hate it when I feel I am held to ransom because of the supply and demand of said products drive the price instead of the true value.

This sort of price, you start to think if it may be worth just upgrading the whole system to something newer. Getting some prices from said company, about upgrading the diesel heater and the water heater to a dual element system, updating the blower for one more efficient and your not seeing much change out of around £4K. Continue reading

Judging by the articles on the MoA website and the Web, it appears generally acknowledged that the Ardic heater which as installed by Nimbus, is less than effective at heating the cabins.  We had the heater unit serviced last winter by the local agent and whilst resolved the sooty deposits on the stern, the heating was no better.  It appears that in pre heating the engine, heat the fresh water and the cabin is beyond the capabilities of the system unless also running the engine.  The basic problem is that the system initially heats the cast iron mass of the engine which I believe takes 3kW, therefore the temperature of the air to the cabin is cool to say the least.  The pipework diagram in the manual suggests that this should not be the case, but on a cold day working on the engine with the heating on, the engine was starting heating up but the cabin was not.

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Espar Ltd., Eastern Hangar,Shaw Way,Mount Batten,Plymouth,Devon.PL9 9XH.

Tel:- 01752 491900 Fax:- 01752 491910

 Espar Ltd.,Harleyford Marina,Harleyford,Marlow,Bucks.SL7 2DX.
Tel:- 01628 471368 Fax:- 01628 474819

Many thanks to Mick Nelmes for the “My Ardic Boat Heater” guidance on operation and servicing. A 34 page Service Manual can be found in the Members-only “Documents” area. I found this useful when I had to clean the burner chamber which was heavily fouled with carbon deposits and causing a lot of soot deposits on the boat around the exhaust.  Servicing should be carried out by authorised competent personnel and in accordance with appropriate regulations and manufacturer’s instructions.

Have you fitted a Carbon Monoxide Alarm? When did you last test it? Continue reading