Lesson learned winterizing

[KlaassyC]

Today was the day for winterizing the fresh water system on our C28, as it’s forecast to get below freezing in a few days. I decided to go with non toxic antifreeze instead of blowing the lines out as I wasn’t sure how the boat was plumbed and I live 1 1/2 hours away from the boat.
I picked up a Camco winterizing kit (3 way valve with suction line) to install between the pump and tank as well as a hot water tank bypass kit, not sure if either would work.
The winterizing kit was straightforward once I found the water pump (under the helm seat behind the forward panels in the cave). It allows me to use antifreeze through the entire fresh water system without putting any into the tank.
The HWT bypass kit installed easily, but when I tried to pump antifreeze through the hot water lines, it wouldn’t work. After multiple tries I removed the bypass and realized the male/female orientation of the bypass valves meant it was flowing backward, not allowing the antifreeze to flow from the cold to the hot. A couple of 1/2” NPT male and female fittings will solve this, but that will need to be another day.
I was hoping to avoid filling the HWT with antifreeze but that’s what I had to do this time around.
Systems like this are standard on RV’s and work well, so I thought I’d share my lesson if anyone else is planning the same thing.


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[NorthernFocus]

Not sure what the water heater bypass kit that you used involves. I simply bypass it by pulling the inlet/outlet and connecting them together with a coupling. Easy and effective.

It's just as well that you put antifreeze in the water heater. It holds a pretty good "heel" in it that is only removed by blowing down with compressed air. Historically I've put antifreeze in mine and it always takes forever to get it all purged out. Decided to blow it down this year and was really surprised at how much water was still in it after gravity draining dry. Now understand why it was so difficult to get it completely purged of antifreeze every spring.

 

[dgiles]

Not sure why someone would ever put antifreeze into the drinking water storage. The lines, sure. You can completely purge them, but into the main storage tank? So you taste antifreeze for the next 3 months? It never completely cleans out. It may dilute, but never cleans out.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Not sure why someone would ever put antifreeze into the drinking water storage. The lines, sure. You can completely purge them, but into the main storage tank? So you taste antifreeze for the next 3 months? It never completely cleans out. It may dilute, but never cleans out.

Out of an abundance of caution and for simplicity I put antifreeze in the water tank for several seasons. It's actually not difficult to flush/dilute it below detectable level. People make the mistake of trying to dilute it by filling the tank completely. Putting a gallon or two at a time and pumping it down gets it out pretty quick.

The water heater is much more difficult. Presumably due to the geometry of the tank.

 

[Brian98133]

I bypass the water heater for blowing out the lines as well... but never worry about the 'heel' of water left in the tank because if it freezes, it has plenty of room to expand without creating issues with the integrity of the tank.

Think of it like an ice-cube tray. Since the water in the tray has room to expand upward, the plastic 'heel' of the tray is unharmed. The caveat being that you must drain as much water out of the tank as possible. I also reconnect the upper hot line to the tank, but leave the bottom cold fitting open, but put wire mesh over the opening so no critters take up residence.

The main tank is a different story (IMO anyway). Since the main tank has squared corners, I worry that expansion can get 'caught' in those corners, creating a situation where the pressure may crack the corners. This may be unfounded, but my OCD brain won't stop thinking about that... especially since the main tank is impossible to get to if it's in need of replacement! So, I pump it as low as possible and put a gallon of antifreeze in there.

In the spring, I put a siphon line into the tank while fresh water is being fed in. I find 15 minutes of 'washing' like that, and it's pretty much clear of the taste and odor. That way, it never goes through the lines. 😀

 

[dgiles]

Plastic ice cube trays never bust......

 

[NorthernFocus]

Plastic ice cube trays never bust......

Yeah I don't winterize them.

 

[Brian98133]

Plastic ice cube trays never bust......

I've never had one burst due to expansion of the ice. This is a fact.

Let's keep this positive and helpful please.

 

[Rebel112r]

Did my due diligence, and winterized freshwater system today on my R27 OB,. Removed intake screen on pump, then easy to pull inlet hose off. Had an o-ring pump fitting, so rigged it up with a short hose which went into screen and assembly back onto pump. Did not have to remove factory fitting on hose from tank to pump which was good. End of hose into RV antifreeze. The retainer clips that hold these onto pump makes job easy. Drained hot water heater, than removed intake and outlet fittings from heater, had other fittings on hand to join the removed lines together. Used about 1 1/2 gal of rv antifreeze to flush system. Head sink and shower, galley sink, and outside shower. It was about a two hour job, which included search for fittings. Now onto next project.