Forgot to leave the faucets open this year...Did I screw up anything?

Skuza

Skuza

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2006
1,459
Lake St Clair, MI
Boat Info
400 Sundancer
Engines
7.4L Horizons
I was at the boat today for the first time in a couple months and I checked everything. I knew I forgot to leave all the faucets open after winterizing. It has been very cold here, -10F at times. I did notice that in the shower there was a drip of pink on the mixing valve and a small spot under it on the shower seat. I'm hoping that since I didn't leave the faucets open that when the pink turned to slush it did not break anything. Today I left them all open and I know its too late but won't hurt. I do have plenty of pink in all the lines but after today I'm worried about not leaving the valves open for expansion. Has anyone else ever done this with bad results?
Also I made the mistake of telling the shirnkwrap guy to leave the bimini frame up over the winter because it gave more headroom under the shrinkwrap. Also it seemed like they would always scratch something or leave it laying on a seat when they were done. Well today one of the mounts on the radar arch was ripped out! DAMN! It will be an easy fix but it kills me since I wanted it left up. I propped it up in the meantime with the extending pole.
 
In my mind it depends on the level of protection of the antifreeze you used. What product did you use and did you dilute it? if you have good temperature protection, e.g. protected below -10F I wouldn't worry.
 
To put your mind at ease a bit...last winter I left a full jug of Prestone's undiluted pink AF on my bench in the garage to see what happened when the temp dropped to -25 or colder. While it did turn to slush, it didn't appear to expand in the jug. I expected to see the jug swell or maybe even push the cap off but it didn't. I would say your water system will ok while your faucets were closed.
 
THANKS for the temporary relief guys! I used the pink Prestone stuff which I think is good to -25 or -30F if memory serves me correct.
Good test Stray. Thats exactly the type of thing I was concerend about. I know in years past some of the sinks would always have a few drips of pink in them and I thought this to be caused by the stuff sorda freezing and pushing a little out. Maybe it is more caused by air temperature expanding and contracting the water and lines itself and not so much the partial freezing.
 
I would think as long as the system isn't pressurized by the water pump you would be perfectly fine, in fact my faucets are closed right now but I relieved the pressure before I closed them.
 
The issue on mine is the hot water, as the water heater holds water that doesn't drain. That remaining water dilutes the pink. I've gone as far as removing the tank and standing it on end to get the water out, for a solid pink flush.

Otherwise, lots and lots of pink are required to get an okay pink out the hot side.

A portable air tank is handy to blow out the lines for a belts and suspenders approach.
 
wingless said:
The issue on mine is the hot water, as the water heater holds water that doesn't drain. That remaining water dilutes the pink. I've gone as far as removing the tank and standing it on end to get the water out, for a solid pink flush.
Click to expand...

It's been discussed in other threads but the solution for the hot water tank is to bypass it. You basically just re-route the incoming cold water to it right over to the hot water output line, effectively bypassing the tank entirely. This can be as simple as a short pipe nipple or an actual bypass kit with valves. The valve type means you won't have to handle the lines too often (their connectors tend to fail). Then you just open the drain valve and pressure release on the tank and it drains completely. This way requires no extra pink in the tank. It also has the upside of not having the hot water stink for the first couple of tanks of hot water next season.
 
Or you can use your head. Bypass the water heater to winterize all of the lines. Then reconnect the water heater. Pump a quantity of antifreeze into the water heater while the drain petcock is open. Test the effluent from the heater with a PG tester. When the freeze point is low enough, stop. Simple and 100% effective.

When winterizing, I test with a PG calibrated hydrometer the flow from each faucet and also from each engine's exhaust port. When the tester shows the appropriate freeze point. I know the job is done right.
 
Last edited:
fc3 said:
Bypass the water heater to winterize all of the lines. Then reconnect the water heater. Pump a quantity of antifreeze into the water heater while the drain petcock is open.
Click to expand...
Done it that way too. The issue I've had w/ that is those darn quick connect fittings always want to leak in the spring. I hoped that standing the heater on end would be easier than messing w/ those leaks.

So far I'm not happy w/ either approach.
 
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