Alternate methods of winterizing the OWB

[bodhisoma]

I've got a Classic 5036 and with the winter coming, wondering how to prevent pipes from freezing while we're away for a week.

Last year I (ignorantly) got away with simply running the Taco pump continuously, the heat from the house warmed the water a little bit and the circulation kept everything OK. I think running the pump continuously is what the dealer recommended too.

But what if the pump goes while we're away? Several thousand $$ down the toilet.

Obviously we can add antifreeze but we don't have $2k to spare.

Anyone come up with a novel, inexpensive way to handle this sort of situation?

 

[CWME]

Ask a friend or family member to load the boiler for you while your away?

 

[bodhisoma]

Ask a friend or family member to load the boiler for you while your away?

Unfortunately, everyone who'd be a candidate lives far enough away that it'd be a real inconvenience for any of theme. I'd also like to avoid blowing through a week's worth of wood.

 

[nathon918]

Unfortunately, everyone who'd be a candidate lives far enough away that it'd be a real inconvenience for any of theme. I'd also like to avoid blowing through a week's worth of wood.

install a couple backup pumps inline with the existing pump, run em all, if 1 dies you have two more still pumping,kind of a waste of money though, its about the only solution i can see without going the glycol route.
or since you say its just water, drain the system before you leave and fill it back up when you return, i cant imagine thats all to good for the water jackets in the boiler if left empty for a long amount of time though...

 

[Cheesecutter]

I would ask a neighbor with an Owb to watch it . Turn the heat down to 50 and close off any rooms that don't need heat. Should go for 3 days like that unless its bitter cold.

 

[zogger]

Wild card for antifreeze idea!

I wonder if you could get free antifreeze from junk cars being scrapped out at junkyards? Proly illegal but I bet most places just dump it out to get the radiators off. Perhaps you could score many many gallons, run it through a filter, and use the solution. Most vehicles will have a 50/50 blend in them, kinda sorta.

edit: or at like quickee lube places that do flush and fills? They must get barrels of the stuff.

I do not know if this would be suitable or not, but...just thought of it. A good filter would be a necessity though before reusing it. Perhaps something could be rigged up and pump it through like a car oil filter?

 

[MrGiggles]

Wild card for antifreeze idea!

I wonder if you could get free antifreeze from junk cars being scrapped out at junkyards? Proly illegal but I bet most places just dump it out to get the radiators off. Perhaps you could score many many gallons, run it through a filter, and use the solution. Most vehicles will have a 50/50 blend in them, kinda sorta.

edit: or at like quickee lube places that do flush and fills? They must get barrels of the stuff.

I do not know if this would be suitable or not, but...just thought of it. A good filter would be a necessity though before reusing it. Perhaps something could be rigged up and pump it through like a car oil filter?

That is innovative thinking, but I think with all the different types of Antifreeze on the market it would be really hard to get any quantity of just one kind, and every shop I've been in it wasn't a priority to keep waste antifreeze uncontaminated. If you mix green Ethylene Glycol coolant with Dex-Cool (GM's brown) it will quickly turn into meat sauce.

I am not really familiar with how those setups work.. But draining it sounds like the best idea to me.

 

[Circle B MN]

That is innovative thinking, but I think with all the different types of Antifreeze on the market it would be really hard to get any quantity of just one kind, and every shop I've been in it wasn't a priority to keep waste antifreeze uncontaminated. If you mix green Ethylene Glycol coolant with Dex-Cool (GM's brown) it will quickly turn into meat sauce.

I am not really familiar with how those setups work.. But draining it sounds like the best idea to me.

I just so happen to work in the auto salvage industry. I have a couple of five hundred gallon tanks of antifreeze on hand on most any day. Through the sight glass you can clearly see the oil and junk float to the top and nice green coolant at the bottom. It sells for a dollar a gallon, but when the tanks get full I have sold it for the equivelant of lunch money.

CB says not to use coolant in their system. Personally I would let the pump run and your backup heat will keep it warm enough. If you are scared, hook a second pump in line, on a separate circuit, with a separate feed, off a separate pole, from a separate power company.

Some times you just got to gamble. :cool2:

 

[zogger]

I just so happen to work in the auto salvage industry. I have a couple of five hundred gallon tanks of antifreeze on hand on most any day. Through the sight glass you can clearly see the oil and junk float to the top and nice green coolant at the bottom. It sells for a dollar a gallon, but when the tanks get full I have sold it for the equivelant of lunch money.

CB says not to use coolant in their system. Personally I would let the pump run and your backup heat will keep it warm enough. If you are scared, hook a second pump in line, on a separate circuit, with a separate feed, off a separate pole, from a separate power company.

Some times you just got to gamble. :cool2:

A second pump, but on an autostart generator that is run from the bulk propane tank.

I wonder why they say not to use antifreeze?

 

[Circle B MN]

A second pump, but on an autostart generator that is run from the bulk propane tank.

I wonder why they say not to use antifreeze?

I would guess that it is because it does not conduct heat as well, and if it leaked inside your residence it woul be a big ole mess.

 

[RVALUE]

I've got a Classic 5036 and with the winter coming, wondering how to prevent pipes from freezing while we're away for a week.

Last year I (ignorantly) got away with simply running the Taco pump continuously, the heat from the house warmed the water a little bit and the circulation kept everything OK. I think running the pump continuously is what the dealer recommended too.

But what if the pump goes while we're away? Several thousand $$ down the toilet.

Obviously we can add antifreeze but we don't have $2k to spare.

Anyone come up with a novel, inexpensive way to handle this sort of situation?

Look at the bright side, it would be several thousand $$$ MORE if you were in Canada or Australia!

(The rest of the posts have some really good advice..... )

 

[zogger]

I would guess that it is because it does not conduct heat as well, and if it leaked inside your residence it woul be a big ole mess.

Yet another reason why I like my no electricity needed 25 dollar used smoke dragon heater...

 

[AIM]

Well I spose if I was that worried about my pump just put a new one on every few years or however long you think a pump should last. Seems kind of like one of those "overly cautious" type scenarios though. Mines been running about 5-6 years now. I'm sort of wondering if it's end is near.

 

[Storm56]

If you are only going to be gone for a week, why not put one of those ceramic electric heaters in the fire box after you clean it out? Let the pumps run too. A few bucks for electric but cheaper than a freeze up.

 

[AIM]

If you are only going to be gone for a week, why not put one of those ceramic electric heaters in the fire box after you clean it out? Let the pumps run too. A few bucks for electric but cheaper than a freeze up.

Might not be a bad idea for peace of mind.

 

[bodhisoma]

Wild card for antifreeze idea!

I wonder if you could get free antifreeze from junk cars being scrapped out at junkyards? Proly illegal but I bet most places just dump it out to get the radiators off. Perhaps you could score many many gallons, run it through a filter, and use the solution. Most vehicles will have a 50/50 blend in them, kinda sorta.

I was reading this site and they offered a host of reasons to not use car antifreeze, namely different heat transfer properties, different viscosities not suitable for low-flow OWB systems, chemical interaction between metals found in heating systems but not radiators and leak-stopping additives which can clog the works.

But draining it sounds like the best idea to me.

I'm leaning toward this tho I hate wasting 196 gal plus the $40 worth of additive we put in last fall.

I wonder why they say not to use antifreeze?

I'm pretty sure that the antifreeze they use is different than auto antifreeze but in any case, kinda funny since it was the Classic dealer that not only sold the previous owner the antifreeze but delivered it as well.

I also seem to recall the dealer mentioning the pricetag at like $2,000 which, given a 196 gallon jacket, that'd be ~$10/gal so maybe it's something a bit exotic. The previous owners were long-haul truck drivers so the expense was probably worth it.

If you are only going to be gone for a week, why not put one of those ceramic electric heaters in the fire box after you clean it out? Let the pumps run too. A few bucks for electric but cheaper than a freeze up.

I had thought of this, amazingly enough, but my concern is not that the circulation and the latent heat exchange would be insufficient to keep the pipes from freezing (worked fine last year) but rather that the pump could go. If that happened the heater wouldn't help.

 

[cre10]

Use methanol or propylene glycol. Glycol is a good pump lubricant and protector. Heat transfer is better with methanol and it's less viscous.

 

[zogger]

I was reading this site and they offered a host of reasons to not use car antifreeze, namely different heat transfer properties, different viscosities not suitable for low-flow OWB systems, chemical interaction between metals found in heating systems but not radiators and leak-stopping additives which can clog the works.



I'm leaning toward this tho I hate wasting 196 gal plus the $40 worth of additive we put in last fall.



I'm pretty sure that the antifreeze they use is different than auto antifreeze but in any case, kinda funny since it was the Classic dealer that not only sold the previous owner the antifreeze but delivered it as well.

I also seem to recall the dealer mentioning the pricetag at like $2,000 which, given a 196 gallon jacket, that'd be ~$10/gal so maybe it's something a bit exotic. The previous owners were long-haul truck drivers so the expense was probably worth it.





I had thought of this, amazingly enough, but my concern is not that the circulation and the latent heat exchange would be insufficient to keep the pipes from freezing (worked fine last year) but rather that the pump could go. If that happened the heater wouldn't help.

Ask the dang company what sort of antifreeze they use and recommend.

I am still liking the idea of filtered junkyard antifreeze, if you can get some that isn't all gummy.

Or, drain it. How many gallons total are you talking about? And can you be sure of getting it all out? You wouldn't want to leave some inside the pump and have it freeze. that happened to one of my pressure washers, dumb me just let it sit in the greenhouse overwinter, it still froze and cracked fittings and whatnot inside, now no workee. I *thought* it was empty, but wasn't.

 

[Cheesecutter]

Your pump going bad seems to be a big concern. If its running smooth and quiet all should be well. Those pumps are designed to run 24/7. Mine does 9 months a year.

 

[nathon918]

Your pump going bad seems to be a big concern. If its running smooth and quiet all should be well. Those pumps are designed to run 24/7. Mine does 9 months a year.

just because theyre designed to run 24/7 doesnt mean they dont die... or he could lose power.
i know if i had a system like that with no antifreeze i wouldnt be relying on the pump to keep the system from freezing...