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Old 09-21-2016, 03:38 AM   #1
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Winterizing questions

Pirate here,

I have the brass plug with schrader valve that I connect to the City Water Connection, open all the faucets in the Voltage, remove the water heater drain plug...and use compressed air to blow all the water out. Then add a cup of RV antifreeze to each drain.

But, having overheard it last week, how do I drain or blow out the water pump? We don't use the freshwater tank much, but some...and now I wonder how I get all the water out of that system.

Thanks,
Pirate
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Old 09-21-2016, 04:21 AM   #2
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Good job so far. First, fresh water tank must be drained. Then, with system as dry as you have it, turn on pump and open nearest faucet. That should spit out anything in the pump. Turn pump back off. By the way, is the water heater drained, and the bypass reconfigured? If not, do it now! Now, one more time, use the air compressor to blow out again. Then open low points and drain. Now you're about as drained as you can be. Since you're in Colorado, I would add pink RV antifreeze at this point. Close drain points. Make double sure water heater is in bypass. Now, at the pump, hopefully, you have another bypass, to cut off intake from the fresh water tank, and also to suck from a short hose, maybe 18" long. Configure valves so pump, when turned on, will suck from hose, not fresh water tank. Then insert hose into bottle of pink RV antifreeze. Have someone to watch it so you don't suck air. Turn on pump, and open faucets throughout TT, don't forget toilet and outdoor shower. Both hot and cold. (Which are tied together now because of bypass). Run until pink comes out everywhere. If bottle gets low, turn off valve which should stop pump. If not, turn off pump. Now refill or replace pink bottle. Turn system back on and continue until pink comes through pump to every outlet in TT. Close everything. Pink in faucets will naturally fill P-traps. Run toilet with soft touch on pedal so pink runs to fill bowl without opening trap door. Fill about 1/4th. That's it! Turn everything off, you're done. Watch short "suck" hose when removing from pink bottle, so you don't spill any, or be prepared to mop up a little.
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Old 09-21-2016, 02:40 PM   #3
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That is an amazingly detailed "how-to". Fantastic, if I ever decided to move from the tropics.



A daunting consideration, of course. Since I'm only days away from surviving another summer. Next up? 9 months of relief. No pink stuff required, hopefully.
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Old 09-21-2016, 02:50 PM   #4
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I have done both air-only blow out for winterizing as well as filling the system with RV antifreeze. I have not had issues with either and this year I'm going with air-only blow out. I just run the pump dry for 30 sec or so to get the water out.

To emphasize some points from MartyG's post, don't forget to blow out and/or run antifreeze through the toilet flush and outdoor shower/sprayer. Also black tank sprayer if you have one. I disconnect my inside shower hose and make sure it is drained as well. I leave the cap off of my fresh water tank for several days to make sure it is fully drained and hopefully dried, then I only put it on the minimum amount so it doesn't fall back off. I've even left it off all winter, too.

Also don't forget to empty your waste tanks as much as possible. I even go as far as dumping a gallon of antifreeze into the tanks so that any liquid that didn't make it out the drain is not a potential danger from freezing and expanding in the lowest piping.
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Old 09-21-2016, 07:00 PM   #5
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Thanks very much Gents. I have cut both of your responses and pasted them into a Word document, then divided the contents into paragraphs that I can keep up with and work through in order.

I'm a little with ewarnerusa, we live in the "banana belt" of Colorado so temps rarely get below 15 to 20 degrees, and don't stay there more than a couple of hours at night. So just blowing the system out with air has worked just fine on this RV and our first RV.

I will go through carefully to make sure I get the water pump drained.

Yup, keep the 160 gallon fresh water tank empty unless going to use it...which ain't very often.

Thanks, any more tips would be much appreciated!!

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Old 09-21-2016, 10:18 PM   #6
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Been RVing for 30+ years & something I gladly know nothing about.
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Old 09-21-2016, 11:39 PM   #7
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Thanks, any more tips would be much appreciated!!

Pirate
Go somewhere warmer for the winter!

Aaron
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Old 09-21-2016, 11:45 PM   #8
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I'm in Montana and we get plenty cold. But no water in the plumbing due to sufficient blow out means nothing to freeze and it doesn't matter just how cold it gets. Antifreeze adds another layer of insurance since it displaces any water. But it doesn't necessarily do better due to how cold it may get.
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Old 09-22-2016, 02:37 AM   #9
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wahoo,

Yup, heading for Arizona in Feb, coming home in March.

Not too long...I miss my shop. Just not ready to do much more away from home at one time.

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Old 09-22-2016, 10:24 AM   #10
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wahoo,

Yup, heading for Arizona in Feb, coming home in March.

Not too long...I miss my shop. Just not ready to do much more away from home at one time.

Pirate
I am about 6 years (more or less) out from retirement, we are not going to full time either. I figure 4-6 weeks maximum away from home. I have spent the last 20+ years traveling all over the country for work. Now I just want to slow down and take the time to see things.

The game plan is to plan our trips based on weather and what we want to see. Then come home and take care of stuff then head back out again. My current shop is a 40' shipping container or the field where the tractor broke down. First of the year we are building a 40'x40' with 16' side walls, the RV goes in one bay, the shop in another and the third for storage/etc. Probably won't be big enough but it's a start.

Aaron
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