How I winterized my A/C unit - 280 Sundancer

[Presentation]

How I winterized my A/C unit


No question about it, I am an amateur, a weekend boater and part time mechanic for my own boat. On winterizing, I have done over kill with a ‘better to be safe then sorry’ approach.

How I winterized my A/C unit.

You will need:
- The boat out of the water
- The boat plugged into power
- 3 gallons of -50 RV antifreeze
- A regular screwdriver
- A bucket of water with mild detergent / soap
- A garden hose and spray nozzle

#1) With the boat out of the water I go into the bilge compartment with my regular screwdriver and 2 gallons of -50 RV antifreeze. I loosen the clamps on the hose with the screwdriver then remove the hose from sea strainer that goes between the strainer and the seacock. With the sea-cock open I poor some pink -50 RV antifreeze down the hose so it runs out the seacock.

#2) I exercise the sea cock by closeing and opening it several times. I leave the seacock open.

#3) I remove the cover on the strainer, pull out the metal strainer filter and clean it via rinsing it with a garden hose and nozzle. Replace the filter and close the cover.

#4) I re-attach the hose to the strainer and remove the opposite end of the hose from the seacock.

#5) I stick the hose in this first gallon of pink -50 RV antifreeze. It’s slightly less then full because I poured some out the sea-cock in step 1. I put 2 gallons thru the A/C unit that I suck in by having my wife turn the A/C on, suck the gallon container empty, then the wife turns the A/C off then repeat with another gallon.

#6) Re-attach the hose to the seacock. Take the screwdriver and tighten the 4 clamps, two at each end of the hose.

#7) In the cabin I remove the air filter for the A/C unit and clean by soaking it in a bucket of mild detergent. Next I rinse this filter with a hose and nozzle, shake to remove excess water then put the filter back. I have an outer filter in the cabin vent and an inner filter attached to the A/C unit. Clean and replace both if you have two like us.

#8) I dump RV antifreeze into the A/C unit’s drip pan so the antifreeze runs out the pan and down into the sealed bilge pump beneath the cabin step and trash can. I keep adding antifreeze until this pump comes on. This take about a ½ gallon. I do this step again with the shower drain. Yes, another ½ gallon. This means it takes me 3 gallons of RV antifreeze to winterize the AC unit.

I’m sure some people can winterize the A/C unit with less RV antifreeze. Its only $2/gallon at Menards, so were only talking $6. Even if you are paying twice as much at West Marine its not enough $money to pay to replace one item if it freezes and ruptures.

Disclaimer – in the spirit of helping one another, if you feel I made an error or omission in this guide please feel free to reply below with your advice.

 

[TIME WELL WASTED]

How do you do your Gen?
Thanks for the info on the AC.

 

[wickeral]

Nice Write-up! People like you are why we enjoy this board so much! Thanks for Sharing! Al W.

 

[gerryb]

Did much of the same as you outlined above.... I did want to share with everyone a little gizmo I made to speed-up the process of getting antifreeze into strainers (eg. A/C and Genset). Cost about $8 using 3 items found in any Home Depot. Allowed me to use the CAMCO winterization tank for the muffs and right into the strainers as well. I'll post a picture but it is basically a temporary strainer cap with fittings.

 

[osd9]

Here's another way that a neighbor of mine uses to winterize his sailboat's AC.

He does start by first removing, cleaning and re-installing his strainer. Then, with the boat out of the water, and the seacock open, he gets one of those pressurized bottles used for spraying bug/weed killer and fills it with Antifreeze. He drilled out the center of a rubber cork and so that the sprayer's end fits in the hole and then places the cork in the AC's overboard discharge thru hole. He then proceeds to force AF backwards through the AC system and when the Pink stuff comes out of the seacocks unerwater thru hole he's done. Also, before he begins pumping AF through the system, he sticks a garden hose in the discharge through hull for a few minutes to backflush with fresh water. I guess you could also just use an air compressor and blow out the sytem, but I like the idea of pink stuff in the system for it's anti-corrosive and lubrication qualities.

Just thought I'd post an alternate approach in case it fits into someone's situation....

 

[tc410]

Here's another way that a neighbor of mine uses to winterize his sailboat's AC.

Get outta here, Dom...a sailboat with AC???

 

[cp_71]

If you have a helper you can do it with 1 gallon.

Simply remove the hose from the seacock going to the cooling pump (close the seacock if the boat is in the water!), insert a funnel into the hose and have a helper turn the unit on so compressor cycles and have them look over the portside as you pour into the funnel. As soon as pink appears have them turn off the unit or main breaker. Use a turkey baster or syringe to remove the water in the strainer basket housing.

You'll have about 1 quart left of antifreeze left, lift up the wastebasket underneath the companionway and remove the cover to the shower/condensate sump. Pour the remaining antifreeze into the sump then manually activate the pump.

The "filter" on my a/c unit is really just a thin metal screen, I use compressed air from a can to clean it.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

This is essentially how I do mine as well but I have to put the funnel end in the hose from the AC pump and let gravity start the flow through the unit. It takes less than a gallon to run full pink at the hull outlet surprisingly. Shut it off and I'm done. I drain my strainers with the drain plug at the bottom. Any water left in the in the hose runs out the thru-hull with the sea cock left open. I do pour some in the sump but don't bother with draining through the AC drain pain.

 

[rcknecht]

Blowing it with my compressor takes me about 5 minutes, with no pink... I put 3/4" hose T between the strainer and the pump... I blow through the pump, and back through the strainer... I blow out my water system too, but you can't blow through that pump...

 

[masilobes]

i take an old jabsco water pump i bought at a yard sale for 5 bucks, one hose in a gallon of antifreeze and the other in the outlet drain for the ac. open the seacock and pump. when it comes out the intake on the hull your done including strainer. yes clean the strainer if its full of stuff mine was clean because i really dont use the ac too much. only 1 gallon

 

[islandhopper00]

I blow mine out with compressed air. No Pink!

Hold air nozzle at overboard discharge, when the water stops coming out the thru hull on the bottom of the hull, your all good.
Remove the filter basket from the strainer, vacuum out the water in the bottom. Exercise the seacock, Done.

 

[DaleM]

How do you do your Gen?

Essentially I do the gen the same way. Disconnect the hose coming from the seacock and put it into a jug of pink and run through about 2 gallons.

 

[JerryS]

I blow mine out with compressed air. No Pink!

Hold air nozzle at overboard discharge, when the water stops coming out the thru hull on the bottom of the hull, your all good.
Remove the filter basket from the strainer, vacuum out the water in the bottom. Exercise the seacock, Done.

Same here. For the shower/ac sump, I first lift the float to get as much water out as possible and then put some detergent in the sump and clean it with a brush. After that, flush with fresh water, vacuum it out and then pour in some pink and lift the float to get the pink in the pump and discharge line.

For the generator, I open the seacock and let it drain. I then disconnect the raw water hose at the generator, open the strainer, clean the basket and vacuum the remaining water out. Using another hose with a funnel connected to it, I attached it to the raw water input on the generator and pour some pink in in the funnel. I then hit the starter with the breaker off until the pink is gone. I do this a couple of times until pink is coming out the exhaust. I use maybe a quart of pink.

I disconnected the water input to the fresh water pump and attached a hose to the pump that I put into a bottle of pink and ran the pink thru the fresh water lines. However, next year I think that I will disconnect the water line from the high side of the pump and blow the lines out with compressed air.

It seems to me that way too much pink is being used unnecessarily.

 

[kkalsch]

I did want to share with everyone a little gizmo I made to speed-up the process of getting antifreeze into strainers (eg. A/C and Genset). Cost about $8 using 3 items found in any Home Depot. Allowed me to use the CAMCO winterization tank for the muffs and right into the strainers as well. I'll post a picture but it is basically a temporary strainer cap with fittings

It would be great if you could post a picture -I would like to do the same process:thumbsup:

Ken

 

[Alex F]

Here's another way that a neighbor of mine uses to winterize his sailboat's AC.

..... he gets one of those pressurized bottles used for spraying bug/weed killer and fills it with Antifreeze. He drilled out the center of a rubber cork and so that the sprayer's end fits in the hole and then places the cork in the AC's overboard discharge thru hole.....

Dom, this is very innovative sailboater's air compressor :lol:....I bet he could use this thing to blow all FW lines as well :lol:....

....
#8) I dump RV antifreeze into the A/C unit’s drip pan so the antifreeze runs out the pan and down into the sealed bilge pump beneath the cabin step and trash can. I keep adding antifreeze until this pump comes on. This take about a ½ gallon. I do this step again with the shower drain. Yes, another ½ gallon. This means it takes me 3 gallons of RV antifreeze to winterize the AC unit. ....

Doug,
Nince and very detailed write up.

A quick comment/question. I thought that all A/C lines drain to the shower sump pump, are yours different? If not, wouldn't it be easier to just add the pink to the shower drain in order to trigger the pump? It seams like you're doing the same step twice. I don't mind adding extra pink, but I just thought that it's much easier to do it via shower drain if your goal is to activate the pump and have some pink in the sump box. BTW, before I do this step I clean the shower sump box as this is a good time to get it done.

 

[Gunn]

It would be great if you could post a picture -I would like to do the same process:thumbsup:

Ken

This thread is 4 years old, so it may be hard to get your Q's answered from the original 2007 posts. :smt001

I think Presentation ran anti-freeze through both the ac/ line to the sump and the shower drain to clear the actual line of any water. And just to be on the safe side...

The AC pump does not "suck" the antifreeze. So you need a pump or gravity to feed it. The generator and freshwater pump will suck the antifreeze directly from the bottle.

 

[kkalsch]

This thread is 4 years old, so it may be hard to get your Q's answered from the original 2007 posts. :smt001

I know……but was hoping some one would post pics of a temporary strainer cap with a fitting made from items bought at HD or Lowes