winterizing

[mac07733]

I have a Ranger 27 (currently out of the water and on its trailer) and have just completed winterization according to the published instructions. My last step was to pour 3 gallons of antifreeze into the bildge. I have done this after the boat was completely shrink wrapped so that no additional water from rain will get in. As the antifreeze went in, I saw that the bildge pump/s pumped overboard some of the antifreeze, telling me that the pump or pumps are winterized. My concern is that the midships pump (a little higher) operated and was winterized , in addition to the aft pump. I do not know if the forward pump ever went off. My question is 1. Should I be concerned? and 2. How can I make sure that the it (the midships pump) operated and was winterized while I put in the antifreeze)?

Thanks,

Dennis Nitka

 

[hlgearheart]

You could pull the "auto bilge" fuse on the aft pump so it could not run.

Howard

 

[JohnH]

I offer this suggestion as what I have done. If others see a flaw in this approach, I welcome comment so that I can fix the problem.

I also was unwilling to dump in enough antifreeze to reach the forward bilge pump (although I suppose that it could be recovered). Instead, using a small hand pump, I pumped antifreeze into the output port of the forward bilge pump until it visibly ran out into the bilge. To get the antifreeze into the port, I simply wadded some layers of duct tape around the hand-pump's hose to make a tight enough fit. I think this process uses the minimum amount of antifreeze and gets the antifreeze where needed.

The only remaining question is which of the 5 holes in the starboard side cluster is the forward bilge pump. Since I'm not sure that all boats are connected the same way, the safest procedure is to note which holes emptied antifreeze from the aft bilge pump, the 2 sinks, and the shower sump -- the remaining hole is the forward bilge.

 

[knotflying]

I did the same. I wrapped duct tape around the pump hose and then held it tight to the outflow port and pumped until it came out the pump in the bilge. Fortunately this forward pump does not have a check valve because of its height in the bilge. After I did this process I then removed the bilge plug. I figured in the event water did enter the bilge it would hopefully flow out rather than accumulate in the bilge and if it were enough possibly freeze. My thought process was if it is raining it isn't freezing so the water will run out and if the temperature falls below freezing later the water will have already drained. By the way if you look at the Ranger manual for the R-27 it does have a diagram showing each through hull and what it goes to.