Getting RV Antifreeze into Ballast

[kwalker]

I have a 2008 SANTE 210 and read the manual regarding putting RV antifreeze throught the vents on the hull. The vent line goes up and then over. Anyone have any clever ideas to get RV antifreeze into the ballast tanks? I ran the pumps to ensure as much water was drained out as possible, just trying to be thorough.
Thanks

[Nordicron]

I have a 2008 SANTE 210 and read the manual regarding putting RV antifreeze throught the vents on the hull. The vent line goes up and then over. Anyone have any clever ideas to get RV antifreeze into the ballast tanks? I ran the pumps to ensure as much water was drained out as possible, just trying to be thorough.
Thanks

Its not super easy I've thought about hooking a fake a lake up to the ballast intakes. Last year I popped my hoses off at the vent and poured in with a funnel while running the pump in reverse to create suction.

[NautiqueOasis]

Dealer suggested this option when I bought my 211 in '05 and it has worked very well. 5gal bucket with bilge pump attached to bottom; fill with 2gal RV anti-freeze; power line from pump to 12volt boat outlet; connect sufficient garden hose from bilge pump to fake-a-lake covering boat intake port. Turn ballast and 12v bilge pumps on and tank fills; pump out anti-freeze to ensure anti-freeze thru system.

[Nautiquehunter]

I just remove the lake side hose of the ballast pump and connect a hose to the RV antifreeze bottle and turn the pump on. 1 gal per tank has worked well for me.

[docderwood]

For my 230, I attach an on/off hose removed from a 2 cycle oil mix measuring funnel directly to a 1 gallon can of RV antifreeze. Finally stumbled upon this solution this year, works great.

[TxJole]

I unhook the tank side of the ballast pump and pour it in the tank. Hook the hoses back up. Hit the empty button to drain it, when it starts to dump pink water shut it off. Done!

[DanielC]

I do not know if this is still possible, but on some 2002 or 2003 Correct Craft boats, I could suck ALL the water out of the tank, and pump, by taking a wet-dry vacuum and holding the suction hose to the out port on the side of the boat. You just had to know where the drain pump was in the tank, and make sure that end of the tank is down.
In a similar manner, maybe by attaching a vacuum to the out port of a current boat may make it easier to suck antifreeze into the tank.

[cwindingland]

I have a small aquarium water pump where I have spliced in about three feet of plastic ice maker hose which has a smaller diameter but is able to fit the through-hull fitting. Fill up a 5-gallon bucket with antifreeze, set your pump in, feed as much of the hose through the fitting as you can, and turn on the pump. With my pump, it took a few minutes to pump about a gallon of fluid into each tank. I also found the rear tanks have the vent tube cable-tied near the top of the transom. This caused an issue because it allowed some of the fluid to pool up in the hose and then started coming back out the hole I was filling from. I ended up changing the support location so it now would drain down once you get it past the through-hull elbow.

[slob02]

I run a small hose into the drain and use a small funnel from the dollar store.

[ffmedic74]

Just dump some antifreeze into the tank and then hit your discharges. When you see pink.. you are good.

[ericchile]

I run a small hose into the drain and use a small funnel from the dollar store.

Same... I use 8-12 inches of flex tube from sprinkler installs.