Winterizing A/C while in water

[bottom knocker II]

I seemed to have lost the prime on the pump. Anyone know how to get it back? When turning the unit on, nothing is coming through and going back out the boat. I assume I lost prime when removing hose from sea cock and putting it in bottle of pink.

 

[MAKC]

You can try gravity feeding the system. Take the hose off the side that feeds the seacock. Put a garden hose inside the hose feeding the system and put a funnel in the other end of the hose while you hold it up (i cut an old garden hose so that the section i was using was about 6 feet long, just fyi). Pour Antifreeze into the funnel until the hoses are full, and then have someone turn on the A/C while you feed antifreeze into the funnel. Once the antifreeze starts getting sucked through the system, shut the A/C off and then pour antifreeze in a bucket and put the other end of the hose in it. I kept my busket on top of the risers to keep it high. That should allow you to get the pump primed and keep air out if it. Hope that helps.

Mike

 

[carterchapman]

I seemed to have lost the prime on the pump. Anyone know how to get it back? When turning the unit on, nothing is coming through and going back out the boat. I assume I lost prime when removing hose from sea cock and putting it in bottle of pink.

Mine lost the a/c prime while it was out of the water - here's what the MM delivery captain did (when we put it in the water):

1. Closed A/C seacock.
2. Open top of strainer.
3. Crack seacock open until strainer is full.
4. Close strainer, and try again.
That still didn't prime it.
5. With seacock open and pump running, loosen three of the four screws on pump housing until water leaked out.
Success! That got the air block out and the system primed itself.

 

[wingless]

The AC centrifugal pump needs a positive head to function, that's why it's mounted below the waterline.

This article details the NPSH parameter for the centrifugal pump and the effects of temperature, flow and head on the pump.

In short, to winterize the antifreeze needs to be forced in, usually by gravity. I also use a funnel into the pump inlet hose, filled w/ antifreeze.

 

[37 Dancer]

I winter in water ...... and I winterize my A/C units ....( if they loose prime or not ) with a 5 gallon container filled with pink....shut the seacock....and gravity feed into my strainer top with a short piece of garden hose. Works good.

 

[nauticaldog]

I winter in water ...... and I winterize my A/C units ....( if they loose prime or not ) with a 5 gallon container filled with pink....shut the seacock....and gravity feed into my strainer top with a short piece of garden hose. Works good.

The strainer cap you have with the hose fitting on it. Some friends have had them custom fabbed, do you know where you can get one of them off the shelf?

Also, to answer the question above, you can add an inline drill pump that will force the pink though the system without turning on the ac.

 

[37 Dancer]

Well the company ( Thoroflush ) I bought them from ... 4 years ago ... has since gone out of business......but they are fairly easy to make. Just get replacement strainer covers and have a 1/2" NPT hole drilled and tapped.....then screw in a standard 1/2" nipple & valve. I have 2 for the motor strainers....1 for the A/C strainer....and 1 for the gen strainer.....I also use them to flush with fresh water.

They look like this:

 

[bottom knocker II]

thanks to all...I got it done tonight. I love that idea with the fitting on top of the filter but mine is just a plastic cap on a 2006 Sundancer. Over the winter I am going to see about getting something made:smt038

 

[wkearney99]

If you're using that 5 gallon jug to feed the pink, and gravity isn't enough, then put a small hose onto the vent hole in the jug and blow some air into it. Doesn't take much. I had to do that on mine since the hose wasn't long enough, nor was there enough room, to have the jug high enough to let gravity do the work.

 

[wkearney99]

thanks to all...I got it done tonight. I love that idea with the fitting on top of the filter but mine is just a plastic cap on a 2006 Sundancer. Over the winter I am going to see about getting something made:smt038

The cap idea has been discussed here before. The safest bet seems to be getting a second cap, having a fitting put on it and then use it only when winterizing. That way the cap and the tapped threads won't get snapped off if you leave it there during regular use.

 

[vetteboy]

The safest bet seems to be getting a second cap, having a fitting put on it and then use it only when winterizing. That way the cap and the tapped threads won't get snapped off if you leave it there during regular use.

Isn't that what 37Dancer said?

 

[wkearney99]

Isn't that what 37Dancer said?

My point was to use them on a temporary basis, not leave them sticking up during regular use. The cap and the strainer assembly isn't quite strong enough to deal with the added strain of a threaded fitting. I'd rather put a tee ahead of the strainer and a more secure mounting point if I wanted a permanent setup. But then you've got yet another point of failure for leaks and corrosion.

 

[vetteboy]

How would the cap get snapped off?

 

[wkearney99]

If you're dealing with the plastic strainer cover it certainly isn't going to take well to putting threads into it and then leaving something sticking up out of it. It's simple physics. The fittings threaded into it would act as a lever. Any force against that lever would have to get translated somewhere. Either by snapping the threaded fitting out of the cap or by cracking the cap itself, or worse yet the strainer. It's less likely you'd break the strainer as the top bracket is usually mounted pretty securely. But start putting twist forces against it and you're just asking for that stress to break the glass strainer container. Not a cheap part if you've ever priced one.

If I were looking for something that let me flush the system on a regular basis I'd look more toward inline fittings instead of the cap. But for once a year winterizing it's a handy solution, when used carefully, that's all.

 

[37 Dancer]

My strainers are metal......so is the cap. I leave all 4 of them in place.... all the time. I also use them during the season for fresh water flush out. Im not worried about them getting snapped off......because there are no objects flying around in my engine room...

But I admit.....I do have all 4 ORIGINAL caps stored on the boat at ALL times.........just in case !

 

[fwebster]

The problem with flush adapters threaded into the strainer cap is that the strainer cap is so thin that you have very few threads holding the pipe nipple in the cap. Add the moment that that string of fittings gives you and it just takes a slight bump to break the threads out of the bronze cap. If your strainers are tucked away where you aren't likely to bump them, it one thing, but most owners climb all over the bilge and if space it tight, they will get broken. At least cary a spare cap because once you break the fitting out of the cap, you are done until you can get it drilled and tapped for a 3/4" NPT threaded plug.

 

[wkearney99]

Thanks Frank, that was exactly my point.

 

[Four Suns]

How sweet....

 

[Robski97]

Exactly ur point with all the wrong words...... Yea we know read between the lines...

Throw the crap at the wall somethings bound to stick right ?? ..... u guys smell something bad... I sure do.


Rob

 

[osd9]

I also winterize my A/C system with the boat in the water and I also use a modified strainer cap like Don. However, I get the pink through the system a little differently. I don't bother turning on the A/C system at all. I use a pump like in the picture below. I connect the hose from the output of the pump to the strainer cap and the hose from input of the pump directly into a gallon of pink AF. I close the seacock, I open the secondary valve on the modified strainer and I then pump away. I have someone stand outside the boat and let me know when they see the Pink come out of the discharges. With my current 410DA it takes a little over 2 gallons....I just pump 3 gallons thru to be sure. It works well with the boat on the hard also and no ac voltage is required and you don't need to worry about running down below to shut the A/C system off when the pink is empty.