winterizing head intake line

[Sherry]

We winterized my new-to-me 1992 Hunter30 on Friday for the first time. Everything was relatively easy except for the head intake line. The through-hull fitting for the line has a barbed connector for the hose, and the hose is very stiff. So we had to actually cut the hose off the through hull in order to be able to suck anti-freeze through the hose to the head. Obviously, if I keep doing this year after year, I'll run out of hose at some point So I'm looking for a better way. One thing I want to do is install some kind of raw water strainer in the line to catch trash coming in before it goes to the head. I originally had the idea that I could use this point (rather than the thru-hull connection) for winterizing. But I'm thinking that the strainer will probably have barbed fittings and so will be difficult to remove as well - no better off than removing from the thru-hull. Anybody have ideas for some kind of quick release system or bypass line that can be used for winterizing or some other idea that hasn't occured to me yet?Thanks!Sherry

 

[Don]

T fitting

Just put a t fitting in the line and connect it to the sink drain. You can then use the sink as a source for antifreeze in the winter and also be able to run fresh water through the sink to flush out the lines to minimize the head odor.don

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Warm the hose with a blow dryer...

It'll come off much easier. Better yet, do what Don recommended.

 

[Rob19574]

Do what Don said

Sherry - do exactly what Don said - T the head intake line with the sink drain at the seacock. I never even open the seacock to suck in seawater (a source for odor). Use the head - then wash your hands in the sink...then flush. At the end of the season you just fill the sink with antifreeze and pump it through.

 

[Lou 14643]

Am I missing a small step?

Should there also be a (new) diverter valve installed in the sink drain line, to allow you to choose when the sink drains overboard and when to the head?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Y-valve not needed...

When the seacock is open, the sink will drain and the toilet will pull in seawater. When the thru-hull is closed the toilet will pull water from the sink. However, you do need to keep a plug in the sink to be able to flush the toilet with sea water...otherwise, when the seacock is open the toilet will pull air from the sink, preventing the pump from priming. Or you can put a shut-off valve in the sink drain line that stays closed except when the sink is in use. Or, you could use a y-valve. A garden hose wye would make more sense for this application than a diverter valve because a) they cost a LOT less...and b) garden hose wyes don't divert, but are a wye with a shutoff valve in each leg...so you can have both sides open at once, both sides closed, or one open and one closed.

 

[Don s/v Tellico]

Note Peggy...

If I understand your t advice above correctly, note that on some Hunters (my 37.5 for example) the head sink drains ABOVE the waterline, not below. Therefore, the head can't pull raw water in, as you explained above. (That is what you're saying right?)Plus, given that it's above the waterline, there isn't a seacock for the sink drain.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Well, in that case, it won't work

That is unless you do it in reverse: re-route the head sink drain line to tee into the head intake line instead of teeing the head intake line into the sink drain line. Whether that's practical or not depends on where the head intake thru-hull is located.

 

[Sherry]

other ideas?

My head sink through is above the waterline as well; it does have a sea cock for closing when underway (for heeling), but it won't pull raw water in. So I need another approach.When I was boat shopping, I looked at another boat that had a T rigged on the engine raw water intake line specifically for winterizing. In this picture, the black hose that runs parallel to the exhaust/muffler (right under the muffler) has an open end that you can stick in a jug of anti-freeze (far left of picture). The way I THINK it works is that you close the raw water intake sea cock, open the valve on the supplemental intake hose, and suck in anti-freeze through the supplemental hose. I know my surveyor didn't like the WAY they had done it on this boat; I think he objected to the plastic T fitting and no double hose clamps. But the concept seems like a good one. Move two valve handles, and you've changed the source of the intake.Thoughts on this option?

 

[Ken Palmer]

Am I missing something?

The question was "winterizing head intake line". I don't thing anybody suggested taking the intake line off at the head end of the hose. It is usually a much easier place than the thru-hull to remove. If you leave the valve on the thru-hull open when out of the water, I would think that any water in the line would drain by gravity. Or, you could always blow the line out with an air compressor. If I missed this suggestion, please excuse this post.

 

[Don s/v Tellico]

duh....Ken you win the prize...

Disconnecting the head end and using a spare piece of hose into the pink jug is deal for the job is a great idea.I'd never thought of that one...duh.

 

[Sherry]

not hauling the boat

Ken,Good idea, but I'm not hauling the boat; it stays in the water. So I have to have a way to get the line from the thru hull either completely empty or with anti-freeze in it.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

If the water the boat is sitting in doesn't freeze

Neither will the water in the head intake line. So if you don't want to warm the hose with a blow dryer to get it off the thru-hull, take Ken's suggestion: remove it from the toilet pump...stick another short piece of hose on the pump to stick into the antifreeze jug...and pump away. If you want to, drain as much water as you can from the head intake hose, then use a funnel to pour some antifreeze into it...then don't reconnect it to the toilet...secure it to something that'll keep the open end up for the winter.

 

[Sherry]

T-fitting option?

Any ideas or input on the T-fitting option shown in the picture I posted earlier? Good idea? Bad idea? Tips for implementing it?

 

[charles]

use different hose

Sherry-On my boat I find the "white" hose is very difficult to put on and remove without heat. The "black" hose, however, can easily be pulled of seacocks for winterizing. My previous boat had the semitransparent stuff and I believe that was hard to remove.