Slow_boat
Well-Known Member
Should I empty it for the winter lay up? (I use 'Mills' fluid to keep the water clean)
Flexible water tank....
- Thread starter Slow_boat
- Start date
ostra4
Well-Known Member
I havnt emptied mine after conflicting opinions .I put milton in before topping to brim .I cant get into tanks to clean them in any case so my feeling was if left full there is less chance of growth on internal walls .Im sure others will tell me why should empty them .
2Tizwoz
Well-Known Member
If you believe the evidence don't bother emptying you water systems.
If not water throughout the system will freeze and potentially damage pipes and fittings.
If not water throughout the system will freeze and potentially damage pipes and fittings.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
IMHO, if your boats's in the water the inside will only get cold enough to freeze water in tanks and pipes if the temperature gets low enough that the local brass monkeys stop worrying and resign themselves to the inevitable for several days at a time. Ice in the (sea water) marina would be a good indication that a little bit of heat would be a good idea...
Out of the water, it'll happen quicker, but will still need several days of sub-zero temperatures.
Out of the water, it'll happen quicker, but will still need several days of sub-zero temperatures.
2Tizwoz
Well-Known Member
Perhaps Northumbrian winters are different from the Solent
samwise
Well-Known Member
It's not so much the tank as the pipework that may suffer in a sudden freeze up. About five years ago I went down to our boat parked afloat at Ipswich, to find that there was water swilling about just below the boards. The water in the pipes ( it was a very simple system) had frozen and forced the pipes off the tails in a couple of places dumping the contents into the shallow bilge. Our present boat is a lot more sophisticated and potentially a freeze up could do quite a lot of damage to pumps, accumulators etc. Our solution is to leave the boat in the Med, but if it was back here, I'd drain it.