Emptying Water Tank for Winter in New Hampshire

mglenday

I have a new Hurricane Fundeck 216 that will be storing for first time this winter.

 

Is there a way to empty the water tank without having to pump it out of the sink?  Should I put antifreeze in tank? The dealer wants to charge me $ 95 for winterizing the water system. 

 

Are there any other winterize tips.  Dealer will be winterizing engine.

Ernest_T

I don't know of any good way to empty the water tank short of simply running the water through the system over the side of the boat or into a sink.  On my boat you can access the top of the tank through an access port near the water fill fitting, but I think it would be more trouble than its worth to try to disconnect something and siphon the water out.  Even if you do it this way you will leave water in the pump and in the hoses, and that is where problems usually occur with freezing.  I have a friend that had to replace several pumps because he forgets to drain the water out of the system over the winter and the pump freezes and won't operate in the summer. 

I just run my tank nearly dry and add some RV antifreeze to the tank and then run this through the system until it is dry again.  My boat has 2 faucets, and its important to run the antifreeze through both.  You really have to run the system to pump the antifreeze into all the hoses and through the pump, which seems to be the most vulnerable part to freezing.  The whole process takes 10 minutes and the cost of a gallon of antifreeze.

If your boat has a live well system, don't forget to drain that system as well.  I don't put any antifreeze through the live well, and I've never had a problem with it freezing, but I'm also in a warmer area.  I do blow compressed air through the live well lines to blow out as much water as possible from the system.