Winterizing and battery disconnect

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

As I said I believe in putting some antifreeze in the black and grey tanks to prevent freezing near the dump valves. I don't worry about the residual water in the fresh water tank and it will have room to expand.

Ahhh...you did say that, sorry. Not always the best at multitasking :)

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Dave doesn't know what he is talking about re. the pink stuff. Every RV manufacturer recommends it for winterizing, every RV dealer I know uses it in their units, and I have always used it. My endorsement alone trumps anything Dave advises.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave doesn't know what he is talking about re. the pink stuff. Every RV manufacturer recommends it for winterizing, every RV dealer I know uses it in their units, and I have always used it. My endorsement alone trumps anything Dave advises.

 

Says Nanook of the North.  

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

I still need help with understanding flushing the lines (sorry).  I see this:

 

 

 

Next I blow out the hot and cold water lines. To blow out the lines you use and adapter similar to this, http://www.amazon.com/Camco-36143-Brass-Quick-Connect/dp/B002XL2IEA/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414679104&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=trsiler+air+line+adapter . When blowing out the lines you only want to use 30-40 lbs of pressure. This means you do not want to use any air compressor that you cannot control the pressure on. To blow out the lines you hook the air up to the city water connection then open each of the plumbing fixtures one at a time and leave them open until no more water comes out. Then disconnect the air hose from the trailer. This removes almost all of the water so the little bit left in the lines will not cause problems when it freezes as it has room to expand. When I'm done I like to leave the faucets open just cause it seems like a good thing to do. To make somethings like the indoor and outdoor shower heads easier to clear I just disconnect the spray head hose before blowing the lines and let them drain naturally.

 

 

But if I don't have an air compressor, is there any other way for me to clear the lines of water??

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I still need help with understanding flushing the lines (sorry).  I see this:

 

 

But if I don't have an air compressor, is there any other way for me to clear the lines of water??

 

Most trailers have a "low point" drain, underneath the trailer.  It is a place where the plastic plumbing sticks down and has a screw cap on the end of the line....or perhaps two; one hot and one cold.  If you remove the screw caps, and go inside and open all the taps to allow air into the system, most of the water will drain from the plumbing.  You can then use your water pump to pump pink stuff through the lines as outlined above.  That should work sufficiently, as long as you ensure you have gotten the antifreeze through all lines and faucets in case gravity draining did not eliminate all water. 

[ftwildernessguy 778]

I still need help with understanding flushing the lines (sorry).  I see this:

 

 

But if I don't have an air compressor, is there any other way for me to clear the lines of water??

Hook an old air hose to the adapter and blow really, really hard.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Most trailers have a "low point" drain, underneath the trailer.  It is a place where the plastic plumbing sticks down and has a screw cap on the end of the line....or perhaps two; one hot and one cold.  If you remove the screw caps, and go inside and open all the taps to allow air into the system, most of the water will drain from the plumbing.  You can then use your water pump to pump pink stuff through the lines as outlined above.  That should work sufficiently, as long as you ensure you have gotten the antifreeze through all lines and faucets in case gravity draining did not eliminate all water. 

Thank you.

 

VERY naive question I know (sorry again) but... if you drain the lines when you're done camping (at least I think I'm draining the lines because I turn the faucets on after Tom disconnects the water hose from the trailer and then I leave the faucets open until they stop dripping)...is there even any water left in the lines??  I can only compare this to our outside spigots:  come winter, I will shut the water off to them and then I turn the faucet on to drain what little water is left out.  Understanding that a residential pipe is thicker than a RV pipe...so maybe this is why you use antifreeze in the lines?  I get putting some down the commode and the drain, so the tanks have some antifreeze in them...put the lines I'm confused b/c it doesn't seem like they would have any water in them?  Oh well... confused, but that's okay :)

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

Nacole,

 

Your RV plumbing will have smaller pipes than a house, they would be plastic, and often exposed to the weather at least in some locations in the RV.  Opening the faucets will drain any water that has any pressure behind them, but cannot overcome gravity to drain water that is below the level of the faucet. If there is water left in the pipes after drainig the tank, air pressure is used to force that remaining water up and out through the open faucet (one open at a time).  If you open more than one faucet at a time, the air will go through the pipe of least resistance (where the water has been flushed), and the air cannot flush the remaining pipes.  Also I would be sure the low point drains are closed before using air pressure to insure the air is forced through the pipes and not just out the drain.  Then use the pink stuff in the drains to keep the traps from freezing while insuring black and grey tank odors are kept out of the living space....and don't forget the shower/tub drain.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Nacole,

 

Your RV plumbing will have smaller pipes than a house, they would be plastic, and often exposed to the weather at least in some locations in the RV.  Opening the faucets will drain any water that has any pressure behind them, but cannot overcome gravity to drain water that is below the level of the faucet. If there is water left in the pipes after drainig the tank, air pressure is used to force that remaining water up and out through the open faucet (one open at a time).  If you open more than one faucet at a time, the air will go through the pipe of least resistance (where the water has been flushed), and the air cannot flush the remaining pipes.  Also I would be sure the low point drains are closed before using air pressure to insure the air is forced through the pipes and not just out the drain.  Then use the pink stuff in the drains to keep the traps from freezing while insuring black and grey tank odors are kept out of the living space....and don't forget the shower/tub drain.

 

Oh gosh... that was SUPER helpful.  Thank you!!

[Pirate Jeff 9]

I drain mine then used compressed air blow it out then add the pink RV antifreeze

 

I have the water heater bypass so I leave the drain on the water heater open.

Remove the water filters add the antifreeze to the water pump winterize kit. mine takes 6 gallons. I pump the pink stuff threw the system until every thing comes out pink add some extra to the traps. 6 gallons seams like a lot of antifreeze  but most of the antifreeze is in the washing machine and dishwasher

 

Disconnect the batteries and hook up the battery float chargers to maintain the charge in the batteries so they wont freeze. My RV stays plugged in but if I use the charger/invertor to keep the batteries charged they will run dry from the constant charging over the winter because I will forget to check them. The float charger doesn't run them out of water. The float charger/battery tenders are only $6.00 at Harbor freight. I use 2 of them. 1 on the 2 starting batteries and 1 on the 4 house batteries

[DaveInTN 3,247]

6 gallons seams like a lot of antifreeze  but most of the antifreeze is in the washing machine and dishwasher

 

 

You really rough it, don't you Jeff?  :laugh:

[Pirate Jeff 9]

that's my wife's idea of roughing it.

 

I would rather camp in my pop up