Best way o drain hot water tank?
- Thread starter iSailor
- Start date
There is a drain at the bottom of the tank. It looks like a hose bib. You can just open it and let it drain into the bilge, or attach a short hose to it and drain it into a bucket. Don't forget to shut off the fresh water pump and open the sink faucets.
I have a water pump that hooks up to a drill from Home Depot.
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/drill-pump-225-gph/928220
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/drill-pump-225-gph/928220
I have connected a hose to the drain at the bottom at the tank so that it empties in the bilge. Turn off fresh water pump and open a hot water faucet or the pressure valve to break vacuum inside of tank and allow easy emptying. Whatever water is left is not enough to do any damage to the tank should it freeze because it has lots of room to expand.
There are different views on that. I have seen a tank that was broken, even though, it was drained, because the ice cut it open (I don't know how; I only saw the final result).
I push the water out using compressed air; then I put some antifreeze into the tank and then push it out using the air, again. This might be a belt and suspenders idea, but it works.
Yeah, I wish I had read that 3 weeks ago when I winterized my boat. I opened that drain and hardly anything came out. I also couldn't easily and quickly get the hoses off to rig a bypass. I had a friend helping me and I was on the clock, so I ended up dumping 7 extra gallons of antifreeze into the water tank so the hot water tank would be full of the pink stuff. Next calendar year I'll start earlier on getting those hoses off.
Yes you'd be better off draining the tank and avoiding putting the " pink stuff "through it, you'll just need a small bypass to,connect the cold water supply to,the hot water return hoses/pipes, then run the pink thru.
I have used a shop vac to drain the lines for the last 4 years.
I initially wanted to keep the water running out the pressure relief valve from draining into the hull space.
Then I noticed it was actually sucking water through the cold water line.
So now I disconnect hot & cold water lines at the heater and vacuum the water out; opening the sink and head/swim platform shower valves in turn.
No pink anti-freeze; no flushing in the spring.
Peter
I initially wanted to keep the water running out the pressure relief valve from draining into the hull space.
Then I noticed it was actually sucking water through the cold water line.
So now I disconnect hot & cold water lines at the heater and vacuum the water out; opening the sink and head/swim platform shower valves in turn.
No pink anti-freeze; no flushing in the spring.
Peter
I installed a bypass on the hot water heater, purchased from an RV store, flip two brass valves and you are in bypass mode. I also installed a unit under the galley sink that allows me to flip that valve and stick a hose in the bottles of pink stuff. You use the pressure water pump to move the antifreeze through.
I do an overkill, as I don't like the idea of trapped water. I screw a fitting onto the fresh (dockside) water inlet, and hook my compressor up to it at low pressure. (10 PSI is plenty) one by one I open the valves and blow all the water out. I open the valve on the hot water tank (before putting that tank in bypass) and blow it down also. Once I have airflow at all flow points, I put the hot water heater in bypass, and open the pressure valve to be sure all water is drained from the tank. Now I use the little hose / pump unit and pump pink through the system. With all the water blown out it takes less than two gal total for the entire boat. (nothing in the hot water tank or fresh water tank, you never get rid of the taste)
Come spring, I mix a weak solution of bleach and water in gal jugs and pump that through the system to blow the antifreeze out. Sanitizes the system, gets rid of the pink, and leaves a fresh smell / taste that quickly goes away.
Overkill, but it works well... I will check I believe I have some photos of the different bypass units installed.
Russ
s/v Long Story
I do an overkill, as I don't like the idea of trapped water. I screw a fitting onto the fresh (dockside) water inlet, and hook my compressor up to it at low pressure. (10 PSI is plenty) one by one I open the valves and blow all the water out. I open the valve on the hot water tank (before putting that tank in bypass) and blow it down also. Once I have airflow at all flow points, I put the hot water heater in bypass, and open the pressure valve to be sure all water is drained from the tank. Now I use the little hose / pump unit and pump pink through the system. With all the water blown out it takes less than two gal total for the entire boat. (nothing in the hot water tank or fresh water tank, you never get rid of the taste)
Come spring, I mix a weak solution of bleach and water in gal jugs and pump that through the system to blow the antifreeze out. Sanitizes the system, gets rid of the pink, and leaves a fresh smell / taste that quickly goes away.
Overkill, but it works well... I will check I believe I have some photos of the different bypass units installed.
Russ
s/v Long Story
I installed two different winterization kits for the freshwater side for winterization.
The first is the tank by-pass kit at the water heater. Under $20 from Amazon. To winterize the water heater, you turn the bypass valve and then open the valve at the base of the tank AND the pressure release valve. You can add a hose to the valve at the base and either drain into a bucket or connect a drill pump (another handy item to have around the boat for the $5 it costs) and pump the water overboard. This is pretty close to what Maine Sail had in his How-To Article. No antifreeze in the water heater. Just leave both valves open for the winter.
Also, don't do the magnesium anode. I did this thinking that the odor I was having from the hot water was a result of the anode being expelled. It was a pain and didn't fix the issue. I then called the manufacturer and he said that unless I was filling up with well water there is no way the anode would be depleted completely. I did the bleach shock he recommended (two cups of bleach into the deck fill, fill the tank, pump approximately half out through the hot water taps [all 4 on the C310], let it sit overnight and then fill and drain 3-4 times) and haven't had the issue since. When we were just using the boat seasonally (April to November) I shocked before launch in the spring and again around July or August. Now as liveaboards, we are doing the shock in April, August and November. No problems but we also use about 50 gallons a week so the system gets flushed often.
For the rest of the freshwater side I installed a tank drain (a bronze T with two barb fittings and a ball valve) at the lowest point in the bilge on the fresh water line that goes from the tank to the pump and a pump bypass ($14 from Amazon). I installed this right at the pump before the filter. It's at the high point (at least on my boat) in the run from the tank to the pump. So I can turn on the bypass and then open the tank drain and the tank and line drain into the bilge. With the bypass on I can use the pump to put antifreeze in the rest of the lines and fixtures.
One of the most important things I learned about winterization from Maine Sail was to actually test your effluent to ensure its not diluted. I use a relatively cheap refractometer ($50 from Amazon, I swear no affiliation with Amazon we just have a prime account so I order a lot of my stuff from them). Test the new antifreeze and then test what you are getting out of the fixtures. Keep going until they are the same. There are test strips you could use as well. Whatever you do, don't simply rely on seeing pink. I had a friend on a powerboat do that two years ago despite my offer to test for him. Cracked 5 lines and one of his water tanks, most of them in hard to reach areas of his boat.
Hope this was helpful.
Good luck and fair winds,
Jesse
The first is the tank by-pass kit at the water heater. Under $20 from Amazon. To winterize the water heater, you turn the bypass valve and then open the valve at the base of the tank AND the pressure release valve. You can add a hose to the valve at the base and either drain into a bucket or connect a drill pump (another handy item to have around the boat for the $5 it costs) and pump the water overboard. This is pretty close to what Maine Sail had in his How-To Article. No antifreeze in the water heater. Just leave both valves open for the winter.
Also, don't do the magnesium anode. I did this thinking that the odor I was having from the hot water was a result of the anode being expelled. It was a pain and didn't fix the issue. I then called the manufacturer and he said that unless I was filling up with well water there is no way the anode would be depleted completely. I did the bleach shock he recommended (two cups of bleach into the deck fill, fill the tank, pump approximately half out through the hot water taps [all 4 on the C310], let it sit overnight and then fill and drain 3-4 times) and haven't had the issue since. When we were just using the boat seasonally (April to November) I shocked before launch in the spring and again around July or August. Now as liveaboards, we are doing the shock in April, August and November. No problems but we also use about 50 gallons a week so the system gets flushed often.
For the rest of the freshwater side I installed a tank drain (a bronze T with two barb fittings and a ball valve) at the lowest point in the bilge on the fresh water line that goes from the tank to the pump and a pump bypass ($14 from Amazon). I installed this right at the pump before the filter. It's at the high point (at least on my boat) in the run from the tank to the pump. So I can turn on the bypass and then open the tank drain and the tank and line drain into the bilge. With the bypass on I can use the pump to put antifreeze in the rest of the lines and fixtures.
One of the most important things I learned about winterization from Maine Sail was to actually test your effluent to ensure its not diluted. I use a relatively cheap refractometer ($50 from Amazon, I swear no affiliation with Amazon we just have a prime account so I order a lot of my stuff from them). Test the new antifreeze and then test what you are getting out of the fixtures. Keep going until they are the same. There are test strips you could use as well. Whatever you do, don't simply rely on seeing pink. I had a friend on a powerboat do that two years ago despite my offer to test for him. Cracked 5 lines and one of his water tanks, most of them in hard to reach areas of his boat.
Hope this was helpful.
Good luck and fair winds,
Jesse
It would be best to drain. If by any chance you leave the pink stuff in the hot water tank until commissionning in the Spring, make sure you have the 110V breaker in the off position with some piece of tape over it to prevent accidental turning of power on. If heated, the pink stuff will turn into cotton candy and that'll be the end of your tank ! Do not run the engine either as you would also generate heat in the tank through the heat exchanger, with the same results.
Good point on making sure you can not turn the 110V breaker on once the water is out. Not even so much the effect on the pink stuff, but on an empty tank the heat element will burn out in a very short time.
Thanks, I'll be sure to commission the water tanks before the engine in the spring. Luckily the rest of my crew (family) is afraid to touch the electrical panel so no worries there.
I have couplings in the hot & cold water lines. Disconnect the hose, slip the hose into the vacuum hose and stuff a paper towel around the smaller hose.
To drain the water heater I slip the pressure relief valve hose into the vacuum hose. At each hose I let the vacuum run until there are no more traces of water.
I also disconnect the fresh water pump filter and vacuum just hold the vacuum hose to the tank side of the filter.
For the head shower drain & reefer drains I just pour antifreeze into each with the pump running
Hope this helps
C310 #147
For Pete's Sake