Winterisation

[Robbo]

5 minutes ago, MHS said:

That is one really expensive loo. For that price, I would want it to wipe my bum for me. 

That’s an extra £2k for the wash and wipe version, extra for the heated water one as well!

Edited January 4, 2019 by Robbo

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Robbo said:

That’s an extra £2k for the wash and wipe version

A man traveling by plane and in urgent need to use the mens room is nervously tapping his foot on the floor of the aircraft. Each time he tried the mens room door, it was "OCCUPIED".

The stewardess, aware of his predicament suggested that he go ahead and use the ladies room, but cautioned him against using any of the buttons inside.

The buttons were marked "WW, WA, PP and ATR".

Making the mistake that so many men make in disregarding the importance of what a woman says, the man let his curiosity get the best of him and decided to try the buttons anyway.

He carefully pressed the first button marked "WW" and immediately warm water sprayed all over his entire bottom.

He thought, "WOW, the women really have it made!".

Still curious, he pressed the button marked "WA" and a gentle breeze of warm air quickly dried his hind quarters.

He thought that was out of this world! The button marked "PP" yielded a large powder puff which delicately applied a soft talc to his rear.

Well, naturally he couldn't resist the last button marked "ATR".

When he woke up in the hospital he panicked and buzzed for the nurse.

When she appeared, he cried out, "What happened to me?! The last thing I remember is I was in the ladies room on a business trip!"

The nurse replied, "Yes, you were having a great time until you pressed the 'ATR' button which stands for Automatic Tampon Remover... Your penis is under your pillow!"

[mrsmelly]

18 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Hi was wondering where my temporary drinking partner had gone. Now I understand and appreciate why. Keep it up.

I will be back ?

[Cheshire cat]

I drained our Calorifier today. The weather is getting colder. It's fairly simple to hook up a piece of hose and drain the calorifier in to the shower tray. The cost of a replacement calorifier motivates me to do it. On our shared boat we used to have a new waterpump every year because it froze solid at some point during winter.

[mrsmelly]

7 hours ago, matty40s said:

This for a Yorkshireman is tragic......?

Good on you for resisting temptation and fight it all the way.

Yow. This dieting lark is crap innitt. I draw the line at " Excersise " though ?

[Nightwatch]

Right arm lift ups. 

 

Wives are not expected to understand that it helps the whole male body to develop.

[jonathanA]

21 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

As its left for 4 months and all the pipework is behind panelling and is copper, its less of a faff than finding and fixing even one burst. The antifreeze in the loo is vital as its a Baby Blakes Sea Toilet, £4500 worth so I don't take risks. Being farm moorings it very exposed to the chill winds of winter.

Professional plumbers (I was) don't have leaks when they connect unions.

At that price I’d be taking it home ? 

 

to use I’d want my money’s worth....

[TheBiscuits]

21 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

The antifreeze in the loo is vital as its a Baby Blakes Sea Toilet, £4500 worth so I don't take risks.

Did you buy it outright or did you need to put a deposit down?

[jonathanA]

He must have been flush ?

[Dr Bob]

22 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Hi was wondering where my temporary drinking partner had gone. Now I understand and appreciate why. Keep it up.

Did MrSmelly say his problem was keeping it up? I missed that one.

[Nightwatch]

I have no evidence to suggest what you suggest is true. I have met Mrs Mrsmelly and she seems a very happy person.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Nightwatch

[Dr Bob]

14 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

I have no evidence to suggest what you suggest is true. I have met Mrs Mrsmelly and she seems a very happy person.

?

[Boater Sam]

7 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Did you buy it outright or did you need to put a deposit down?

To be truthful, it came with the boat. £4500 is the cost of a new one. 

This one is 1947 production, is in full working order only having had 1 flap valve replaced in the last 22 years. Its older than me ,    just!

I am quite attached to it,.....................Oh dear; should have phrased that better.

[NewCanalBoy]

On 04/01/2019 at 17:44, Cheshire cat said:

I drained our Calorifier today. The weather is getting colder. It's fairly simple to hook up a piece of hose and drain the calorifier in to the shower tray. The cost of a replacement calorifier motivates me to do it. On our shared boat we used to have a new waterpump every year because it froze solid at some point during winter.

Why can't you leave the hot tap on and drain it ?

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Why can't you leave the hot tap on and drain it ?

As the hot flows out, cold flows in.

Turn the cold supply off and the hot won't come out.

 

You must use the correct procedure to drain a cauliflower.

[Tony Brooks]

25 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Why can't you leave the hot tap on and drain it ?

Also the tap or shower outlets are probably higher than the water level in the calorifier. Just turning the tap on and pump off will not drain it.

[NewCanalBoy]

Oh I see , makes sense. 

 

So I assume there's a drain or valve near the bottom to do this ? 

[Boater Sam]

Calorifiers and domestic hot water cylinders fill from the bottom and discharge from the top so that you get hot water out not cold or lukewarm.

So to empty they need a drain point on the bottom fill connection. Easiest is to drain them into the shower tray and pump it overboard. If no drain point then its a sod taking the top connection off and syphoning them empty.

 

[NewCanalBoy]

Mine is unfortunately not in the bathroom so can't drain into the shower tray. Looks like I'll be finding lots of buckets shortly.........

[Tony Brooks]

Drill pump & some hose, pump directly overboard. Drill pumps work with battery drills, especially if they are kept low enough so they do not have to self prime.

 

For about the last 14 years I have not drained the calorifier despite leaving the boat for a month at a time during winter and more then once the ice has been thick enough to hold the bat rigid when I got onto it. It is not ice that actually causes damage it is the fact that as water cools it expands until just before it freezes solid. its this expansion that causes the problem. It expands again as it warms from below freezing until just about freezing point so you need space for it to expand into. I have been pumping the system with the domestic water pump (engine running to keep batteries charged) until the cold pumps spit more air than water air at which point I close them until the hot taps spit more air than water, then I turn off the water pump and open all taps. Shower mixers can be a bit of a beats to drain so I take mine off, shake it dry and cap the open connections on the boat side so if I need to I can fill with water and not have to put the mixer back. I then leave all taps open. This ensures that although some pipes may have water in them there is also air spaces for that water to expand into if frozen.

 

My boat has plastic pipes but i would be more careful if they were copper.  I would also be more wary if it was further north and in an exposed location.

 

Those with instant gas water heaters have to be far more careful about draining their diaphragm chambers for winter.

 

 

[dmr]

Eek, I started this thread almost a year ago.

I did successfully "winterise" the boat while we had our annual two weeks January Holiday in Cornwall. might be time to do it again soon.

 

All liveaboards should carry a spare fresh water pump, so I used mine and some spare bits of pipe and hose to drain the calorifier. I did this by removing the immersion heater and inserting a long bit of Hep2O. This was a pain as it was really difficult to replace it in a water tight way on our return as the boss was not in the best condition, had to resort to silicon.

It was interesting to see the insides of the calorifier, I tried to take some photos, Iphones are good but a picture of the calorifier from the immersion heater hole is totally beyond what they can do

For everything else I broke into the system just after the water tank stopcock and put a bit of hose into a 5litre bottle of potable antifreeze. It took about 10 mins to fill all the pipes and taps etc. plus the  feed to the calorifier.

On our return I managed to recover almost all of this so can use it again.

The only weakness would be a major freeze causing the stopcock to burst so I arranged that the water tank was only about 20% full just in case.

 

A big advantage of the older Hep2O is that it opens up really quickly and easily for this sort of thing.

 

..................Dave

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

As the hot flows out, cold flows in.

Turn the cold supply off and the hot won't come out.

 

You must use the correct procedure to drain a cauliflower.

And very few boat fitters install them so you can do it easily, I have one valve between the calorifier and the shower pump inlet

[NewCanalBoy]

Would you only need to partially drain the calorifier and water tank - leaving enough space for any expansion ?

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, NewCanalBoy said:

Would you only need to partially drain the calorifier and water tank - leaving enough space for any expansion ?

I'd rather do a 'proper job'.

 

Water tends to freeze on its 'surfaces' first (top / bottom / sides).

Once this is frozen the 'middle' starts to freeze and once it has a frozen 'skin' on it, it cannot expand to take up the 'air gap' and the pressure will slowly build until it busts its container.

 

I have had pipes freeze and split after draining but where presumably 'puddles' have been left (maybe on bends etc)

 

I now leave engine room heaters on during the Winter, it saves the hassle of trying to drain down and the potential £100's cost of a split cauliflower.

[robtheplod]

Does it matter where the water tank is situated?  I'm guessing its more exposed in the engine bay than inside the boat itself or is this too simplistic?

Edited October 11, 2019 by robtheplod