C28 water heater winterization

[Normf943]

I am winterizing my 2019 c28 which will be kept in the water . I have drained all of the fresh water outlets hot and cold. I believe that the water heater is now empty but some folks keep the water heater turned on. Are there any problems with this assuming the water heater is nearly empty?

 

[glider4]

If you have drained the fresh water system you probably didn’t get all the water out of the hot water heater in a C-28.
You should NOT leave the hot water heater on using A/C shore power with the water heater either partially or fully drained.
Per the owners manual, “DO NOT OPERATE HEATER WITHOUT ELEMENT BEING SUBMERGED IN WATER.”

PS: I’d be willing to bet that those leaving their hot water heater on during the winter using shore power are not draining the fresh water systems.

 

[Maggie Anne]

I also leave my boat in the water over the winter. On my boat the water heater is plugged into an outlet controlled by a breaker on the AC panel. For winterization, I unplug the water heater and use that outlet to power a bilge heater. I also drain the water heater using the drain plug on the heater itself.

 

[Normf943]

Thanks folks. Going to the boat later today to look at the water heater. Can someone tell me how to access it for purposes of insuring that it is fully drained. However if a small amount of water remains in it would any damage result if that small amount remains and freezes with plenty of room to expand?

 

[Maggie Anne]

I'm not sure about your model but I think most of the water heaters are IsoTemp, they should have a knob on the front bottom part of the heater (on the same face where the input and output water lines go in) that if turned will drain the water. When doing this I also disconnected the input (blue, top) water line and also tilted the tank towards the drain (as much as I could). This seemed to work fine over five winters with the heater in the starboard lazarette relatively exposed to the cold air.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

my water heater is forward of the starboard cockpit hatch. the back of the heater has the overheat/pressure valve. there is a small lever on this valve that if you pull to a perpendicular position, it will drain the tank. in my case this drains to the bilge. I leave this open during the winter with the tank empty and the heater off.

I keep my boat in the puget sound all winter like this. I also put a camfrano bilge heater in the bilge.

I also remove the faucet heads of the outside shower and galley as these have frozen in the past and damaged them - despite draining the tank.

 

[it4llc]

I added a small fitting to the drain on the hot water heater and then attached a few feet of plastic hose. This winter I opened the valve on the hot water heater, and used the hose to go up out of the lazarette and into the main bilge, siphoning the water out of the hot water heater and the rest of the system. I took turns opening and closing the various faucets while siphoning. I used my compressor to blow out the lines after this, but there wasn’t much water left in them after siphoning out the water through the hot water heater.

 

[Todd_D]

I drain my water heater by removing the bottom connection and opening the pressure release valve. It survived -12 last winter with no issues.