We have a 28' 1984 O'Day that we just purchased this year i was wondering about winterizing hot water heater when you have a heat exchanger from engine? When i winterize the engine with a gallon on antifreeze will that take care of the exchanger?
Winterizing Water Heater tank
- Thread starter woodtickranch
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woody, here's a start.
http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq-winterization.html
We don't have to winterize our boats here. I suggest that you do a search on this board as well as Google "boat winterization." Lotsa reading for you.
Good luck.
http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq-winterization.html
We don't have to winterize our boats here. I suggest that you do a search on this board as well as Google "boat winterization." Lotsa reading for you.
Good luck.
We are the original owners of an '85 28 so we've been through the routine a few times. We start by running the cold and hot faucets to empty the main tank. Then you can close the intake valve on the water heater, pour a gallon of antifreeze into the main tank, and run the cold faucets until they're red. Run the bathroom one first as its closer to the pump. Once that's done, shut off the pump, and empty the lazarette. Take the input line off of the check valve going into the water heater, and cycle the pump until you have pink there. There should be a few screws around the base of the water heater holding it down - take them out. Also take out the plywood floor of the lazarette. Then, unscrew the intake check valve. Turn the valve assembly itself so it's pointing down in a way that it will drain into a small bucket or jug. Then open the valve and start letting water out. You can unscrew the hot water out line to let air back into the tank. Once all the water is out (tilt it for the last bit), blow or use an air compressor to blow all the water out the hot water line through the hot faucets. Open the galley faucet first as it's closer. You can try pouring a little antifreeze in the hot line to get in any low spots, but much won't go in before it bubbles back out on your hands. You can also pour a little in the heater if you're worried about there being any water still there, but it's more work to purge in the spring then. After that, you're all set and you can close everything back up. Just leave the intake valve closed until after you get all the antifreeze out of the cold lines in the spring.
As for the engine side - it's easiest to have a spare length of hose to connect from the raw water pump to a bucket. If you don't, you have to disconnect the hose from the seacock and pull it through into a bucket. We are in salt water, so we fill a 5 gallon bucket with fresh water and run that almost completely through. As the level gets low, one person pours a gallon of antifreeze into the bucket. By the time the level gets almost empty (tip the bucket), the exhaust should be almost completely antifreeze. This is a 2 person job - one to pour and monitor the level, the other to watch the exhaust and ready to pull the engine kill when the bucket is almost empty. After you're done, if you used a spare hose, just reconnect the original. If not, you have the tricky task of running the hose back under the engine and onto the seacock.
As for the engine side - it's easiest to have a spare length of hose to connect from the raw water pump to a bucket. If you don't, you have to disconnect the hose from the seacock and pull it through into a bucket. We are in salt water, so we fill a 5 gallon bucket with fresh water and run that almost completely through. As the level gets low, one person pours a gallon of antifreeze into the bucket. By the time the level gets almost empty (tip the bucket), the exhaust should be almost completely antifreeze. This is a 2 person job - one to pour and monitor the level, the other to watch the exhaust and ready to pull the engine kill when the bucket is almost empty. After you're done, if you used a spare hose, just reconnect the original. If not, you have the tricky task of running the hose back under the engine and onto the seacock.
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