Antifreeze
 

What is the problem with the antifreeze in the lakes region ? Any one know.

I heard one Marina tested it and it froze just below 30 degrees. they are recalling it all

Brand?
 

Does anyone know the brand that is being recalled?...

Dan

AntiFreeze recall ?
 

So what was the brand that is being recalled?...

Does this apply to the RV 'pink' type antifreeze ? Need to know for winterizing home for the winter.

Thanks !

Fake News??
 

I have scoured the internet looking for this so called recall and can find nothing...I’m thinking it was just a rumor that someone started then it blew up out of proportion on social media.

Dan

it was a side comment from a boat shop I'll leave nameless. I have no other knowledge on the subject.

are people having problems finding it? I just assumed it to be the issue when the question was asked.

No Issue
 

I have had no problems finding it. Bought a case through Amazon a while back no issue and it’s still readily available.

Dan

Plenty at EM Heaths Hardware in Center Harbor last week....2 for $6.

It's normal for it to freeze, the difference between RV/Marine "anti-freeze" and water is that the "anti-freeze" does not expand when it freezes, thus it does not do any damage.

That is not really so. Addition of a salt or solvent to water depresses the freezing point of the mixture, and more stuff added depresses the freezing point further. Similarly, adding some water to another solvent depresses its freezing point. A plot of freezing point of the mixture vs concentration typically shows that an abrupt minimum is reached somewhere around 40-60% of the solvent. This point is called the eutectic point.

When a glycol-water mix having less glycol than the eutectic concentration hits its freezing point, some (theoretically) pure water crystallizes out as ice, and the remaining liquid mix becomes more concentrated in the glycol, with a corresponding further decrease in freezing point. This continues all the way down to the eutectic point, where anything left freezes.

This reference shows freezing point vs concentration for propylene glycol ("RV antifreeze") in water: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/p...col-d_363.html

Your Right 260SS
 

The problem is not finding antifreeze, Its finding the bad brand or brands of blue and pink water. What brand do you have, be safe call the maker and ask. Stop at a boat dealer and ask or have it checked.

I had word from two different marine mechanics in the area that they had to go back and remove/replace the antifreeze in all the boats that they already had winterized because of this issue, and now are behind schedule with customers.

I didn't get the details nor brand or mixture type of the offending antifreeze, but they only said it was recalled.

Folks does anyone have any specifics here, because I just spent time search for information on a Antifreeze recall, and see nothing at all period, in every variation I tried.

With as many RV'ers and boat owners etc. that are currently winterizing their toys, to think that a company could or would keep this confidential, and quiet, is not reality.

In short this sounds like some Marina, or Marina's is pulling peoples leg.

I am not saying it isn't happening, but someone should be able to point to something specific if there really is some recall of RV anti-freeze going on.

That's exactly what I heard

I don't think it is anyone joking around, I heard if from two different sources, and other boaters have reported the same to me. There are now schedule delay because people had to go back and reservice boats that were already winterized and shrink wrapped.

I'd suggest calling local marine shops, perhaps Fays, Supreme Marine, etc. I'm sure that many or most of them were affected.

I don't think the antifreeze company would keep it confidential as they would be liable for many boats being damaged. I don't know any details. I would guess that they were they contacted by their distributors, as I'm sure most purchase antifreeze in bulk at this time of the year.

How is freeze damage covered by your insurance, perhaps you should check your policy to see that it's not excluded if you do it yourself? A frozen engine block would cost a lot more to repair than replacing a few fresh water plastic pipes or fittings on your boat for those that have them.

The only thing I have to winterize this year is an outboard, so Personally I am not at all concerned.

I just find it hard to believe that there isn't some very public information about this situation, with everything that is stake across the Northern half of this country.

I need to buy some for this winter. I think I'll place a sample in the freeezer. If it becomes slushy it's probably ok. If it freezes solid I'll return it.

Leave anti freeze in or drain it.
 

So after running antifreeze through an I/O, do you leave whatever is left in the engine or do you pull the lower drain plugs and let it all drain out? I've heard that leaving it in affords some corrosion protection. The marina's that experienced the bogus A/F must routinely leave it in for them to be worried enough to redo the boats. In the past years I've let it all drain but this year I left the plugs in after running it through.

Trustworthy
 

The closed Trustworthy Hardware uses to stock pallets of antifreeze in the fall. They were competitively priced. Now the other stores need to keep up!

I've always left the engine full of antifreeze, then again when I winterize mine I don't run the A/F through the stern drive, instead I drain all the raw water out of the block and risers then backfull everything including the stern drive from the coolant hoses on the block from inside the boat. Yes some stuff advertises corrosion protection. Whether or not that protection is significant or not is hard to say but I prefer knowing that there is antifreeze in there versus not. Opinions vary on this in reality it probably doesn't make a difference either way, just as long as there is no raw water anywhere in the system that could freeze and create a problem.

Google it
 

If you Google "antifreeze recall" you will find that the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall on Prestone on October 7, 2020. cpcs.gov.

And it was for auto antifreeze, and because the caps were put on improperly so they were no child proof.

So, is there a benefit to running A/F engine ----> stern drive as opposed to stern drive ----> engine other than not having to run with muffs?

Yes and no in my opinion. Yes in the sense that if you run the A/F through the engine via the muffs you don't have to drain the block afterwards. It's all full of A/F when you're done. Easy right?

At the same time, I like to pull my block and riser plugs annually as through the course of using the boat in shallow areas it's not uncommon to have a little bit of grit get sucked into the system and that may settle in the block - draining it will allow that stuff to drain out and every year I get a little that comes out. I've also found a couple times the drain port was plugged with grit, pulling the plug I got nothing out so I had to probe the drain with a pick to get it draining correctly. Over time if that builds up it's possible blockages in the cooling system could occur? I really can't say but seems plausible. Mind you I do not operate in shallow water other than coming in and out of my dock.

Maybe the best answer is every few years pull the plugs the rest of the time do what you're doing. When in doubt ask a service guys at the marina.

Just to be clear, I do pull the plugs before running A/F to drain most water out. Like you, I've I've had to clear some of of them as they were plugged with crap. After draining I put them back in and then run the A/F. In previous years I would pull the plugs again and let the A/F drain and was done. This year I left the plugs in without draining the A/F. I was just a little concerned after reading this thread about the bogus A/F. I used Prime Guard A/F this year as opposed to Wally world stuff in the past. Too bad we don't have more info on the A/F mentioned above.

Ah ok, I see no reason to drain the antifreeze afterwards if you are pulling the drain plugs to evacuate the raw water in the system first.

As much crud as I have seen year over year coming out of my block drains I would not want to not pull them periodically for that reason alone.

I do in the spring fire up the boat on the muffs in the driveway to flush out all the A/F that was left in the engine over the winter time.

Here is some info on the recall

https://downeastboatforum.com/thread...2/#post-320467

It seems the supplier may sell to multiple brands and labels, not only Starbrite.

It's probably too late for this info, but it may help someone.

Camco
 

Glad I used and have been using Camco and not Starbrite!!

Dan

I have a friend at our marina that gets the RV/Marine anti-freeze in 55 gallon drums for his business. He orders a couple of extra drums for winterizing boats. He has a powerful electric pump powered by a Honda generator that he uses to pressurize a 50 foot hose with the antifreeze. Having a hose that dispenses anti-freeze at 5 gallons a minute is so handy. He puts the whole assembly in the back of his truck and we used it a week ago to Winterize three 40+ foot boats in 4 hours. These are fairly complex boats with three engines each, up to 4 reverse cycle AC/heaters each, up to 3 showers each, 3 sinks each, livewells, raw water systems, etc. We used the remaining few gallons of pink stuff to Winterize 3 PWCs a couple of days later. If you can pool resources with some other boat owners, this is a tremendously efficient way to Winterize a few boats.