Winterize - Hunter 33

[jngotasail]

Hello folks,
I am going to be winterizing my Hunter 33 this weekend. This is my first time and I am looking for any tips and tricks both for sail boats in general and if there are any peculiarities to look out for with a Hunter 33 (2007).
What type of anti freeze do you all use for the engine and the plumbing? I have AC. Anything I should be aware of here?

 

[dlochner]

Make sure the antifreeze does not contain alcohol. It should be propylene glycol for all plumbing. Alcohol is bad for the various plastics in the plumbing system.

Contrary to the old sailor's tale of using cheap vodka, using it as an antifreeze is a waste of bad vodka.

 

[DougM]

RV antifreeze and a lot of it. Besides the engine seawater side of the cooling system, do sink drains, shower drain, bilge pumps and the head. Leave some antifreeze in the bilge. You probably have a water circulating pump for the air conditioner, which also needs winterizing. Open all seacocks so that water doesn’t collect in them that can freeze and split the valve body.(found out the hard way on one of those...)

 

[shemandr]

Don’t forget waste system. Definitely pump out and antifreeze. I used to put anti freeze in the water tank and run all faucets including the cockpit shower until what comes out is antifreeze color. Drain the hot water heater and put antifreeze in it. Draw that through hot water faucets.
Change engine oil. Put stabilizer in diesel fuel that will over winter. Some folks put a rag or otherwise block fuel tank vent to reduce condensation. We’ve had discussions on SBO about topping off fuel vs emptying it ss much as possible.

 

[Justin_NSA]

This comes up every Fall. There should be a definitive sticky posted somewhere. for future reference.
BoatUS has a good one

https://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/winter/winterizing.pdf

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

WINTERIZING A SANITATION SYSTEM (excerpt from my book)
The sanitation system is the easy job:
Pump holding tank out, then rinse thoroughly to flush out any sludge. This does not require filling the tank and can even be done with sea water. Here’s how:
Put enough water into the tank via the deck pumpout fitting—because that sends the water into the tank at the bottom to stir up any sludge and hold it in suspension so it can be flushed out-- to cover the bottom to a depth of at least three inches. Pump that out. Repeat…repeat…repeat…till you’re pumping out clean water. Then add water one more time and turn on the macerator to rinse it out along with the overboard discharge plumbing.
By the way, this should be done at least 2-3x a season, more often if live aboard or use your boat year round, and especially in preparation for winter or other extended layup,

Now you’re ready to winterize the system.
Sea water toilet, manual or electric: Just flushing antifreeze through the bowl will not protect the intake line, the toilet pump or the bowl...it'll only go out the discharge to the tank. To protect the whole system, it's necessary to close the toilet intake through-hull, disconnect inlet hose and stick it in a gallon of non-toxic ("the pink stuff") antifreeze. Pump the whole gallon through the system into the holding tank. Do not reconnect head intake hose to the through-hull.
If your toilet inlet line is teed into the head sink drain line, you can add the antifreeze by just pouring it down the sink--after you've closed the drain seacock, of course! Pump the head or hold the button down long enough to get the excess fluid out of the system as possible.
Fresh water toilet: If your toilet uses onboard pressurized fresh water, you winterized it when you winterized your fresh water system. All that remains is, flush the appropriate amount of non-toxic antifreeze ("the pink stuff") down the toilet into the tank and you’re done.

After the boat comes out of the water, open all the sea cocks to drain any trapped water.

Do not use antifreeze in an ElectroScan, Lectra/San, PuraSan, or any other Type I or Type II MSD. Follow manufacturers instructions to winterize all Type I and II MSDs.

--Peggie

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

This comes up every Fall. There should be a definitive sticky posted somewhere. for future reference.
BoatUS has a good one

Instructions that I wrote for both water and waste systems was a sticky in the Plumbing and Sanitation forum (which is where this thread actually belongs) for years...prob'ly deleted by one of the site software "upgrades." They're also in "To Everything There is a Season" section in my book (see link my signature below if you don't have a copy yet).

--Peggie

 

[Justin_NSA]

Instructions that I wrote for both water and waste systems was a sticky in the Plumbing and Sanitation forum (which is where this thread actually belongs) for years...prob'ly deleted by one of the site software "upgrades." They're also in "To Everything There is a Season" section in my book (see link my signature below if you don't have a copy yet).

--Peggie

I have a copy Peggie !

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I just checked...it's still there...and needs to be replaced.

--Peggie

 

[Rich Stidger]

Well, everyone certainly has their opinions and they are completely entitled to them. So I will offer up my own based upon 22 years of winterizing my engines (aux & genset), A/C systems, water system, and head system. I have never suffered any damage to any of these systems with my processes.

For the engine(s) I use only regular automotive antifreeze - ethylene glycol diluted to 50/50. I would use the "safer" propylene glycol formula if it was readily available. I never use the RV antifreeze (AKA pink stuff) of any formulation in the engines because the automotive type has corrosion and rust inhibitors and I feel those are important to have in the engine passages over the winter. I connect a hose to the engine intake and put the other end in a 5 gallon bucket of fresh water. I run the engine for 10 minutes at full temperature to dissolve and flush out any salt. Then I transfer the hose to another bucket of the antifreeze mix and run a fixed volume through the engine and muffler. Years ago I determined the amount to run through by sampling the antifreeze that is expelled and then testing it for the freeze point. My freeze protection point is -30 F. Good for northern winters.

For the head system I pump out and then flush the tank with fresh water two times and then pump out as completely as possible. During the flushing I pour fresh water into the toilets and pump through the lines to the holding tank. After that, with the intake sea cocks closed I pump RV antifreeze through each head (I have two). I use 1/2 gallon for the head next to the holding tank and 1.5 gallons for the head that is 20 feet distant. I then run the macerator pump to clear the antifreeze out of the holding tank and fill the macerator and its discharge lines with the antifreeze. While the macerator is running after pumping out all of the antifreeze, I close the sea cock to prevent seawater from backing up .

For the A/C systems, I do the same procedure as for my engines except that I use RV antifreeze instead of the ethylene glycol. I flush the system for 10 minutes and then pump the RV antifreeze until I see it being expelled.

For the water system, I drain all of the water tanks until the faucets are just spitting. I connect a hose to the bottom drain of the hot water tank and using a drill pump I pump all of the water out of the tank. Open a hot water faucet valve so air can get back into the tank. This will also pull the water in the hot water line from that valve back into the tank as well. Then I connect an air compressor to the input line of the pump. I blow air back into each tank (I have 4) to clear the lines from the tanks to the pump. Closing the valves to the tanks I purge all of the water lines to each faucet both hot and cold until each one is just spitting water and mostly air. Clean the water strainer and you are done. No RV antifreeze is used. Nothing to flush out in the spring.

After hauling, open all of the sea cocks and let them drain. Close for the winter.

Over the years I have developed connections and adapters to make all of the connections that I describe above very easy to do. The first year is the most difficult.

 

[dlochner]

This comes up every Fall. There should be a definitive sticky posted somewhere. for future reference.
BoatUS has a good one

https://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/winter/winterizing.pdf

On the BoatUS site there is a video on winterizing the freshwater system. It is a good video on how not to do it. They dump 3 gallons of antifreeze in the water tank and then pump it out. Trouble is, you have to repeatedly flush the system each spring to get rid of all that AF and it imparts a taste into the water.

Mostly I follow a procedure similar to @Rich Stidger 's.

For the engine, I use straight ethylene glycol, aka automotive antifreeze or the Green Stuff, not the 50/50 mix. I also use the cheap house brand. Ethylene glycol is friendlier than propylene gylcol towards the various rubber and plastic components in the cooling system. Using straight AF allows for some dilution with any residual water in the system. I try to winterize the engine just before the boat is hauled. Ethlyene Glycol is not toxic to fish and it breaks down rapidly in the water. Besides, it will end up there in the spring when the engine is first started. Do not run it onto the ground as it is toxic to mammals and will make the local boatyard dogs quite ill or dead. AF has a sweet taste that mammals like.

Camco makes a bypass valve kit for the hot water tank. Once the HW tank is drained, turn 2 valves to bypass the heater. Then disconnect the supply line from the water manifold (I have 2 tanks that connect at a manifold). Air is then blown back through the supply lines to the tanks with a small shop vac. The line to the water pump is connected to a hose and AF (propylene glycol, aka Pink Stuff) is pumped through the supply hoses to all the faucets. Once the HW tank is drained, tape the circuit breaker for the HW tank in the off position, keeps it from getting accidentally turned on while the tank is empty and prevents it from burning out.

In the spring the supply lines are reconnected to the manifold, the water tanks shocked (see Peggie's book) and drained through all the faucets. Running 100 gallons of water through the system clears out the AF. Once the lines are clear, the bypass valves are opened and the water tanks filled again. Run the hot water taps for a few minutes to fill the HW tank.

If you have a wash down pump for the anchor don't forget to winterize that too. Replacing the strainer and rebuilding the pump is only slightly less expensive than buying a new one.

 

[quadrille38]

Do a search in the archives here as there are several threads on various ways to do the air conditioners. Lots of options. My method takes 10 minutes. Ive posted on it before

 

[Justin_NSA]

Do a search in the archives here as there are several threads on various ways to do the air conditioners. Lots of options. My method takes 10 minutes. Ive posted on it before

Yeah. I run the pinks stuff thru and I'm done. We get cold enough for the lake to freeze. Yet to have any freeze related problems.

 

[dLj]

Ethylene glycol is prohibited in my part of the world. My marina forbids it's use in boats. One must use propylene glycol. I think the RV stuff is also permitted, but the ones using alcohol seem to have some problems long term on seal materials, I understand. So I only use propylene glycol. Techniques have all been explained....

dj

 

[dlochner]

Ethylene glycol is prohibited in my part of the world. My marina forbids it's use in boats. One must use propylene glycol. I think the RV stuff is also permitted, but the ones using alcohol seem to have some problems long term on seal materials, I understand. So I only use propylene glycol. Techniques have all been explained....

dj

Interesting, what do cars use in their cooling systems? What do you put into the freshwater cooling system on your diesel? You're in NY, correct?

 

[jeff356]

Winterize the engine and generator, after oil change with the pink stuff and also the air conditioner using the pink, making sure all are exhausting the pink for a while.
Run pink stuff through the head until it comes out pink and also have an ElectroScan, so I remove the clean out plug on top and suck both sides dry and reset the plug. Make sure to drain and/or put pink stuff in the gray water sump if you have one.
Make sure the holding tank is empty and run clean water through it and pump out using the macerator to clean the bottom of the tank, macerator and hoses to the sea cock.
Drain the water tank and remove the hose to ensure no water is left then I also remove the water pump to make sure it doesn't freeze. Made a connector section of hose with an air fitting and connect it to the manifold input line and blow out all the water lines and water heater with air.
Make sure I open the sea cocks on land to make sure no water is trapped above them and will freeze. Also make sure the keel sump is dried out and you can put some pink in there if you get rain in.
Jeff

 

[dLj]

I was speaking specifically to my boat. We are not allowed to use ethylene glycol to winterize our boats at my marina. Nothing to do with cars.

dj

 

[Rich Stidger]

I was speaking specifically to my boat. We are not allowed to use ethylene glycol to winterize our boats at my marina. Nothing to do with cars.

dj

Then buy the propylene glycol formula instead. I just can't find it around my city.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

One more time for all those who are just pouring antifreeze into the bowl and flushing it into the tank...we used sell about half a dozen bowls every spring to people did that and thought their toilets had been winterized.

Just flushing antifreeze through the bowl will not protect the intake line, the toilet pump or the bowl...it'll only go out the discharge to the tank. To protect the whole system, it's necessary to close the toilet intake through-hull, disconnect inlet hose and stick it in a gallon of non-toxic ("the pink stuff") antifreeze. Pump the whole gallon through the system into the holding tank. Do not reconnect head intake hose to the through-hull.

See post #9 for complete directions.

--Peggie

 

[Davidasailor26]

close the toilet intake through-hull, disconnect inlet hose and stick it in a gallon of non-toxic ("the pink stuff") antifreeze.

Any advantage to using EG instead of PG in the head, considering that potability isn’t really a concern? Would EG be easier on rubber parts and less likely to grow anaerobic bacteria?