2012 260 SunDeck - Winterizing Fresh Water and Head?

G

goherdibg

Member
Jun 12, 2012
30
Virginia
Boat Info
260 Sundeck
Engines
350 Mag
My 260SD is my first boat and, after talking to some other boaters, was thinking about winterizing the fresh water system and head on my own to save about $200. I am still going to have my marina's service department winterize the engine.

Some people I have talked to said "simply drain all of the water from the fresh water tank and put antifreeze in it and run all faucets until antifreeze comes out". Did not talk to anyone about the head, however. So, after searching this forum for Q&A's on winterizing I still have some questions:

Fresh Water
=========

1. For the fresh water system on a 260, is it as simple as they said - "run the faucets until the tank is dry and then run until antifreeze comes out of ALL of the faucets?" or was that an oversimplification?

2. How much antifreeze should I put in the fresh water tank?

3. What type of anti-freeze should I use? I have a West Marine store nearby and can easily pick up whatever type is needed. I'm sure they could recommend something but I do not want them to over-state what is needed to make me spend more $$.

4. How difficult is it to de-winterize the fresh water system in the spring? I assume I do just the opposite by draining all of the antifreeze and filling with water and re-draining a few times until everything is clear. We do not drink the water from the fresh water system typically.


Head
====

I have the standard 260 head - non Vacuflush - with the 2 gallon holding tank and portable toilet. I can easily remove the seat and make sure it is dry inside and even leave the filler cap off over the winter to make sure it is bone dry. I have already flushed/drained the holding tank from our last trip.

1. Can I use the same anti-freeze as I use for the fresh water system?

2. Should I put the full 2 gallons of antifreeze in the holding tank?

3. Should I put some antifreeze (1/2 gallon) in the holding tank then suck it all out to make sure it permeates the flush pipe? Does that even make sense or is it a little overboard?


Is there anything I have missed? I really hate to screw this up and cause damage.

Thanks in advance for any replies, advice, hints, or even ridicules :).
 
One thing I'll add in regards to your fresh water tank... the tank itself does not need to have antifreeze put into it, it just needs to be run empty. There will still be a little water left in there, but nowhere near enough to cause any problem at all. What does need AF is the lines (or blown out with air). All you need to do is remove the pex line coming off the tank and stick it into a bottle/bucket of anitfreeze and then operate your faucets until a deep colored pink comes out.

Now, if access to the tank is difficult for you, or you just don't want to mess with it... then yes, do as described above. To "dewinterize" it, run it dry.. fill with a few gallons of water... run it dry... fill... you get the idea. If you don't drink the water, it's less important to flush it thoroughly.

You can use any type of pink antifreeze. There are typically two available. One is Polypropylene Glycol, the other is Ethyl Alcohol. PG is the ONLY type recommended for engines. Both PG and EA can be used in fresh water systems, however the EA is typically a buck or two cheaper and smells nice.
 
Easier and cheaper than that, after you drain your tank, rig up an air hose fitting that you can screw into your shore water inlet on your boat. Pick 1 up at any RV store. Pressurize your system with about 20 lbs of air and open all your faucets and toilet valve until clear. Bypass your hot water heater and drain that as well. No AF needed.
 
So...I bought 3 gallons of Pink AF (-60) this weekend and, after draining the fresh water supply, I put all 3 gallons into the fresh water tank. I then ran about 1 gallon total of it out through the 4 faucets (sink, head, bow, and transom) into a bucket to pour into the head holding tank.

I am fairly confident I will be OK with the fresh water winterizing. However, when I looked into the black water holding tank before I poured in the AF, I saw some water. I had pulled the black water out the previous weekend. I used the marinas flushing system as I always do but for some reason it typically leaves some water in the holding tank - which has a 2 gallon capacity. I put the 1 gallon of Pink AF into the tank and it appeared to come a few inches from the top of the holding tank. I did not re-drain the holding tank as the pump-out is on the other side of the marina and I was on the cleaning racks.

Now....after thinking about it for a few days I am a little worried about it. The problem is the marina charges $125 + AF for winterizing the head.

For anyone with experience winterizing their own head, should I:

- Not worry about it, either because the tank has some give or the 50/50 mix of water and -60 deg AF is adequate for northern VA temps?

- Have the marina put it back on the cleaning racks for me to fill the rest of the black water tank with -100 deg AF? I would have to put it back in the water to use the pump-out and I have already cleaned and waxed the outside.

- Play it safe and let the marina winterize it for me because they would be able to get ALL of the water from the 2 gallon holding tank using some special hose that would go directly into the holding tank and would not use the connector on the side of the boat up near the gunwale as I have to use?

Thanks again for all of the replies and any other advice.
 
$125 for winterizing a porta-potti??? Holy cow!

You're good. Put it to sleep.
 
If you have access to a portable compressor, I would blow the 4 water lines out. I don't even bother with the pink stuff. I just blow my lines out. I hate the smell of the antifreeze and have found it to be a waste as blowing the lines out is very simple. Just my $0.02
 
Lazy Daze said:
$125 for winterizing a porta-potti??? Holy cow!

You're good. Put it to sleep.
Click to expand...

It's been a week and I am still nervous. I may have them put it back on the cleaning rack and use a shop vac to pull all of the black water from the holding tank then put in a gallon of pink AF. I don't want to be in the middle of January and have it drop to -10 degrees and start sweating about it. Shouldn't take too long. Not sure why I didn't think of using the shop vac when I was doing it the first time.

I also wanted to put a few de-humidifing buckets in the boat just to make sure everything is dry. This will give me that chance.

Thanks for all of the input.
 
I'm confused... in your first post you mentioned that you already had the holding tank drained?
 
Lazy Daze said:
I'm confused... in your first post you mentioned that you already had the holding tank drained?
Click to expand...

I know...sorry about the confusion. In my first post, before I performed the winterization steps, I said I drained the head - and I did. I used the marina's suction hoses and let it build up max pressure multiple times until nothing was coming out (it has a clear portion so I can see if anything is still being removed). As an aside, I think my kids are a little weird as they love to watch me drain the head and watch the clear portion :) To be a kid again.....

Anyway, when I did the actual winterization (post #5 of this thread) I noticed a fair amount of water in the black water holding tank....and now I am a little concerned about the diluted -60 degree AF I put in there. It is probably about 60/40 (AF/black water) at this point.

Your question is a good segue into another question I have (I was going to start another thread but this is a good place for it I think):

When I was working on the head I took off the top portion - the actual pump action lid (not sure that the real term is). On the bottom portion, I noticed a little knob near the front right that was labeled "open/close)". I looked through all of my manuals/documentation and did not see any reference to it at all. When I took off the top portion, the knob was in the closed position. When in the open position, it looked to have 2 little holes in it that go into the black water holding tank. What is it and what position should it be in under normal circumstances? Should I "open" it when I drain the black water holding tank? I feel like if I open it, that will allow the suction hose to pull more from the holding tank - kinda like putting a little hole in your beer can for chugging :).

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas what the knob is for?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
OK. In that case, just pour another gallon of AF in the holding tank section and be done with it. Do a pump out (and flush) in the Spring. Unless you have easy access to the pump out facilities. You could use a shop vac, but that pretty much relegates the shop vac to not using it for anything else.

I'm not sure about that knob. But I think I would err on the side of caution and leave it closed. The tank already has (should) a vent line (small line hooked up in the rear of the potti) that is more than sufficient for pump-outs... Unless it's clogged. Check the thru-hull on the side of the boat.

Unless something's clogged, I'm not sure why the pump out didn't work (assuming the pump works properly). BUT... maybe there's not as much left in there as you think? I could imagine that there might be an inch or two left, but no more than that.
 
Lazy Daze said:
Unless something's clogged, I'm not sure why the pump out didn't work (assuming the pump works properly). BUT... maybe there's not as much left in there as you think? I could imagine that there might be an inch or two left, but no more than that.
Click to expand...

You could be right. I could not see the bottom of the holding tank and was not willing to stick my finger in there to see how deep it was :). I may just go get a gallon of the -100 degree AF and put it in for my ease of mind.

Thanks for the reply.
 
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