winterizing early

[bruceb58]

Therefor I use 31.9 to signify solid side of the freezing point. It is a simpler form of 31.99999999999999.

Or....32.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000! And yes. depends on atmospheric pressure and anything dissolved in the water.

Water that would be in the block would never be able to supercooled.

BTW...started out as chemistry major in college!

And yes...drain the darn thing!

 

[smokeonthewater]

actually I believe I gave the technically correct statement.... unlikely..... FWIW I intended to imply HIGHLY unlikely but I'm laughing at this line of discussion and having fun with it...

I'm taking it about as seriously as an oil thread.............

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, same question, but I live and boat in saltwater.

 

[bruceb58]

I'm taking it about as seriously as an oil thread.............

Me too!

 

[moosehead]

.......For many of our members, this is going to go over their heads. But it will be an education and interesting discussion.

Dubious. This thread has morphed into nothing short of cabin fever. A bunch of us cold weather climate boaters on the cusp of having to put their babies into hibernation. Gasp.

OP - take the 5 minutes and drain it. It'll keep you on the water to the last minute, and sure beats a cracked block.

 

[bruceb58]

It IS also possible to get water way below 32* without freezing it tho supercooling

To continue the hijack...We had some cool experiments in chemistry lab in college for supercooling. I can't remember the compound we used but we would melt it in a test tube and allow it to cool with a thermometer sitting in the middle of it. It would cool to room temp and all you would have to do is add a tiny grain of some solid of the compound and it would instantly turn back to a solid.

 

[UncleWillie]

To continue the hijack...We had some cool experiments in chemistry lab in college for supercooling. I can't remember the compound we used but we would melt it in a test tube and allow it to cool with a thermometer sitting in the middle of it. It would cool to room temp and all you would have to do is add a tiny grain of some solid of the compound and it would instantly turn back to a solid.

Sodium Acetate. ???

 

[bruceb58]

Was 35 years ago. I don't remember.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Wow ur OLD..... lol J/K:laugh:

 

[bruceb58]

Wow ur OLD..... lol J/K:laugh:

No..I am!

 

[UncleWillie]

Wow ur OLD..... lol J/K:laugh:

He is a youngster!
I originally did the experiment over 45 years ago.
But I got a memory refresh when I did it again recently for the grandkids.
Old Geeks never die!

 

[UncleWillie]

- Dup -

 

[ricohman]

As a mechanic who has worked in Saskatchewan here is what I have to say about freezing and ruining an engine. You need at least -5 or colder for 6-12 hours to ruin an engine. 0 c for a night will not crack a motor. I've never seen it. No i/o will crack at 0c. The thing that kills engines is the mindset that it will remain warm. People don't drain the motor in late September and all of a sudden its -15 and snowing. The next day its +12 and you have a cracked block.
My boat is already in storage, but if I was running it I would take the 3 minutes and drain it each night. I would think it would need to be at least -5 for 12 hours to crack the block in my aluminum hull. A single light bulb from a trouble light would prevent this.

 

[Maclin]

Ricoh, those number are Celsius I hope, just clarifying for the metric-rebellious.

 

[roffey]

OK here's what I did, I cut a hole in a pail and put a PVC tap in the hole. Next I ran the boat up to operating temperature then shut off the motor. I emptied a jug of RV antifreeze in to the pail and turned the tap on. Next I started the motor and let it run until it was just antifreeze running out. Last step was to drain the exhaust manifolds and block, note it was just pink antifreeze. Tell me if I went wrong as this is a brand new boat that my wife wants me to take to the dealer to get winterized and if I mess it up I will never hear the end of it. last step will be doing a total clean up and moving it to my garage for her winter sleep.

 

[roffey]

.... BTW, I was out on the water Thursday all day, 80 degree weather. Today its 85 degrees and it just kills me to put the boat away,,, full of gas, LOL. Thanks for the advice, this thread was fun, even with the hijack, LOL.

 

[smokeonthewater]

roffey I have a couple points for you... first you don't NEED the antifreeze if you get the water out.... I simply drain the water and remove hoses or flush w antifreeze anywhere water can be trapped.... example on many mercs w the impeller in the outdrive the hose from the transom to the pwr steering cooler needs removed... also many water pumps will hold water... on some removing the lower hose will drain em and some need a little antifreeze poured into them.... On some engines you need to drain the risers also.

I am very leery of trying to run antifreeze through by running the engine because the thermostat will be closed......

for now you are still using the boat BUT when you put it away for the winter you need to loosen the belts, change the oil, and it's not a bad idea (tho I never do this) to spray some fogging out in the cyls.

 

[roffey]

OK, will do that. I thought running it up to operating temp would open the thermostat and run the antifreeze thought the motor. Once I drained the antifreeze from the block and exhaust manifolds the antifreeze would be over kill. I did not fog the motor but did put stabilizer in the gas and filled the tank. I will go back and do what you suggest, thanks for the info.

 

[smokeonthewater]

running the engine up to temp will only open the thermostat enough to let water flow and maintain temp.. unlike a closed (recirculating) cooling system you are constantly feeding cold water to it

It may or may not remain open long enough for antifreeze to pass it

 

[Maclin]

Drain it good, then next spring watch for the posts about water in the crankcase and what winterizing method was used by the poster...