Winterising Sealine S360

[mad_boater]

Along with many other boaters I will be getting the boat ready for the winter. I have not long bought this particular boat so is there anything I should be doing to the engines/cooling system/domestic water ect ect.It has a some frost guard heaters fitted in the engine compartment. The boat is kept in sea water so do I need to drain the raw water system just in case the 240v connection goes down.Would it be enough to just drain the domestic water tank and pump possibly leaving some water in the system as it would be impossible to get rid of it all, it has plastic pipes.I would be gratefull for any input same boat or not.
Thanks

 

[kashurst]

You need to drain the drinking water system as much as you can. there are usually valves scattered about the boat to help you do this. My sealine had them on the hot water tanks. Open all the taps and shower valves and if you can blow air through them. If you have a water filter open it up/ remove it as well.

You have heaters in the engine compartment which a lot of people use, they work but need electricity - check your insurance co as well they may be unhappy about it.

I personally prefer to run a 25% antifreeze mixture through the engine raw water cooling system then it doesn't matter if the electricity fails. it also acts to reduce corrosion over the winter. Sea water can freeze at -2 degrees C.

The reason for this is that if the water in the engine intercoolers freezes and splits the intercooler internally you may not realize it until you have done some serious damage to your engines. There are intercoolers for the engine oil, cooling water, gearbox and turbo charged air intercooler. You can get a good deal on antifreeze from a motor factor rather than halfords etc as you will need quite a lot (20 Litres). I do not know which engines you have but if you post details of them I am sure someone will be along shortly who knows the easiest way to get the antifreeze mixture in and what little bit of pipe/hose/contraption you need to make it easy and quick. and they will know how much antifreeze solution you need to make sure its gone all the way through.

finally before you antifreeze the raw water system, change the engine oil and oil filters so that you get the benefit of the corrosion inhibitors over the winter in the new oil. (engines are very expensive and oil is cheap(ish)). I usually take the raw water impellers out to let them relax and slacken/remove any rubber drive belts. If you have a generator or outboard do the same for them too.

 

[kid's inheritance]

We also run a dehumidifier in the shower .Get one that the tank can be removed and the drain runs into the shower and thus overboard .
regards
Rob