Winterising Domestic Water System

[mjt]

Since we've had our current boat which has a calorifier I've winterised by rearranging the pipework to bypass it and then drained it down before pumping non-toxic propylene glycol antifreeze through the rest of the system. I do this to avoid the calorifier contents diluting the antifreeze but climbing into the engine bay and working in a confined space is becoming very debilitating due to old age so I was just wondering what other members do and whether anyone can suggest an alternative method.

Apart from the effort involved it also inevitably results in a quantity of water ending up in the bilge which requires further work to extract it.

[Ray]

I am far from a technical expert but I just turn on the domestic taps until they stop running and leave it at that. In 7 years I've only had one problem during a quite long cold spell where the water in the shower mixer froze and I had to replace it. If you live near your boat you can always take extra precautions if there is a bad forecast.

I'm sure though that more technical advice will be along soon 👍

[Lulu]

We do the same thing as Ray. In fact only today we’ve laminated a sign to remind us.  

[Smoggy]

I isolate and drain my deck shower and remove the hose from the inside shower to protect the thermostatic bit, other than that for most winter weather just leave the taps open as the pump power is off anyway when we are not onboard, I can shut the tank off and open a drain valve so the pump pushes air through the system if really cold weather is expected but winters are not that hard nowadays and so much of the water system is below water line which is usually warmer.

[rightsaidfred]

Removing the shower heads and leaving taps open has always worked for us but we use boat all year round, by the time we leave the tank is usually down to around a 1/4 full.

Fred

[ExSurveyor]

I have a drain off point at the lowest accessible point of the pipework. I open all the taps up to drain as much as possible. I then close all taps and open the drain off, switch the pump on and let it pump the last bit of water out. I then open all the taps, a quick burst of pump and then switch it off.  Don't forget the shower pump will benefit from a bit of antifreeze through it.

[mjt]

I can see that pumping the tank dry and leaving the taps open would probably be okay as the majority of the plumbing is flexible plastic tubing, albeit quite hard now from age. However doing that would still leave the calorifier full of water and even though it's insulated I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it like that, especially as we always lift out over the winter so wouldn't benefit from the relative warmth of the river. Also I imagine there would still be some water left in the pump. Climate change is producing more extreme weather events and we could easily experience another "beast from the East".

I suppose when we first bought the boat I should have made some modifications to make it easier to drain everything down but we're selling up so not worth doing now.

[ExSurveyor]

I had thought the calorifier would empty or at least reduce it's level. Fortunately mine is next to the engine and is mid cabin so benefits from the engine tube heater.

Perhaps get a small hot water cylinder cover to place over the calorifier.

[Vaughan]

1 hour ago, ExSurveyor said:

I had thought the calorifier would empty or at least reduce it's level.

It won't do as it has (or should have) a non return valve on the cold water input.  The calorifier is a large volume of water so it should not freeze anyway.  Just like diesel, in the old days before additives : it froze in the pipework, but not in the tank.

Draining the water system also provides hygiene.  That way you start again in spring with clean water. Modern plastic bodied diaphragm pumps can also freeze (quite easily) and should be disconnected and drained out.

[MargeandParge]

Reading your original post I can't understand why you think that bypassing the calorifier will stop the anti freeze being diluted.

The only antifreeze that goes through your calorifier should be fed from the engine block and NOT the raw water cooling system that we put antifreeze in to winterise our boats.  When you put your antifreeze into the raw water system it should just go through the engine heat exchanger raw water pump and into the exhaust system making sure you have put enough quantity in to fill the water lock on the exhaust. 

You would be showering and washing in antifreeze or river water if it was connected to the raw water system. 

The engine block water is fed through the calorifier through an internal coil tube and should have the same antifreeze in it as the engine block and header tank.

Turn the hot taps on till they run dry and leave them open backed off a quarter turn.

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[MargeandParge]

If you use your boat in the winter or any time without domestic water even run out then its good practice to turn the domestic water pump off and open the hot taps as that normally vents a calorifier that is empty but being heated by the engine system .

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

 

[mjt]

5 hours ago, MargeandParge said:

Reading your original post I can't understand why you think that bypassing the calorifier will stop the anti freeze being diluted

You're confusing the two circuits. I'm talking about the domestic water supply not the engine cooling circuit. The antifreeze I put into the domestic water tank to pump through the system would be diluted by the large volume of water in the calorifier.

[MargeandParge]

I do apologise but I've never heard of anyone adding antifreeze to the fresh water system either professionally or DIY like myself .

We drink ours so not a good choice for us.

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[mjt]

I only add it to the system over the winter storage period. It's flushed through when recommissioning in the spring.

We've never used the domestic system for drinking in any of our boats or vans. We keep our drinking water in a plastic water bottle and use a filter jug.

[BroadAmbition]

We never add any sort of anti freeze to our domestic water supply, wouldn’t dream of it as we drink the stuff too  never found the need for bottled water or filters. Two s/steel tanks (950 x Ltrs combined) sterilised along with pipes every two years

Then again I never winterise owt onboard either. We do switch on mid October - April 2 x 100w 240v tube heaters set to +2c via a thermostat and that’s it. We enjoy winter cruising 

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Add to that, every year on our annual Lads week, the hire craft, we don’t bother with filters or bottled water either. Never had a problem - we are now well over the sixty year mark too

Griff

[Bikertov]

4 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Add to that, every year on our annual Lads week, the hire craft, we don’t bother with filters or bottled water either. Never had a problem - we are now well over the sixty year mark too

Griff

I guess with the amount of use BA gets, you must be refreshing the water in the tanks very regularly, so it is never stale

 

[annv]

Hi Mike I have two Y valves connected to  hot and one cold pipes this is then connected to the shower pump. also a bypass pipe for the non return valve at base of calorifier. then after emptying the water tank I leave the taps open turn Y valves to the shower pump switch on and let it suck out any remaining water,only takes 20 min or so and only requires me to turn the taps and valves on. then a drop of dilute antifreeze in shower and toilet. John

[mjt]

Hi John, yes, as I mentioned earlier I should have done something like that when we first got the boat but as it's now for sale it isn't worth it. In any case the effort involved in doing it would be too much for me now. I was hoping for a quick sale so I wouldn't need to winterise this year but looks like I might have to. That's why I wondered if I could get away with some simpler method.

[Smoggy]

1 hour ago, BroadAmbition said:

Add to that, every year on our annual Lads week, the hire craft, we don’t bother with filters or bottled water either. Never had a problem - we are now well over the sixty year mark too

Griff

That because you fill the tank with rum!