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Winterizing my SM2 up on the hard
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I’m pulling Celtic Cross up on the hard this winter here in Michigan (42 degrees 32 minutes north) and I’d like to know what others have done with their seawater system in freezing climates. I talked with EchoTec on my watermaker and they recommended pickling with some food-grade glycol to preserve the membranes. The freshwater system gets drained so I can clean the holding tank. However, the seawater system is complex. I’ve got heat exchangers on the main engine, generator, and three heat pumps. Plus the two heads. Anyone have recommendations?
-- Dave Kurtz SM2 #380 S/V Celtic Cross Detroit, Michigan |
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Mark McGovern
When I asked Dessalator's USA rep Mark Fruehauf at Balcen (info@...) about how best to winterize our watermaker I got this reply:
"For winterizing I recommend doing a fresh water flush and then filling the High Pressure pump and membrane pressure vessels with non toxic water system antifreeze. The easiest way to do this is to use a utility pump to pump the solution into the inlet of the high pressure pump. It is also very important to make sure to blow out all fresh water from the product water lines and flow meters" I've done this for three years and so far it has worked well with no measurable degradation in either the quality or quantity of water being produced by the watermaker. -- Mark McGovern SM #440 Cara Deale, MD USA |
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Patrick McAneny
Dave, Unfortunately I have had to winterize my boats over the last 40 years more times than I would like. All I do is :
Have at least seven or so gallons of marine engine antifreeze in my engine room ,open and ready to pour.
Start the main engine allow it to warm up, take the strainer cap off ,close the raw water intake sea cock ,as soon as the water level goes down start pouring in the antifreeze as fast as possible and be ready with the next gallon and so on ,keep the level up as high as possible.
Have a helper look over the side and watch the exhaust ,when the exhaust is solid pink or purple ,shut the engine off .
Do the same for the generator .
Use potable antifreeze take supply hose off of the pumps ,or use another length of hose from the pump to place into the bottom of gallons of antifreeze turn on the water pump and have someone open every faucet in the boat one at a time , hot and cold side until it is pink .
Don't forget showers and the cockpit shower.
I drain my water heater and connect the fresh water inlet to the outlet so that the hot water side of each faucet is also pink and protected . If you don't connect the inlet and outlet of the hot water heater and drain it , than you would need to pump a large amount of antifreeze into the system because it would be diluted by the residual water in the water heater.
I also pump some antifreeze thru the toilets .
Hope this helps,
Pat
SM Shenanigans
-----Original Message-----
From: David Kurtz via groups.io <Davidwkurtz@...> To: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Sent: Fri, Sep 18, 2020 7:25 am Subject: [AmelYachtOwners] Winterizing my SM2 up on the hard I’m pulling Celtic Cross up on the hard this winter here in Michigan (42 degrees 32 minutes north) and I’d like to know what others have done with their seawater system in freezing climates. I talked with EchoTec on my watermaker and they recommended pickling with some food-grade glycol to preserve the membranes. The freshwater system gets drained so I can clean the holding tank. However, the seawater system is complex. I’ve got heat exchangers on the main engine, generator, and three heat pumps. Plus the two heads. Anyone have recommendations?
-- Dave Kurtz SM2 #380 S/V Celtic Cross Detroit, Michigan
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