The Steamboating Forum

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Question:

I recently found heated winter storage for my Elliott Bay steamboat (Strath engine, Benson Mntn boiler) after storing outside in upsate NY for many years. Previously, I've removed and emptied plumbing that could trap water and freeze, emptied the boiler as best I could and then added RV antifreeze, lubricated the internals of the engine and removed my Hypro pistion feedwater pumps and brought it inside Now that I have heated storage, can I forget about all that? Is there anything I should still be doing for 6 months of inactivity. I've had mixed suggestions on the piston pump. Some say to remove it and flush it with auto antifreeze to prevent corrosion. Others say it's not necessary.

Thoughts??

Consider the risk of power failure in deciding what preparations seem warranted.

For our Airstream I connect 20 psi compressed air to the water inlet and flush all the lines, drain the fresh water tank and put RV antifreeze in the traps. For our 26' Rainbow we drained everything.
I'm replumbing Rainbow as part of our general rework; I'll likely work out a way to put RV antifreeze into the Hypro easily, and drain everything else.

RV antifreeze is what is recommended for laying up our pressure washer, btw.

- Bart

barts wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 3:04 am Consider the risk of power failure in deciding what preparations seem warranted.

For our Airstream I connect 20 psi compressed air to the water inlet and flush all the lines, drain the fresh water tank and put RV antifreeze in the traps. For our 26' Rainbow we drained everything.
I'm replumbing Rainbow as part of our general rework; I'll likely work out a way to put RV antifreeze into the Hypro easily, and drain everything else.

RV antifreeze is what is recommended for laying up our pressure washer, btw.

- Bart

Do you do this for HEATED storage or is there a risk of freezing where you store? I've also been told that RV antifreeze does not have a corrosion prohibitor so it is better to use auto antifreeze in the Hypro. Also, what do you do to the boiler?

Perhaps we should have an eye on the current economic situation around the world. Obviously, here in the UK with a Brexit trashed economy and an incompetent government, we have been greatly heartened to know (from a leak) that part of the Government's 'machine' is war gaming a week long failure of our national electricity grid. The general take away from this is that we must expect there to be power cuts this winter though duration will depend upon weather conditions, gas supplies, etc.

I don't know how things stand in the US, but the key question for me would be how reliable is the heating supply to your new storage area? If the US is as bad as the UK I would be tempted to enjoy the warmth while it is available and do all that draining down, etc. However, our relatives in the US are not currently complaining about the utility companies so things may be OK. Hope so.

Regards

Pete

Centurion wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 3:26 am

barts wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 3:04 am Consider the risk of power failure in deciding what preparations seem warranted.

For our Airstream I connect 20 psi compressed air to the water inlet and flush all the lines, drain the fresh water tank and put RV antifreeze in the traps. For our 26' Rainbow we drained everything.
I'm replumbing Rainbow as part of our general rework; I'll likely work out a way to put RV antifreeze into the Hypro easily, and drain everything else.

RV antifreeze is what is recommended for laying up our pressure washer, btw.

- Bart

Do you do this for HEATED storage or is there a risk of freezing where you store? I've also been told that RV antifreeze does not have a corrosion prohibitor so it is better to use auto antifreeze in the Hypro. Also, what do you do to the boiler?

I consider heated storage a 'best effort' promise. We live on an island in the US Pacific Northwest. Power outages are not infrequent, but usually short if locally caused (trees downing one of the few lines not underground, typically). However, a major storm can take out both of our two incoming power lines on the mainland; my parents experienced a week without power in the 1980s. As is usually w/ crises, we're most likely to lose power for a long time during a Northeaster blowing out of the Canadian Fraser Valley; temperatures then can drop into the low twenties (-7C) for several days.

When we lived in CA in an area not subject to significant freezes, I would fill Otter's boiler completely full of water + TSP; this has worked well since I built the boiler in 1996. I now drain the boilers and dry them; I may shift to using RV antifreeze, reusing it yearly.

As to corrosion issues, many sprayer companies recommend RV antifreeze for Hypro pumps; the same is suggested for my pressure washer. I've never had rust issues when I left them filled with water in CA; the RV antifreeze will exclude air, which is of course the most important thing.

Automotive antifreeze is toxic; I prefer not to use it as filling and draining boilers always seems to involve some spillage.

"Plan for the worst, hope for the best."

- Bart

I'd like to chime in with the idea of using a wet or dry vacuum cleaner rather than compressed air. Volume is far more important than pressure in getting water out of pipes and pumps and the like.

I store in an unheated place on the same island as Bart. And I'm gone to Baja California (Mexico) for six months out of the year thus I cannot react to freezing events in person. I blow the boiler down hot at the end of the season thus eliminating any internal corrosion. Then disconnect as many connections as I find convenient and go at it all with the vacuum. I have a short length of 1" clear hose between the vacuum hose and the boat piping so that I can see when I'm not getting any more water.

So far, so good.

Mike

Even in California we have places that lose power in the depths of winter and see temps in the -20°F (yes farenheight... That's like -10,000°C or so, right?).

We plumbed our boats with draining in mind and put drain valves in the low spots where possible. Draining the entire system is a year-end right if passage. Even then we've had a heat exchanger and a few check valves that gave up the ghost to the frost gods.

Unless the heated storage has a wood fireplace backup and you to stoke it, I wouldn't risk leaving any water in any plumbing. Flush the whole system with antifreeze and previously suggested, or drain it dry. Ice storms like in '97 could be disastrous for you.

Even in California we have places that lose power in the depths of winter and see temps in the -20°F (yes farenheight... That's like -10,000°C or so, right?).

We plumbed our boats with draining in mind and put drain valves in the low spots where possible. Draining the entire system is a year-end right if passage. Even then we've had a heat exchanger and a few check valves that gave up the ghost to the frost gods.

Unless the heated storage has a wood fireplace backup and you to stoke it, I wouldn't risk leaving any water in any plumbing. Flush the whole system with antifreeze and previously suggested, or drain it dry. Ice storms like in '97 could be disastrous for you.