antifreeze for winterizing water and holding tank

[dwaynec]

Well.... It is that time of the year again and I have to winterize the water and holding tanks. They are both as empty as I can get them, but you know how it is. You never get it all.

Can you use an antifreeze with ethyl alcohol in these tanks, or will it compromise the tanks.?

Thanks

 

[bobk]

Why not just use a wet/dry vacuum to remove as much water as possible from each faucet along the line and forget the rest. I did that for thirty years when I winterized the boat and never had a problem. That also saves the time it takes to purge the antifreeze from the lines.Now I do it the easy, expensive way and bring the boat to south Florida.

Can't speak to the effect of ethanol on the system. I presume you have FG tanks and are thinking about the effect of alcohol on the older fuel tanks.

Bob

 

[dwaynec]

Yeah, I have fiberglass holding and water tanks, and with the problem that ethanol has caused with fuel tanks, I was wondering about the tanks I need to get winterized.

I would love to be able to dry the tanks with a wet/dry vac, but the only way I can do that is to cut big holes in the top of the tanks. I really don't want to do that.

 

[MikeP]

"Why not just use a wet/dry vacuum to remove as much water as possible from each faucet along the line and forget the rest. "

Two years ago a friend with a Hatt did that here (Ches Bay) and had a water line freeze/rupture over the winter. I would rather do it the compressed air (or vac cleaner) way but I just don't trust that method. I use about 36 gal of pink every winter...

It may totally depend on the individual boat and how water lines are laid out and what the lines are made of. I can see that hose water lines would be much less prone to freeze damage than copper lines though copper will outlast all of us as far as durability is concerned.

 

[dwaynec]

Thanks, Bob and Mike. I went and got the pink polyprop glycol. Hopefully that will not hurt anything.

Our boat has the original copper, and I just don't trust the vac to get ALL the water out of the lines. Put a couple gallons in the water and holding tank to take care of the very small amount of water that I can't get out of them.

 

[jmencel]

The "pink" RV antifreeze usually comes in two types around here. One for metal, and one for plastic. Go with the latter.

 

[dastahl]

It took me way too long to get the anti-freeze out of the water tanks in the spring. For the last few years I blew the lines out with compressed air. No problems. I really really can't stand the smell of the isopropol "sp" stuff.

Of course the best way to winterize is to take the boat to warmer weather. Skooch is resting in Fort Pierce were she is warm and happy.

Skooch
42 Hatteras LRC

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Yeah, I have fiberglass holding and water tanks, and with the problem that ethanol has caused with fuel tanks, I was wondering about the tanks I need to get winterized.

I would love to be able to dry the tanks with a wet/dry vac, but the only way I can do that is to cut big holes in the top of the tanks. I really don't want to do that.

If you pull the level gage, youll have a 1-1/2" hole to work in. I only use dock water or bottled water under way. My tank does supply toilet water tho... I merely limit how much I put onboard as the season winds down. The crapper will suck the tank almost dry. I cut a T into the crapper line to winterize with and the water in the pick up will fall to the tank level. 10 Gallons in the tank wont hurt even with a deep freeze as the tank bottoms are tapered like the fuel tanks. ws

 

[dwaynec]

Well, we are done. The pumpout gets most of the liquid stuff out, and what is left behind shouldn't be too much of a freeze hazard. Put a few gallons of pink into the tanks to take care of what I can't get out and will deal with the stink of the pink in the spring.

I wish I could winterize the boat by taking it to a warmer part of the country, but then I would never get a chance to be on her.

At least with her slipped in KY it is only a 7 hour drive to the boat......

Maybe someday I will retire again and just stay on her.