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Any recommendations on a bilge heater. I have the quick drain system but starting to hear issues with it during hard freezes. In N. GA, doesn’t hit freezing often and boat stays on the lift.

Xtreme Heaters have a good reputation, but aren't cheap. I've seen a few similar in style, but the price is close enough that I'd probably get an Xtreme.

John

Xtreme or Boatsafe. I had a Boatsafe, kept it in my SeaRay 290 that stayed in the water year around, then in my SeaRay bowrider that was on a lift. Worked great. I would get one of those two. These days I am in a dry storage with no access to to power, plus being inside a building freezing isn't much of an issue.

You might also consider an engine heater pad.

Thx for the input.

I have the Twin Hornet - great piece of equipment



Just plug it in and forget about it.

I also put one of these in my bilge compartment to track what's going on in there



This shows the heater cycling on and off at the set-point of 40 F

ChuckP2 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 3:55 pm Any recommendations on a bilge heater. I have the quick drain system but starting to hear issues with it during hard freezes. In N. GA, doesn’t hit freezing often and boat stays on the lift.

The reason we have a newer engine in our 232 was from our block cracking in GA while on a lift.

ChuckP2 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 3:55 pm... I have the quick drain system ...

But it's also a good idea to do a flush with boat/RV anti-freeze anyway - that way any liquid remaining in the system is going to be the coolant and therefor can't freeze.

Just got our first (near) freeze of the season last night - it's supposed to get down to 30/31 this weekend though

My heater itself is in the exact same location as last year, but the sensor is actualy in a different location, a little further removed (and higher) than it was last year, hence the 'seemingly' different trigger points vs the chart I posted from last year. I am quite sure the heater is till coming on at 40 (temp where the heater is) while the sensor is more reflecting a warmer zone at a higher point in the engine compartment.
It's certainly re-assuring to receive that confirmation via the sensor and app that all is being taken care of!

ChuckP2 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 3:55 pm Any recommendations on a bilge heater. I have the quick drain system but starting to hear issues with it during hard freezes. In N. GA, doesn’t hit freezing often and boat stays on the lift.

Don't you have the Volvo engine with closed cooling? I would be curious to hear about the issues with the quick drain for the heat exchangers.....

Matts19 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 27, 2023 10:12 am

ChuckP2 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 3:55 pm Any recommendations on a bilge heater. I have the quick drain system but starting to hear issues with it during hard freezes. In N. GA, doesn’t hit freezing often and boat stays on the lift.

Don't you have the Volvo engine with closed cooling? I would be curious to hear about the issues with the quick drain for the heat exchangers.....

Same here. It is pretty straightforward. As a precaution I will collect the water drained (about 2.9 gallons) to make sure there is no clog and then blow some compressed air. Been doing that for several years in sub freezing conditions and no issues.