4 thoughts on “Phyllis melting snow on the Refleks heater on aluminum expedition sailboat Polaris in her winter home at Disko Bay, Greenland.”
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Esteemed John,
I am interested in your thoughts as to which model REFLEKS diesel heater you would recommend. I am interested in a bulletproof system, dedictated to heating water tubing to supply a modern aluminum schooner of 60′ WL and well insulated. I see many expedition yachts saying that they use them, however, the mfg’s info says they are not suitable for a vessel that remains on one side for an extended period of time; but that rolling is acceptable. I was curious as to how these persons liked their unit in an open seaway on one tack for longer distances.
Hi Chuck,
I’m really not an expert on the Refleks heaters having only lived with one during our time on “Polaris” without any sailing. Jean-François knows far more than I do about them, so I would go with his opinion.
After our time on “Polaris” I did write an overall review of heater options which you may find useful.
Chuck
I have a Refleks, smallest size. It doesn’t make a difference if I’m heeling, have used it sailing in F7. The stove is gravity fed, and a drop of diesel at a time falls to the bottom.
My problem was the old stovepipe cap which allowed downdrafts – useless in F3 plus. Replacing it with a one way cap solved the problem.
Hello Chuck,
We install Refleks on our boats. From my experience :
– the mfg sounds right to me. When the boat heels too much all diesel is going to one side and the heater starts smoking and smelling
– rolling is acceptable but only to a certain level !
We believe you can enhance the tolerance by making sure the carburetor is in the axis of the boat. Of course the positioning of the heater is important (as low and and as centered as possible…).
That is only our experience…but others might have another opinion.
Jean-François