2013 Freedom 285 Bilge Access Awful

JLR

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First time winterizing boat here in New York. The boat stays in the water. She has four pumps—fresh water washdown, salt water wash down, live well and macerator. While I was able to run pink stuff through the fresh water pump and the macerator pump, there is absolutely no way to get to the salt water pumps without ripping up the floor on the aft deck. Piss pour design if you ask me. What were they thinking?
 
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Good morning,
I think that running the pump until nothing else comes out will suffice.
From the manual for the 285 freedom here is what to do
"To drain other systems, close seacocks and run the pumps until the lines are dry. Open the seacocks after lines are dry if the boat is stored out of the water. Draining will help prevent water stagnation in warmer climates."
It's page 7-2.
Hope this helps.
 

DennisG01

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For the salt water washdown you could get some extra piece of mind by pumping/pouring about a half gallon of AF through the spigot - any tiny bit of water that might still be left will be diluted by the AF to a point awful close to it's rated burst point - certainly not a problem for NY. I'm not sure how the aerator is setup in the livewell and whether you could do the same thing?
 

JLR

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Thank you. That does give me some solace that is, until I need to replace one of those pumps. As to pouring anti freeze into the raw water washdown spigot, not possible. Spigot faces downward toward the deck.
 

DennisG01

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Thank you. That does give me some solace that is, until I need to replace one of those pumps. As to pouring anti freeze into the raw water washdown spigot, not possible. Spigot faces downward toward the deck.
Note that I also mentioned "pumping" it in. A $10 hand pump would do it. Heck, shove a small OD hose into it and then just pour AF into the hose using a funnel. Or a scrap section of garden hose that you screw onto it and pour the AF in that way. Just gotta do a little "thinking" is all.
 
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