Another winterizing question...

Recoil Rob

Recoil Rob

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Model
Sportsman
2004 GW 180 Sportsman.

Do need to winterize the bilge pump and livewell pump or do they gravity drain? Is a shop vac on the thru-hull good enough or do I need antifreeze?


thanks,

Rob
 
Generally the live well drains by gravity but there could be a dip in the drain hose. Pour a cup or two of antifreeze into the drain.
You probably don't need to treat the rear bilge pump as long as the drain plug is out and the boat is angled correctly to allow water to run aft.
If you have a mid bilge, that can get a little trickier if it gets water. You should disconnect the always hot feed so that the pump wont start if the float switch triggers. If the battery grounds are disconnected, the pump is not powered.
I don't know what boat you have so I cam being somewhat general in advice.
 
you can always put some antifreeze in the bilge area and run the pump for a bit and work it through the line. If on stands you may need to block the drain for a minute so the antifreeze stays in the area,
 
Fishtales said:
you can always put some antifreeze in the bilge area and run the pump for a bit and work it through the line. If on stands you may need to block the drain for a minute so the antifreeze stays in the area,
Click to expand...
I had posted a while back about my experience with winterizing the mid bilge pump. Allow me to repeat that story.
My mid/forward bilge gets water runoff from the anchor locker/windlass area.
In my infinite wisdom, I poured antifreeze into it. Over the course of time, as it got water every now and then the float would trip and the pump would run. What I didn't plan on was that every time that happened, the solution in the bilge got more diluted. Eventually, the water froze but also tripped the float switch. Bottom line: The bilge pump burned out ( bummer, it was brand new). So this year, I will disconnect the feed for the float switch.
 
I stated in the first post it's a 2004 180 Sportsman, bilge pump in rear and it'son a trailer with plug removed so the bilge drains. Sound like maybe a shot of AF into the pump and check the livewell drain and I'm good to go.

thanks,
 
Oops. Me bad. I missed the part of the post with the model info.
Don't forget the livewell feed. That hose may have a low spot and if so, it needs some treatment. It is tough to add antifreeze from the hull strainer but it may be easy to disconnect the output hose from the livewell pump and blow or vacuum the line out.
If you have clear strainers bowls on the seacocks, you need to drain them also.
 
seasick said:
I had posted a while back about my experience with winterizing the mid bilge pump. Allow me to repeat that story.
My mid/forward bilge gets water runoff from the anchor locker/windlass area.
In my infinite wisdom, I poured antifreeze into it. Over the course of time, as it got water every now and then the float would trip and the pump would run. What I didn't plan on was that every time that happened, the solution in the bilge got more diluted. Eventually, the water froze but also tripped the float switch. Bottom line: The bilge pump burned out ( bummer, it was brand new). So this year, I will disconnect the feed for the float switch.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't leave the battery connected during layup.
 
Fishtales said:
I wouldn't leave the battery connected during layup.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's a better plan. I got distracted by the fact that the mid bilge collected a lot of water and I was concerned about it filling up. It doesn't drain aft all that well. This winter, I will be positioning the trailer and blocking differently to get a steeper angle aft.
I have a similar issue on my smaller boat. It sits on a slanted driveway with the aft sitting pretty high relative to the bow. I have to add a lot of blocking under the trailer jack and tongue to get a decent angle. In addition, I can't get that angle with the motor tilted down, the skeg hits the driveway. This year I removed the lower unit to create more room. It needs work anyway. Next year, I will need boat stands I suppose to raise the hull enough or I will need to jack up and block the trailer rails to make more clearance. Unfortunately, I can not park the boat in the other direction
 
I think that is the right move. If you get the bow up and plug out any water will drain out. In the spring it is handy to clean out the bilge too. I use the zep mold and mildew from HD and spray the bilge areas. Let sit a bit and wash it right out. The bilge is very clean and no mold. Be careful around plastic and metal, let sit a shorter time and wash down. It is amazing how the bilge and below deck items are nice and clean.
 
I have always used the ZEP but it seems that something has changed. First of all, it doesn't smell as strong as in the past and it doesn't seem to dissolve the mildew as quickly as it had. I did buy a gallon of it last time and I wonder if it had sat on the shelf at HD for a while and maybe has a limited shelf life. That wasactually the second gallon I bought. I returned the first one because it had no smell at all and didn't work at all
 
Finally got this done today, all went well, used air to blow out all lines and got antifreeze in bilge line. Cleaned out bilge, got stabilizer in gas system, ran engine then fogged. Battery on maintenance charge for the winter. Thanks to all for help.

Now the punch list for the spring starts. so If I ask too many questions, let me know.


thanks,

Rob
 
Fishtales said:
you can always put some antifreeze in the bilge area and run the pump for a bit and work it through the line. If on stands you may need to block the drain for a minute so the antifreeze stays in the area,
Click to expand...

One mistake I had posted about in another thread was my bonehead winterizing of my mid bilge last year on ' MyOther Boat'. I poured in anti-freeze and ran the pump. What I forgot about was the fact that if water got in there, which it did and the auto pump ran, it would pump out the mixture of antifreeze. As more water got in during the winter, the mixture got weaker and weaker and eventually froze locking the float switch on. That caused the pump to run and burn itself out.
Since I can not guaranty that water wont get into the bilge, I have to disconnect the direct 12v feed so that the pump won't run regardless of water level. Eventually if it gets a lot of water, that will flow aft and drain out the plug. We will see how that works this winter:)
 
On my 180 the bilge pumps pumps out of a fitting high on the starboard rear side. I just poured AF in there until it came out the bilge plug hole.
 
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