Ran antifreeze through the motor this afternoon

Last night it dropped below freezing here, barely, and I noticed a faint bit of ice on the dog bowl outside. It was supposed to drop just below freezing and it did just that for a short while; nowhere cold enough for a hard freeze that would crack iron.

Looking at the forecast, I don't see any action next week-end, and to be safe and sure I don't get caught out there one cold night trying to do this job at the last minute, I decided to run the antifreeze this afternoon.

I ran a mix that will give me protection down to around twenty below zero, using three gallons of antifreeze. That's a little more than six gallons to work with. I started by running fresh water, and when the water was just about sucked out of the container, I started adding full strength antifreeze. One, two, and three gallons, all sucked right into the motor, through the system, and out the tailpipes, into collection drums.

After the fluid was gone, I refilled the main suction container on board, and ran the motor again. I ran the antifreeze through the motor three times in a matter of minutes.

Next time I'll take the work out of it, with a longer hose all the way to the collection containers at the tail pipe. I'll just draw down one container or the other, which ever one has the most fluid. This way I can be sure I'm getting a good purge inside the motor and avoiding any pockets of pure water that may be trapped. The good news is, fluid flows by the thermostat whether it's open or not. Running in three gallons of full strength antifreeze seemed like a good idea too. It all mixed once it hit the collection containers at the tailpipes.

The antifreeze mix will be saved in a marked container, for use later in the season when I need to do this all over again. Yes, it's a little work, but well worth the effort if you're going to be able to take the boat out on a pretty day and winterize it again quickly.

Now I'm doing an experiement, with a little of this mix in the freezer just to see what it will really do. The pyrometer said its about zero degrees in there. Hmmm, we'll see.

Since I've been told by a reputable source, that the "pink stuff" will freeze solid, I'm curious about this brand I'm using (which isn't pink, by the way). Even though the pink stuff may freeze solid, it may still offer expansion/damage protection, don't know.

I'll post photos of the crime scene tomorrow showing the collection system I used, which was a pretty simple and quick setup with snap ties and corrugated drain pipe.

Regards,

Paul