Winterize hot water heater

[ScottD]

Can you just turn on the hot water faucet and drain the hot water heater? New boat for me so I have not located the hot water heater to see how to drain it.
Do you run antifreeze into hot water heater? What is best way to do it?
Thanks as always.
ScottD

 

[ITMaster]

Here You Go Scott

Check this out, you should find all the answers to your winterizing needs here:

Winterizing The fresh Water System

 

[jfp737]

Scott-
When I winterize my water heater, I open the drain on the water heater itself and let it drain into the bilge. Then I open the pressure valve, and blow the remaining water out with a shop vac. (I attach the hose to the exhaust part of the shop vac...make sure it's blowing out clean air) I leave my water system over the winter.
-John

 

[jfp737]

...I meant to say I leave my water system empty over the winter. Of course, you can always ad RV anti-freeze as the other poster noted. It's cheap insurance just in case you don't get all of the water out.

 

[Tim R.]

Can you just turn on the hot water faucet and drain the hot water heater?

No, you need to drain the water by opening the relief valve or disconnecting your cold water supply. Your water heater is on the pressure side of the pump. Water does not compress so when your pump starts sucking air, there is no pressure to push the water out of the heater. This could work if you have an expansion tank large enough to push the entire volume of your water heater but it would be very large.

Do you run antifreeze into hot water heater? What is best way to do it?

No. Not needed if you dain the system. If you try to just run AF into the water heater, it will be diluted by the existing water and will not act very much like AF.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

The easy way to do it

No, you cannot just turn on the faucets to drain the water heater because--unlike your water tank--the cold water inlet is at the bottom and the hot water outlet is at the top...so turning on the faucets won't work unless you turn the water heater upside down. Not really practical.

Nor is necessary to put antifreeze in it. In fact, that's something you want to avoid because it takes forever to flush it out and you MUST NOT turn on the water heater breaker next spring till it's all been flushed out.

There should be a petcock at--or on--the bottom of the water heater that's there just TO drain the tank. If your water heater is a REALLY cheap model that doesn't have one, disconnect the fresh water line...then use a wet vac or whatever works to get the small amount of remaining water out.

After you've drained it, bypass it...marine and RV supply stores sell bypass kits. They're easy to install and have valves in 'em to allow 'em to remain permanently installed.

Then all you need to do is winterize the fresh water system and your'e done.

 

[sailingseadragon]

Scott,

Below is a link to the winterizing tasks that have served me well over the last 5 years... Sea Dragon is located on the Chesapeake Bay so our winters are not that harsh.

http://www.sailingseadragon.com/winterize.htm

Good luck
Garner

 

[PKFK]

I had a bunch of questions around this topic a couple weeks ago - emptying the hot water tank may entail more than just disconnecting or opening the cold supply line if your tank has a check-valve on the cold input.

It came out in the discussion around my thread that this is a possibility - so if the tank does not seem to be draining thru the cold supply line (assuming you are unlucky enough to not have a drain valve - like myself), try to determine if there is a check-valve on the supply side - you will need to get this open in order for the tank to drain !!

I installed an RV blow-out plug on the hot water line, and then used a compressor to force the tank to drain, and then give it a good blow-out (once I figured out how to open the check-valve).

Note that a check-valve, if present, willl also prevent you from using the drill-pump, until you get the valve opened.

Hope these caveats save you some time or prevent frustration with what should be a simple task !!

Paul

 

[Jentine]

I have reduced the time it takes to winterize the fresh water system to 20-30 minutes. I simply open all the faucets in the boat to drain the water tank quickly. Then I open the drain at the bottom of the water tank and let that drain into the vacuum cleaner (vacuum keeps the bilge dry) and while that is happening, I remove the hot water supply line, open the hot water line to the galley and blow all the water out of the line, close the faucet and do each of the other hot water supply lines similarly. Once the hot water lines are blown dry, I do the same for the cold water lines. Then reconnect the hot and cold water supply lines to their respective places and close the hw tank drain.
During the eight or ten years I have been using this method, I have had no problems whatever and the only thing I have to do in the spring is to fill the water tank and purge the air from the lines. I don't like that pink stuff in the water system.
Jim