MAKC
Member
- Oct 23, 2006
- 519
- Boat Info
- 1997 400 Sedan Bridge
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillar
Hi all This is my first winter with my '05 320DA and i wanted to pass along all the tips and tricks and lessons learned for winterizing the boat. For any of you wanting to do your own winterizing, its pretty simple. By far, the hardest part is crawling around the engine compartment to get to a few things, but it was worth it to save the $$ and learn about my boat.
Holding Tank:
I completed pumped the tank and flushed it one last time. I pumped it out again and then put a gallon of pink into the fitting where i pumped out from.
Water System:
I didnt by-pass the hot water heater this year because i wanted to make sure all the water was purged from every possible place. I'll try bypassing it next year but for $15 in pink stuff, it was worth not having to deal with it. I first drained all the water from the fresh water system by turning on all the faucets until the water tank was "empty". I then put in 12 gallons of pink into the fresh water tank and turned on the galley cold faucet until it turned pink (happened rally quickly). I then turned on only the hot side and i was shocked how much water was in the hot water side before it turned pink. Once it did, i moved to the head sink and did the same; cold then hot. Pink came out pretty quickly on both. I then lifted the handle on the toilet until only pink was being pumped into the toilet (almost immediately) and flushed a few times with pink to make sure the pipes had pink in them. Then i moved to the cockpit sink until that had pink flowing (almost immediately), then to the hot/cold shower on the transom until both sides had pink, then to the transom shower washdown until that flowed all pink. Then i pumped pink into the fitting for continuous water from the dock. After all that was done, i used a gallon in the shower drain. That way all the water was pushed out and all that was left in the shower sump was pure pink.
A/C Unit:
I shut the seacock off and took off the hose right after the valve (and before the sea strainer). I used a garden hose that had been cut and put the garden hose into the hose that feeds the strainer and the A/C unit. I put 2 gallons of pink in a bucket and put the other side of the garden hose in the bucket and rested it on the risers to keep it high. I turned on the A/C and it sucked the pink into the system pretty quickly. When pink was coming out of the discharge on the port side, i shut the A/C down. Put the A/C hose back on the seacock and tightened it back up. I made sure the A/C condensate line was empty as well. All set there.
Generator:
I shut the seacock off and again removed the hose right after the valve (and before the sea strainer). I used the garden hose setup again with another 2 gallons of pink in a bucket sitting on the risers. I fired up the genny using the controls on the genny itself and it drained the pink pretty quickly. Once the discharge was all pink, i shut her down. Put the hose back on the seacock and tightened it back up. All set there.
Engines:
The little blue pump works great. Attach the pump to the little air nozzle and pump until the 2 little green buttons pop up. Water will be pushed out of the bottom of the engine. Loosen the little blue fitting on the opposite side of where you attach the blue air pump to let air into the system and all the water comes out nicely. Remove the little blue fitting on the bottom where the water is coming out from also. This gets the remaining water out. Now this will get all the water out of the engine EXCEPT for where the strainers feed the impeller. There is a 3rd little blue fitting right behind the raw water impeller and its a real pain in the *** to get to. Remove that fitting on both engines and the water from the hose that feeds the impeller will drain. You will absolutely need to remove that little blue fitting to get the remaining water out. Once that was done, i left the bottom 2 fittings off of both engines and will replace them in the spring. Once the hose that feeds the impeller is empty, you need to drain the sea strainers. The starboard engine sea strainer has a little black 4 sided screw in plug that faces the stern. The port engine sea strainer has that 4 sided black plug facing forward. Remove them both and let them drain completely. Once they were both empty, i put some pink in them and let that drain as well. That way my bilge pumps will have pink in them too for any water that doesnt drain out. I replaced both of those plugs.
Fuel System:
I used the fuel stabilizer that also had the fogging/lubricating oil and filled my tanks with fresh fuel that also had the fuel stabilizer in it. I ran the engines and the generator to make sure that they had the new fuel and the stabilizer in the lines.
Batteries:
Im pretty sure this is the last season with these original batteries but i'll be removing them and charging them for the winter. You will need to use the 12V power plug that come with the boat to raise and lower the engine hatch once the batteries are out. A portable battery charger work nice if you dont have AC power where the boat is stored. You can also use one of the batteries connected to the 12V power plug. Filled them batteries and will trickle charge them every few weeks.
****ADDED THESE SECTIONS****
Engine Mufflers:
You will need to drain your mufflers as they hold quite a bit of water even after everything is flushed out of the engines. Each muffler has a drain screw located on the bottom of the base. The drain screw faces the port side on both mufflers. Remove the drain screw (using a 5/16 wrench) and allow the water to drain out. Its going to take a while so be patient! Once the water has drained, replace the screws and tighten them gently. No need for a lot of torque there.
Generator Muffler:
Since i used the method decribed above to winterize the genny, the muffler had anti-freeze in it so there was no need to drain it. I checked the drain plug anyway just to be 100% sure that what came out of it was pink and sure enough it was. The drain plug on the generator muffler faces the bow and is at the base of the muffler. It also uses a 5/16 wrench. Again, tighten gently. No need for a lot of torque.
Seacock Drains:
I found that there was no need to remove the seacock drains after following the steps outlined above. When i pulled them, no water had come out. I left the seacocks open while it was being hauled and the water had already drained out of the line leading TO the sea-strainer.
I'll have a spring commissioning list which will include all new filters and belts and impellers and i'll share that too. Hope this list helps.
Mike
Holding Tank:
I completed pumped the tank and flushed it one last time. I pumped it out again and then put a gallon of pink into the fitting where i pumped out from.
Water System:
I didnt by-pass the hot water heater this year because i wanted to make sure all the water was purged from every possible place. I'll try bypassing it next year but for $15 in pink stuff, it was worth not having to deal with it. I first drained all the water from the fresh water system by turning on all the faucets until the water tank was "empty". I then put in 12 gallons of pink into the fresh water tank and turned on the galley cold faucet until it turned pink (happened rally quickly). I then turned on only the hot side and i was shocked how much water was in the hot water side before it turned pink. Once it did, i moved to the head sink and did the same; cold then hot. Pink came out pretty quickly on both. I then lifted the handle on the toilet until only pink was being pumped into the toilet (almost immediately) and flushed a few times with pink to make sure the pipes had pink in them. Then i moved to the cockpit sink until that had pink flowing (almost immediately), then to the hot/cold shower on the transom until both sides had pink, then to the transom shower washdown until that flowed all pink. Then i pumped pink into the fitting for continuous water from the dock. After all that was done, i used a gallon in the shower drain. That way all the water was pushed out and all that was left in the shower sump was pure pink.
A/C Unit:
I shut the seacock off and took off the hose right after the valve (and before the sea strainer). I used a garden hose that had been cut and put the garden hose into the hose that feeds the strainer and the A/C unit. I put 2 gallons of pink in a bucket and put the other side of the garden hose in the bucket and rested it on the risers to keep it high. I turned on the A/C and it sucked the pink into the system pretty quickly. When pink was coming out of the discharge on the port side, i shut the A/C down. Put the A/C hose back on the seacock and tightened it back up. I made sure the A/C condensate line was empty as well. All set there.
Generator:
I shut the seacock off and again removed the hose right after the valve (and before the sea strainer). I used the garden hose setup again with another 2 gallons of pink in a bucket sitting on the risers. I fired up the genny using the controls on the genny itself and it drained the pink pretty quickly. Once the discharge was all pink, i shut her down. Put the hose back on the seacock and tightened it back up. All set there.
Engines:
The little blue pump works great. Attach the pump to the little air nozzle and pump until the 2 little green buttons pop up. Water will be pushed out of the bottom of the engine. Loosen the little blue fitting on the opposite side of where you attach the blue air pump to let air into the system and all the water comes out nicely. Remove the little blue fitting on the bottom where the water is coming out from also. This gets the remaining water out. Now this will get all the water out of the engine EXCEPT for where the strainers feed the impeller. There is a 3rd little blue fitting right behind the raw water impeller and its a real pain in the *** to get to. Remove that fitting on both engines and the water from the hose that feeds the impeller will drain. You will absolutely need to remove that little blue fitting to get the remaining water out. Once that was done, i left the bottom 2 fittings off of both engines and will replace them in the spring. Once the hose that feeds the impeller is empty, you need to drain the sea strainers. The starboard engine sea strainer has a little black 4 sided screw in plug that faces the stern. The port engine sea strainer has that 4 sided black plug facing forward. Remove them both and let them drain completely. Once they were both empty, i put some pink in them and let that drain as well. That way my bilge pumps will have pink in them too for any water that doesnt drain out. I replaced both of those plugs.
Fuel System:
I used the fuel stabilizer that also had the fogging/lubricating oil and filled my tanks with fresh fuel that also had the fuel stabilizer in it. I ran the engines and the generator to make sure that they had the new fuel and the stabilizer in the lines.
Batteries:
Im pretty sure this is the last season with these original batteries but i'll be removing them and charging them for the winter. You will need to use the 12V power plug that come with the boat to raise and lower the engine hatch once the batteries are out. A portable battery charger work nice if you dont have AC power where the boat is stored. You can also use one of the batteries connected to the 12V power plug. Filled them batteries and will trickle charge them every few weeks.
****ADDED THESE SECTIONS****
Engine Mufflers:
You will need to drain your mufflers as they hold quite a bit of water even after everything is flushed out of the engines. Each muffler has a drain screw located on the bottom of the base. The drain screw faces the port side on both mufflers. Remove the drain screw (using a 5/16 wrench) and allow the water to drain out. Its going to take a while so be patient! Once the water has drained, replace the screws and tighten them gently. No need for a lot of torque there.
Generator Muffler:
Since i used the method decribed above to winterize the genny, the muffler had anti-freeze in it so there was no need to drain it. I checked the drain plug anyway just to be 100% sure that what came out of it was pink and sure enough it was. The drain plug on the generator muffler faces the bow and is at the base of the muffler. It also uses a 5/16 wrench. Again, tighten gently. No need for a lot of torque.
Seacock Drains:
I found that there was no need to remove the seacock drains after following the steps outlined above. When i pulled them, no water had come out. I left the seacocks open while it was being hauled and the water had already drained out of the line leading TO the sea-strainer.
I'll have a spring commissioning list which will include all new filters and belts and impellers and i'll share that too. Hope this list helps.
Mike
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