May 122013
Camco 65501 Do It Yourself Boat Winterizer
- Saves time and money season after season
- Allows flushing and preparation of boat engine for winter storage with just five gallons of antifreeze and your flusher
- Quickly service inboard/outboard marine engines
- Winterizes your engine right on the trailer
- Easy to use gravity flow system
With Camco’s DIY Boat Winterizer you can quickly and efficiently service inboard/outboard marine engines. The patented Do-It-Yourself winterizer allows flushing and preparation of boat engines for winter storage with just five gallons of antifreeze and your flusher. You save time and money season after season. it is great for technicians too. If using a front mounted raw water pump system, use Camco’s Flush Adapter (sold separately).
List Price: $ 55.11
Price: $ 10.79
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Un-favorable,
NO…… I cannot support the use of this product given how most users interpret it’s intended use!
The kit description does use the word “Winterizer”! We associate “winterize” with freeze protection.
In my opinion, the manufacturer would be wise to provide full disclosure and details that fully explain the Raw Water cooled I/O and I/B engine T-stat housing, the sea water “by-pass” porting, and explain to the user that most all sea water is being directed towards and out the exhaust system. (sea water = antifreeze when the kits are being used)
Otherwise, the user may inadvertantly believe that his/her engine will be filled with “un-diluted” antifreeze, and that their engine will be protected against freeze damage.
Let me explain:
With any Raw Water Cooled Marine I/B or I/O engine, only a portion of the supplied sea water is required for actual engine cooling demands, compared to that which a sea water pump is capable of supplying (for both engine and exhaust demands).
The “porting” within the T-stat housing allows for a proportunate division of sea water.
…. The engine circulating pump charges the engine block with the amount of coolant (sea water) required via T-stat’s open position.
…. The greater balance of coolant (sea water) is being sent to and out the exhaust system.
In simple terms; this means that more sea water (antifreeze when the kit is used) is being sent to and out the exhaust system, compared to what actually enters the engine block/heads (until we reach engine loads that require greater cooling demands).
This is pretty much the case with any Raw Water Cooled I/O or I/B marine engine.
The warming up of the engine in order for the thermostat to open prior, is somewhat of a misnomer…. and in particular when these kits are introducing the antifreeze during low RPM and no engine loads.
Now we connect up the Camco Kit antifreeze container:
Again…… only a portion of the limited 4-5 gallons of Camco Kit antifreeze actually makes it’s way into the engine cooling system during this rather short duration.
The greater portion of the Camco Kit antifreeze is going right on out the exhaust system (just as the sea water does)!
The user must understand that when he or she sees antifreeze exit the exhaust, this is NOT an indicator that un-diluted antifreeze made it’s way into and out of the engine block/heads.
If not educated, the user is left with a “False-Positive”, so to speak!
By the time he or she finishes up, any Camco Kit antifreeze that DID make it into the engine, may have now become diluted by the residual engine block sea water.
If we begin with a completely drained engine block, the liklihood of antifreeze dilution is reduced.
These kits are intrinsically an OK idea if in the hands of a professional Marine Mechanic. The Marine Mechanic will likely drain everything afterwards anyway.
However, in the wrong hands, and when the user is lacking the understanding of the above info, it can leave them with freeze damage come spring time.
For those who insist on using these kits, probe your drain ports and drain completely afterwards, and you should be OK.
OEM service manuals will always suggest to completely drain engine components of all sea water during the winterizing procedure.
The need for the rust inhibiting properties of antifreeze (during the lay up) are greatly exaggerated, IMO. The amount of rust/corrosion that could occur during the lay up are paled by comparison to that which occurs during the normal season’s usage.
If you’re after that “feel good” feeling, then do it, but drain again afterwards.
Otherwise, winterize according to your OEM manual.
Remember…. just plain air will not freeze, expand, and crack our expensive cast iron components.
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|Boat Winterizer – I did it myself & saved $100,
I was very impressed with the quality of this item when I first saw it out of the box – especially the brass valves. I normally pay to have my boat motor (Mercury I/O) winterized on my boat lift, which cost me $175 last year. This year I spent $75 total for: the Camco winterizer, a Mercury flushing kit and the 5 gallons of RV anti-freeze needed – saving $100. Next year all I’ll need to buy is the anti-freeze, so I’ll save $160. The product worked flawlessly. You do need to let the motor reach operating temp so the thermostat opens before shutting off the fresh water valve and opening the tank to add the anti-freeze. Since my boat was on a lift, I had someone in the boat to shut off the motor when the 5 gallon anti-freeze tank was almost empty. I monitored the tank. It took about an hour all told for me. Great product!
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|Works as advertised,
Bought this wondering if it was going to work as it was advertised.
After shutting off the hose valve and opening the tank valve, the engine immediately started sucking the antifreeze into the engine. After the antifreeze started flowing fully out of the exhaust, shut it off and finish winterizing. That’s it! I am impressed on how such a simple and inexpensive product will save hundreds of dollars in the long run.
Don’t wonder if it will work. It does!
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