On the 2014 summer trip, we unfortunately poured diesel oil into the water tank of our boat.
What do you do with 200 liters of diesel oil in the water tank???
We tried a lot, but the below worked on our tank (500 liter steel tank)
Get a sludge suction truck to remove moste of the mixture of diesel and water (diesel oil should not go overboard, not even during the subsequent rinses. Put a water hose on a faucet on board and the other end of the hose to a waste water drain ashore)
Empty the tank, pour 5 l of food oil into the tank and fill the tank with water
Empty the tank again and then “rinse the bottom” for a quarter of an hour, i.e. drain water as quickly as it is poured into the tank.
Pour a bottle of dishwashing detergent into the tank and fill with water.
Empty the tank and rinse thoroughly with water.
Repeat 2.-5. until the last water coming out before the tank is empty has absolutely no smell of diesel (we repeated 4 times)
Do a few extra cleanings with washing up liquid.
Afterwards, clean the tank with a tank cleaning product.
The recipe was (after we had tried almost everything) made by a chemist. The idea is that food oil is miscible with diesel oil, and food oil, in contrast to diesel oil, can be washed out with dishwashing detergent added to the water.
Postscript:
If the tank is equipped with large inspection hatches, the easiest and safest way is to do a manual cleaning of the tank. Or if the tank can go out, it becomes even easier.
Please note that not all water pumps is diesel resistant. We had to buy a new water pump along the way.
We heat the boat with an oil boiler and radiators, so we do not need additional heat. Still, it’s super nice to have a little warmth in the floor.
The underfloor heating comes from heating foil (the one used in caravans).
The insulation mats mentioned below are 3 mm thick and are also used in caravans.
An insulation mat, a layer of foil and a carpet with a thin or medium back site are laid under the table in the salon.
Under the fixed floors (pantry and toilet), two layers of insulation mats, a layer of foil that overlaps at the joints, and finally the fixed floor are laid. All glued together into a compact unit.
A few foil remnants have been used under the mattress in the corner of our bed (there was a thermal bridge towards the hull that could cause condensation)
A dimmer (Opus 66 mek-d 450lr) is placed in front of the transformer so that the floor heating can be adjusted. In summer we use 10-15w/m2, in winter 40-50w/m2.
Note: the dimmer must be for inductive load, if you use one for Ohmic load it will break.
An ordinary yacht has a small outer surface and can be heated, regardless of how much insulation there is in the boat.
Therefore the main purpose of the insulation is comfort and no condensation, i.e. the surfaces must be kept above the dew point.
If we e.g. assuming we have a relative humidity of 50% (22 degrees), this means that the surface must be warmer than 12 degrees.
How do you do that?
In our boat, I have chosen to put 38 mm insulation material on all available surfaces. That is especially coffin benches and cupboards. And then I have led the radiator water through the coffin benches in uninsulated pipes.
Less might do, but the above is enough.
Insulation material
The insulation material must be so flexible that it can be glued to double-curved surfaces, and it must be vapor-tight. I have chosen Armaflex, but K-flex is roughly the same product.
Imposition
Armaflex has a self-adhesive adhesive surface on one side that sticks very hard. In order to be able to control the application, I have chosen to apply it in two layers of 19 mm.
To get a nice surface I have:
glued the Armaflex to the hull using contact glue (the built-in adhesive surface upwards).
The next layer is now glued using the first layer’s built-in adhesive surface.
At the top I have put a layer of ceiling vinyl, again glued with a second layer of adhesive. Result – a nice and robust surface.
Armaflex
The price differs from country to country, e.g. it is much more expensive in Denmark than in Germany
To heat the boat, we use a stove from Refleks (model 2000 kv, which emits a maximum of 4.2 kW divided between air and hot water for radiators). The oil stove takes the air for combustion from the wheel house, which provides good dry air. Depending on the outside temperature, the humidity in the cabin is between 30 and 40% relative humidity.
The stove runs on diesel fuel from the boat’s fuel tank and supplies heat and hot water (antifreeze) to radiators.
After having got some further development, we are extremely satisfied with the stove.
Cooling the chimney pipe
Made as an extra order from Refleks With the help of a fan, the chimney pipe is forcibly cooled with air taken from outside. The heated air is sent out into the bathroom. Result: warm and dry bathroom, less heat release to the room the stove is in, and less heat release to the house sparrows.
“Duvet” for the stove
Made as an extra order from Reflex The selected stove gives approx. 1/3 of the heat to the room, where it is placed (wheelhouse), and 2/3 of the heat is delivered as hot water, which is sent out in radiators to the rest of the ship.
We both have had made an insulated lid to put over the hob and a “belly belt” to cover the upper cooling holes.
By regulating: from no “duvet and belly belt” and belt to full “duvet and belly belt”, we can regulate the heat release in the wheelhouse from wind at night to calm and sunshine during the day.
Elpatron i radiatorvandet
When the outside temperature is above about 10 degrees, the stove produces too much heat, therefore in the radiator water we have installed an electric heater, which is regulated from a thermostat.
The electric heater is made by Alde, and probably mostly intended for caravans, but works just as well for a boat.
Varmeveksler til motoren
Oil stoves, which, like ours, draw the combustion air from the cabin, are unsuitable for use while sailing, as it easily happens that the air flow reverses and the smoke ends up in the cabin. We therefore have inserted a heat exchanger between the cooling water from the main engine and the radiator water (of course with a shut-off tap, so that the cooling water does not heat up in port). It works really well and quickly provides lots of heat .
Ekstra brænder til fyret
Made of reflex as a service repair We had problems getting the stove to burn quietly and cleanly at high heat output. The problem was solved with a larger burner for high output use. The problem is probably chimney dependent.
Ekstra cirkulation af vandet i kedlen
Made of reflex as a service repair We have had the problem, that the water inside the stove started to boil at high output without releasing much heat to the rest of the water. The problem was solved with a small pipe that improved circulation in the boiler.
Most boilers have a spiral pipe instead of a boiler, so of course they do not have the above problem, but if you choose the 2000kv model and must have a high flow temperature on the radiator water, it is a good idea to have this pipe inserted immediately.
Other things about the installation of the stove
As a circulation pump, we use an energy-efficient circulation pump from an ordinary house oil boiler. It uses approx. 5W (220V), if we don’t have shore power, it is supplied from an inverter. Unlike 12V pumps, it is long-lasting.
When I installed the radiator system, I inserted shut-off taps, both for all strings, and for two extra strings. One set of extra taps is used for the heat exchanger for the engine, the other set is used for an extra radiator in the kitchen. I have been really happy with the taps on the other strings when changes/repairs had to be made, without them I would have had to empty the water/antifreeze pipes several times.
