WInterization questions

[Plan B2]

This will be my first winter on the 1984, 53MY and I am making my check list for winterization. Here on the TN river I plan to use the boat year round so I am going with 500W wolverine heaters on the oil pans for the mains. I'll use a bilge heater in the Gen room under the galley sole. That should also keep the 32V batteries warm.
My questions are all about the Fresh water systems. I ran a 36 aft cabin carver her for the past 16 years and only had to shut down the water pump and open a fauset to allow the water to drain back down the lines and never experienced any issues.
Now I have a few extra items to worry about and have three specific area of concern.

FIRST: is the ice maker on the af deck. I would like to disconnect the water line at the unit and also below deck. Does anyone know where this line is usualy located? Is there a valve below deck that can be shut? I say usually because I understand there may be several different paths this line could take. What has been your experience?

SECOND: is the water heater. I've dealt with much smaller units located under a bunk, but this thing is huge and located above the water line in the aft starboard corner of the starboard engine room. Will the Woverines subsequently heat the engine room enough to not freeze the Water heater and all the other associated water lines in the engine rooms. My two fresh water pressure pumps are also in the starboard engine room with installed canister style water filter.

And THIRD: are the shore connections (one on each side) that enter into the top of the outer walls of each engine room. I know to disconnect the hose, but is there a prcedure that sould be followed to drain those lines that will allow the onboard water to still be presurized and used while aboard?

[captainwjm]

I do the same thing that you have done on the other boat; shut down the water pump and open a fauset to allow the water to drain back down the lines.

I disconnect the ice maker on the bridge, and never have used the shore connections.

I put a hot-oil radiator heater in the ER which keeps the batteries, water heater, and pumps warm enough. I also put one in each head. All are set at the freeze prevention setting. I don't use any other heaters.

Not on the Viking, but on another boat using the same measures, the only problem I had was freezing in a coil of the plastic waterline to the icemaker in the fridge.

I never worry about freezing unless the water temp gets below 40; which it did not do last winter.

[Plan B2]

Thanks Bill,
I named my dog after Travis McGee. I've read all of john McDonald's books on him and have always wanted to keep my boat in slip F-18.

[Bob Bradley]

For my fresh water system (in CT, where it does freeze) I built a manifold that allows me to bypass the water heater. The water heater has 3 lines on mine: 2 input (dockside and pump) and one outlet. I used three 3-way valves and set it up so I can run thru or bypass all three lines to and from the heater. In the winter I just drain the heater and bypass it. I also put a 3-way at the domestic water pump so I can select inlet water from the tank or a hose in a bucket of nontox antifreeze. This lets me winterize the system in about 5 minutes.

I've done the same (or similar) 3-way setup on the head, A/C, genny, and engines. Total time to winterize is now about 30 minutes. This is great for that occasional nice day in January when I want to take a boat ride and spend an extra $50 to re-winterize the engines.

[jim rosenthal]

I think you have to drain the FW system completely and also the water heater in order to be assured of water lines not rupturing if it freezes. In that case, you couldn't use the FW system without recommissioning it, which would mean that you would have to winterize it again etc if you left the boat.

You also haven't talked about winterizing the heads. Have you thought about them and your holding tanks?

[captddis]

Don't forget the windshield washers too. I would run the red non toxic AF through the system.

[Jaxfishgyd]

We winterize by wearing socks and maybe long pants once in a while...

[dottieshusband]

Ditto Captdis.. I put about 20 gallons of RV antifreeze in the water tank (after I drain it down to about empty), then run each faucet, hot and cold til I get the pink stuff. I pour some rv antifreeze down the drains, and into the toilet bowl as well. The I run some of the pink water from a faucet into a small container, and put it in the freezer to make sure it doesn't freeze hard. Run the wiper washer til you get pink there as well. I'm just down the road from you, and with our mild winters, you won't have much of an issue here. I use a boat safe heater in the generator room, and each engine room.

[saltshaker]

Use an immersion style heater for the engines instead of the pad heaters. They do a better job of heating the entire block which in turn keeps the ER toasty even when it's well below freezing.

[Plan B2]

Thanks to all for the responses.