winter is coming...

[captain flint]

Hi

 

Winterisation query here. Not my first winter on board, but my first winter on board for many years, and my one where it's my boat and up to me to make sure it's ready....

I will be CCing throughout the winter, freezing allowing (let's see if the polar vortex collapses again - I am no expert, but I'm sorry to say I won't be surprised if the Beast From The East becomes an annual event...!)

In case it's relevant, the engine (Barrus Shire) has recently been serviced and had an oil change etc.

So far as I have read - and that's not much as I have had other boat issues to deal with - if I am living on board throughout the winter, the main thing is to put antifreeze in, um, the right place.

Which brings me to my next question. Where is that?! There's a header tank, which would be my first guess, but for no other reason than that it somewhat resembles the engine coolant reservoir in my car. Which, now I think about it more, might not make any sense at all. I'm good at not making sense. Hopefully one of you lot will be able to help point me in the right direction!

Thanks

[doratheexplorer]

Do you mean the header tank for the engine or the central heating?

[captain flint]

1 minute ago, doratheexplorer said:

Do you mean the header tank for the engine or the central heating?

The engine

[doratheexplorer]

Then it will probably look similar to the pressure cap on top of your car radiator.  Put a pic up and we'll tell you if it's right.

 

[Dave123]

Might be better moving this thread to the maintenance section and making the title clearer?

I just put antifreeze (the pink 5 year life span stuff) into the water tank on the rare occasion I need to top it up. But I have a different engine, hopefully others more knowledgeable will be along to advise!

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Do you know when the engine coolant was last changed? Typical life is 3 to 5 years, depending on the type of antifreeze. The corrosion inhibitors get used up over time. If unsure, better to empty all the coolant from engine, header tank, skin tank etc and start again with fresh water/antifreeze mix. Adding antifreeze to the header tank may stratify out and won't properly mix with what is in the engine.

A boat that is lived in won't get super cold as the cabin will help keep the temp up as well as the water around zero C surrounding the engine helps. Trad boats, particularly with engine rooms keep engines warmer than cruiser, or semi trad. If on a shore line, then a greenhouse heater in the engine room could be used, but as well to have fresh antifreeze mix in the engine.

 

Jen

[bizzard]

 Never top up with neat antifreeze to a system that already has antifreeze in it, always mix it with the specified ratio of water in a can before pouring it in. Antifreeze is very searching and can sweat out from joints, make a horrid sticky mess,  and even mess up the head gasket if too strong a solution.

[doratheexplorer]

1 minute ago, bizzard said:

 Never top up with neat antifreeze to a system that already has antifreeze in it, always mix it with the specified ratio of water in a can before pouring it in. Antifreeze is very searching and can sweat out from joints, make a horrid sticky mess,  and even mess up the head gasket if too strong a solution.

I didn't know this.  Thanks.

[bizzard]

Years ago a customer of ours put all neat Bluecol antifreeze in his Ford 103E Pop and no water.  He only just managed to drive it about 1/2 mile to us. The cooling system had completely errupted, leaking from everywhere, head gasket gone the lot. A horrid sticky mess. He was a lorry a driver and had almost certainly nicked it, as it was very expensive in those days. He looked everso quilty.   Retribution I reckon.

Edited October 22, 2018 by bizzard

[Dave123]

Ah yeah...but the prediluted stuff is ok to add direct? It's 50/50 water antifreeze I think

[bizzard]

Personally I wouldn't use tap water to mix it either. I use either rain water or distilled, de-ionized water, cheap enough from a motor factors.

[Sea Dog]

Don't just top up the header tank with antifreeze - it needs to be evenly distributed throughout your cooling system.  Test what's already in the header tank and/or under the pressure cap on the top of the engine using an antifreeze tester (cheaply available from Halfords, etc.) which will tell you the strength of the mix and the temperature it'll protect you down to.  Usually, the corrosion inhibitors in blue last 2 years, red last 5 years.  Replace the lot with a mix of antifreeze and distilled (or deionised) water if you're not sure of the age or strength of what's in there. I use 33% in my engine, but that's just my preference.

[rusty69]

 

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by rusty69

[Momac]

Just looked at the weather forecast for next weekend and it certainly does look  like winter has arrived . A spot of snow perhaps.

[Naughty Cal]

Winter arrived on Monday morning. Had to scrape the car at 6am before we could set off to Sheffield 

 

Glad we decided to stick the engine bay heaters in at the weekend!

14 hours ago, MartynG said:

Just looked at the weather forecast for next weekend and it certainly does look  like winter has arrived . A spot of snow perhaps.

Wouldn't be the first time we have had a group outing to High Marnham in the ice and snow. I'm sure it waits for us to have our end of year get together before it gets cols each year 

 

Looks like our heating will be busy this weekend. 

[Momac]

4 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

 

Glad we decided to stick the engine bay heaters in at the weekend!

Not quite that bad just yet. A  degree or two  of frost at night while the boat is sitting in liquid water is no threat.

 

However I will be joining you by adding the frost protection heaters at the weekend .

Dipping between very cold nights and mild day seems to me the worst combination of all  for creating dampness in the boat. I will be  testing the dehumidifier too.

 

I don't think we will go anywhere by boat  at the weekend as the current forecast looks rather windy as well as being cold.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I had to scrape our car of ice about 2 weeks ago, maybe a bit more

[Momac]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I had to scrape our car of ice about 2 weeks ago, maybe a bit more

Not had to scrape yet but did have to wait a couple of minutes for the car to defrost one morning last week.  I  live not far from the river .

Obviously not the same everywhere .

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

3 hours ago, MartynG said:

Not quite that bad just yet. A  degree or two  of frost at night while the boat is sitting in liquid water is no threat.

 

However I will be joining you by adding the frost protection heaters at the weekend .

Dipping between very cold nights and mild day seems to me the worst combination of all  for creating dampness in the boat. I will be  testing the dehumidifier too.

 

I don't think we will go anywhere by boat  at the weekend as the current forecast looks rather windy as well as being cold.

 

The last long range forecast we saw was for temperatures to really drop off so we decided to err on the side of caution and get the heaters in and fill up the diesel tank. 

 

We wouldn't usually worry about the odd frost but this time have decided to fit the heaters a bit early.

 

We have not had a prolonged cold spell for a while. We both have a feeling that this winter could bring one so plan to have the boat ready to get through it in one piece.

[matty40s]

This weekend will be a cold blip followed by a hopefully balmy bonfire weekend. 

The long term synoptics are suggesting a colder than normal winter, starting quite early.

[Dr Bob]

The last week has been wonderful. A leisurely cruise from Napton to the top of Hatton in the sun and very little wind and no rain at all. Luverly  weather.  I'm sure the cold forecast for the weekend is only temporary. Mr Smelly must be miles away.

[TheBiscuits]

Just to throw a spanner in the works, you can buy the anti corrosion stuff separately.  The antifreeze part (ethylene glycol) will be fine for donkey's years, it's just the corrosion protection that breaks down. 

 

I would still recommend draining the sytem and remixing it though... don't just pour inhibitor into the header tank and assume it will mix. 

[Naughty Cal]

9 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

The last week has been wonderful. A leisurely cruise from Napton to the top of Hatton in the sun and very little wind and no rain at all. Luverly  weather.  I'm sure the cold forecast for the weekend is only temporary. Mr Smelly must be miles away.

Can't complain about last weekend. The weather was lovely and we were in great company.

 

We were sat in T shirts outside the bar at The Pavilion in Saxilby on Sunday lunchtime. Not a cloud in the sky, Jack our friends lad was happy playing with Syd on the field and we were all enjoying a couple of drinks in the sunshine while listening to an excellent local band rehearsing upstairs in the bar. Not a cloud in the bright blue sky.

 

Couldn't have asked for a better end to the weekend.

[Sea Dog]

18 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Couldn't have asked for a better end to the weekend.

You must really have gotten on it if your weekend ended in the pub on Sunday lunchtime, NC! 

 

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

You must really have gotten on it if your weekend ended in the pub on Sunday lunchtime, NC! 

 

 

it ended with a beautiful slow cooked beef casserole and dumplings on Naughty-cal back in the marina.