Winterization of the shower

[Bill D]

What does everyone do to winterize the swim deck shower on our boats?

I was thinking either drain it and blow it out, or put a mix of some antifreeze in there and run it through the pump and hose. Both options have their issues...

 

[Ronnie]

Westmarine sells an additive for $10 or so , I've tried it but now I just empty the tank before long term storage. It is easier than getting the additive in.

 

[Bruce]

I agree on emptying the tank if your boat is stored where it might freeze. I would remove the head and drain the hose after emptying the tank. The hose is probably the most likely part to be damaged.

How chlorinated is your water? I have heard of stuff growing in the water tanks over the winter. It might be worthwhile to add a little extra bleach before emptying to kill anything that might be in there. But you would need to wash out that bleach before using it next spring.

 

[Bill D]

Thanks @Ronnie. I was thinking the best option would be to empty it out. I'm not really worried about a deep freeze here, I was more worried about the pump, nozzle, or hose being damaged and developing an irritating leak.

@Bruce I like the idea of adding a little bleaching the spring to clean everything out. I'll be adding that to my list.

On a positive note, I'll get to use my shower for the second time this year.

 

[Craig]

To be honest, we've never used the shower since buying the boat.

 

[sysinu]

Drain it, put 1/2 gallon of antifreeze into it, run the shower for 30 seconds and then never use it again ;-).


We don't really get much crap on our feet or legs that needs a fresh water wash... but I have found the shower useful when drying the boat after a day on the water (to wet a towel if you don't get a towel wet in time before the boat finishes draining out after pulling it from the water.

mostly our shower is a warm water tool to make kids happy after they get out of the water and are cold. Since the tank is in the aft end of the boat and the aft end of the boat is almost always in the sun, the water in that tank is usually hot (like 85+ degrees)... so the only times we ever use that shower is when a kid is cold.

 

[Bruce]

Drain it, put 1/2 gallon of antifreeze into it, run the shower for 30 seconds and then never use it again ;-).

Some sort of no poisonous antifreeze?

Why would you need antifreeze if it is drained?

Our shower gets lots of use. Nothing but potable water goes into it. We use it to;

Get the salt off after swimming in the ocean
Wash utinsels for food prep
Wash hands before eating
Clean up during and after fishing
To wash hands after using the head
It is also great for warming cold kids
As an emergency source of drinking water

 

[Ronnie]

The stuff they sell at west marine isn't labeled antifreeze. It's some type of preservative that is supposed to keep potable water potable. As I recall for $10 you get enough to treat over 100 gallons of water. I still have most of my bottle around here somewhere, like I said before, I barely used any of it, just too much trouble and expense to save up to 10 gallons of water.

 

[sysinu]

Some sort of no poisonous antifreeze?

Why would you need antifreeze if it is drained?

Our shower gets lots of use. Nothing but potable water goes into it. We use it to;

Get the salt off after swimming in the ocean
Wash utinsels for food prep
Wash hands before eating
Clean up during and after fishing
To wash hands after using the head
It is also great for warming cold kids
As an emergency source of drinking water

I just use the pet-safe stuff. In the spring, we should drain it out and flush it, but we just don't use it.

The reason why we run antifreeze through it is you can break either the pump, the hose between the pump and the nozzle or the nozzle itself. You might get some flexibility without putting antifreeze through it if you force the nozzle open for the whole winter (allowing water to escape as the line freezes), but there is still the possibility of it breaking your pump when the water freezes and more likely that the water will freeze near the nozzle before freezing near the tank/pump.

 

[davel501]

After having to replace one of the plastic 90's due to freeze damage I winterize my shower. It's easy though...take the head off the shower and turn on the pump, let the pump run dry then shut it right off so you don't damage it. Once the water is out fill the shower hose with this stuff: http://www.westmarine.com/p/363798 and you are good to go.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Drain the tank and remove the pump from the boat. Install some quick disconnect plugs on the wires.

 

[Kevin M]

I just drain the tank and disassemble the shower head, blow all the water of it and thats it. Never had an issue.

 

[David D]

Winterize it like an RV. There's a pink RV/Marine antifreeze that you can put in the water tank. Drain the tank of fresh water, add the pink stuff, run the pump for a minute until the pink comes out of the shower head, then you're good till spring. In spring, flush the tank and shower head with fresh water and a little bleach, drain it the tank again, then fill with fresh water and you're good to go.

 

[JimL]

How are you getting additives in the tank? Is there another way to feed fluids in other than by garden hose? I think I need to take a closer look at mine the next time I'm on the boat.

 

[davel501]

How are you getting additives in the tank? Is there another way to feed fluids in other than by garden hose? I think I need to take a closer look at mine the next time I'm on the boat.

Just run the pump dry then unscrew the shower head from the end of the hose and fill the hose with antifreeze. Hold it up high to get all of the air out.

 

[weaselman]

I have a 15 242 and I am trying to add antifreeze to the tank. I tried removing the shower head but that didn't work. I took the shower line off (where it is connected to the braided line) and that didn't work. Every time I add antifreeze it just sits in the in line.

I have drained must of the water out of the tank. Looking for an easy way to get antifreeze in there.

Any suggestions

 

[davel501]

I never add it to the tank. I run the tank dry and fill the hose with antifreeze. The only connectors I ever lost to freezing were after the pump.

 

[Kevin M]

Don't use antifreeze either. I drain the tank as much as it will and put it away.

 

[Ronnie]

I've never tried it but I think you can reverse the polarity on the pump and use the shower head to suck liquid into the tank.

 

[Ogtbagger]

Is there a manual or automatic pump that can be used to pump the antifreeze into the tank through the garden hose fitting?