Have a new-to-me O'Day 302 -- this is the second summer. The previous owner winterized the fresh water system with the pink antifreeze. We don't use any water from a water tank on the boat -- we bring all the potable water we use with us when we sail. For the last two years, I've left the pink stuff in the system. My question: Is leaving the pink antifreeze in the system going to hurt anything? Should I pump it all out and leave the system empty? Is there something other than the pink antifreeze I should be using in the system? Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.
Should the Anti-Freeze Go?
- Thread starter Steve L22188
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Use your fresh water
The alcohol in the antifreeze isn't doing it any good...and prob'ly has mostly evaporated by now, leaving you with a really skanky tank and plumbing. Flush it all out...recommission the tank and plumbing according to the directions I've posted here a zillion times (within the last week even)...and uUSE the water. Drink bottled water if you want to, but there's certainly no reason to use to wash your face, brush your teeth, wash dishes...even cook with it. And the more you use it, the "cleaner" it will be.
The alcohol in the antifreeze isn't doing it any good...and prob'ly has mostly evaporated by now, leaving you with a really skanky tank and plumbing. Flush it all out...recommission the tank and plumbing according to the directions I've posted here a zillion times (within the last week even)...and uUSE the water. Drink bottled water if you want to, but there's certainly no reason to use to wash your face, brush your teeth, wash dishes...even cook with it. And the more you use it, the "cleaner" it will be.
Peggy, Propylene glycol doesn't
evaporate from solution. But it is a nutrient. The rest of your advise is bang on. I like top use 190 proof grain alcohol to freeze proof the water system. It is not a nutrient and is a preservative.
evaporate from solution. But it is a nutrient. The rest of your advise is bang on. I like top use 190 proof grain alcohol to freeze proof the water system. It is not a nutrient and is a preservative.
Propylene glycol is the base...
You're saying that the alchohol added to it won't evaporate??? Use booze as antifreeze is risky...'cuz while straight uncut vodka won't freeze, even an 80-20 cut with water will (you can check this out for yourself in your freezer at home). So if there's even a gallon of water left in the system, you'd need a LOT of vodka--9-10 GALLONS of it--to provide any protection from freezing at all. Boats stored out of the water are at far greater risk of freezing than boats kept in the water...'cuz the hull--and therefore everything in it--will only get as cold as the air around a boat out of the water, or the water the boat is sitting in. So if the water never freezes, neither will the water tank or any plumbing in the hull. We had hard freezes that lasted up to a week or longer, but the water in the lake never went below 40. I never winterized in 20 years, never had a problem. So unless you haul out for the winter--and also using a whole lot of grain alcohol--you may just be wasting the alcohol.
You're saying that the alchohol added to it won't evaporate??? Use booze as antifreeze is risky...'cuz while straight uncut vodka won't freeze, even an 80-20 cut with water will (you can check this out for yourself in your freezer at home). So if there's even a gallon of water left in the system, you'd need a LOT of vodka--9-10 GALLONS of it--to provide any protection from freezing at all. Boats stored out of the water are at far greater risk of freezing than boats kept in the water...'cuz the hull--and therefore everything in it--will only get as cold as the air around a boat out of the water, or the water the boat is sitting in. So if the water never freezes, neither will the water tank or any plumbing in the hull. We had hard freezes that lasted up to a week or longer, but the water in the lake never went below 40. I never winterized in 20 years, never had a problem. So unless you haul out for the winter--and also using a whole lot of grain alcohol--you may just be wasting the alcohol.
Peggy 80 proof vodka doesn't even start to
form ice crystals at zero degrees f. in my freezer. I drain all the water from the system and pump 190 proof through the system until it appears at the faucets. Propylene glycol tastes so bad and is so had to get rid of that I prefer the alcohol. Also at the tempertures of interest here the vapor pressure of ethanol will be low enough to not escape a closed system.
form ice crystals at zero degrees f. in my freezer. I drain all the water from the system and pump 190 proof through the system until it appears at the faucets. Propylene glycol tastes so bad and is so had to get rid of that I prefer the alcohol. Also at the tempertures of interest here the vapor pressure of ethanol will be low enough to not escape a closed system.
I didn't say 80 proof...I said 80-20
80% alchohol, 20% water. That mix WILL freeze. Barry, draining the tank doesn't ncessarily leave you with a dry system, just a nice warm humid one that's the ideal breeding condition for molds, fungi and bacteria. If it does dry out completely, so do all the hoses and rubber parts in the water pump and faucets. After a few years, what you have is a really skanky leaking fresh water system and a water pump that may or may not still run, but doesn't move any water any more if it does. Extended lack of use is FAR more destructive to any system or equipment than continuous heavy use.
80% alchohol, 20% water. That mix WILL freeze. Barry, draining the tank doesn't ncessarily leave you with a dry system, just a nice warm humid one that's the ideal breeding condition for molds, fungi and bacteria. If it does dry out completely, so do all the hoses and rubber parts in the water pump and faucets. After a few years, what you have is a really skanky leaking fresh water system and a water pump that may or may not still run, but doesn't move any water any more if it does. Extended lack of use is FAR more destructive to any system or equipment than continuous heavy use.
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