Bilge Heaters

qs2672

Hello fellow Rinker owners, I'm looking into buying a Bilge Heater for my Rinker 420 and I'm looking for some suggestions.  I've been researching the Extreme Heater 600w heater that claims to work good in an area of 350 cubic feet.  My concern is will one be enough to keep the compartment above freezing or should I purchase 2?  I live in Missouri and the boat is on table rock lake which never freezes, anyone have any advise on this subject?

skennelly

Is it your plan to never winterize the boat...does it get cold enough to freeze the systems in your boat...ie engine, water system ect...?

My advice would be to never rely on a electric heater to replace actually winterizing your boat.

LaRea

Welcome to the forum!  

You're far enough south that a hard freeze doesn't happen often, correct?  And you're leaving the boat in the water?  A 600-watt heater should be fine.  Just keep in mind that your heater is only as reliable as your marina's dock power.  

qs2672

LaRea, yes you are correct the boat stays in the water and thank you for the advice.  I look forward to being a part of this forum.

qs2672

skennelly, I plan to not winterize the boat.  my wife and I come down to the boat in the winter time just as much as we do in the summer and we are at the lake almost every weekend lol. 

Dream_Inn

first off, welcome to the forum!  As long as you are monitoring things, which you definitely are, then I agree with LaRea.  It'd be great to enjoy the boat most of the year!  I know people in my area that have the same heaters, which are extremely safe. & they work very well even in our somewhat colder (than you) climate here.

The 420 is a beautiful boat!  My 400 came from LOTO about 5 years ago.  Maybe you've seen it!

qs2672

Thanks for the welcome all and yes Dream_Inn its wonderfull being able to go to the lake during the winter as well as the summer.  I plan to go ahead and get the Xtreme 600w thanks for all your comments, I loving this forum already!!

randy56

A boat setting the water that is 40 degrees, has a better chance of not freezing  than  boat sitting on land when the air temp is 20. Because of the thermo effect the water give's you. The question I would ask? are you far enough south that the marina turns off the fresh water at the slips in the winter? the manual will tell you how to winterize, it's not that hard. We have had mild winter's in the last couple years in the mid-west, but that can change. Those Canadians can blow some cold air down here. At anytime, got to watch those guys.  Does your marina keep under water pumps running to keep the marina from freezing up? 
Summary: Winterize, You paid a couple bucks for a nice 420, spend $50 in antifreeze to keep it. Or in the spring you will have to sell your youngest, to pay for two new blocks. Just my 2 cents. 

Dream_Inn

Randy, I believe it's not the $50 or even the winterizing, but it's using the boat throughout the winter.  Winterizing it will not allow him to use it.  I do agree to make sure the marina has water thru the winter (on a boat without water is not much fun, especially when the head works off the water).  If the marina keeps water going, then they must not get the hard freeze.

If power went out and you were there (important key), then just running your motors a bit would warm things up as well. 

Another thing to note, you probably have the manual pumps that you can use that will pump the majority of the water out of your blocks.

What do others in the marina do?

I've gotta say, I hate talking about winterization, especially in August!

randy56

I'm with ya dream, I'm not sure how far south he is in Missouri. The weather most of the time does not get to harsh untill mid December or after. In the midwest. What a great man cave, slipping down to your 420 in the winter, bring a pizza, beer, watch some football. 

qs2672

All I am deep south in Missouri right at the Arkansas border, I'm not concerned about the lake freezing it has never frozen over since its birth.  This my second large cruiser, my last one we always winterized, but we are troopers we still came down during the winter and stayed on the boat.  The last three winters have been very mild here and a lot of my dock friends don't winterize. We have a pretty close knit group so if power ever was to be lost some one would come down and turn on the generators we have 5 portables on the dock for 7 boats to plug into.  My reasoning for not winterizing is more so for my wife and the use of the facilities when onboard. And we like to cruise the lake in the winter when its really quiet and no one out, its beautiful one and the lake is like glass its so calm.  IF you ever get a chance visit Table Rock Lake in MO, its an awesome very very clean lake.

Handymans342

Any houseboats there? Its near Branson too nice!

Dude_Himself

I had a sailboat in Cobb Island, MD. Left it in the water year-round, with water in the bilge. Nothing ever froze in the boat - the 36° water was enough to keep it from freezing.

YMMV.

Glassguy54

@qs2672, we were down there in June and had a slip at Indian Point Marina and the year before at Rock Lane. Lake was a little high from spring flooding and not as clear as it normally is, but still a beautiful lake. Much better than LOTO. @Handymans342, I don't believe there is much in the way of rental houseboat inventory on Table Rock, but Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee and Lake Cumberland in Kentucky are kind of houseboating meccas. 3 years ago we rented an 85ft houseboat on Dale Hollow. 3 couples, 2 teenage girls, 2 sportboats for playing - what a great time!

randy56

Table Rock Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in The Ozarks of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. The lake is impounded by Table Rock Dam(location 36.595374°N 93.311137°W) constructed in 1954-1958 on the White River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[1]

It is one of the popular draws for the nearby town of Branson, Missouri. There are several commercial marinas along the lake, and Table Rock State Park is located on the east side, both north and south of Table Rock Dam. Downstream from the dam, the Missouri Department of Conservation operates a fish hatchery, which is used to stock trout in Lake Taneycomo. The cold water discharged from the dam creates a trout fishing environment in Lake Taneycomo.

Surface area	43,100 acres (174 km2)
Max. depth	220 feet (67 m)
Water volume	3,462,000 acre·ft(4.270 km3)
Shore length1	Flood Pool- 857 miles (1,379 km) Normal Pool- 745 miles (1,199 km)
Surface elevation	915 ft (279 m)

Handymans342

I will rent a houseboat there one day for vacation

trip_n

@Handymans342===https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj7hOfzsMnVAhVo0oMKHTKxDGIQ_BcICjAA&url=http://tablerockhouseboatrentals.com/&usg=AFQjCNFtNkQdJJV73_hn9gS40ORkAn2P4w

born and raised in springfield=always on table rock=were @ port of kimberling=i would be scared to not winterize=it becomes a desolate place and it does get cold.. it does get snow and ice---but i would love to boat there in the winter===my .02 

davidbrooks

I purchased a bilge heater for the first and last few weeks of the season.  Really just for those nights when the temps dip down and i get nervous something might freeze.  Unlikely but insurance anyway.  The one thing that was new to me this winter was to learn that my marina and a lot around here stop selling fuel and doing pump outs around November.  Mine didn't get fuel in the spring till April.  

Dream_Inn

You are right David.  I always get a good fill-up in late October so I know I'm ok in early spring (or in late fall).  Another thing is marinas turn their water off the first week in November, which makes boating a bit tough (my head runs off of fresh water).  & even worse, they don't get water on until April.  I like to get things going first week in March.

qs2672

Yes we always made sure to get the boat filled up with fuel at the end of the season, and we have a portable restroom that we take down for when we run out of water.  If we need to shower we just go up to the shower house.  They do shut the water off at the dock, but the water stays on at the faucet, so we just run hose the complete length of the dock so people that do not winterize can fill their boats as needed. We have about 12 people on the dock that do not winterize.

randy56

Sounds like you have a great group of boaters, watching out for each other. You know your area better than we do. But those heaters are cheep insurance. 

212rowboat

research webasto or eberspacher... both ROCK... i've an eberspacher d6 on my powerstroke, and last winter in the UP of Michigan, while 20below, i walked out and got into a truck free of frost, and coolant temperature at 158*... i also plumbed in a small heat exchange and push air through it with a pair of 12v fans intended for cooling computers... the bed was 35~45* those mornings, and that was with the caps vent windows cracked to exchange air (dogs were in there; which should describe to you how much i trust those systems- MUCH more than electric powered).. they use something like .1 gallon an hour of fuel, and a 12vdc group 24 AGM doesn't break a sweat operating it perpetually with a 100w solar panel to top it off in the day.

i have an extra eberspacher- can't recall the model, but it's diesel fired.  you'd need a reprogrammed controller for it which runs $300... I'd part with it and all the wiring harness+pump and tank pickup for $500... that's a savings of more than $1k.  they're worth their weight in gold when it's cold... steep entry, but let me tell you- it is worth every penny.