Winterizing Diesels

Dom, Dom, Dom. You talkin' bad about my girl?
You would have to actually run your boat and gen set to be able to make a useful comparison as to the fuel economy of your 410 and my 420. I am at 100 hours this year on the mains, and it has been a slow year.

When you get your 460DA with Cummins C Series we just might let you into the secret Cummins Society-you know, C series-the engines you refer to as "Fuel Guzzling"

Actually helping you out with Cummins questions?
I will have to take that before the supreme council.
 
Ah crap, I just paid for a compression check as part of my winterizing program. More $$$ out the window !! Wish I had gassers.....
 
:huh: Hey Skip, this is the first year I have my 450da with 3126TA is your list the same for Cats?
 
SEYachts,
What I know about Caterpillars would fit in a very small notebook. The fundamentals are the same, but the 3126s in the Gentleman from New Jersey's boat have a few more zincs, as an example. It also has little itty bitty series 500 Racors for passing fuel.

Borderline starving the engines for fuel at WOT is, apparently, how one avoids being labeled a "fuel guzzler".

My 3 cylinder Kubota diesel on the Onan gen set uses a Racor 500MA. Ha ha ha.
Ha ha ha.

I would defer to Fwebster on all things CAT, but in Frank's part of the country "winterize the boat" means putting a 60 watt bulb in the ER to fight humidity, and calling guys like me from your boat when it is 75 degrees and sunny in the Florida Panhandle and 23 degrees and snowing in DC.
Boy-I need to retire in Florida.

Anyway, the non diesel main engine stuff is generic to any boat, I'd imagine.

regards
Skip
 
Skip,
A quick question, I didn't find anything in reference to the batteries on your list. When I had my boats in the driveway I always took batteries out and kept them in garage. I would charge them ones or twice during the winter months. I did this last winter when I got my 320 as well. But, taking out 4 baterries and then taking them home is a bit of a PITA, so I was thinking if I can leave them in the boat and then also charge them 2-3 times during the winter.

How to you handle your batteries?

Thanks,
Alex.
 
Take them out and protect them from freezing temps...........a small price to pay for enjoying a bigger boat.

Four batteries mean a bigger multiplier if you forget to keep the charged or protect them from freezing.
 
Hey from South Louisiana. Yes thank goodness, my boat survived Gustav without a scratch! I do appreciate Skip's "to do" list as a time saver, but down here, we do boat in November and again in February, and in between just stick a couple of heat lamps in the ER and deal with the water in the "outside" lines like swimplat shower, etc. We also leave the heat on inside the boat set to about 45 or 50 and that seems to help. About the batteries, I've never had a battery freeze in 20 yrs and always left them on the boat. But then again, I'm not freezin' my ass off up north:smt043
Part of the fun of this site is observing the shit flying back and forth between Frank, Gary, and some of you guys....it's hilarious and good fun. Later.
 
Skip said:
........ It also has little itty bitty series 500 Racors for passing fuel.

Borderline starving the engines for fuel at WOT is, apparently, how one avoids being labeled a "fuel guzzler".

My 3 cylinder Kubota diesel on the Onan gen set uses a Racor 500MA. Ha ha ha.
Ha ha ha.........
Click to expand...

Your big 900MA Racors are in your vessel.....tucked way out of way...so much so that you need to be on the Jennie Craig diet to reach them.... for a reason......to handle the huge magnitudes of fuel flow required to keep your pristine fuel guzzling 420DA traveling at 24 knots......my pristine 410DA will pass by the fuel dock at a respectfull 22 knots, and happily wave to the my Southern friend......:grin:
 
My boat stays in the water year round, save for the annual haul for bottom maintenance. I leave the boat plugged in to shore power, with the battery charger on. With a bubbler running behind the boat, warmer water moves around the boat all the time. The ER, and the batteries, are, therefore, surrounded by warmer water. I'd guess that even when the air temp is around the 15 degree mark the ER is still above freezing. At any rate, I leave the batteries in my boat with the charger on and shore power on. I have had no problems in two winters. Besides, in the water, if I get water coming in, how will the bilge pumps and alarms function without the batteries?
Again, I run Optima AGMs and have had no problems in the winter with in water storage.

You will also want to verify your layup period with your insurance carrier, and the terms and conditions therein. For example, I had Cummins out after we cut shrink wrap last March to adjust Valve Lash on my C series. When the tech was done I wanted to run the boat. This was two days prior to the end of winter layup, so I called the insurer and had my winter layup period adjusted so that if something happened on the sea trial (debris strike or whatnot) I was covered.

regards
Skip
 
Dom, fuel docks tend to be no wake zones. 22 knots?

Is that how you Yankee Boys do this boat stuff?

regards
Skip
 
+1...... on the 'in water' winter storage....there really isn't a choice with taking your batteries out of the boat.

Back in the day, when I first started the boat winterization thing, and before I had an on board battery charger, I would remove the batteries and store them in my garage, on the floor, on top of a few pieces of 2X4. I would put them on a trickle charger for about one weekend per month each. That was the general concenus of how it should be done.

When I first moved up in boat size, and had the on board battery charger, I was wintering on the hard and stored the boat next to my house. The first season, I removed the 4 batteries and stored them in my garage....old habits die hard.

Then I started to think about it and decided that it really made more sense to just leave the boat plugged in to the house electric and keep the charger on through the winter. I checked the water levels before I put her to sleep and once again in late Jan/early Feb. Never had a problem doing it that way....afterall, my car sat outside all winter too.

My take on winter battery storage, having done it now for 25 years or so, is that if you have an onboard battery charger AND access to electric, then just leave them on the boat and keep your charger on....

As an aside....when I bought my current 410DA, part of my deal was that MM would winterize and store the boat in their yard for the winter...I closed in January. They left the batteries on the boat but simply removed the negative cable from the terminal. Never even charged the batteries once. When I put the boat in the water and got it home, I remember putting in a MayDay call to Frank W that one of my 'new to me' diesel motors wouldn't turn over or start. Turned out to be a lose connection to one of the batteries.



Skip said:
Dom, fuel docks tend to be no wake zones. 22 knots?

Is that how you Yankee Boys do this boat stuff?

regards
Skip
Click to expand...

Most fuel docks up here are far enough off the 'no wake' zone areas. You'll have to look a little, but I'm sure you'll be able to see me wave..... but rest asurd, I'll be in the 'fast trawler' lane.....
 
Installed my wolverines fall of '07.....love 'em. I also keep a boatsafe heater in the ER, but it stays unplugged unless the temps get real cold. I've cut to fit some of that hard insulation board and cover the side ER vents on the side of the hull to help keep the heat in....not really sure if that does anything, but it makes me feel better. You can see them in this pic...

P1260739-1.jpg
 
I store the boat inside for the winter, although the building is NOT climate controlled. I leave the batteries in and plug the boat in every time I go to visit (once a month or so). I did check the water levels every time too, but they were always full (not surprisingly).

The batteries were fully revved up and ready to go in the Spring. Of course, that was the first year, so the batteries were new, blah, blah, blah. We'll see after this year, but that is my plan again.

Also, regarding the A/C component of Skip's list, the CruiseAir manual actually recommends simply draining the raw water from the system at it's lowest point (disconnect the lines from the pump). I did that, as well as drained the strainer and feed lines. It was much easier. Took two minutes.

And +1 on the oil analysis.

And -1 on the compression check. But I believe that horse is sufficiently dead.
 
By the way osd9 what model wolverines did you buy? i can use a set.
 
Last edited:
After speaking with the 'owner' of wolverine, based on where I live and what my expectations were, I bought and installed the 250W heaters...one for each pan. They keep the ER around 45 def F during times of ambient low 20's deg F.....keep in mind, that I winter in the water, so I don't have ambient temps all around the hull. The hull is sitting in water that is always (hopefully) above 32 def F.

It will definitely extend your late season boating and get you in the water earlier in the spring. I don't know that I would eliminate the total winterization process if you don't have constant access to the boat with the 250W units. But I will tell you that they keep the oil pan hot and the oil is constantly warm.....
 
West Marine is having a sale Sep 11-28 on most winterizing parts. The flyer has winterizing checklist. One thing that new I found there is greasing the prop shafts. Does anyone do it, how do I grease it?
 
Alex F said:
West Marine is having a sale Sep 11-28 on most winterizing parts. The flyer has winterizing checklist. One thing that new I found there is greasing the prop shafts. Does anyone do it, how do I grease it?
Click to expand...

Never heard of that one for inboard shafts- sounds more like greasing the splines on an outboard or I/O.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,210
Messages
1,428,649
Members
61,108
Latest member
rvlewis
Back
Top