![]() The antifreeze first mixes with the water already in the system and has to displace all of it before the antifreeze can protect fully. When pumping antifreeze into your engine or freshwater systems, don't shut down as soon as you see the antifreeze come out of the faucet or engine exhaust. Most winterizing antifreeze must be used full strength - don't dilute. Play it safe and use an antifreeze that is rated well below any temperature you're likely to experience. At -50 F, it's a solid chunk of ice, capable of cracking an engine block. A typical antifreeze labeled for -50 F will only protect PVC water pipes from bursting down to about -10 F and will actually begin freezing at about 15 F. Most importantly, check the freeze rating, but be aware that the numbers used don't correspond to what you may think. The antifreeze you use in your engine and plumbing systems must also have the proper freeze protection to keep your systems safe at the lowest possible temperatures your boat may face.įor drinking water and raw water systems, choose antifreeze that contains propylene glycol, which is safe and doesn't have a taste, and one that has rust inhibitors for engine protection. Ethylene glycol, the chemical used in coolant, is highly toxic, so winterizing antifreeze must be nontoxic because it goes in drinking water systems and may eventually go overboard. And that's important because, if they do freeze, your boat is likely to be damaged.Īntifreeze for winterizing engines and freshwater systems is not the same as the coolant you put in your engine's heat exchanger (the boat equivalent of a radiator). Not only are there different kinds, the temperature at which they freeze is different, too. Exactly how this is done varies.Īntifreeze is antifreeze, right? Wrong. Mistakes in this step lead to the vast majority of the freeze claims in the our insurance files. Winterizing engines means draining the water from the engine or replacing it with antifreeze. So unless your boating takes places in Hawaii, we recommend winterizing your boat if there will be any time that it could possibly freeze, to minimize the chances that a sudden freeze will put it out of commission next season.Įngines tend to take the brunt of the damage from freezing weather, so they should be your focus. Winterizing most boats takes from an hour to a day. By the time the boat is in working order, a good part of the boating season will have been lost. Repairing freeze damage takes time and all too often involves a complete engine replacement. Most of those who don't winterize, or don't winterize properly, only find out something is wrong in the spring when brown froth starts spewing through a crack in the side of the engine block, or what looks like chocolate milk appears on the dipstick. There is no way to accurately predict how cold winter will be in your state, so don't get caught off guard this year. experiencing temperatures below freezing. The most freeze claims over the past decade were in 2018 because of a severe winter that included snow in Las Vegas, record cold for Los Angeles, and at one point, nearly half the U.S. More than half of them would be considered warm-weather states, and only Hawaii routinely has no claims. If you live in a temperate state and aren't sure if you should winterize, look at the list below showing which states have the most freeze damage insurance claims over the last 10 years. In the temperate South, our files include many more claims where the boat wasn't winterized at all, or where the boater was depending on a heater to keep the engine from freezing and the electricity went out. Why? Likely because boaters in the frozen North know they need to winterize, so their freeze claims almost always involve a problem with how the boat was winterized (something was missed) or the owner waited too long. Even balmy Florida has more claims than Minnesota. If you're like most people, you probably think the colder states would have the most claims, but the GEICO | BoatUS Marine Insurance claims files show that the Lone Star State of Texas leads the pack with more than seven times the freeze-damage claims as frigid Minnesota.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |