Temperatures..

[Boat&Bikes]

How low do they need to be to start worrying about pipes and other things freezing up? We dont live aboard,do tend to visit most weekends for the either a few hours or weekend cruise if not to wet and windy. Oh and yes i do know the freezing point of water....

 

Ian.

[Jo_]

Are you on a hook-up? We keep a couple of oil fired radiators on board (the delonghi type) and they kick in if necessary. Then when we're down (like you, weekends mainly) we light a fire, set central heating going, run water through, turn engine on for a bit (even if we're not going out). That all got us through last year without any draining down/winterising at all.

 

Mind you, I did go and live on the boat for a few days in that very very cold spell! And it was warm and toasty!

[Proper Job]

If your engine coolant is protected with anti freeze (to the correct strength)

 

Any wet heating system (boiler rads etc) are protected with anti freeze. Water pipes (hot and cold) are lagged and installed as far below the water line as possible, you'll probably be ok for most temperatures that the Winter can throw at us.

 

If I'm leaving the boat, I turn off the water pump, open all of the taps and the shower mixer and pour boiling water followed by a few spoons of salt down the sinks and shower outlet.

 

Never had any trouble with freezing.

 

When you pop out for the day, shut the taps, put the water back on.

[nina]

We also keep an electric radiator on low heat on board just to be safe.

[dor]

It's a combination of temperature and time.

If it is only freezing at night, you are probably ok to open all the taps etc, i.e. releive the sensitive bits. If it is below freezing for a few days, all your pipes will be frozen. Plastic pipes are ok with that, but hep2o-type elbows etc can crack.

Most vulnerable to damage are:

 

Shower mixers

Filters - both cartridge-type for the tap and pre-pump ones with plastic covers.

Water pumps

 

It depends also on the location of items; if at a low level, i.e. below the waterline, they will be less vulnerable. Horizontal calorifiers on the swim should be ok.

 

We are normally on the boat for three or four days a week, but during the last two winters when there was a very significant frost there were periods of several weeks where we didn't stop on the boat. Despite it being well below -10 for days on end we didn't suffer any damage. The precautions we took were:

Open all taps

Open shower mixer and drain by putting shower head in bottom of shower

Remove filter housing and cartridge

Drain the Thetford

Disconnect input to water pumps and run dry for about 5 minutes (surprisingly, they do pump air and push water out!).

Turn off water supply at tank, just in case...

[Rebotco]

If your engine coolant is protected with anti freeze (to the correct strength)

 

Any wet heating system (boiler rads etc) are protected with anti freeze. Water pipes (hot and cold) are lagged and installed as far below the water line as possible, you'll probably be ok for most temperatures that the Winter can throw at us.

 

If I'm leaving the boat, I turn off the water pump, open all of the taps and the shower mixer and pour boiling water followed by a few spoons of salt down the sinks and shower outlet.

 

Never had any trouble with freezing.

 

When you pop out for the day, shut the taps, put the water back on.

 

Like the idea of adding salt to hot water down the drains. That will fill the u-trap with brine, with a lower freezing point than water. Excellent idea I hadn't thought of.

 

Have a greenie - if I can find one!

 

Brian

[system 4-50]

It's a combination of temperature and time.

If it is only freezing at night, you are probably ok to open all the taps etc, i.e. releive the sensitive bits. If it is below freezing for a few days, all your pipes will be frozen. Plastic pipes are ok with that, but hep2o-type elbows etc can crack.

Most vulnerable to damage are:

 

Shower mixers

Filters - both cartridge-type for the tap and pre-pump ones with plastic covers.

Water pumps

 

It depends also on the location of items; if at a low level, i.e. below the waterline, they will be less vulnerable. Horizontal calorifiers on the swim should be ok.

 

We are normally on the boat for three or four days a week, but during the last two winters when there was a very significant frost there were periods of several weeks where we didn't stop on the boat. Despite it being well below -10 for days on end we didn't suffer any damage. The precautions we took were:

Open all taps

Open shower mixer and drain by putting shower head in bottom of shower

Remove filter housing and cartridge

Drain the Thetford

Disconnect input to water pumps and run dry for about 5 minutes (surprisingly, they do pump air and push water out!).

Turn off water supply at tank, just in case...

Don't forget other stuff.

Remove glues, tins of paint, tubes of sealant, etc

Drain washing machines - the fiddly bit with the pipe at the bottom

Possibly bottled products that are water based

 

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Like the idea of adding salt to hot water down the drains. That will fill the u-trap with brine, with a lower freezing point than water. Excellent idea I hadn't thought of.

 

Have a greenie - if I can find one!

 

Brian

I do the same for the shower pump and filter, saves taking the pump out.

[Rebotco]

I do the same for the shower pump and filter, saves taking the pump out.

 

 

Oh, OK then - you can have a greenie too. You know you're worth it!!!

 

brian

[andywatson]

On my new boat I am seriously considering installing, close to the water pump, a T to a connection which will allow air to be put into the system. This will displace the water from each leg of the circuit as taps etc are opened in turn.

 

Just a thought....

To displace water out of wastes a blow gun down the plug hole sealed with a sponge or rubber adaptor might be worth a try.

Possibly even one of those pre-charge pumps sold for unblocking waste pipes might do the job.

Edited December 8, 2011 by andywatson

[mrsmelly]

How low do they need to be to start worrying about pipes and other things freezing up? We dont live aboard,do tend to visit most weekends for the either a few hours or weekend cruise if not to wet and windy. Oh and yes i do know the freezing point of water....

 

Ian.

 

Hi Ian

 

I dont know what type of water heating you have but if you have rinnai/morco/paloma type they freeze quite easily due to the small amounts of water in the heating doobrey, its best to drain these down, its simple to do and to reinstate........

[ditchcrawler]

How low do they need to be to start worrying about pipes and other things freezing up? We dont live aboard,do tend to visit most weekends for the either a few hours or weekend cruise if not to wet and windy. Oh and yes i do know the freezing point of water....

 

Ian.

Anglia TV is warning of -5 in the next couple of night

[Naughty Cal]

We dont go to any great lengths to winterise our boat or get it ready for cold weather. We just add a couple of heaters, a large one in the engine bay and a smaller one in the cabin. These keep the temperature well above freezing point in the boat and prevent anything freezing up. It has worked so far for us for three winters this being our forth.

[Boat&Bikes]

Thanks for all answers but was asking what temps will start to actually cause problems? ie im guessing a few nights at say 0 degrees wont but will a few nights at say -3 start a freezing process on board?

 

Ian.

[Naughty Cal]

Thanks for all answers but was asking what temps will start to actually cause problems? ie im guessing a few nights at say 0 degrees wont but will a few nights at say -3 start a freezing process on board?

 

Ian.

 

A few nights around the zero mark wont make much difference provided the day time temperatures are above freezing. It is when you start to get into a cycle of daytime and night time remperatures below zero that things will start to suffer if not either winterised thoroughly or provided with some back ground heat.

[bizzard]

Boiler and instantaneous hot water heater heat exchangers being of thin material can freeze and split quite easily overnight.Especially if the boats out of the water on the bank with no water around the hull to temper it.

Some of you may have noticed that if you've remained living on your boat whilst in an open air dry dock during the winter how much colder it is inside than if it was in the water.

Bizzard.

Edited December 9, 2011 by bizzard

[LEO]

Hi,

 

Presumably the best guide is whether the canal is frozen over, that and a max./min thermometer gives an indication of temperatures. Or an electric heater with a frost stat wired in helps.

 

Leo.

[Naughty Cal]

Boiler and instantaneous hot water heater heat exchangers being of thin material can freeze and split quite easily overnight.

 

Im sure they can but if the temperature outside is 0 degrees then the temperature inside the boat is going to be warmer hence it wont freeze.

[stuart23]

If you have a Paloma, I've found from bad experience, it is best not only to remove the drain plug but to disconnect the water inlet pipe as well, as just removing the drain plug doesn't guarantee the unit draining itself of water

[dor]

Im sure they can but if the temperature outside is 0 degrees then the temperature inside the boat is going to be warmer hence it wont freeze.

 

But if it drops to -5 outside and the boat is unheated, the water heaters can and will be damaged.

[bizzard]

Im sure they can but if the temperature outside is 0 degrees then the temperature inside the boat is going to be warmer hence it wont freeze.

Well of course,its got be a bit below zero.

[bizzard]

Hi Ian

 

I dont know what type of water heating you have but if you have rinnai/morco/paloma type they freeze quite easily due to the small amounts of water in the heating doobrey, its best to drain these down, its simple to do and to reinstate........

Indeed i repaired a split Rinnai's heat exchanger last winter.And several others over the years.

[jelunga]

i thought that these gas heaters were vented overboard. So if exhaust gases have an outside exhaust/intake vent then the cold outside air has access to the combustion chamber and since that is designed to extract as much heat from the combustion as possible it will work in reverse and exact as much cold as possible?