Califont reviews

[tuffyluffy 76]

I need to purchase 2 LPG califonts for the boat, one for the galley and one for a shower in the head.

 

Califonts are completely new to me, hence i have no idea what i should be looking for.

 

The plan is to have a small (6lpm) freshwater unit for the galley, and another 6lpm unit in the head plumbed to both salt water and fresh, thereby enabling a hot, saltwater shower, then throw a valve, and rince with a fresh hot water.

 

Questions are

 

1. What do people think of this setup?

2. What brand of units should i be looking at?

3. Stainless or white finish?

4. Is 6lpm enough, or should i be going larger?

5. What do's and donts are there?

6. What type of units does everyone use, and are they any good?

 

All feedback greatly appreciated!

 

ops, forgot to mention that the boat will be going Cat 1, so everything needs to be kosha

[Guest]

Also may pay to mention any power requirements if someone has a cunning plan or idea for Tuffy.

 

I've been hunting for D1's micro eco dwelling and it's surprising to see many need power, some quite a bit... for what reason I can't quite work out but have noticed one or 2 do have in-built pumps. Some 12V and some 24V.

[Fusion 0]

Interesting? I am not sure how it will cope with salt water even if you do flush it after you may find it will have a short life?

[Guest]

Interesting? I am not sure how it will cope with salt water even if you do flush it after you may find it will have a short life?

I think you can get all stainless versions but still a very good point.

[tuffyluffy 76]

Mmm, power, hadnt thought about dat. I thought id need another pump, but do they have pumps in them? As you can see, i know jack about these thingys.

 

Im hoping that a minute or two's fresh water flush would keep most of the salt water gremlins at bay, but checking for a unit with stainless workings is something I'll checkout.

[Fusion 0]

I am sure Wheels will pop in here. My understanding is salt water and heat = sulphuric acid and eats Stainless steel. Black steel or Cast iron might be the salt water friend.

[Guest]

They don't all have power, most don't. But as everything gets 'better' (he says with a distinct lack of actual belief in that statement) the options increase. I think the power is probably for the ones with pumps fitted in them or for those more important essential must have bits like back lit knobs :)

 

I know squat either just been sussing for D1's place. I'm currently modifying a portable gas powered shower to see it that'll work for her, so the huge flames that might be seen over Bayswater could mean I got it rather wrong

[El Toro 97]

Is it just me or are they getting bigger? The one I have to install is a monster next to the one in my mates caravan 1020..

[Bad Kitty 252]

Mind if I ask why you want 2 instead of just running a hot water pipe to both the head & the galley?

[Guest]

Mine has a D cell in it for the igniter.

 

Hot Saltwater will be like running battery acid through it.

They are full of copper, stainless, brass, aluminium.

If you fit 2 new ones each time you go away for a week it will be fine.

Probably need to take a spare if you go away for 2 weeks though.

[wheels 543]

salt water and heat = sulphuric acid and eats Stainless steel.

Salt water and Heat = Hot Salt water

Hot Salt water doesn't like Copper too much though. You will end up with two things, one worse than the other. The core of the Caliphont won't last too long and no that part isn;t the worst. The worst is that the disolved copper ends up turning blonde hair green, most especially if it is bleached Blonde and will stain various area's of the shower.

I have a friend that just tried one of the units with a Pmup that came from M10 and he took it back saying he was really disapointed with it.

For Marine Caliphonts, you have ratings like 6ltr, 10ltr and 12ltr. I assume some makes may have a variation of that. The rating is not how much water passes through as such, but it is a rating of 6ltrs/min passing through will be raised 25deg above the temp that water first entered at. By slowing the water throughput down, you raise the temp and by passing more through the water will become colder. Also remember that the bigger the unit the more Gas it uses.

The SST versions won't corrode as badly as the powder coated white units do, if they are in a vary wet area. Some people install these units right inside the shower. This allows you to be able to control the temp right at your finger tips while showering. However you need a vented system to be able to do this safely, or you end up showering and sleeping at the same time and eventually the sleep part becomes rather more permanent.

We have a 12ltr/min unit installed in the Pilot house. It provides very hot water for Dawn to wash the Dishes. She likes the water real hot. I think she has asbestos in her blood. I can't handle the hot water she uses with doing anything. It also provides water for two showers. But we have to turn the heat down for the shower. The Shower leaves the shower here at home for dead. But remember that means you also power through the water reserves.

You need a decent water pump. Too many make the mistake of using too small a pump and too small a piping and wonder why the Califont just doesn't perform. Forget the 6ltr pumps or the little electric gally pumps. You need a 25 PSI pressure and at the least a 10ltr/min pump, 12ltr ideal, 17ltr makes everything hum along nicely, but probably overkill for a small install. Just because you have a big pump, doesn't mean you use that amount of water. Unless you open the tap too far of course. I aslo recomend you plumb with 15mm hose at minimum.

And finally I highly recommend the fitting of an accumulator Tank. This slows the cycling of the pump switch and smooths out the water flow. There are some pumps out now that state the accumulator is not needed but I don't agree. I have found they improve themselves dramaticaly with the tank. Not to be confused with the constant pressure pumps that you would find on the real big systems but I doubt any of us would be playing with those systems. The constant pressure unit works by the pump altering it's speed to maintain pressure and flow. And back to the tank, the unit with the rubber bag inside is the best of them all. This stops the dissolving air in the water from waterlogging the tank and needing draining every so often.

Hope that helps

[Atom Ant 0]

This is gold! Squid or M/S can it be moved to Tech Talk? I don't want to lose the benefit of what Prof Wheels has said!

[Fogg 427]

Just add it to your bookmarks AA.

[Fish 0]

I'm currently modifying a portable gas powered shower to see it that'll work for her, so the huge flames that might be seen over Bayswater could mean I got it rather wrong

 

KM are you aware of the changes to the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Drailayers Act - Being the Gas (Safety and Measurement) Regulations 2010?

This states that domestic gas appliances, excluding portable appliances, are now covered by the Act. The is a whole section on Offences, you can make 'A' grade offences and 'B' grade offences.

 

I think blowing D1 up might be an A grade offence, calling starboard on Team Vodafone merely a B grade offence

 

I've only been reading up on all this as the Property manager at our flat wants to remove our gas hobb and put in an electric one. She's been trying to tell me the current installation is now illegal, I've been trying to tell her you can't cook steak properly on electric

 

I reckon I'm covered by section 45 'Exclusions' which clearly states 'If its not broken - don't fix it'

 

I think there are changes that affect mucking around with the gas on your boat as well

http://www.pgdb.co.nz/~downloads/Gas_Sa ... s_2010.pdf

[Guest]

Is this the hotrodded unit that burnt down a section of fence on a farm somewhere KM?

I heard that hot saltwater does freaky things to metals. This is why you won't find SS used on saltwater cooled exhaust elbows, well not for long anyway.

[wheels 543]

There are other problems with the use of SST in exhaust systems. The very least is the hot Salt water.

First issue is that SST work hardens. The pulse from the exhaust is enough to work harden SST over time. So cracking is a major issue especially around welded areas. The second issue is the contact point of hot exhaust meeting cold Saltwater cooling. I have made many exhaust now with a simple yet complex mixer that allows the water to mix with the exhaust evenly reducing the cold spot. This has seemed to work well. Just blowing water straight in is not a good idea, as the exhaust will eventually crack in that area. The third is the exhaust gasses themselves. Not so much an issue like it used to be, as sulphur is no longer in our Diesel, but acids are certainly an issue. Sulphur and sulphuric acid eats away at welds. When ever SST is welded, a chemical difference in the metal occurs. Even though the same weld material as the parent material is used, the heat itself changes the crystaline structure to make a small enoguh difference in the material, and the SST becomes subject to the issues of differing metals and Galvanic action occurs. Now put this in mind that it is very slight and so takes a long time toshow up. So in saying all that above, I see SST lasting just as long as Aluminium castings do. Ally is subject to it's own issues. Why is Ally used?? well it is easy and cheap to cast. SST would be an awesome product if you could easily anc cheaply cast the stuff into a once piece unit.

Titanium would be the Ultimate. Corrosion proof, light weight, with stands extreme high temperatures, it would outlast the rest of the engine.

 

And finally, there are varying types of SST. 304 and 316 are just two of an enormous list of types. In fact, even in just those two numbers, there is four types. 304, 304L, 316, 316L, then you have can have three different surface finishes of each of those four types and the surface finish can also affect it's stain resistance.

SST is simply a term given to a Steel that doesn't easily corrode. The reasons for them not corroding is determined by a couple of metals used, one common one being Chromium. But these Alloys have many other metals that do not corrode also and the mixtures of all these metals determin what the material is best used for. There are very special SST's that can be used in storage and handling of very highly corrosive liquids. Other types can handle high temperature corrosive gasses. It just depends on what the need is.

[Guest]

I'm currently modifying a portable gas powered shower to see it that'll work for her, so the huge flames that might be seen over Bayswater could mean I got it rather wrong

 

KM are you aware of the changes to the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Drailayers Act - Being the Gas (Safety and Measurement) Regulations 2010?

This states that domestic gas appliances, excluding portable appliances, are now covered by the Act. The is a whole section on Offences, you can make 'A' grade offences and 'B' grade offences.

 

I think blowing D1 up might be an A grade offence, calling starboard on Team Vodafone merely a B grade offence

 

I will be making very sure I don't blow anyone up. Most Regs are purely butt protection or make work schemes for bureaucrats. I will and have consulted people who actually know this stuff to make sure it is safe. It's pretty well proven just because it fits the Regs is no assurance it is actually safe.

 

The Regs and un-knowledgeable bureaucrats who thought them up gave us leak buildings, they can't be trusted. Listening to bureaucrats is like smoking, you know you shouldn't yet but do it anyway, knowing all the time it is one rather large cock-up just waiting to happen.

 

I think Bart Simpson says it best 'the Regs can eat my arse'.

 

We are 1 to 2 knots too slow to get many chances to call Stb on Vodaboat. Yeah OK maybe 30 knots too slow :)

[Fish 0]

KM you cynic, surely the regs are the Absolute Gospel!

You see, the Regs say the gas hobb in my flat is now unsafe (according to the landlord) - cause the Regs have, gasp, changed!

Even though said Hobb has been there for 10 odd years without incidence, is a common or garden variety gas hobb feed off a bottle in the cupboard, like 1,000's of other houses in NZ

 

But the regs must be right, if we follow the Regs all will be right with the world, don't you think?

[Atom Ant 0]

simple yet complex mixer

Wheels I think that is an oxymoron! I'm sure it can't be both at the same time!

[wheels 543]

Yeah, simple in how it works, but fidly and time consuming to make the darn thing.