Winterizing....down and dirty

[jonthefireman]

Hey guys, need some help.

As unpredictable the Texas winter is, I'm certainly going to winterize during periods of non-use. With that said, we still plan on going out throughout the winter. Is there a down and dirty method to winterize yet clear it out easily to go out?

Also, in all my manuals and documentation, there is NOTHING specific about the Voltage service panel showing how to winterize. I vaguely remember during the PDI hearing him explain opening the winterization valves to suck up the solution. Can anyone help me out here?

[wildwest450]

If I was going to use my rv periodically throughout the winter, I would just drain the hot water tank, and blow out the lines with compressed air. just be sure you don't go over 40 psi. Don't forget the low point drains underneath.

I have a little baby camper, but i'm sure the voltage has a winterizing port if you ever want to antifreeze it. You can use air through the city water port, if necessary.

[wahoonc]

I live in the Coastal Plains of NC.

We blow the lines via the city water port, be very careful NOT to over pressurize (30psi is good)!

Drain the water heater and pour a bit of RV antifreeze in the traps and down the toilet. That will hold us until January, depending on how brutal winter, or not. I may or may not put antifreeze in the entire system. If we have anything approaching decent weather, we pull the camper out and go.

Aaron

[wildwest450]

Sorry, forgot the antifreeze in the traps. I just did my lines this morning, only used 25-30psi of air, as Aaron stated that's plenty, water was shooting out like mad. I also did the hot water heater first, even though it was drained a good bit of water came out.

[PistolPete45&Mary]

I drained the HW tank emptied the valves .. not planning on putting it up for the winter Central NC here I am sure it will get to freezing a few times so I am not holding water Mary will be out using it like an office several times a week . I bet we go to spend at least a few weekends in it as well Found a local RV Place we loved

[HornedToad]

I have never pumped anti freeze into my supply lines. My rountine is to open all the drains and faucets on the way home from my last trip to let gravity & motion drain the lines. Then I would hit it with some air to get the last bit of water out, pour anti freeze down all the traps and toilet and be done.

This cold front caught me off guard and I hadn't drained it on the way home. I went to storage at lunch to winterized using just the compressor to blow out the lines and it took forever, sputtering for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

Draining the lines on the drive home is worth the effort where the compressor only has to get the last bit.

We have tailgating this Saturday and a trip to McKittrick Canyon next week, so I'll probably have to "winterize" a few more times this year.

[switz01]

Originally Posted by HornedToad

I have never pumped anti freeze into my supply lines. My rountine is to open all the drains and faucets on the way home from my last trip to let gravity & motion drain the lines. Then I would hit it with some air to get the last bit of water out, pour anti freeze down all the traps and toilet and be done.

This cold front caught me off guard and I hadn't drained it on the way home. I went to storage at lunch to winterized using just the compressor to blow out the lines and it took forever, sputtering for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

Draining the lines on the drive home is worth the effort where the compressor only has to get the last bit.

We have tailgating this Saturday and a trip to McKittrick Canyon next week, so I'll probably have to "winterize" a few more times this year.

Here in Alberta Canada, we get minus 25-30 Celcius and winterize with Plumbing / RV Anit-freeze from Home depot or walmart. Simple to do... Drain all fresh water out of tanks, don't forget black and grey tanks.
- turn on red hot water tank bypass valve
- drain HW tank
- switch white water valve over to winterize and put hose from Antifreeze bottle into line in port.
- go in RV and turn on each faucet starting furthest away ( toilet and washer lines as well) until runs pink. Both hot and cold sides. This will leave anti freeze in traps as well..
- run out side shower.
- open low point drains to ensure run pink, and close again.
- turn off water pump, and push little valve on city water port to ensure runs pink as well. ( if you forget to turn off pump get a pink shower from pressure)...

That's it... I do it in about 30-45 minutes, and it cost's about 15 dollars in antifreeze, so you can do it often if you want to use the trailer here and there. Just run water through lines with pump to clean them out as per normal from fresh tank when you want to camp. When done repeat procedure again when parking RV.

[Rev]

I watched a few videos on YouTube and it was a snap to do even though it was my first time.