Drain Plug Locations and heater draining

[JeffC]

14 hours ago, RyanB said:

Sure would be nice to have a heated garage and not have to worry/lose sleep over such silliness........

This is a fact.   Which means it would be nice to have some property outside the city limits where I could build such a heated garage large enough to keep a VLX.   Which means it would be nice if I hit the lottery so that I could buy said property without selling the home in the neighborhood we love.   Which means I would have to buy a ticket to the lottery, but Im really not a gambler.    Another dream dashed. :-)

In all seriousness, we have considered moving to a nice ranch outside of Boulder County.   The bosses knees really dont like our multistory home, and I would like to have some space to spread out, and a place to keep the boat on site.

Hmmm

[REHinH20]

One thing to consider - sometimes in really cold spells places lose power.  Sometimes (not all situations) when you lose power you lose heat.  Had an acquaintance that had a heated shop, and in spring was VERY surprised to find his block cracked from a freeze.  Turns out the lost power got him, he never considered with gas heat the electric fan couldn't operate to circulate the heat.

[BlindSquirrel]

8 minutes ago, REHinH20 said:

One thing to consider - sometimes in really cold spells places lose power.  Sometimes (not all situations) when you lose power you lose heat.  Had an acquaintance that had a heated shop, and in spring was VERY surprised to find his block cracked from a freeze.  Turns out the lost power got him, he never considered with gas heat the electric fan couldn't operate to circulate the heat.

That stinks, big time. I'm in the process of building a new garage that will have hydronic heat throughout the floor.... pretty exited about that and not having to pay someone else to store our boat. I will still drain the block on mine, not sure I want that water sitting in there for 6 months anyway.

[Punchie]

I just sent an email to Indmar about the drain locations on my 2016 410 Monsoon and will let you know what they say.  I am thinking that as long as you drain the ones that are more easily accessible and then run some antifreeze thru it,  the 3rd drain that is hard to reach should be fine.  

1.  Transmission Drain - Metal

2.  Block Drains - Blue Plastic - near Transmission Drain - 2 hoses to common drain

3.  Hose on Starboard side, very hard to reach

4. Heat Exchanger bottom - Blue Plastic.

5.  I think this might be the Impeller, next to the heat exchanger.  The manual says to take off the cover and remove/replace annually. Last year the dealer winterized the boat and my cover has never been off from what I can tell. Again, if you run antifreeze thru the block at the end your process, this should be good.

[Punchie]

Heard back from Indmar:

1. Transmission cooler Anode - drain 

2.  Blue Plastic from Exhaust Manifold Crossover hoses

3.  Blue drain from raw water Inlet Tube - hard to get to -asking about that now.

4.  Blue drain from Heat Exchager

5.  Raw water impeller.

[JeffC]

With weather improved now, I went on a hard hunt again for blue plug 3 of 5.   Found the sticker.   Never found the plug.  So... I still only have two plugs out.   I have not taken the floor out of the locker yet (work gets in the way, especially since my formal W appt is next Friday, and we are not expecting sub freezing until after that). 

Have to say Im surprised by this... My old Crownline with a 5.7 was much easier to drain, despite a more cramped engine compartment.   Maybe that is because the previous owner showed me all the plugs, and maybe I will find it a breeze once I know where they all are (and I will).   Once I am beyond the "Tommy's Care" (my three year main, and winter/summerize that came with the boat) I will be doing my own winterization, and unless I find an easier way to do this, I may be shifting to the antifreeze method - which by the way I did with the Crownline anyway.   Im also surprised by the confusion/lack of clarity in the manuals - some not even reflecting what was installed.   So far, almost EVERYTHING I have touched with the BU has seemed incredibly well thought out.   Not so much here - maybe it is just me (I actually HOPE that is the case). 

 

[JeffC]

Just a quick update (I like it when people "finish" a thread):

Dropped the VLX for its formal winterization - a sad day, but that is a different story, I hate putting it down for the long winter nap. 

I asked the Service Manager if one of the tech's could show me the location of the remaining drain plugs.   After a good laugh, she said maybe... but that when they winterize, the pull the two plugs that I DID find (bottom of V drive, and the heat exchanger), drain, then run antifreeze in.   I am still going to try to talk to the tech when I pick the boat up.  I like the idea in the linked thread above about the "drain whip".    It is something I think is well worth my time, as I like to start my season early, and run as long as I can.   That means that I am at risk for freezing temps on both ends of the season, so I would like to be able to EASILY drain things so I can sleep at night.

Is it summer yet?