Winterising 1999 Sailfish

[DennisG01]

I spoke to the attwood and raritan reps at the land and sea marine show at foxwoods yesterday and they both said you can 100% put pink into the hot water tank and it does nothing to the element. Have at it.

That's good to know. I wonder if something has changed (maybe element composition, etc) since the time when a rep told me the opposite? Did they specifically say that nothing bad would happen even if someone turned the water heater on with AF in it? Or where they saying that as long as it was drained, there would be no problems?

Either way, it's a still a waste of money - especially given how easy it is to bypass.

Thanks for checking on this, though.

 

[DennisG01]

Andrew, it looks like you've got everything under control. Don't forget the stabilizer/ethanolizer. And remember to fill the tanks.

Just out of curiosity, what brand (model if you know it) hot water heater do you have? That's so strange that you don't have a drain. I don't think I've come across that before.

 

[Andrew93]

Andrew, it looks like you've got everything under control. Don't forget the stabilizer/ethanolizer. And remember to fill the tanks.

Just out of curiosity, what brand (model if you know it) hot water heater do you have? That's so strange that you don't have a drain. I don't think I've come across that before.

I will look when I head down there Saturday to put the tarp on. I was shocked it didn't have a drain too and kept looking for it figuring it was hiding somewhere. Even my father looked and didn't see it. The heater looks like a residential hot water heater shrunk down. I would say it was replaced with a home depot model at some point, but I bought the boat from the original owner and he said that he never used it before so he had no idea if it even worked. My father did comment that he has seen residential electric water heaters that use the cold water in as the drain and not a separate one.

I will try filling the tank with water in the spring and let it sit to see if that frees up the pump. I do not really plan on using it since the pump outs are everywhere, but it would be nice to know it works.

 

[Another Distraction]

A "tarp"!! Bad move especially since it's so far from home...... wrap it.

 

[Andrew93]

Already all trapped up. Our neighbor is down there all the time and keeps a good eye on things, so I am not too worried about it. I also built a strong back so the snow does not pile up, total cost around $50 for everything. Only issue I had one year was leaving it too short and the wind flapped against the side of a previous boat, so I made sure to grab a real long one in both directions.

Here are a few photos of the water heater. It is a marine water heater, but no drain. The tape is because one of the T's cracked and the tape held it so I could fill the system with antifreeze without it leaking, just need to replace it in the spring. I gave a little air pressure into the hot out and it pushed all the water out of the cold, seemed to get it all.

 

[Another Distraction]

Blue tarps scratch your boat every time the wind blows. Good job but......come on it's grady white!

 

[Andrew93]

I'll have to reconsider for next year!

 

[DennisG01]

OK, yup, you're good with winterizing the heater exactly as you did. There will be a little bit of water still in there, but it should not cause a problem. Even with an actual drain, there would still be some water left. If you felt like it, you could turn the cold elbow to a downward facing angle and add a drain - even something as simple as another T with a short hose to lead towards the bilge (or into a bucket) and a shut-off valve.

You should be able to find those T's in brass/bronze. That would be a better long-term solution.