First time self winterizing questions

[skibum]

I started winterizing the boat yesterday and plan on finishing it up today. I have a couple of general questions.

Does the drain on the front of the water heater near the bottom completely drain the tank?

I bypassed the heater to winterize the lines going to the sinks, then I drained the HWH using the spigot until no more water came out. Will it be OK to leave the HWH like this without putting anti freeze into it?

I will be getting the holding tank pumped out today. I doubt that tank will be emptied completely. How much pink do I need to flush or pour into the waste tank outlet to keep it from freezing?

Thanks!
Michael

 

[poormonkey]

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Does the drain on the front of the water heater near the bottom completely drain the tank?
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We have a small valve that has a hose connected on our hot water tank. I just open the valve and leave it open for the duration of the winter storage.

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I bypassed the heater to winterize the lines going to the sinks, then I drained the HWH using the spigot until no more water came out. Will it be OK to leave the HWH like this without putting anti freeze into it?
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Yes....Just leave the valve open and you should be fine. If you are worried, get an adapter and hookit up to your water hookup and blow out all the air lines when done with the pink stuff.

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I will be getting the holding tank pumped out today. I doubt that tank will be emptied completely. How much pink do I need to flush or pour into the waste tank outlet to keep it from freezing?
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Put a gallon directly into the holding tank. And then flush a gallon down through the head.

 

[Warren]

You are on the right track - empty the HW tank by disconnecting the cold and hot tubing as you bypass the tank, winterizing the plumbing system with non-toxic plumbing antifreeze. Any water remaining (1/2-1") will freeze and expand at the bottom of the tank and not do any damage to the tank. However, for peace of mind I always pour enough antifreeze into the top tube using a funnel until you see pink coming out the bottom. Finished!
Warren

 

[fc3]

Drain the water heater, bypass it and winterize the entire water system. I test the antifreeze flowing from each faucet with a PG tester to ensure that the antifreeze was not diluted by water remaining in the system. Then I reconnect the water heater, add another $2 gallon of antifreeze to the tank and pump it into the heater. I flush another $2 gallon of antifreeze into the empty holding tank. If you use the overboard discharge, remember to run antifreeze into that too. Pour antifreeze into the pump out deck fitting while operating the overboard discharge. That'll minimize pumping holding tank effluent on the ground of your storage yard.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[Warren]

Where can I buy that 2$ plumbing antifreeze in Canada?? It's twice that price in the Toronto area. And I know cause I comparison shop for 20+ gallons (each engine takes 6!) every fall. Make sure that it's the pink propylene glycol or safe equivalent - you may be cleaning your teeth with the stuff in May!
Cheers,
Warren

 

[Maritime Matt]

fc3, where is that PG tester available to buy? Would like to get one for myself. Thanks.

 

[Uplate]

I am new to this as well. My current plan is to keep the boat in the water all year. It seldom gets down into multi single digit temps here in TN. I have an auxillary ceramic heater for the cabin when the water temps get low.

I installed a 750W Boatsafe in the bilge. As far as fresh water goes, I had planned to drain the system completely and blow out with air compressor.

Any ideas on what else to do or if this is a plan for disaster, I would appreciate any comments. I have also heard that the pink stuff will damage hot water heating elements.