EC-21 cold weather use

[ac holmes]

Hello

It is getting colder in upstate NY and I am reluctant to pull my EC-21 just yet. I am wondering if a light bulb under the dog house would keep things from freezing? Any other suggestions on how to use the boat on a regular basis in cold weather are welcome. How cold does it have to get to damage the plumbing and exchanger? Anti-freeze into the fresh water loop is too much trouble 2 or 3 times a week and I am looking for alternatives.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[ron cowan]

My experience was small wattage bulbs protected in shoplight fixtures kept a warm temp in the doghouse. Risk is that you could lose power due to a storm or whatever. With a fitting near the raw water strainer it was easy to run in biodegradable anti-freeze after each outing and you were protected. in 3 minutes or less it was done. Just drain your usable water and winterize the system and take bottled water for use on trips. Alabama winters are not like yours, but it should only take a few minutes each outing to stay safe for the winter. Can't say I have ever had to use it as an ice breaker down here but can say it was great to cruise around toasty in the pilothouse when others had put the boats to bed.

 

[Stella Maris]

Andrew,
We keep one of the small electric oil filled radiators on low in the cabin on Karma all winter long. Be sure you get one with a automatic shut off in the event it tips over.

We have seen temps into the high teens and the inside temp has not gone below 50. We are in the water though. That helps to keep the engine compartment from getting to cold. If you are on the trailer, you now have issues with making sure you have drained all of the water out of the engine block as well as the fact that the water tank needs to be kept warm enough to prevent freezing.

Hope this helps,
David

 

[ac holmes]

Thank folks for the suggestions. I am just 10 minutes from my dock so I can generally stop by and take a peek. I do have a lift to keep TARA in as of Dec 1st and would like to know the details of cold weather use with the boat out of the water between trips. Will the fresh water drain out without help? I guess it would be the same as the trailer situation.

The last time Seneca Lake froze was in 1900, so ice-breaking is probably not scheduled this year. The lake is 600 feet deep in places and very windy, so freeze up is a very remote possibility, however, it does get very cold. I was out fishing this weekend in 20 MPH wind and 2 to 3 foot waves and we kept nice and warm with the pilot house heater on medium. We took turns in the pilot house to warm up. With 3 fisherfolk aboard adding up to 700+ pounds of humanity, the little boat behaved very well indeed and we all felt secure and safe. The low freeboard gets my attention in a beam sea, but the boat has an easy motion and I am starting to believe that closely stacked 3 footers are OK to fish in, and I think having the extra weight aboard actually reduced rolling.

 

[Texas_Steve]

Here is a really simple tip I learned from others here on this website about an easy way to keep your R21-EC available all winter long. I installed a Y valve to the fresh water intake under the round access hole right outside the cabin entrance. Each side has it's own valve. One side goes direct to the engine and I put about an 18" hose on the other one. When you leave the boat and worry about a freeze, simply adjust the valves so that the one with the hose is the active side. Insert the hose into a gallon of RV antifreeze and run the engine until you see pink coming out of the exhaust. Close the valve and you are ready to go. Takes less than five minutes and it's relatively inexpensive... less than a gallon of RV antifreeze. You would also use the same stuff in your water tank and sink application. I use a 150 watt bilge heater when I know it's going to get really cold under the engive cover as well, but as others have pointed out, then you are totally dependent on shore power not going out which happens frequently. Hope this helps.

Texas Steve

 

[RProffer]

AC,
I have a question. Do you have a Bimini top with the camper package? If so, I was wondering how much the cabin heater would warm up the cockpit if the camper package was up.

As far as leaving your tug in the water in the winter goes, I would guess it would depend on how cold it gets at night. If you have a hard freeze, you will be more likely to have damage. Salt water freezes at around 28.9 degrees F (depending upon salinity). Salt water in your boat (e.g. in your heat exchanger) will freeze faster than the salt water under your boat. Water near the surface will freeze faster than deeper water. If you keep the water circulating under your boat with an aerator, then you will always be circulating the warmer water from the bottom to the top. People who use aerators in the rivers off the Chesapeake Bay have not had a problem with freezing. I would recommend you winterize your fresh water tank and sink, toilet, and air conditioner (if you have one). If you put your boat on your lift (or have a hard freeze), then winterize your heat exchanger. Make sure the anti-freeze mixture in your engine will protect your engine at the appropriate level for your area.

 

[walldog]

I do not plan on operating or storing my boat in freezing temperatures, but you never know. As far as the raw water draining out when putting it on the trailer or lift, mine does not all drain out. The raw water stainer stays full, and I am sure some remains in the heat exchanger also. Another source of water remaining is in the exhaust system. A part called a water lock catches the water from the wet exhaust so it does not return to the engine when you shut the engine down. I just replaced this item on Willie's Tug as it had sprung a leak. Probably damaged from being in a colder climate during her younger days. So you may inject some antifreeze solution in the fresh water intake, but unless you run it through with the engine running until you see pink stuff coming out the exhaust, as Texas Steve said, you are not fully protected.

 

[RProffer]

The R21-EC has a different engine than it's predecessors, and I think cooling on the engine may be different. I don't know. The 3YM30 engine has a closed circuit fresh water cooling system for the engine. There is a raw water heat exchanger that works like a radiator to cool the engine fresh water. The raw water and fresh water systems are physically separated. The fresh water side should have RV anti-freeze added to it (the pink stuff) and run it all the time, just like a car. It is simple to flush the raw water side for winterizing:
1. Close the seacock.
2. Take the plastic cover off the sea strainer, drain the water and clean the strainer. Re-install the strainer and plastic cover.
3. Remove the black plastic cap on the Prestone garden hose fitting located just forward of the sea strainer. Attach a short garden hose to the Prestone fitting and put the other end in a bucket with a couple of gallons of RV anti-freeze (the pink stuff).
4. Start the engine and run it long enough at idle until you see a bunch of the pink stuff come out of the exhaust.
5. Turn the engine off.
6. Put the black plastic Prestone cap back on the fitting.
7. Put a sign on the ship's wheel to remind you to open the seacock before starting the engine.
8. Use the remaining pink stuff to pour down the sink and toilet to winterize them.

 

[walldog]

In my post, I meant to say Raw, not fresh. I changed it on edit. Of course you should run antifreeze in your closed loop motor system, not sure the pink stuff is right for this though. My manual calls for Long Life Coolant LLC antifreeze. The point I was making is that just opening the sea valve on the trailer will NOT entirely drain the system. Sorry for any confusion, and Thanks.

 

[ac holmes]

I followed instructions as follows:

1) shut seacock off for fresh water cooling loop
2) attached 3 feet of garden hose to fitting under black cap next to strainer
3) put other end in gallon of pink anti-freeze
4) started engine...one gallon pink stuff disappeared quickly and re-appeared at exhaust
5) stopped engine

fast, fun and easy

Thanks to all

Andrew

 

[RProffer]

Herb,
I believe you are right about the anti-freeze for the engine. I have not changed it on my boat yet. I now remember the manual calling for long life coolant. I guess the factory put the long life stuff in my engine. It is pink, and that is where the confusion came up. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Andrew,
I am glad it worked for you. What is nice about winterizing the R21 is that it is no big deal to do it except for the cost of coolant. You can easily take your boat out if you decide to by just opening the seacock. On my old boats, it was a big job to winterize and de-winterize. I love my little tug.