Getting Ready for Winter

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Metalman RVer

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We have been enjoying our new to us 2007 Glendale Titanium throughout the season, mostly at home here, getting used to the ins & outs of RV life. We have been spending a lot of time in it, mostly evenings after work with the dog & on the weekends. The grandkids really like spending time there as well! It is a bit like having a permanent campsite, only it is at home here, sort of off by itself in a corner of the property.  We have been enjoying the experience very much. We very much like the floorplan of the Glendale which is a good match for our needs. Perhaps next year we will venture away on an extended trip or two.

I had mentioned earlier that we installed a 50Amp shore power plug down by my workshop at the end of the property, so have a good power supply for when using the RV.  Also, I installed a 1500 gal plastic holding tank (buried type), purchased from a septic supplier & that is convenient for handling the grey/black water.  We installed a 4" line leading to the tank that extends up beside the RV. I will have it pumped once or twice a year as needed.

For water supply I purchased a 35 gal bladder tank & mounted it on a little trailer that I had & just shuttle the trailer back & forth when required to replenish the water supply, so that works pretty well too.

We are in Canada & it is time to start thinking of winterizing it, which will be a new experience for us. Winters here are quite cold & sometimes quite a bit of snow & blowing.

I have a few questions that we were wanting to ask about preparing for winter.

Are mice often a problem in an RV over the winter? Any precautions required if they are?

Is it an accepted practice to leave bedding on the bed & some cloths in the drawers?

Unplug the fridge or leave it plugged in since we are hooked to shore power?

Leave the battery in the unit seeing we are going to be hooked to shore power, or better to remove it?

Slide outs to be left out or retract them to make things tighter?  I noticed when we were RV hunting over the winter that the dealer left them extended.

Perhaps there is a checklist available for draining things, installing the RV anti freeze etc., in general to prepare for winter?


Thanks for the help on various subjects so far!

Metalman.

 
metalman55 said:
Are mice often a problem in an RV over the winter? Any precautions required if they are?

Is it an accepted practice to leave bedding on the bed & some cloths in the drawers?

Unplug the fridge or leave it plugged in since we are hooked to shore power?

Leave the battery in the unit seeing we are going to be hooked to shore power, or better to remove it?

Slide outs to be left out or retract them to make things tighter?  I noticed when we were RV hunting over the winter that the dealer left them extended.

I've always had a mice problem. GOOGLE mouse bucket trap. Use pink antifreeze instead of water. Do not use automotive antifreeze. Domestic animals like the smell.
We always left everything in the RV. If you control the mice, no need to remove anything.
No sense running the fridge for several months. Shut it off, clean it and prop the doors open so mold does not start growing.
I would remove the battery and bring it indoors. Unplug the rig. No need to run the convertor all winter.
Close all the slides. No need to have them exposed to the harsh winter. 
 
We have had a little run of nice weather & have been sleeping in the RV some more lately (last night included) but they say colder weather in on the horizon here in the North (Ontario).

We are thinking about blowing out the waterlines this afternoon & draining everything.

This will be our first time for winterizing our RV, so are feeling our way here!

I have a question about how to purge the water line that leads from the tank up through the 12v fresh water pump & beyond. When I drain the tank, will the water in that line from the tank, up through the pump & beyond just drain out back to the fresh water tank, or is there a check valve to prevent that from draining back? Perhaps when blowing air into the system from the outside hookup, it will back flow any water into the tank? Should I remove the 12v pump for the winter to ensure that nothing is left inside the housing to remain there & freeze?  It is in a fairly easy spot to remove.

Also once the black & grey tanks have been drained, is it best to close the two valves or leave them open a little in case a little more wants to drain out & damage results to the pull valves?

I know about RV fluid in all traps; should a bit get dumped into both grey & black tanks in case a bit of water is left behind, provided both pull valves are to remain closed?

Should a bit of RV fluid be poured into the toilet once the waterline leading to the toilet & rinse wand are purged out?



 
There is a check valve preventing you from blowing water back into the fresh water tank. Before blowing down, run the pump for a bit to suck out any remaining water from the line between the tank and the pump. Then blow down.  I would run the pump a couple of times.

I always run a little pink stuff into all the traps and just let it run out the sewer pipe.

I usually leave my tank valves open so running a little bit of antifreeze in each tank will keep any water in the gate valve track from freezing and put the sewer cap back on the end of the sewer pipe after it stops draining.

After you're done blowing down the toilet, close the valve and add some antifreeze in the bowl. Just a 1/2" or so. This will prevent the seal from drying out. 
 
Thanks for the reply Rene T.

So by draining the fresh water tank, then running the 12v pump a couple of times should be enough to purge it out & then leaving it connected for the winter?

I also have a full size water filter under the kitchen sink that will need to be opened up & emptied.  I will likely blow the lines out first.



 
After you run the water pump - then disconnect the hoses on both ends and leave them off for the Winter.

 
metalman55 said:
So by draining the fresh water tank, then running the 12v pump a couple of times should be enough to purge it out & then leaving it connected for the winter?

Yes. You can run it for a minute or so without causing any damage.
 
Managed to get the winterizing done this afternoon.........only thing that got missed was unhooking the pump lines as suggested by Red&Silver because the rain chased us out.  Perhaps I can do that tomorrow.

Thanks for the help!

 
I don't have an RV yet, but had a big mouse problem at work and also with them getting into my husband's classic cars over the winter.  We put Bounce dryer sheets (regular scent) in the engine compartment, trunk and inside the vehicle.  At work, I put them in my filing cabinets where they would build nests.  Never had a problem since.  For what it's worth...
 
metalman55 said:
only thing that got missed was unhooking the pump lines as suggested by Red&Silver because the rain chased us out.

Thanks for the help!

I have never disconnected the pump and I've never heard of anyone doing it until now. It won't hurt I suppose but IMHO, it may be a waste of time.
 
BTW, we do have a Mouse Bucket Trap order online to set up in the RV once it come in.

Re the water pump, I did run it several times once I blew the lines out for short spurts as not to damage it.
 
metalman55 said:
BTW, we do have a Mouse Bucket Trap order online to set up in the RV once it come in.

Just curious, how much did you pay for it online?
A bucket at Home Depot is about $3.25 and then all you need is a metal coat hanger and a couple of soda cans.
 
I've never heard of disconnecting lines from the water pump, can't think of any reason to.

If you have a flush system on your black tank, don't forget to blow that line out as well. Otherwise, the check valve can freeze and crack.
 
Good Point!  I did forget that one but will do it! Thanks for the reminder.

BTW, I did decide to disconnect the water pump from both the inlet suction & the discharge.  A hard to get at spot for me.  There are two red wires connecting to the terminal studs; took them off then saw a black wire that goes inside the pump with no plug, so just left the pump hang there. Does it the order of the two red lines matter when going back on?  I think it was a good thing to disconnect as there was an ounce or two of water left in the pump housing on the discharge side that the pump could not clear as it would just run back in. I think if I hadn't have taken the lines off it would have split the housing.  The picture shows how it was before disconnecting it & note how the head water would remain in the line above the pump.

 

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metalman55 said:
Good Point!  I did forget that one but will do it! Thanks for the reminder.

BTW, I did decide to disconnect the water pump from both the inlet suction & the discharge.  A hard to get at spot for me.  There are two red wires connecting to the terminal studs; took them off then saw a black wire that goes inside the pump with no plug, so just left the pump hang there. Does it the order of the two red lines matter when going back on?  I think it was a good thing to disconnect as there was an ounce or two of water left in the pump housing on the discharge side that the pump could not clear as it would just run back in. I think if I hadn't have taken the lines off it would have split the housing.  The picture shows how it was before disconnecting it & note how the head water would remain in the line above the pump.

I can see where you could have a problem given the fact that it's mounted on a wall. Typically, they are mounted horizontally on a floor so there's no problem usually.
 
Did blow out the black water rinse tank too.

Re the pump; there are two red wires leading to the terminals on it & I wondered if the order of how they go back on matter?

Slam308, we use bounce sheets to here for keeping mice out of areas where they bother us.  Moth balls too.




 
I'm in the process of winterizing also. Just a thought-- do I need antifreeze in the lines if I have blown them out completely?  I see the need to keep some in the traps, but if I have no water in the lines, what am stopping from freezing?
 
binkleton said:
I'm in the process of winterizing also. Just a thought-- do I need antifreeze in the lines if I have blown them out completely?  I see the need to keep some in the traps, but if I have no water in the lines, what am stopping from freezing?
No you don't need antifreeze in the lines if you blow them out.  But Yes some in the traps is fine unless you remove the traps.
 
We ordered this mouse bucket trap & it was a little long to fit the standard bucket, so I rigged up these two blocks give us the extra length needed to enable free turning.

We plan to take the bucket down to the RV this afternoon yet, as well as a box of bounce sheets to put in the drawers where we think they may be interested in chewing thinks.
 

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