It's That Time

[denpooch]

Hey I have a question for Admiral Grew. How do you 'blow out all the water lines'? I have never done that but seems like something that I would like to do in the future. I just purchased a wet vac with a blower port which I used with the sea flush. Thanks.

[Sadey]

When you say “blowing out the lines” I assume your using a compressor? Do you hook up to the city water fitting for that?

[km1125]

Source of the post When you say “blowing out the lines” I assume your using a compressor? Do you hook up to the city water fitting for that?

I do.

Here's my process to fully winterize the potable water:

Run the potable pump while the boat is pitched up so that all the water in the tanks runs to the back where the line goes to the pump. Using a oil-less compressor with the pressure to less than 50 or 60 lbs (equivalent to city water), I insert at the dockside inlet After I make sure the inlet is blown empty, and I blew all the water out of the water heater and the lines going to each faucet. Bypass the hot water heater. Take the lines off the inlet to the pump and put it in a gallon jug of "pink" antifreeze, and just suck in about a quart to 1/2 gallon, then blow that through the system again, which just leaves a bit of the 'pink stuff' in the low-lying places.

[RGrew176]

Source of the post Hey I have a question for Admiral Grew. How do you 'blow out all the water lines'? I have never done that but seems like something that I would like to do in the future. I just purchased a wet vac with a blower port which I used with the sea flush. Thanks.

I have a small air compressor that I use. I run the freshwater system pump until it stops pumping water and starts racing meaning I am pumping air. I then drain the water heater. Once that is done I disconnect my city water inlet line on the inside of the boat. I hook up my little compressor open the cold water faucet first at the galley sink, then the head/bathroom sink and finally the shower. I then repeat the process on the hot water side until what is coming from the faucets is mostly air.

I believe in overkill so I will put 15 gallons of the pink stuff into my freshwater holding tanks. Wait for it to level off as I have one tank on the port side and one on the starboard. Then I turn on the pump and run it until there is pink stuff coming out of each faucet on both the cold and hot water sides. I do run the pink stuff back into the gallon jugs it comes in and I dump that into the bilge and run it through the bilge pumps.

For the head I disconnect the inlet hose down in the bilge at the inlet site. I then insert said hose into a gallon of the pink stuff and flush until it's all gone. I take about a half gallon of the pink stuff and dump it into the shower sump and then pump it out.

The engines I leave to the pros and I have them do my A/C too. Takes a little time but it's a pretty simple process I have developed over the years.

[Midnightsun]

Here is my procedure that involves the pink stuff with no blowing out of anything although no harm done in doing so then again I have my reasons indicated below.

I have a winterization kit that I made up of various hoses and fittings that I bring with me which makes things quite simple. Made up of everything I need to do water, washdown, engines and generator. This IMHO is a must have if you want things to be easy every year.

First off I empty the tank via the standard on board pump by opening up any faucet/s. When is cavitates I know there is enough water removed that freezing will have no ill effect.

Next step to bypass the hot water tank via a few installed valves. At the same time I open the heater drain and flip open the relief valve to allow it to empty.

Using a drill pump attached to a couple of hoses in my kit I tie one end into the city water fill and the other end goes into a jug of pink. Reason for the drill pump is this inlet is one way only so pumping from the other side out will do nothing for this line. The drill pump has enough power to open the check valve and allow the pink to flow in. I simply open any valve on the boat, operate the drill pump for a little bit as all I am doing is filling the line up to where it interconnects to the system. Usually run it for about 10 seconds which is mega overkill but what the heck, pink is cheap.

Next step is I remove the quick disconnect fitting from the outlet at my water tank. I then connect up a hose to the line going to the system and into the pink stuff. Turn on potable water pump and open faucets one by one including the heads which I flush long for at least 3 times each. For the vacuflush heads like i have, I continue to flush a few times after the water is off which will purge the lines/system of most liquid by moving it into the holding tank.

Potable water winterization is now complete, I like to return all the valves to their normal position at this time so I know all is set for spring commissioning. Simply filling connecting to city water in spring and opening faucets to purge the pink and fill the heater is all that I need to do.

I do drink my water on board so my tank is always kept clean. I always disinfect my tank and lines every spring using bleach however I do have a dual cartridge 5 micron filtration system where each cartridge is rated for whole hose. A little overkill considering this setup is only for the galley faucet.

Why fill with pink as opposed to blowing out? I figure it is better to have the lines full of pink than humid, dark and moist (think mold/mildew environment) during layup which I would think prevents any bad stuff formation in the lines.

[denpooch]

Thanks Rick and Hans. Good information.
Quick question to the experts. I was ready to buy the 'cheap' alcohol mix pink stuff ($2.99 USD/Gal) and the salesperson at West Marine suggested that the alcohol in there is not good if there is a pump in the system. She suggested that the alcohol can have a negative effect on any rubber components in the pump. She suggested that I utilize the pink Glycol mix ($4.99) because its easier on any pumps. I spent the extra money.
She also suggested that I use the blue stuff -60F ($5.99/gal) on engines and genset because it has greater corrosion resistance. I spent the extra money!
What say you?

[bud37]

.... ......

[Viper]

The -60F is overkill for your area IMO but better over than under. We don't even use it much up my way and I suspect it gets way colder up here. Don't use the cheap stuff. It's priced low for a reason. The key is to get the stuff that specifically states it's for plumbing AND winterizing engines, there's a difference. The cheap stuff is not compatible with some on-board systems. I explained the difference in a post last year.

[km1125]

Most of those claims about having additives for "greater corrosion resistance" are complete BS. I looked at many different MSDS sheets for various polypropylene glycol mixtures that are on the market and none show anything but different concentrations of polypropylene glycol and water which results in the various freeze protections.

There are two different 'pink' fluids... one glycol and one alcohol. See Vipers post from last year (or the year before?)

[RGrew176]

Source of the post Thanks Rick and Hans. Good information.
Quick question to the experts. I was ready to buy the 'cheap' alcohol mix pink stuff ($2.99 USD/Gal) and the salesperson at West Marine suggested that the alcohol in there is not good if there is a pump in the system. She suggested that the alcohol can have a negative effect on any rubber components in the pump. She suggested that I utilize the pink Glycol mix ($4.99) because its easier on any pumps. I spent the extra money.
She also suggested that I use the blue stuff -60F ($5.99/gal) on engines and genset because it has greater corrosion resistance. I spent the extra money!
What say you?

Just my opinion. Pink stuff for water systems and blue or green stuff for engines and related components. That method has been working for me for 25 plus years.