running a boat out of water?

[sooner25]

I'm kind of new to the boat game, so I'm not sure what to think of this. A buddy of mine has a '06 Malibu Wakesetter. He told me that I was dumb for winterizing my Tige, because I might want to take it out when we have some warm days. He told me that all you have to do is start the engine up every couple of weeks and put space heaters on both sides of the block that come on when it gets 55 degrees or colder. Is this true? I would have never thought it was okay to run a boat out of the water without something hooked up to it to run fluid (water or anti-freeze) through it. What's the truth? Thanks guys.

[spharis]

Always be sure to have water going to the impeller. To do that, you need one of these.
http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/ALL/ALLFAK01.html
Hook it to a hose, start the boat......don't go over 1500RPM or so with it. You can either buy one from many different reatilers, or make a homebrew one with a plnger and some hose. The ones you buy have a nice twist lock on them, so I went that way.

If you start your boat without water, you will burn up the impeller, and you will have to replace it.....if the impeller isn't working, then it cannot push water to the cooling system, and the engine will overheat.

Other than that, he's pretty much right. I do not plan on "winterizing" other than an occasional start every 2 weeks or so. I will also keep the tank full and have sta-bil in it. Gas starts to break down after a few months. It only freezes <3 days a year here, and a light in the bilge will keep the block warm enough to prevent freezing. When summer rolls back around, it will be tune up time....new filters, oil change, and start going to the river again.

I hooked my battery up yesterday, jumped it off, and ran it for 30 minutes or so to charge the battery back up and test some other stuff I have been looking at.

His boat may have a fresh water cooling system on it, in which case he doesn't pull raw water from the body the boat is in. Those systems will not require water at the pickup to cool.

[raythompson]

Actually you do not need space heaters. You can place a couple of 60 watt light bulbs in the engine compartment and that will keep the engine from freezing down to about 15 degrees outside temperature. 100 watts is quite a bit of heat in a small space.

When I kept my old boat in the garage I never winterized and just started it up once every month. With my Tige it will no longer fit in the garage so it sits outside. It does get cold enough here that I do have the boat winterized as least as long it remains under warranty.

[yllw20]

I'm in the belief of draining the block. You can always put the plugs back in to use it during those winter days. What if your bulb goes out or heater fails....hello cracked block/manifolds and $$$ for repairs. I hit my batttery about once a month to recharge it. And fill your tank and stabilize the fuel.

[chpthril]

ray and spharis are right, don't run one without water source! Here is another option, I plan on going out also on nice days. I did all the regular winterizing stuff; changed fluids and filter, blah, blah, blah. But I drained all the water from the block, v-drive, trans cooler, exhaust manifolds, etc (shower and heater if u got) and put all the plugs and hoses back on. If i go out, all I have to do is drain it all again (about 30 min)

I don't have an onboard charger, so I keep my charger hooked-up to the batts and leave it in the storage. About every 4 weeks i can open up the cover and plug in the charger in and give them a slow charge for about 1/2 hour.

[Tequilasun]

Don't run without Fake a lake or a similar system.

Don't put it in gear, the strut bushing is meant to be lubricated by the lake water, you'll roast it.

[bfrank]

I wouldn't start worrying about freezing your block until you get at least 3 to 4 days of below freezing weather.

Man 55 degrees.....we were still skiing at that temp!!!!

Do the shop light trick and keep it in the garage and you should be fine. Also don't buy your friend Malibu if he offers to sell it to you... You should never run a boat dry no matter what!!!!

[Jeff T]

Originally posted by raythompson
Actually you do not need space heaters. You can place a couple of 60 watt light bulbs in the engine compartment and that will keep the engine from freezing down to about 15 degrees outside temperature. 100 watts is quite a bit of heat in a small space.

This is the first I have heard about this and it sound like a great idea. The one thing I worry about is my boat will be storeed on a lift through the winter. I do have power in my slip, but I'm afraid of having constant power to the boat and what could happen if it were to get wet even though the boat is covered.

Any suggestions on how to rig this up safely?

[R&T Babich]

Where we live it gets below freezing only a couple of times a year and the light bulb heater idea sounds great. There's a thermostatically controlled outlet called a Thermo Cube on Amazon for $15 that controls 2 outlets - On at 35 deg/Off at 45 deg. Since I usually run a power cord into the boat for a battery charger I'll add two 60W bulbs (1 on either side of the engine) with this device.

[Moki]

I'm like Chpthrl. I actually took mine into the Tige dealer and got everything winterized. Then I took my boat to Lake Mead for the Tige Event. The day after in the parking lot of our hotel. I drained all 6 plugs which drained the manifold and the block. I took the shower off and blew all the the water out the heater hoses. I then took the heater hoses and blew all the water out those hoses. It took about 20 minutes to drain the water and get ready for winter again.

[raythompson]

Originally posted by Jeff T
This is the first I have heard about this and it sound like a great idea. The one thing I worry about is my boat will be storeed on a lift through the winter. I do have power in my slip, but I'm afraid of having constant power to the boat and what could happen if it were to get wet even though the boat is covered.

Any suggestions on how to rig this up safely?

Just hook up a standard work light, the kind with the guards. Get the plastic ones as there are few metal parts to rust. Coat the inside socket with dielectric grease to prevent it from rusting and it will also make bulb changing easier. Use a standard outdoor extension cord and just plug the lights into the cord.

Unless your boats sinks completely you will not need to worry about electrical problems. In addition since your power source is close to water it should be on a GFCI which really minimizes any problems.

Oh, and don't use flourescent bulbs. You need the hot wire bulbs to get the heat.

[whitlock87]

Just a thought

60w times 2 = 120w
120 w times 24hours =2,880wh per day.
2.88kwh times 5 days = 14.4 kwh per week
Average winter is what is 26 weeks so that works out to 374.4 kwh.

Now where I live in CA the cost is .24 per kwh or $89.86 in ELC cost.

And you still have a chance of failure. (Power goes out, bulb fails, bad cord do to Rats)
( if you do this with the bulbs, make sure they are rated for more then 400,000 hours or they will not last the winter)

Just my 2 cents.

[spharis]

I only plug mine in when it gets below 32 degrees......probably a total of 3 nights a year.......just depends on where you live I guess.

[dogbert]

It literally will only take you 10 min to drain the water out of your boat. I do this probably 5-10 times each winter depending on riding conditions.

[Domsz06]

I run heaters in mine, but only when it's really cold. Since i'm not in the same state I still have them set at freeze control. I still put antifreeze. Once I get my boat out here with me I won't plug it in unless it gets below freezing, and I'll just drain the water after every use out here. It only gets below freezing 12 days a year out here, and we have already had 3, so after every use I'll just pull the plugs. I have a weatherstation on the boat that will transmit the temp to me, so.... when it gets cold, on come the heaters. I'm glad I had my heaters on my boat where it's at, it has been below 20 for the last week! some days as low as 0 brrrrr