Winterizing AC Made Simple

[MasterFab]

I made up a special tool a while back, to simplify the winterizing of my air conditioning system. On a 340 like mine, the AC strainer and seacock are not as accessible as I would like, and this tool really makes things easier. I start by removing and cleaning the strainer, then replacing it. Next, I wedge this tool up under the boat.


This is something I spun up in the lathe and vertical mill, using some spare plastic that was laying around my shop. The white delrin disc is tapped for the boiler drain valve, while the black section is a round cylinder made of acetal, screwed to the white section, with a bit of sealant in between. ON the end of the cylinder section, I bonded a very compressible gasket made of closed cell silicone foam. The black shaft is actually a piece of broom handle, turned down on the end, and fitted with an O-ring where it inserts into the delrin disk. Installed, it looks like this:



The hose is an 8 foot long scrap - just long enough to extend up to the cockpit. I have a big funnel on the cockpit end. To winterize, I simply turn on the AC, and fill the funnel with pink antifreeze. The pink feeds down to the thru-hull fitting, and is drawn up through the strainer, and through the system. It takes about a gallon to do the entire system, and this way, the seacock and strainer are fully flushed with pink as well. Nothing is missed. To finish off, I cycle the seacock several times while the system is still filled with pink, to flush any water from behind the ball. Then, be sure to leave the seacock half way open. Leaving a seacock fully open, or fully closed, is not the best way to store them, any water trapped behind the seats has no room for expansion. This is also a good time to lubricate the ball with an appropriate marine grease.

Dale

 

[scoflaw]

Not to burst your creativity bubble, but West Marine sells that "toilet plunger" flusher for $40 bucks, for the rest of us without a machine shop. The pole telescopes and locks with a half twist. Keep up the good work.

 

[Alex F]

Interesting mod, Dale.

I like taking a little simple approach from the ER by using the strainer cap or attaching to the intake hose.



But, if access to strainer or the hose is a pain, your approach looks like good solution. As you know, they sell different caps with garden hose attachments for wingnut types.

It's a little suprizing to hear that you have trouble accessing your A/C strainer b/c it wasn't too bad even in my 320DA.

 

[MasterFab]

On my vintage 340, the AC strainer and seacock are located forward, and just below, the port transmission. I can access the top of the strainer without TOO much trouble, but the seacock itself is quite a stretch (unless you're a skinny one armed Romanian girl who makes a living as a contortionist). I have, in the past, simply added the pink AF to the top of the strainer, but I prefer to make sure the AF passes through the seacock and inlet hose as well, for a complete and thorough job. This setup accomplishes that, and is also a positive means to flush any residual water from around the seacock ball and seats.

Scoflaw, it's funny that you mention a toilet plunger. I actually looked at a toilet plunger, and was thinking of modifying it for this purpose, but my wife saw the thing in my hands, and vetoed the operation. It was not robust enough anyway, so I'm not bitter that I had to make this from scratch......:smt013

Dale

 

[Bermuda Shorts]

I have a 330 and found the best way to get AF thru was to back feed it thru the hull outlet until pink comes out the bottom of the boat

 

[firecadet613]

Not a bad set up.

I do the same as the above post, if your boat is on the hard, just use a funnel and a piece of tubing and backfeed it through the thru hull.

I made up your same contraption so I can run the AC on the hard out of a toilet plunger and some hose.

 

[Hwillcockson]

I go through the thru hull also - as seen in this youtube video: http://youtu.be/hDV1KFgwEKs

The only difference for me is that I connect a garden hose to my washdown faucet on the boat and use that as the source of pink anti-freeze. I also have a brass adapter from the garen hose to a 1/2 plastic tube as my thru-hull fittings are smaller.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I go through the thru-hull but, I always enjoy posts like this because it gives us a chance to see how others are doing things since there is almost always more than one way to do it. Even if someone doesn't have access to a lathe (which most probably don't and I wish I did!), it might just inspire someone to use the general concept and adapt it to his/her way of doing things. Thanks for posting, Dale.

Dale - here's something I made a little while back. It consists of a standard gardenhose repair kit (with male threads), an AF bottle cap, and a brass cap (that has female garden hose threads). I drilled the hole in the brass cap (and of course the AF bottle cap). The other end of the garden hose goes to a "plunger", like others have mentioned (used an extra cockpit cover pole that was laying around). I originally made this up to help a friend winterize his livewell.

Screw the white cap onto an AF bottle, turn the bottle upside down and punch a hole (for air to enter) in the bottom of the bottle. It won't really make your AC winterizing go any faster, but it's one less thing to carry topsides (funnel) and less chance for spillage. Besides... it might give you a chance to make another "toy" as it seems you enjoy this type of thing (as do I!) or maybe it can help someone else. Maybe you can make it look prettier?