Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Winterizing 2013 RZ2 w 343

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    Sorry. Dont know how I missed this thread. We are coming into wint season. I will take some pics how I do it on the next one that come through.

    Johnnie, IDboating, and BC rider all get the same result, Im kind of a mix between all 3. I drain block and manifolds, if theres a heater I pull off the heater line and blow it out with REGULATED compressed air. 10PSI and the first couple of shots of air I dont just let er rip. Dont want to blow holes in the heater core. Once I start getting mist out of the block plugs I put plugs back in. Then fake a lake like BCrider, except I use a trough to catch all my pink stuff out the exhaust and a pump that recircs the antifreeze back to my intake at the v drive. This way im not sending antifreeze down the drain(yes its "environmentally friendly PG not EG) but the goal is to get it all in the engine, coolers, exhchangers, block, and manifolds and have zero waste antifreeze. Also, if a dripless packing I pinch the hose off so I don't dump antifreeze on the floor.
    So basically all the water is predrained minus the pesky little cooler plugs on the intake water line and some of the other hard to reach areas(the four plugs I pull remove a bulk of the water that will dilute antifreeze), but since Im running antifreeze the water gets flushed out. As a bonus since Im recirculating antifreeze in a loop I can run until the thermostat opens to make sure ALL water is flushed out of the block.
    We use -50* antifreeze but we know that there are little bits of water like IDboating mentioned. I check burst point with a refractometer on each boat and when the mix starts creeping towards a -30* burst point we add some -100* until its back to -50* or even colder. The refractometer is the real insurance policy when doing a lot of boats with this method. If you started with -50 at home its unnecessary IF you are pre draining AND running antifreeze.
    Dont forget to kick the shower pump on and open both mixing valves and run shower head into trough until it turns pink(if equipped with shower).
    We mostly settle on this process as it literally requires an owner to turn on master switch and put in bilge plugs to start the next season. No trip back to the us required. The main takeaway is getting a pump and a trough in the mix, but thats because we are winterizing a LOT of boats. If a guy used this method at home he could continually recycle antifreeze and only concentrate it to a higher burst point as necessary.

    Sorry for being long winded. Thats how we do it, will post pics as soon as we have one(PCM 343) in. Mostly been winting I/Os that are done marina storing for the year
    Last edited by freeheel4life; 09-06-2018, 01:33 AM.

    Comment


      #17
      Johnnie what do you do about the ballast pumps and lines to the ballasts ? Thanks

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by Gully View Post
        Johnnie what do you do about the ballast pumps and lines to the ballasts ? Thanks
        Firstly, I jacked up the front end of the boat under one of the cross members and got all the bags to drain to the back. Then I ran the pumps to get the water out.

        After that I poured RV antifreeze into each vent line. (I used the antifreeze that came out the exhaust for this)

        Having water in the bags won't hurt anything. You want to ensure there is no straight water in the PUMP. Run each pump for a second to shoot out the pink stuff and you'll know it worked. If you have a cross over pump, make sure it is fully drained too. Depending on how it was installed will affect whether or not water is sitting in it.

        If you have the big L shaped bags, the 2013 models (and likely 2014) will hold water under the seats. There is a step in there that makes it hard for the bags to get empty. Again, this shouldn't hurt anything, as a bag can freeze and expand/reshape accordingly.


        As a side note, don't get paranoid about the rating of the antifreeze. A -45C antifreeze will remain liquid at -45C. However if you mix it with water it may turn to a gel around -25C (or whatever the ratio is). A gel still won't burst pipes or pumps. It is a hard freeze that people need to be afraid of. I think there is far too much misinformation about how antifreeze works.

        Comment


          #19
          ^^Thats why I use the refractometer. Mine shows Slush Point on one side and Burst Point on the other. Burst point is the important one.

          Comment

          Working...
          X