[C320-list] a/c winterizing

[Jon Vez]

Jamie,

For the engine--Take the hose off of the strainer on the intake side (the
side closest to the engine) and use a bucket. The hose is long enough. You
may need to remove a cable tie or two and pull the hose towards you by
moving it out of the way of the cables--there is plenty of hose. I use 2
gallons of the blue stuff. I know it may be overkill but I feel like it's
piece of mind since I know that I can't remove all of the residual water
from the engine and therefore the A/F is diluted...

If you choose not to use a bucket and have to switch the hose from one
gallon to the next and end up running the engine for a couple of minutes out
of liquid you will be fine. As a matter of fact I run the engine for about
10 seconds with the hose out of the bucket to remove as much water as I can
before I put the hose in the AF. Once you do this once you'll find it's a
quick and easy job....good luck...

Regards,

Jon Vez
Solstice #582

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jamie Pett
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 10:19 PM
To: C320-list at Catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] a/c winterizing

Dreading the prospect of winter, I am nevertheless facing the task of
getting Bella Luna ready for the hard after our first amazing season with
her. 
 
I have a copy of Carl's very nice article on winterizing the c-320.  It has
been very helpful and I am working my way through winterizing - got the
water system done last weekend.  The tips on draining the hw heater by
releasing the pressure valve were very useful (amazed at how much water was
still in there), but his paper does not say anything about winterizing a
reverse cycle a/c heat unit.  
 
I thought I would simply close the thru-hull intake, open the strainer, and
add pink stuff with the unit running until it comes out the outlet - can
anyone add suggestions ? 
 
I also read somewhere that if you put the unit on fan only the compressor
won't run, but don't know why that matters ?  Do I need to do anything else
with the A/c compressor ? (or the Alder Barbour fridge?)
 
Also, on the engine - what is the best method for getting the pink stuff
into the system  - my strainer for the engine is inverted, so I guess I can
pull the intake hose and use it to pulll the antifreeze, but it seems awful
short to try to suck pink stuff out of a gallon jug , and switching jugs
mid-job seems difficult as well ? Any suggestions ? 
 
Jamie Pett
'Bella Luna' #614