Early Winter Question About Winterszation

[Sail123]

My center cockpit Clipper Marine 32 is an import from a long life of service in California. Now a Nebraska area boat, she will be getting her first winter ever, this year.

How do I get the water out of the mixing elbow ( that I just replaced) and anywhere else I need to remove water before it freezes. Is it like my rv, antifreeze in any undrainable water and drain what you can. Poor antifreeze in the bilge just in case?

Hey, I know it is spring, but why wait to get educated.

Thanks.

 

[dparilla]

I don't know.... Is it bad luck to be talking winterization when some are just getting launched?

I would say exactly like the RV but with a raw water component. First drain the muffler if possible, then you can just pump pink antifreeze through the system until it comes out pink. I then lift my lift muffler drained as well as remove the impeller cover and drain it. I figure I get out most of the water as well as put antifreeze into those spots that don't drain. I reconnect the hoses to the through hulls and leave the old impeller tied to the battery switch as a reminder to install a new one.

For our fresh water system, I drain all tanks including the hot water tank which I then isolate so it won't get antifreeze in it, I then pump pink stuff through the lines and fixtures until they flow pink (I do not add it to the tanks as they are empty and I leave the hoses disconnected from them.) Then I pump antifreeze through the salt water intakes (a/c, toilet and deck washdown.) Lastly, I pump antifreeze through the bilge pump to make sure it and the siphon break are protected. (I can remove mine and place it in a bucket vice filling the bilge.) I do leave some antifreeze in the bilge since I leave the boat on the water, but if you are hauling out, I see no reason to put antifreeze in the bilge. One other caution: BEWARE OF CONDIMENTS. Olive oil can gelatinize and coming back to a cracked bottle of ketchup in the spring ranks low on my fun scale. I hope this gets you started, now in the meantime...its time to go sailing!

 

[RichH]

For engine winterization the best method is to first drain the engine , etc. of all raw water, then pump a 50:50 mixture of antifreeze through all the cooling circuits. A 50:50 mix of ethylene glycol will ensure that no freezing will occur down to -20° F. Find a source that accepts used Ethylene Glycol and use that in the engine because of its anti-rust properties. This method is preferred for storage even in areas that do not freeze.

Draining an engine and leaving it with 'air' inside the cooling passages is a good way to shorten the life of an engine - it promotes the internal protective 'black' ferrous rust to change into destructive 'red' ferric rust ... and accelerates the development of destructive 'slab rust' which 'pushes apart' the casting stratifications of the cast iron.

 

[Bill Roosa]

I would note that air does not freeze even in Canada sooooooo if you drain the raw water that is sufficient. If she is in the water then the raw water you can't get out will not be helped by adding anti to the lake.
Same thing applies to the pottable water. Just drain the tanks then blow the lines dry. My experience is that the "pink stuff" lingers in the potable water lines and tanks and takes about half the season to get the bad taste out. Better to have dry lines and no anti to deal with.
I made a hose adapter (connector + 3 ft of plastic hose) to connect to the supply lines after the potable water pump and just open the faucets in turn then blow the water out. Takes about 5 minutes and no bad taste for the first half of the season

 

[dparilla]

Do not use Ethylene Glycol in the raw water cooling circuit unless you plan to catch and recover it all. Propylene Glycol (pink stuff) is non toxic, environementally friendly and can be used to provide protection to 40,50, 60 below (F) or more depending on the exact suspension. You should also use it at 100 percent out of the bottle to get the best effect as most are 30% solution anyway. Again, this is for the raw water side. The fresh water (antifreeze) side should be fine with a 50/50 antifreeze (ethylene glycol) solution. The raw water side just needs flushed and can be left dry as the heat exchanger is not usually subject to rust as the internals of the engine. If the engine is only raw water cooled, then I agree you would want to flush it and leave it with the pink stuff in it to be rinsed out in the spring.