umpire111 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 Getting to that time of the year, how do I totally drain the calorifier? If I simply turned all the raps on would that do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) You will need to put a hose on from the bottom water cold inlet to a suitable container/overboard and then open a hot tap to let air in to drain it. As calorfiers have the hot feed to the taps at the top, simply opening a tap does nothing apart from empty your usual fresh water tank Edited September 7, 2017 by Robbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) No, you need to drain it from its lowest point, there should be a tap. Drain it into the bilge or connect a drill pump and pump it overboard. You will need to open a tap whilst doing it.(or turn the prv) Edited September 7, 2017 by rusty69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGoat Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 2 minutes ago, umpire111 said: Getting to that time of the year, how do I totally drain the calorifier? If I simply turned all the raps on would that do it? or even turning the Taps on - no it won't. Not a lot of point turning the cold tap on - unless you want to drain the main water tank as well - and that you probably would want to do anyway. Good luck with draining the calorifier as I suspect you may not have a drain cock - lots of boats don't.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpire111 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 8 minutes ago, OldGoat said: or even turning the Taps on - no it won't. Not a lot of point turning the cold tap on - unless you want to drain the main water tank as well - and that you probably would want to do anyway. Good luck with draining the calorifier as I suspect you may not have a drain cock - lots of boats don't.... So how do u drain if not bottom outlet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) 1 minute ago, umpire111 said: So how do u drain if not bottom outlet? Simply you can't. If it doesn't have a drain cock, you need to remove the cold pipe to drain (switch off water pump first!). Edited September 7, 2017 by Robbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) Put a pipe in from the top and pump it out. Or turn it upside down Edited September 7, 2017 by rusty69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuthound Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 Or, if you have shore power, empty as much as you can via the hot taps (with the main tank isolated) and put an couple of electric oil filled radiators on board over winter, supplied from a thermostatically controlled plug top set to 5°C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearley Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 2 hours ago, rusty69 said: Put a pipe in from the top and pump it out. Or turn it upside down I put a pump in the immersion heater hole and finished off with a wet and dry vac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 3 minutes ago, pearley said: I put a pump in the immersion heater hole and finished off with a wet and dry vac. I guess it depends where the immersion is located. If at the bottom, like mine, no need for pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 2 hours ago, umpire111 said: Getting to that time of the year, how do I totally drain the calorifier? If I simply turned all the raps on would that do it? What time of year is that? I never drain mine how would I get hot water if I drained my cauliflower? seems a weird idea to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nb Innisfree Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 On Innisfree's cal I fitted the PRV in the cold feed, to empty a small air compressor connects to w/m hot feed, PRV is opened manually cal pressurises and forces water out overboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 I use an air pump plumbed into the hot water piping. A number of strokes of the pump later (with the cold tap open) pushes the water out. It leaves a small amount left in the bottom of the calorifier but not enough to be concerned about. Air pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearley Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 26 minutes ago, rusty69 said: I guess it depends where the immersion is located. If at the bottom, like mine, no need for pump Our first one was like that. As it had sprung a leak so was scrap anyway I used a holesaw then the pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umpire111 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 Getting complicated for me, if I simply turn on all the taps and drain. Then close the tap between the main tank and the pump. I want to take the pump away for the winter. Is there any danger of the water still in the calorifier siphoning out of the pipe which would go into the pump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) 33 minutes ago, umpire111 said: Getting complicated for me, if I simply turn on all the taps and drain. Then close the tap between the main tank and the pump. I want to take the pump away for the winter. Is there any danger of the water still in the calorifier siphoning out of the pipe which would go into the pump? You should drain the calorifier as much as you can if you suspect freezing will occur. Because the take off is usually taken from the top of the calorifier, simply opening say a kitchen tap, will not empty it, hence the need to empty from further down the tank. The other option is to prevent it from freezing. If you remove the main water pump without draining the calorifier and have a non return valve fitted in the cold feed, then only the amount in the pipe should drain out (but i wouldn't want to rely on that myself). Edited September 7, 2017 by rusty69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGoat Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 24 minutes ago, umpire111 said: Getting complicated for me, if I simply turn on all the taps and drain. Then close the tap between the main tank and the pump. I want to take the pump away for the winter. Is there any danger of the water still in the calorifier siphoning out of the pipe which would go into the pump? Without knowing what sort of calorifier (vertical or horizontal) and the layout of your system, it's impossible rather difficult to advise. If you have a valve either side of the pump, then it's easy to isolate it (water wise) and take it away, also if valved, you could attach a hose to the calorifier end and drain it. If you haven't any valves then everything may get wet..... So, more info is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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