How cold before block damage?

T

tcontic

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Well I didn't get a chance to winterize my boat yet and I'm away on a business trip until Friday.

Unfortunately the temps are now falling to the mid 20's at night, mid to high 30's during the day.

Is my block at risk? I asked my kids and the water on the pool cover hasn't frozen over yet so I think I'm ok for the next couple of days.

What do you think?
 
You may be in danger. Can someone pull the block plugs and drain the water out of the block? The rest can wait until you return. Or have someone put a Golden Rod down in the engine compartment if your boat has access to shore power.

Good luck!
 
quote:
Originally posted by tcontic

Well I didn't get a chance to winterize my boat yet and I'm away on a business trip until Friday.

Unfortunately the temps are now falling to the mid 20's at night, mid to high 30's during the day.

Is my block at risk? I asked my kids and the water on the pool cover hasn't frozen over yet so I think I'm ok for the next couple of days.

What do you think?

Click to expand...
 
sorry for the previous useless copy.

Anyway,tcontic: I don't see any indication where boat is located. As I understand it, jeopardizing the block depends on: if boat is in the water or on the "hard". I've been told that in wet slip boat can tolerate low temps somewhat longer. In addtion, a few nights at low temps is one thing but sustained low temps are obviously more serious. As you know, its generally a crap shoot, however when in doubt, I assume winter prep should be done ASAP.
 
tcontic,

You may be ok, but if you can have someone toss in a heater or pull the drain plugs. It's been cold here at night, but daytime temps are in the upper 40's. Biggest risk might be the wind - it's really been whipping with wind chills in the low and mid teens. That could really cool off the boat. Today and Saturday are supposed to be the coldest days of the week.
 
Is this a raw water cooled boat? In salt water? Judging by your location (Smithtown NY) probably yes. Anyway, salt water freezes at 28 degrees, but I'd drain that block now. If it gets down to 25 or colder for more than a few hours you could be in trouble. And DO NOT bother with the suck up the AF through the drive kits, they are only good for closed cooling. That short cut will wind you up with the possibility of a cracked block because if the thermo doesn't open, the mixture in the block will be weak in terms of AF and may freeze easily. Find all the drains and drain it now. Poke the drains with a small screw driver or awl because rust flakes will stop it from draining.
 
I have my boat in the water on Long Island also and neither the domestic water or engines have any signs of ice. Keep in mind that salt water will freeze below 32 degrees and in those 'short' bursts of cold and daytime warming will likely produce a slush rather than solid ice with little effects from expansion.
For peace of mind, I would certainly drain the blocks as a precaution as it is relatively easy and could save money in the long run.

If I recall correctly wind chill is related to how cold the body feels based on loss of body heat. As reported by the National Science Library, if the ambient air temp is 38 with wind chill 15, water will not freeze.
 
Boat is raw water cooled on the hard in my driveway next to my house. I had my brother in law stop by and pull the plugs last night, no signed on freezing. I'll winterize as soon as I get home this weekend.

Thank you.
 
Wind chill has no relationship to the temp of your blocks. It only affects skin.
 
Wind chill will not change the temperature of the blocks but will certainly affect how fast the blocks get to 'air' temperature. By that I mean expose two glasses of water at 10*. One has no wind and the other with 25mph winds. It obvious the the one with the wind will drop to 10* much faster than the other. Neither will get below 10* but one will beat the other to get to that temperature.
 
Actually, wind chill DOES have an effect. The time it takes water to freeze is dependent on several issues, such as the ambient air temperature, the amount of water, the "shape" of the water, the temperature of the water to start, the chemical makeup of the water (fresh, brackish, salt), and the heat transfer coefficient.

Let me explain that last one for you. Think of a pipe filled with water. The water has some heat in it. In order for the water to freeze, the heat in the water needs to be released. The water gives up its heat to the pipe. The pipe gives up its heat to the air. If the pipe is exposed to wind (more air), then it will allow more heat to be removed from the pipe, and in turn, the water.

We have the same scenerio with a boat engine, abeit there is one more layer - the boat hull. The water gives its heat to the block, the block gives it to the hull, and the hull gives it to the air. If the hull can give up more heat because of a higher wind speed, then so can the block, and the water.

Therefore, if it's windier, the water in your block will freeze faster.
 
Unless your blocks are sitting outside, wind hill isn't a factor. It can't get below the outside temp, not the outside temp with windchill. You're over thinking here Bob!
 
Of course it can't get colder than the ambient air temp, but water at 40° will freeze more quickly with a 20mph wind than with no wind, because the heat transfer coefficient will be greater with the wind.
 
There is no wind in the bilge of my boat. Therefore, there is no wind chill factor there either.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Gregory Saracco

There is no wind in the bilge of my boat. Therefore, there is no wind chill factor there either.

Click to expand...


You sure? I heard you were doing some engine work after lunch at Taco Bell. ;)

Seriously, unless a boat is totally air-tight a high wind is going to have some affect. Do you block off the engine blower intake/outtake ports? Those a pretty big and will allow wind into the engine areas.

Bob's not wrong. In layman's terms, he's describing the action of a heat sink. The bigger the area of a heat sink, the greater the cooling effect. Now think about a PC - they add a fan to draw air through the case to cool the heat sink. Same concept with a boat engine and wind.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Gregory Saracco

There is no wind in the bilge of my boat. Therefore, there is no wind chill factor there either.

Click to expand...

However, there is wind on the hull, the hull cools faster, then engine compartment cools faster, the engine cools faster, the water in the engine cools faster.

It's all connected.
 
Wind chill only comes into effect on things like humans and animals that generate heat...As humans we have a heat shield around us that is generated by our body...Wind chill comes into effect when that shield is blown away by the wind...
 
If we were to take an engine block and install it on mounts in the middle of a field for the winter, it would make no difference in the temperature of that engine block if the wind blew or not. It would remain at the ambient temperature of the air surrounding it, whether or not the air was moving. However, if we were to start up that engine and let it warm up, there would be a great deal of difference in the block temperature depending on whether or not the wind was blowing.

Taken From...http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF5/529.html
 
OK, why are all of you ignoring simple physics? There is a HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT. That coefficient is made greater by wind. I don't care if its skin, fiberglass, or iron. Moving air across a surface will allow more heat to be removed, therefore, the temperature will drop faster than with no wind.

I'm not saying it will get COLDER with wind, I'm saying it will cool down FASTER with wind.

As Ghost would say, "TAKE THE COTTON OUT OF YOUR EARS!"
 
quote:
Originally posted by carver 2557

If we were to take an engine block and install it on mounts in the middle of a field for the winter, it would make no difference in the temperature of that engine block if the wind blew or not. It would remain at the ambient temperature of the air surrounding it, whether or not the air was moving. However, if we were to start up that engine and let it warm up, there would be a great deal of difference in the block temperature depending on whether or not the wind was blowing.

Taken From...http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF5/529.html

Click to expand...


Geeze, Wayne, did you even read your own link??? The author clearly supports the fact that I put forth:
quote:
Any object that creates its own internal heat will find that heat is removed from it faster if the air around it is moving. It is simply a matter of heat transfer--the "conveyor belt" of moving air (convection) will snatch the heat away much faster than if it were still.

So the answer to the question is yes. Wind chill does affect machines, but only if they are at a temperature above that of the surrounding air.

Click to expand...
 
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