Force 10 heater v. a Blake Lavac-

[Larry M]

Anyone have any experience good or bad with either one? I am looking at the kerosine version. Thanks

[Tom in Cambria]

You don't seem to be getting any response and I have no personal experience, but let me tell you what I've heard from boaters who do have the Lavac head. The seven seas cruising club or one of those rated the Lavac the best of the heads. One of the problems with other heads is that the rebuild kits are getting so expensive these days that they are prohibitive to maintain. The lavac uses a standard pump so parts are readily available everywhere and while not cheap are cheaper than rebuild kits for most standard heads. A friend of mine had one and he said they liked it a lot, and the only problem they had was in order to work the toilet seat lid had to seal tightly to the bowl. After a few years the gasket goes bad and they are hard to find and it's difficult to jury rig anything as this seal is critical. This was a number of years ago and maybe the situation has changed since, but you might look into buying a spare one when you buy the head to see how easy they are to get now.

I have no personal experience with the Force 10 heater either, but I've heard good things about them. Someone on the East Coast in snow country should have an opinion on them with first hand experiences to relate.

[Kevin L.]

I have a Force 10 Kerosene heater on my CD30.

Works fine, puts out plenty of heat......although because of the pressurized fuel supply, it does make kind of a hissing sound.

I installed a PVC fuel tank in the storage locker under the starboard settee.

If you have any specific questions, you can eMail me at:

full_keel at earthlink dot net

Kevin