Pink Antifreeze

2.99 at Lowes here..

Whats the hype with -100 anti freeze, west marine is pushing it here like 4 day old bread, but it 12.99 a gallon. What is it reindeer pee?
 
2.99 at Lowes here..

Whats the hype with -100 anti freeze, west marine is pushing it here like 4 day old bread, but it 12.99 a gallon. What is it reindeer pee?
I use the pink stuff but use one gal of the -100 in the water tank in case there is some water left in and it will get diluted. West marine has a $4.00 rebate so the cost is about $8.99 net.
 
Maybe it's flawed thinking, but if the tank is near empty and all the passages to and from are pinked to full strength, isn't there plenty of room for expansion if it should freeze? I haven't pinked either tank (hot water or main water) in years. I run pink through the entire water system by connecting a bucket filled with pink to the pump directly and bypassing the hot water tank.
 
this drives me crazy :smt021.
I have looked all over town and cannot find one store that carries the propylene kind.
Some say "for plastic pipes only".
Some say "contains ethanol". But can use on steel pipes.
Some say "corrosion inhibitors, contains ethanol".

Even went to 4 boat dealers, and they all use this RV pink stuff that is meant for waterlines in a trailer. That's what they use to fill the engine block.

Is it really a big deal? Does it matter? What's wrong with ethanol in the AF?
I'm a little confused :huh:
 
Maybe it's flawed thinking, but if the tank is near empty and all the passages to and from are pinked to full strength, isn't there plenty of room for expansion if it should freeze? I haven't pinked either tank (hot water or main water) in years. I run pink through the entire water system by connecting a bucket filled with pink to the pump directly and bypassing the hot water tank.

No, not flawed - perfect. That's exactly how I do it (whether it's my boat or the 450 that we do every year at the shop). I do push a little through the heat exchanger in the hot tank, just to be safe. For that, I just take the hoses off at the engine. And that's simply because I find it easier to do it there than at the tank - but my engine is facing forward - not sure how much access you have.
 
this drives me crazy :smt021.
I have looked all over town and cannot find one store that carries the propylene kind.
Some say "for plastic pipes only".
Some say "contains ethanol". But can use on steel pipes.
Some say "corrosion inhibitors, contains ethanol".

Even went to 4 boat dealers, and they all use this RV pink stuff that is meant for waterlines in a trailer. That's what they use to fill the engine block.

Is it really a big deal? Does it matter? What's wrong with ethanol in the AF?
I'm a little confused :huh:

Prop glycol is safe for everything. Ethanol will cause corrosion in the engine (metal). Google "Camco Winter Ban" - that's the stuff.
 
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I found the Arctic Ban in Canadian Tire, but it also states it has ethanol? (Though it does say "safe for use in metal pipes".

Maybe I'll just put automotive green in the engine.
 
I found the Arctic Ban in Canadian Tire, but it also states it has ethanol? (Though it does say "safe for use in metal pipes".

Sorry - "Winter Ban" is the stuff. Arctic has ethanol. Thank you for catching that - I corrected my post, above.
 
Maybe I'll just put automotive green in the engine.

Sure, that's fine. Just make sure you can collect it ALL again in the Spring and either save it for next year or dispose of it properly.
 
Dennis
Of the two tanks, I'd think the HW tank is more suitable to handle expansion of the small amount that remains after draining since it's round in shape.

The Walmart (Supertech) stuff contains ethyl alcohol - I just read the ingredients. I'm gonna take my chances with it. In actuality, it will only be sitting in the hoses. One thing that Merc designed cleverly is the self draining nature of the raw water side (in fully fresh water cooled engines). That's why none of us gassers have to fiddle with engine zincs.
 
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Dennis
Of the two tanks, I'd think the HW tank is more suitable to handle expansion of the small amount that remains after draining since it's round in shape.

The Walmart (Supertech) stuff contains ethyl alcohol - I just read the ingredients. I'm gonna take my chances with it. In actuality, it will only be sitting in the hoses. One thing that Merc designed cleverly is the self draining nature of the raw water side (in fully fresh water cooled engines). That's why none of us gassers have to fiddle with engine zincs.

Hot water tank: I see where you're coming from, but I don't know how much it really matters when it comes to what actually happens in there. Regardless of us hypothesizing, real world experience tells us they're both fine.

Oh, right, you have FWC, so do you already have coolant flowing through the Hot tank heat exchanger?

For just your fresh water lines, sure, the ethyl stuff is fine. We (and I) just use all of the same stuff (winter ban) everywhere because it keeps things simple and also eliminates possibilities for mistakes. The old KISS thing, you know?
 
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so do you already have coolant flowing through the Hot tank heat exchanger?

Yep
 
Just bought mine at WM... Paid a little more, but I gots to through them some bidness now n den... Picked up the stabilizer for the gas too... I plan, if the rain stops, to blow out my AC lines with the compressor this week end... I do this winterizing thing in parts starting with the AC and finishing with the mains...
 
Interesting story... I purchased the 'pink' at Walmart like I've purchased for several years in the past. I got the Super Tech brand this year. Last yeah it was Super Tech as well and I even found a bottle from the year before on my shelf that was made by Dow. Nevertheless, I winterized my boat and then went down to my buddies to give him a hand. After I'm done winterizing his engines, he reads on the bottle something to the effect "not to be used on engines". Huh? So I looked and sure enough it is an alcohol/propylene glycol based formula. Damn it! I checked out Walmart's MSDS database and they still have the old formula listed which was soley propylene glycol based.

I guess I will leave it in for now, but next year I will be cognizant of making sure it's propylene glycol based. Does anyone see issues with this? I'm assuming there's the slight possibility that hoses/seals could dry out faster, but no risk of freezing the block?

Doug
 
No risk of freezing. How much things will dry out or how much corrosion the alcohol will cause... I don't know. I'm sure it won't eat through your block, but I honestly don't know how much it will cause. I've never been willing to test it out on my engine. :smt001
 
Doug
Is your engine closed cooling. If so, it doesn't hit the internals at all. Hoses, heat exchangesr, exhaust elbows.
 
No it's not closed cooling. Oh well, I can't see it being any worse than salt water if left in there over the winter.

Doug
 
Just found the pink stuff at the local Ace here for $2.99 a gallon with a $2.00 mail in rebate.

Final cost - $1.99 a gallon
 

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