SIGH……..winterization!

[tonyiiiafl]

Saturday we winterized the water systems and genset on the Holodeck. All went smooth, and now we await the word for the last ride up the Wareham RIver to the winter storage marina. Seasons are too short!

[Viper]

Amen to that. Did my water system already. Easiest one I've ever done on this boat. Moving the fresh water pump from under the step and into the engine compartment made the job so much easier. On to the heads, generator, and engines when she comes out of the water. BTW, for those of you that have to winterize and don't have a hot water heater by-pass, you should consider installing one instead of having to remove hoses all the time.

[tonyiiiafl]

I used a different method this year. I got another fresh water pump and connected it to the fresh water system and pumped -60 through the lines, and also did same at dock connection. SO much easier. I also disconnect the water heater and join the input and discharge together. Drain heater and blow some air in there. NO pink stuff in the heater.

[RGrew176]

To clear my water heater I open the drain valve and then hook up my compressor and run air through until the heater stops draining. Close the drain then pump air through the lines opening the faucets one line at a time until no more water sprays out. Then I run the pink stuff through to make sure nothing left will freeze up. I leave the engines and A/C to the marina mechanic.

[buster53]

I have water hose connectors installed on all my sea strainer caps. With those, in a manner of minutes I can fresh water flush my engines, genset and AC system anytime I want. I also have a bucket with a short hose I can hook up to my strainers. Fill the bucket with antifreeze and again in a manner of minutes, I can winterize all four

[Viper]

Source of the post.....I also disconnect the water heater and join the input and discharge together.......

Put a water heater by-pass on your things-to-do list, you'll be happy when it's done, makes by-passing way easier with just the turn of two or three faucets and you're done, no need to remove hoses and risk ruining ends or fittings.

[Phrancus]

wow, you guys got it all set-up way better than when it left the factory!

For ours, well, the water-heater wasn't in operation this past season as I did not get around to (enough motivation) to replace the big plastic square tank in front of the engines (in the way of the impellers and disturbing access to the engines for maintenace greatly so I removed it) with a flexible water-bag up front in the bow in the unused space under the bed there. (which I found out when addressing water ingress through the power cables to the the winch (which itself slips do al lot of work done to get it to turn but still handywork to haul the anchor)see my other topic about that)

Anyway, I'm not so worried about water heater. Its the engines I'm more concerned about. I solved the overheating problems on the port engine in a number of steps. Each involving a re-fill of coolant so in the end I chose to use water instead. Works fine, no more overheat but also not frost-protection. So next job was to replace it with coolant. Long story short: the manual says 13litres, I got something like 8-10 in even though I opened every bloody drain valve mentioned plus whatever I came accross (yes, I drained the seawater too here and there).

end of this week she'll be lifted and put ashore. Great challenges: will I get all the muck and grub off the hull and drives? (got some really good stuff to remove algae, shells and whatnot and because it says 'BIO' in its name it must be really really friendly to globe after rinsing it off right?..... )
will I get the job to replace the bellows done over winter? Hope to be able to read the particular part numbers so I can order the right parts, it's a green mushy mess at the moment!
All batteries must come out, test them and I'm quite sure they will need replacing. Plan to put them in a rack as to save space. And will the weather be kind so I can lift the diesel tank to clean underneath to get rid of the foul smell?

And before all that, I'll have to flush the seawater out and replace that with anti-freeze. Did that last year by forcing pink stuff in the hose just past the impeller. Was a risk as apparently if it does not flush out the exhaust fast enough, it will push back into a cylinder. Well, without surface water, that risk is gone. But still a hassle.

Very interested in solutions like forementioned valves and hoses to get this job done efficiently. Similar to a system to change oil with some valves and cannisters rather than loose pumps, hoses, jerrycans and such, as mentioned in another thread.

[chpsk8]

I hooked a pump up to the water heater drain and started sucking water out and thought "man this is taking a long time"... Eventually it stopped pumping water, I cracked a tap in the galley and heard air on both the cold and hot side.
When I turned on the water system to finish pulling the tank water out nothing came out and the pump wouldn't shut off. So not sure if I was out of water, or if I just sucked the tank dry through the hot water heater! Either way...
I then hooked a short hose to my water pump and ran a couple gallons of antifreeze through the taps just to be safe.

This year took a long time to get everything done. About 8 hours from having nothing started, to cleaning up. I feel pretty good about it all though. The good thing was I was sweating the entire time and not freezing my butt off! Glad I pulled at the crack of October this year. As much as I like a fall cruise I hate being wet/cold and covered in antifreeze when it's cold out. I was confronted with the "how much does it cost to have someone do this? Should I just pay someone?" thoughts though.

I think the worst thing is draining the blocks on the motors. I struggle with the outboard drains. I finally installed the two part brass ones instead of just a plug, that did make it easier on the inboard plugs, but man I can't see and I can barely feel and get a wrench on those outside ones. Beyond that I have hose connections on every sea strainer, so it's just a matter of hook up the antifreeze tank and suck it in and watch it come out the other side!

[tonyiiiafl]

I would like to see the connections on the sea strainers. It is something I have been going to do for awhile. the pump I used this weekend made my job easier!

[buster53]

I would like to see the connections on the sea strainers. It is something I have been going to do for awhile. the pump I used this weekend made my job easier!

Maybe this weekend, I can take a picture. There used to be a company that made them and my boat had one each on the AC and genset strainers. I had my engine strainer caps made to match. Basically, I had a guy tap the cap with a pipe that had a hose fitting on the end and a seacock as part of it.
Hook up either a fresh water hose for flushing or the hose connected to my bucket for winterizing, close the sea water seacock, open the strainer seacock. Makes winterizing a breeze…can be done in minutes.