WINTERINZING FRESH WATER

[Warren Feldstein]

It is my understanding that to winterize the fresh water system, I should add the non toxic anti freeze to the water inlet port on deck after having first run the taps to extract as much water as possible.I assume that I collect the pink stuff and pour it into the next inlet. Again, run it through all fresh water taps.My question is as follows:If I pour the anti freeze down the starboard fill port, how do I control which of the two starboard tanks gets the pink stuff. I think that the forward of the two tanks fills first.As the tanks have a pick up that draws from the top, maybe I dont care.Alas, if only the forward of the two tanks get the pink stuff, do I run a hose down to the aft tank? I certainly would not fill the tank with anti freeze.I have also thought of disconnecting the houses and pumping the antifreeze from a paid backward to the tanks.Any suggestions.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Read the instructions

Go to the home page and click on the "Winterizing tips from Peggie" link. It'll take to you to complete instructions for winterizing both your fresh water system and your sanitation system.

 

[Richard Owen]

On this boat, it's a problem

Warren: I don't think Peggie really understood the problem. I know what you are talking about, and if I had to winterize our boat, I think it would be best to intercept the supply line from the 4 tanks on each side of the boat and pump some anti-freeze back into them. I can't see it working through the fill pipe, because each side fill pipe fills 2 tanks, so the amount of antifreeze required would be too much.Since you have to do this each year, I would pipe in a permanent loop back to the manifold complete with isolation valves so that you could pump antifreeze from a bucket (pipe separate line from pump inlet to bucket) into the tanks. I am familiar enough with the piping system to know that it can be done without too much hassle - you will need some pipe, fittings, and valves.It would certainly make the job easier each fall.Good LuckRichard owenMikayla

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

I should have read his question more carefully

And it looks like I need to add another step to the directions. Adding antifreeze down the deckfill is almost never a good idea, because there are often bends and sags in the hose that keep it from getting into the tank. It's almost always a good idea to install a valve that drains the fill hose completely and gives you access to the tank close to it. And add any other valves, bypass lines etc you need to make sure you can either get antifreeze into the entire system or blow all the water out. No one said it was supposed to be easy...but then, very little of boat maintenance is if you're gonna do it right.