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Member
Posts: 11
Location: Oak Ridge, NC | OK guys - I am new to the living quarters thing and I know I need to winterize my trailer, but I don't want to not be able to use it if a nice weekend presents itself and we want to go camping. Is there an easy way to winterize for short term storage? What would you suggest I do to protect my pipes, but be able to pick up and go in a moments notice. |
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Expert
Posts: 1351
Location: Decatur, Texas | I will get slammed for saying this but here goes. Our weather doesn't really get as bad as everyone else's does so I have never winterized any of ours the last 15 years. Mainly because we go somewhere at least every other weekend.When we do get bad weather coming in I drain all of my tanks, water heater then leave a small electric heater plugged in on a low setting with all of the cabinet doors left open. |
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Member
Posts: 18
Location: Leslie Mi | Awesome way to hafta winterize, Wish I had your way.I know Iknow 55. Sorry rojorider no advice for partial winterizing here in Michigan I do a full winterization until the spring any use of the trailer between now and then goes with out water. Tim |
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Veteran
Posts: 175
Location: Florida | In order to make it simple, easy and quick to leave, I suggest you 1- drain your tanks. 2 - blow out your water lines. You can get a blow out fitting at any RV store or even Walmart. You will need to have a compressed air source that can supply about 30psi. Open all drains in your water lines. Then open each water valve and flush the toilet starting from your inlet connection, until no more water comes out - then close it and proceed along the lines until each of the valves is purged. Then do it with the hot water line. Also unscrew the plug from your water heater and make sure the water heater is also blown clear. I leave the drains open on the water heater and under the trailer at the low point in case any more moisture drains thru the lines. I disconnect the water pump iet and outlet hoses at the threaded fittings and run hue pump for 30 seconds or so to make sure the pump is dry. 3 - pour RV antifreeze in any drains - sinks, shower, toilet, making sure each holding tank gets about a gallon of antifreeze so the tank drain valves dont freeze up. I do not put antifreeze in the fresh water tank or water lines - it takes too much time to flush it when you want to use the trailer again. By doing this, when you need to use the trailer, you can close all the valves, replace the plug in the water heater, reconnect the water pump, load the fresh water tank, and go. I do both our Horse Trailer and our 5th wheel RV this way, as we never seem to know exactly when we will leave next, and the process of removing RV antifreeze from water lines would take too long, and always seemed to leave some residual antifreeze in the water for the first tank of water. |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | As was stated, using compressed air to blow out the water lines is faster and much less expensive than purging with anti freeze. A plastic air adapter costs $2.50 at Wal Mart, and will save you money with its first usage. Limit the purging air pressure to under 40 psi. You will still need anti freeze for the traps. If you often make winter trips, this is an easy way to keep the lines clear. |
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Member
Posts: 45
Location: Mead, WA | Quote: " 3 - pour RV antifreeze in any drains - sinks, shower, toilet, making sure each holding tank gets about a gallon of antifreeze so the tank drain valves dont freeze up."
Please explain what you mean by each holding tank. My trailer has a black water tank and a grey water tank. Do you recommend putting anti freeze in these two? Where are drain valves located?
Thanks!
d2allen |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | My trailer has a black water tank and a grey water tank. Do you recommend putting anti freeze in these two? Where are drain valves located? Your two tanks are the holding tanks. The drain valves will be found underneath the trailer's frame at the end of the tanks. They will lead to a fitting onto which you affix the flexible drain line. We always leave the valves open during the winter, which negates the need for storing antifreeze in the tanks.
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Member
Posts: 45
Location: Mead, WA | Thanks for clearing this up Gard. I've never put anti freeze into my black or grey tanks and normally just leave the drain pipes open during winter like you said.I'm still wondering how to protect the curved pipe under the sink. Water might collect in it. Should I pour a bit of antifreeze down the sink?Also, is it a good idea to run the water pump for a while to push all water out of it? I'd hate to ruin my water pump by leaving it with any amount of water in it over the winter. |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | Any sink trap should be treated with anti freeze for the winter. If you have a double bowl, you only have to treat one side because they join together under the sink. If you blow out the lines as was previously described, there is no need to add anti freeze to your pressure water system. If you don't, anti freeze should be added to either your storage tank or a winterization bypass suction extent ion that is added to your pump. The pump is then run until pink fluid is exhibited at every faucet and your toilet. You will want to first drain the hot water tank and utilise its bypass system. When you pull the hot water tank drain plug, it provides an opportunity to inspect the anode rod if your tank is so equipped. |
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Regular
Posts: 99
Location: Pleasant Plain, Ohio 45162 | Just love this site -just got my trailer winterized and all the above info was most helpful. Thanks again guys/gals!!! |
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Expert
Posts: 2953
Location: North Carolina | rohorider ... If you can't get an air compressor to your trailer, buy a compressed air tank & regulator. Fill the tank at home then take the tank to the trailer to blow out the water lines. |
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Veteran
Posts: 218
Location: Ohio | Gard this is mostly for you, if you blow out the tanks with compressed air, do you still need to add some antifreeze to the bypass to get the water out of the pump? I know it will get the water out of the lines, but don't want the pump to freeze and get damaged. I need to use my trailer this winter and would rather not use the antifreeze.
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | The city water supplies of our LQs are plumbed to the pressure side of the pumps. Applied air pressure will not purge the pumps from these ports, but will adequately purge the rest of the water systems.I would NOT recommend introducing thirty or forty pounds of air pressure into the water's holding tank in an effort to purge the pump. The total amount of pressure within the tank can easily cause a catastrophic failure. The feed to the pump's inlet is designed for a gravity feed, and has one pound of atmospheric pressure head pressure.I temporarily install an RV pump winterization kit, and apply air pressure from a blow gun on my air hose, that forces the water from the pump into the system. This is done after purging the water system using the city port and air adapter.Our pump's inlet fitting is removable without tools, and is easily manipulated. If I had more physical room between the water tank and pump assembly, I would install a "T" on the adapter with a check valve going to the tank, and a ball valve on the end of the winterization adapter. This would allow the permanent installation of the plumbing, lowering the time to effect the purging. |
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Veteran
Posts: 218
Location: Ohio | I wrote that wrong, I didn't not mean that I would add pressure to the freshwater tank but would use the city water intake and blow out the lines. If I understand what you are saying about the pump, I do have a winterizing bypass system built into the trailer. I can put a hose down into a gallon of antifreeze and it will pull the solution into the lines. Can I turn the pump on and open the faucet and use some air pressure to force the air out of the pump through that bypass line?
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | exactly.......yes |
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Regular
Posts: 85
| Anybody ever gotten a "vapor" lock when trying to purge the antifreeze thru the lines? Pump lost its prime. Just had this little mishap happen while winterizing. Wondering how to prevent it in the future, because I don't know how it happened to start with. |
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Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA | The pump momentarily sucked air when the purging was effected. If you have a winterization adapter, the tube may have been partially pulled out of the bottle. If you had antifreeze in the holding tank, it may have not been enough to feed the pump, or the trailer was at a wrong angle, restricting the supply to the pump. |
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