[C320-list] Winterizing questions

[T. Scott Thompson]

The drain for the hot water heater is located on the starboard side of 
the hot water heater itself under the galley sink.  It's very difficult 
to access in any reasonable way unless you first remove the drawer 
assembly from under the sink.  That's easy to do.  Just remove the 
drawers themselves first, and then there are a few screws securing the 
front of the wooden drawer frame assembly to the fiberglass.  Remove 
these and the whole thing easily lifts out.  Be careful not to 
overtighten when you replace.  Be sure to open the hot water tap to 
break any vaccuum that will prevent water from draining.  I do not 
believe it's possible to drain this completely.  I've found that if I 
blow air into the tank through one of the hot water lines (using an air 
compressor, with drain open first) I can get a lot more water out than 
by simply draining it, but even then I don't think I'm getting 
absolutely all of the water out.  When last I did this, it seemed to 
sputter and spray samll amounts of water out as long as I was willing to 
wait.

Some people fill the whole system with antifreeze instead (using the 
pink, non-toxic kind).  My experience is that you need a good 12 gallons 
to do this well, plus it's hard to purge completely from tanks and water 
heater in the spring.  So I switched over to using compressed air to 
empty the system instead last year, and have not had any regrets.

The head sump pump is located under the bathroom sink in most boats I 
think.  In order to make it run you have to turn on the power at the 12v 
main panel AND activate the switch in the head itself.  Many boats use 
the same pump to drain the fridge sump, so you also have to put the 
Y-valve that selects one vs. the other in the right position.  And you 
have to make sure the through-hull for this is open so that the 
water/antifreeze has somewhere to go.  The sump pumps also has a filter 
that can clog or leak air (causing the pump to fail to prime).  So 
that's something else to get familiar with too.

Scott Thompson
Surprise, 653

Douglas Corner wrote:
> I winterized but am concerned about the hot water heater.  I ran the water
> out but am told that I should drain the hot water heater.  Where is the
> drain and how do I get to it?
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> A second question - Where is the pump for the head sump?  Mine wouldn't run
> and I have no idea where it is.
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> My boat is hull number 304 and was built in 1995.
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> Thanks,
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> Doug Corner
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> douglas.corner at gmail.com
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> Dolce Far Niente #304
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