|
Steve, I guess this is my day for telling you how I resolved this when I got fed up with filling the hotwater tank.
I winterize my system using less that 2 gallons. Here is how to do it. (1) On the side toward the bottom of the hot water tank (get down into the lazerette) you will see a hose coming out of the tank - this hose leads to the hot water faucets. Cut this and splice in another hose and run it to the bilge - install a shut off valve on it (this also allows me to use hot water to clean the bilge). (2) When you start to winterize the water system, make sure that the hot water tank is full of water and the water tanks are empty; i.e. use the cold water system to drain the tanks; (3) Go to the the fresh water pump forward of the starboard bunk and you will see a water strainer on the hose running from the starboard water tank to the pump - disconnect the hose from the strainer on the pump side: (4) Get a funnel, and place it in the disconnected hose connected to the water system pump: (5) Open the cold water taps in the head and galley and turn the system on and pour the antifreeze in until you see it come out of the taps (it will come out of the galley tap first, when you see that, shut that tap off and wait for it to come out of the head tap). Once you see the anti-freeze coming out of these taps, you know that the cold water side of the system is winterized.
Now for the hot water side: (1) Open the hotwater faucets and the shut off valve on the hose running to the bilge (see (1) above and drain the hot water tank into the bilge and pump it overboard (or give the bilge one last cleaning before pumping it over). Once the tank is empty, you shouldn't have to worry about it since what little water is left, if it freezes, has plenty of room to expand upward (but see (3) below): (2) Now, you are going to bypass the hotwater tank - below the front of the engine there is a juncture of water hoses and you will see "T" fittings. What you want to do is look at the carefully, identify the cold water system hose (it should be pink, the color of the antifreeze). You want to connect that part of the cold water hose coming from the pump to the hotwater hose leading to both the galley and head hot water taps - you will see the T connections and the clamps; Once you have done this, be sure to open the hot water taps, turn on the system, and pour more antifreeze into the funnel until it comes out of the hotwater taps - shut off the galley when it turns pink and the head tap when it turns pink. (3) Now, if you are a belt and suspender kind of guy like me, reconnect the hoses forward of the engine back to their respective systems, and pump some more antifreeze into the system - the antifreeze has no place to go except into the hot water tank - stop the pump when you see pink coming out of the hose in the bilge, and you know that you are totally winterized.
Presto, the system is winterized with less that 2 gallons.
It normally takes me about 20-25 minutes to compete this task.
|
Login
Register
FAQ
