Winter in the water

[LuckyPenny]

I am going to keep my boat in the water over the winter. It is a 7.4L inboard with heat exchanger. I am not too worried about the fresh water side, as anti-freeze is installed. My question is what is the best way to keep the raw water side from freezing along with the water that may remain in the wet manafolds. suggestions or am I a worry wart.

 

[JB]

Re: Winter in the water

I have seen Elizabeth City in the teens, LP. I would take the boat out of the water.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[Ryoken]

Re: Winter in the water

make sure you test that permanent antifreeze in the exchanger first.<br /><br />then close your seacock. drain muffs, manifolds (if raw) if possible. pull intake hose from seacock, run motor while feeding nontox (usually 4 to 6 gallons depending on system)to intake hose until you see pink out the exhaust and fog as normal. pour some nontox into the top of seacock, reattach intake hose, leave seacock closed. CRC engine.<br /><br />if your seacock does not seal closed 100%, do not leave the boat in. also if it's not a seacock and just a thruhull pipe up to a ballvalve i don't recommend leaving it in..

 

[bob58]

Re: Winter in the water

I put a ceramic heater in the engine compartment just aft of the engines. It keeps the Generator and the raw water side of the cooling system from freezing. If it does get below the teens I would close the sea cocks and drain the raw water side for added security. As my Potable water tanks are in the Galley under the dinette, I use another heater with the access hatches open to the Galley area for both the engines and the Potable water. I set the thermostats to @55 deg. F. Never have had a problem and it get down in the teens here.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Winter in the water

Wow!!!! 2 heaters,that sounds like accident waiting to happen.I would never leave a heater unattended!!! Charlie and as to the orig post,if you are such a worry wart,why dont you just pull the boat and winterize it the right way and take the worry out of your life.Charlie

 

[wvit100]

Re: Winter in the water

Here in Charlotte last winter we had an ice storm that knocked the power out for several days. What happens to your heaters when the power goes out?

 

[oldboat1]

Re: Winter in the water

I winter over in my slip here in Maryland. We use ice eaters, although the water remains open for most of the winter. If the power were to go out for an extended period of very cold weather, there could be some damage -- but it's not a high risk. I'm out checking on the boat nearly every day, and getting aboard to tinker around. If you don't visit the boat regularly, it's probably safer to pull it for the winter.<br /><br />BoatSafe makes an ignition-protected engine compartment heater that might be a good investment.

 

[Ryoken]

Re: Winter in the water

hey Charlie<br /><br />i would tend to concur after seeing 1/2 the marina down the street from us burn to the ground from someone leaving heaters on a couple years ago. tell ya what, i bet all the boat owners near the guy that lost their boats where probably ready to lynch the guy <br /><br />one thing our marina does these days to avoid such incidents is that all the 110 outlet breakers in the yard are turned off every day when we go home to help prevent such an incident on land. <br />obviously power to docks is not turned off. but boaters in the water are warned by the marina owner that heaters running is not something he likes/wants them doing.. but some do anyway....<br /><br />i can't begin to count the amount of damage our customers do to their boats due to this kinda thing. one of our Ocean owners had a $4000 repair bill for hardlines and fixtures this spring because he just tried to keep the boat "warm" thru the winter... he learned his lesson the hard way... funny how someone will spend a couple hundred g's on a boat but will do everything to avoid a $700 winterize... go figure...

 

[bob58]

Re: Winter in the water

The key word there is "Ceramic" heaters.<br />They are very low heat output with very little risk of fire. I run them on the 500 watt setting and they work just fine.<br />Most of the larger vessels run electric or diesel heat onboard and have for years.<br />Buy the cheap heaters, bring your marshmello's!<br /><br />If the power goes out I fire up the generator to keep things warm!<br /><br />Replacing twin inboards gets real expensive so I am on it quickly or the Port Manager fires the Ginnie for me until I can get there.

 

[Ryoken]

Re: Winter in the water

<<Replacing twin inboards gets real expensive>><br /><br />so is a sunk boat when a seacock cracks..<br /><br />either way, i don't understand how $25 in nontox and a couple hours time to properly winterize the boat isn't worth it. heck, i'd bet the farm the electric bill to run the heaters is more than that.<br /><br />but to each his own....

 

[LuckyPenny]

Re: Winter in the water

Thanks for all in input. The thing is I want to use the baot once or twice a month over the winter. Thats one of the reasons I keep it in the water. And I can't get down to the Marina every day. I am just looking for an easy, inexpensive way to protect the engine.<br /><br />Would heating tape (the type used in homes work? Also, how much water collect in the exhaust manafolds after it has sat for a day or so? They must drain down and the only way I could see for them to crack if is they were full and froze.

 

[denniz]

Re: Winter in the water

BOAT SAFE HEATER... Only coast guard approved boat heater than Ive found. Doesnt keep it warm just keeps it from freezing, might do a google search to find there web site.

 

[airman]

Re: Winter in the water

I suggest getting block heaters installed. External ones that plumb into the heater hose are very easy to install. They seem to me to be a very low fire hazard. I've recently started working for a water taxi company and every boat in the fleet has one running 24/7. Nothing ever freezes and the engines are not only easy to start, but already mostly warmed up. The heat from the block keeps the rest of the area warm and dry.

 

[bob58]

Re: Winter in the water

Some of us use our boats all year long and they are to big to trailer. Cost for haulout $250.00 + per round trip so dry storeage is not an option to those of us that want to enjoy the waters every other weekend when it is peacefull in the winter time. Winterization is just not cost effective. I would rather pay the $20.00 to $25.00 per month electric bill!<br />Leaving our boats pluged in maintains batteries, keeps cabins dry of condensate, Keeps refridgerator and freezer foods fresh, keeps engines and water systems warm etc. etc.<br />Some of the responses here seem to be from folks that have not been in the 30 foot plus class of Vessels.<br />Something to think about!

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Winter in the water

I happen to be very familiar with the costs involved with a boat that size.What I DONT want to be familiar with are the costs of fire damage,freeze damage,water damage and salvage.Something to think about......

 

[mercrewser]

Re: Winter in the water

www.Bensaco.com. I have a boat safe heater in my carpet cleaning truck. Works fine for past 2 years. They also sell a very loud alarm that goes off if power is cut to the heater. I'm in SE PA and my machine has never frooze. Its in a detached garage. Only problem is it doesnt shut off untill the temp is to high. Avg cost is $55 amonth to operate. Heater is a ceramic heater made for the flammable marine environment. Carpet cleaning machine it heats is large, 65 hp. Ever cleaned with 65 hp?

 

[Ryoken]

Re: Winter in the water

<<Some of the responses here seem to be from folks that have not been in the 30 foot plus class of Vessels>><br /><br />i have over 200 customers in the 30' to 60' range, matter of fact, the majority of stuff i work on is over 30'... Hats, Vikings, Silvertons, Berts, SR's, etc... <br /><br />i would think someone using their boat that much (which was never stated) over the winter would invest in good block heaters. and why anyone would want to be out on the water when it's 20, 30 degrees is beyond me. but whatever floats your boat, unless that seacock cracks of course

 

[bob58]

Re: Winter in the water

Block Heaters work well for the block, but in a closed cooling system, does little for the raw water side or the seacocks. <br />Heating the engine compartment keeps the seacocks warm also.<br />If the ball valves (seacocks) get cold enough to freeze, they will freeze whether they are open or closed. There is still Half of the valve that is full of water. Espescially with the wind blowing cold air through the engine room through the vents.<br />Heating the engine compartment also keeps the strainers, cruise air seacocks, generator seacocks and all other equipment in the engine room from freezing.<br />Incidently, block heaters are electrically operated too!

 

[Ryoken]

Re: Winter in the water

not to get in some pissing match here with ya but thats not correct about seacocks. when closed, your chance of a fracture to the seacock is greatly diminished as opposed to open and water being up thru the hose. thats why i made the the statement about a thruhull/ballvalve setup as opposed to just a seacock. far greater chance of failure.<br /><br />as a consciensus mechanic i try to warn boaters of possible problems and issues. i've seen this stuff happen on numerous occasions.<br /><br />btw, a good block heater compared to a ceramic heater is a world of difference as far as fire goes. it's not the electric thats gonna be an issue, it's more than likely gonna be that heater getting knocked over in a storm. <br /><br />if it's working for you, knock yourself out. but if you wanna argue whether these kinds of things happen, well, your mistaken.<br /><br />have a nice winter

 

[mercrewser]

Re: Winter in the water

Go to www.bensaco.com. You can mount the heater in any position and it can be knocked over. Sounds pretty safe to me as it was designed spefically for the marine engine box environment. I suppose convection from a block heater would keep the manifolds and exchanger from freezing, it would also be a hell of alot cheaper to buy and operate. I'd probably go withthat and keep a close eye on it till I was comfy with how it worked. No I wouldnt, I'd pull the boat.