heated storage

dvx216

dvx216

Well-Known Member
GOLD Sponsor
Feb 1, 2012
2,696
Catawaba Island/Orrville,Oh.
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2001
Engines
8.1s 370 v drv.
I'm lucky enough to be able to store my 310 Da. in heated storage is there anything I should do with the drinking water system?
 
Great question - I've done it both ways - full tanks and empty. Not sure what I'll do this year. However, as an FYI I always empty my hot water heater via the spigot on the tank.
 
I typically drain the water tank prior to going into storage. Then when we launch in the spring, we run a small amount of bleach mixed with water into the tank, and empty again. Then we fill with fresh water to start the season.
 
IMG_4230.JPG
You should turn off the AC power to your water heater and open all your taps and run water until they sputter air. Then drain your hot water heater (it helps speed things along if you open the heater's pressure relief valve in addition to the spigget) and water tank. Clean out your water filter by the pump and reassemble it and connect it back to the water lines. Turn off the D.C. power to the water system and you are done for inside heated storage. In the spring time follow the owner manual directions for disinfecting your potable water system.
 
If I plan to go to the boat during the winter I leave water in the tank for cleaning, and flushing the head. I just gave the system a bleach treatment, drained, refilled and added my regular water treatment. So far this has prevented my water from growing stuff and getting stinky over the 7-8 month layup.

It's nice having some water available for cleaning...you just have to remember that you can't pour it in the sink to get rid of it after.:D
 
The marina I am in now just drains the system into the bilge and out The drain plug... I am not sure why. My last place I left water in the tank... I bleach in the spring no matter what. For water in this current place I buy 2 5 gallon pails with lids from menards ...fill them and have them on the boat. My feeling is you can get away with either without concern
 
This will be the first year I plan to leave some water in my tank for cleaning during winter. I'm actually looking forward to a mid-winter wash that doesn't involve bringing buckets of water from home :)

I'll likely add an ounce or two of bleach to the tank for good measure...
 
I like the 5 gallon pails idea better than leaving water in the tank. A winter is a long time for water to sit in a tank.
The other thing I would be concerned about is what would happen if the facility were to loose heat for some reason over the winter.
 
JVM225 said:
I like the 5 gallon pails idea better than leaving water in the tank. A winter is a long time for water to sit in a tank.
The other thing I would be concerned about is what would happen if the facility were to loose heat for some reason over the winter.
Click to expand...

My engines will be far worse off if they freeze :)
 
Is there a chance the heat could go out? Power outage? I store underground where it stays 55* but still winterize. Mainly because when I bring it home in the spring we still get cold days.
 
IMG_4230.JPG
The concern over losing heat in the building depends on ownership. We have several heated storage facilities in Grand Haven/Spring Lake. This has never been an issue and customers simply do not give freezing systems a second thought. The techs work on boats year round in these buildings and the storage temps are 50 degrees or warmer if need be. The buildings are huge and the concrete floors are also huge heat sinks. If heat were to be turned off, it would be a few days before freezing would become a concern. I suspect most responsible marina owners deliver similar conditions.
 
boatman37 said:
Is there a chance the heat could go out? Power outage? I store underground where it stays 55* but still winterize. Mainly because when I bring it home in the spring we still get cold days.
Click to expand...

Is that the natural temperature in the underground storage? If so, you’re golden.
 
Stee6043 said:
My engines will be far worse off if they freeze :)
Click to expand...

$hit happens. I’d probably make sure the raw water side of everything was at least drained, pump the waste tank out and blow out the AC and fresh water systems just to be safe. But then again, my wife tells me they have medication to treat people like me.
 
JVM225 said:
$hit happens. I’d probably make sure the raw water side of everything was at least drained, pump the waste tank out and blow out the AC and fresh water systems just to be safe. But then again, my wife tells me they have medication to treat people like me.
Click to expand...
The point of heated storage is just that....if I went through the hassle of winterizing the boat in case the heat went out then I could save a lot of money and not store it in heated.
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 75244 The concern over losing heat in the building depends on ownership. We have several heated storage facilities in Grand Haven/Spring Lake. This has never been an issue and customers simply do not give freezing systems a second thought. The techs work on boats year round in these buildings and the storage temps are 50 degrees or warmer if need be. The buildings are huge and the concrete floors are also huge heat sinks. If heat were to be turned off, it would be a few days before freezing would become a concern. I suspect most responsible marina owners deliver similar conditions.
Click to expand...
Most commercial storage or repair type buildings are not insulated all that well.
A close friend of about 50 years owns a 4 Bay auto repair shop that he rents out to a tenant now that he’s retired.
For the decades that he ran his business out of there he always kept it warm enough to work comfortably with some long johns and sweatshirts on in our cold winter months.
He would let me use one of the bays and lifts to do stuff on my cars when he wasn’t busy. It was always pretty comfortable to work.
A couple of times over the years he came to the shop on a Monday morning to find the heat shut down for one reason or another over the weekend. It was pretty cold in there.
I can obsess over these type things for sure, but my fear in a really cold climate would that the facility owner would come in on a January morning to find that the heat failed over the weekend and the temps in the big hollow uninsulated building had dropped down drastically.
I’d probably be overly cautious and at least do what I outlined above. Probably not necessary at all, but since I couldn’t use the boat anyway, I’d get myself worried about it enough to go through the motions.
 
Blueone said:
The point of heated storage is just that....if I went through the hassle of winterizing the boat in case the heat went out then I could save a lot of money and not store it in heated.
Click to expand...
I really envy you guys.
I’d kill for heated storage. Just not really an option around here. Real Estate values and taxes are too high. As it is there are a lot less Marinas/boatyards than there used to be because lots sold to developers who built waterfront houses and condos.
But if I could have my boat in heated (or any kind of inside) storage I’d be way more excited about the opportunity to polish and wax all winter long out of the elements. Especially now that I’m an old unemployed (retired) bum. It would give me something to do in January and February.
 
JVM225 said:
. It would give me something to do in January and February.
Click to expand...
You would think that.. But for me I look forward to putting the boat away and having a rest at the end of the season..after that we are on to other things throughout the winter... I get the boat ready around March/April. I live too far from the boat so I have to stay in a hotel to work on it so that's a problem. So I guess I am saying heated storage isn't it's all cracked up to be .... For me anyway :)
 
Blueone said:
You would think that.. But for me I look forward to putting the boat away and having a rest at the end of the season..after that we are on to other things throughout the winter... I get the boat ready around March/April. I live too far from the boat so I have to stay in a hotel to work on it so that's a problem. So I guess I am saying heated storage isn't it's all cracked up to be .... For me anyway :)
Click to expand...

Just the opposite for me. My boat is only 20 minutes away and now that I’m retired I’m down there crawling through the shrinkwrap door with my Little Buddy portable heater puttering around whenever possible.
At least I can clean the cockpit and cabin over the winter. While I’ve climbed out the forward hatch over the bed and crawled around on my belly on the bow, it was too hard to get any meaningful cleaning and waxing done out there.
I usually shoot to rip off the shrinkwrap mid March once the serious threat of snow goes away and have it ready to go back in the water around April 1st.
Usually polishing, waxing and bottom painting in at least 3 layers of clothes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,154
Messages
1,427,374
Members
61,060
Latest member
Danileo
Back
Top