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Post by Don Reaves on Sept 24, 2009 1:51:20 GMT
My boat will be hauled for the winter next week. Unfortunately, the sailing season here on the Great Lakes isn't very long.
This year, for the first time, I will be winterizing the engine in my SO35 myself. I understand that there's not a lot to it, as the freshwater side of the cooling system has a water strainer that's easily accessible from the top. I've been told that you need to crank the engine while pouring antifreeze into the strainer (with the thru-hull closed, of course) until the pink stuff comes out the exhaust.
My questions is: How much antifreeze does this take? Are we talking about a gallon, or several gallons?
Thanks,
Don
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Post by mkremedy on Sept 25, 2009 3:07:59 GMT
Don, I do it a little bit different and I think it is easier. I did this on my old C & C 32 and now on our 36i. I disconnect the intake hose prior to the water pump, then I connect a spare hose to the water pump intake and put the other end of this hose into a 6 gallon pail of water. I take a garden hose and fill the pail with water and let the garden hose run at a slow rate. The I start the engine and the water in the pail gets sucked into the hose and then into the water pump and then into the engine, I run the engine for about 10 minutes, then I shut off the garden hose and pour 3 to 4 gallons of the pink solution into the pail. when the pial is almost empty of the pink stuff I shut down the engine. By this time enough pink stuff has gone through the engine system and has exited the exhaust. If you have any questions please let me know. I also do a similar thing to the water system.
Happy Sailing
Remedy
Marty
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Post by Don Reaves on Oct 3, 2009 23:07:57 GMT
I did the service this morning. It was the easiest engine service I have ever done. Just close the intake thru-hull, take the cover off the strainer, start the engine, pour in the antifreeze and shut the engine off when my helper told me that the exhaust liquid was pink.
Way easier than removing even one hose from its fitting, not to mention putting it back again.
It took less than a gallon for my Yanmar 3GM series engine.
Don
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Post by mkremedy on Oct 15, 2009 3:07:11 GMT
Don,
Glad it was easy for you. Sorry that the season is over. Our season on LI Sound will end shortly as well.
Happy Sailing
Remedy
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davidh
Full Member
Prestige 32 Sundance
Posts: 37
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Post by davidh on Oct 15, 2009 13:19:50 GMT
Don
Did you not dilute the antifreeze 50/50 with water before pouring into the water strainer?
Regards
David
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Post by flightdeck on Oct 15, 2009 21:42:57 GMT
Winterizing...antifreeze.... that brings up some old memories, having grown up in Denmark I remember what it's like waiting for Easter to come around so we could get the boats back in the water. This is 1 chapter we can skip here in Australia, there is nothing better than getting full 12 months use of ones joy / moneypit. Mind you we wear our sails out faster here in Aus.  |
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Post by Don Reaves on Oct 16, 2009 0:38:52 GMT
David,
No, I didn't dilute the antifreeze. I put normal RV antifreeze (good for -50 F) into the fresh-water side of the engine. The kind that you typically dilute 50/50 is automotive antifreeze. You only use that in the engine cooling system, which recirculates through the heat exchanger.
Don
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davidh
Full Member
Prestige 32 Sundance
Posts: 37
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Post by davidh on Oct 16, 2009 8:27:38 GMT
Many Thanks Don
We boat on the inland waterways in Ireland and generally freezing is quite a rare occurrence.
I have twin engines and have a tube heater positioned between both engines linked to a thermostat which will activate when the temperature drops to 3 degrees. The only risk with this method of protection is if the shore power supply to the boat fails and therefore the thermostat can't activate the tube heater.
I notice some of the other boaters use automotive (blue coloured) antifreeze in the fresh water side of their engines instead of the Pink RV type you mentioned.
Should this matter given that the low temperatures in Ireland are
infrequent and not as severe?
Keep up the valuable advice!
Regards
David
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Post by Don Reaves on Oct 16, 2009 10:06:11 GMT
David,
The antifreeze I use is potable to some degree. That is, you can use it to treat the drinking water system. Since it is inevitable that some of it will get into the lake when the engine is put back into service, we can't use a toxic automotive antifreeze. That's why we use the pink type on the fresh-water side of the engine. But the laws in the US are becoming ever more restrictive, and it won't be long when even letting a little potable antifreeze into the lake will be prohibited.
It would be nice to have my boat in a place where the season was longer, or it didn't get so cold during the winter. Maybe when I retire...
Don
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Post by electricmonk on Oct 19, 2009 9:58:02 GMT
Hi there,
Just for the record, there are two reasons why you put antifreeze in the raw water side of he cooling system when laying up. the first is to prevent it from freezing, the econd and most overlooked is to prevent corrosion.
AND just for the record if there are any SO43 owners reading this if you have a YAnmar engine you need 6 litrs of antifreeze.
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davidh
Full Member
Prestige 32 Sundance
Posts: 37
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Post by davidh on Oct 19, 2009 15:08:10 GMT
Don
Many thanks for your explaination.
Regards
David
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Post by mkremedy on Oct 21, 2009 5:21:48 GMT
I'm confused, isn't there 2 water systems inside the engine. One is the system that is filled with anti-freeze that travels through the engine itself. The other is the raw water system, that is used to cool the other system by the means of a heat exchanger. When you are winterizing the engine, you usually check the anti-freeze system ( same as in a car) to make sure it is filled to the top/ proper level. You should never replace the anti-freeze with the pink stuff. The pink stuff is meant to go into the raw water system, here you are replacing the raw water with the pink stuff. If you don't do this, then the raw water will freeze over the winter. The raw water enters the boat through the through hull fitting and after it travels trough the system it exits through the exhaust pipe.
If you need further explaination you should check your owners manual.
Happy Sailing
MKREMEDY
Martin
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Post by peterjb on Oct 24, 2009 14:05:02 GMT
Am I naive ? I've just winterised my 3YM30 on my SO35 by following the Yanmar manual and draining the sea water from the engine. Why do you need to do any more?
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Post by so40gtb on Oct 25, 2009 23:06:38 GMT
This year, I poured the pink anti-freeze into the strainer at the winter storage boat yard's dock until my wife saw it come out the exhaust and killed the engine. My 3GM30F took about a gallon and a third (5-6 liters).
The yard moves boats to the Travelift using a small motorboat as a tug, so my engine wasn't used after we docked.
Today, I climbed aboard on the hard and simply opened the seacock below the strainer, the pink anti-freeze remaining in the system drained out of the strainer and flushed that path out. The engine winterization was complete once I released the belts and removed the seawater impeller.
Easier and simpler than running the engine once in the cradle!
-- Karl
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Post by Don Reaves on Oct 26, 2009 10:09:28 GMT
Peter,
Draining is sufficient if you really get all the water. I've always been wary of small amounts left here and there. And as electricmonk pointed out, it helps prevent corrosion.
Don
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Post by Chris Meyer on Oct 27, 2019 15:52:40 GMT
I did the service this morning. It was the easiest engine service I have ever done. Just close the intake thru-hull, take the cover off the strainer, start the engine, pour in the antifreeze and shut the engine off when my helper told me that the exhaust liquid was pink. Way easier than removing even one hose from its fitting, not to mention putting it back again. It took less than a gallon for my Yanmar 3GM series engine. Don I have done it this way in Michigan for 20 years with very cold winters and never had an issue. |
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Post by sailbleu on Oct 28, 2019 6:49:02 GMT
Old topic but it remains actual , sailing the Med. and south Atlantic now I have no need to protect the engine from freezing , but I do want all the aggressive seawater out .
Every 2 years I change the antifreeze in the primary system (engine internal cooling) and collect & store the ' old ' coolant .
Before winter stop , in a berth or on the hard , I close the intake and flush the secondary system ( raw water circuit) with freshwater for awhile so all the salt (very corrosive) is out , then pour the old coolant in and check the exhaust , when colored I stop the engine . Half of the saved old coolant is used for that .
I guess this is the most common procedure although I prefer to add the extra element of replacing the seawater with fresh water in the raw water circuit .
Regards
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Post by ForGrinsToo on Oct 28, 2019 19:51:29 GMT
The pink stuff is propylene glycol which is supposedly non-toxic to mammals. I don't know about marine life, and sure as hell wouldn't drink it. Engine coolant is ethylene glycol (plus pH buffer and corrosion inhibitors), tastes sweet, and is toxic to marine and mammals.
After haulout, I typically pull the raw water intake line off the through-hull, place the hose in a gallon of pink stuff, and have the Admiral start and run the engine until a good bit of pink stuff emerges from the exhaust port. About 1.5 gal seems to do it for the 3YM30 on the 36i.
I also disconnect, drain, and bypass the water heater (calorifier) then flush all the potable water lines with the pink stuff, most of which goes overboard on the hard. I usually do three flushes with clean water in the spring, then a disinfecting bleach treatment before reconnecting the water heater and filling the potable tanks. I can tell you that chlorine bleach leaves a foul and difficult to remove taste if you don't do a good job of flushing out all the pink stuff.
Geoff
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Post by ianpowolny on Oct 29, 2019 7:48:39 GMT
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Post by cpetku on Oct 30, 2019 2:28:05 GMT
On a side note since you're only a mile or so south of my marina, if you are at all worried about the condition of the boats around you, make sure you are using a magnesium anode on your prop/shaft while in fresh water. I changed over from aluminum this year which never corroded and was surprised to see how much of the magnesium anode wore away this summer. My friends say they've been boating for years without any damage to their underwater metal, but this is just cheap insurance even in the great lakes.
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