Winterizing twin inboards by myself

SeaNile said:
View attachment 136660



Just winterized my boat solo today. A little hectic running in and out of the bilge but in the end it cost me $265 in antifreeze vs $1500 to have it done for me.

11 gallons to each QSM11, 3 gallons to the generator.

I used the clear screw on cap with the hose adapter for the generator and the SeaFlush for the engines. Only because the clear cap thingy was too small for the engine strainers.

What really sucked, or should i say didn't suck was the fact that neither the engines nor the generator had enough "pull" to get the pink stuff from the bucket to engine when the bucket was in the bilge. Had to use some hose, electrical tape and placed the 5 gallon bucket in the cockpit. Even then it wouldn't pull the pink. Had to really work to prime the system to get it to flow. Once it started I was good to go.

Tried the clear cap and also the SeaFlush system for the AC units and failed miserably. The only way the AC pump (1 big pump to 4 AC units) would pull is if the seacock was open and the strainer cap was on tightly. Once I closed the seacock there was nothing I could do to prime the pump. Tried lots of gravity, funnel in the strainer while dumping pink and a few other things and no go. Strainer was full of pink but could never get the pump to pull it through.

I'm out of town for a week during this brief cold stretch but it'll be OK. Bilge is relatively warm (twin hornet 1000w heater) and the cabin is staying at 60 with the portable heater in there.
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Perhaps the issue on the QSM winterization is the volume of pink you are supplying. If you were using the garden hose it was definitely not supplying enough flow and you were then pulling air. I can't image gravity feeding should affect the flow to your QSM's as the pumps move a tremendous amount of water. I would look to increase the size of the hose you are using to provide pink. As for the AC and Gen i too use the clear groco cap but with great success. I do find that you do have to gravity feed the AC pump and you can't allow any air in the hose before you start the feed.
 
Went to the boat today to do the main engines, grnny and freshwater systems. Used an air compressor on the freshwater system, that went well. Use a SeaFlish for the first time to do the main engines. Used a Shop-Vac to blow out the seacocks from the strainer. That went well.

Started with the port engine, couldn't get it to pull from the 5 gallon bucket using the seaflush and snorkel. Figured out I needed to fill the strainer with antifreeze and use the paper towel for a seal. That worked, put 7 gallons in.

Repeated the steps on the starboard engine with no success. Took a lot of wiggling, trial and error moving things around but I was finally able to pull 7 gallons through.

Both engines initially wouldn't pull water, I shut them down after about 4 to 5 seconds. Tried again, same. Really hoping I didn't do any damage to the impellers based on my overheating challenges this spring and summer.

I could not get the generator to start so I was not able to winterize it. I'll try again soon and will push antifreeze through if it won't start.

And yeah did it all by myself.
 
First year I could not get my generator to stsrt either, the fuel selenoid shut off as soon as I let go of the preheat switch. There should be a remote vs panel control toggle but there is not. Discovered I can only start the gen from the salon panel but can shut it down from the gen panel when winterizing.

Irie, I like your set up but dont recognize the parts. What are you using to connect to the strainer etc?
 
Irie said:
Those are pvc pipe fittings from Home Depot. One piece is screwed in to strainer and the reducer is just press fitted.
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I went back today. It took about 20 tries but I got the generator started, and winterized.

@SeaNile I used the SeaFlush with a shop vac to winterize the AC pump and both ACs. It worked well. Found a dock mate to check for air/water coming out the thru hulls as a blew air into the strainer.

Generator was the most difficult one to winterize alone. Once I got it started I let it run for about 20 minutes while I did the AC systems. Then I sucked the water out of the strainer.with the shop vac Then I attached the SeaFlush blue thing to the top of the strainer, closed the seacock, then shop vaced forced air into it while I opened the Seacock. Waited until I heard bubbles outside the boat, held it for about 5 more seconds then closed the seacock handle. The clearance from the top of the SeaFlush blue funnel to the underside of the exhaust hose was about 2-3", so I could not use the grey insert funnel and the snorkle. I left the blue one in, filled the strainer with antifreeze, up to the top of the blue funnel, then used the grey one as a funnel from the top to pour antifreeze in as I started the genny. It was a slow process, but it worked. Runny back and forth from the genny seacock to turn on the vacuum, get something, go back, go in, go out, was painful and time consuming.

With the exception of the holding tank, main engines and genny, there's no pink stuff in any of the systems.

Total winterization time was 6 hours, lots of that was trial and error and me hopping in/out of the engine compartment to do things a helper would have saved time on. 6 hours of driving time, so 12 hours of my time total. $200 in antifreeze, $150 in tools/stuff I had to buy that I will resuse next year. Quote from the service shop was $2500.
 
I am still trying to learn how to video (with my phone in this case) and edit, obviously I need help and more practice. I will not be winning an Oscar...

This is my attempt to document winterizing the boat:

 
For the price of a case of beer, you can get two buddies to come down/meet you down there and knock the three engines out in about 45 minutes. I'm happy to help next time.

Regarding the blow-back of water: On the main engines and Generator, the impellers form a seal. The water pump is actually a positive displacement pump. What that results in is that you can NOT use the shop vac to blow air through the raw water circuit on the engines/generator. You cannot get past the impeller. The Air conditioning systems are different, but I still run pink through mine. About a gallon per unit.

With 3 guys, it is so easy: One on the switches, one at the bucket, and one watching the engine discharges for pink. Holler next year and we will knock it out quickly.

Jaybeaux
 
Will do @Jaybeaux and I know you called and offered. I'm that guy that doesn't like to ask for help. Next year, count on it though :)

Oh, and I was only blowing with the Shop-Vac to blow the water out between the strainer and the seacock.
 
A couple of things on the video;
Turn your phone sideways before you start recording so as to get the "wide screen" effect, or

Find a cheap used Go Pro or similar. Once you have one, either purchase a lapel mike connected to your phone to act as a voice recorder, or at least keep your phone in a shirt pocket to act as the mike, then import that into your video editing program to coincide with the video. It's pretty easy after getting past the initial learning curve.
 
I've been looking at the GoPros, not sure I want to spend that much money though. I didn't think about picking up a used one. I like the lapel idea.
 
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