When to Winterize?

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SarniaTricia

SarniaTricia

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Posts
180
Location
Amherstburg, Ontario
Hi All... FIRST summer with my TT
I have printed out the "how to winterize checklist"
We got down to 28 degrees last night... and I still will be using my TT into the first week of December.
I have a 1988 15ft lynx prowler..... she's old, but does the job... I don't usually use the bathroom or the fresh water holding tank... I've only had the water plugged in and used the bathroom once this summer....

My question.... when do I winterize?
I'm feeling like NOW would be the answer as I do not plan on using the bathroom or water again this season... but I am attending an event at the end of October in Massachusetts and might need the bathroom (Not sure what the facilities will be like at the event)

Temps for the week in Massachusetts is looking like 30-50 degrees ... so close to freezing at night.... I plan on running a space heater while sleeping as I really don't trust the propane furnace (it runs and doesn't seem to have any issues.... but for some reason it makes me uncomfortable) I also don't have all those fancy heat pads and stuff that newer TT have....

Any advice?
Thanks
 
If it was down to 28 last night and you plan on using it the 1st week in December, you better winterize it now our within a week or so.
 
You want to Winterize when you can set a cup of water under the camper and it would freeze.  Frozen / broken water lines is NOT something you want to fix. 

Heat, If you have electric available where you are staying in MA., I would take an electric heater for inside.  Saves you from using your own propane.  I do this, and set my furnace at 60 degrees, just in case the electric goes out  :)
 
I always play it safe and winterize earlier rather than later.  I can't imagine the headache and cost of making repairs on busted lines/equipment because I tried to stretch it out longer than I should have.
 
    While RV plumbing is fairly resilient, you are testing your luck even now.  As suggested by other posters, you really do not want to have to climb into the small places that they chose to run the water lines, or to replace the pump.  We always winterized early, continue to use the coach well into the fall.  Once winterized, we used water from gallon jugs, never used the sinks or toilets.  Dishwater was dumped outside, and we used the campground facilities.

Ed
 
It is always a crap shoot when trying to guess a hard freeze. I'm in Idaho, and 30 years ago I'd winterize early in September because one time I waited too long and had to heat the rig because we froze solid in the middle of the month. We are now heading into the end of October and I still have not winterized because the trend is toward warmer years. As an aside, I've lived here 30 years and have never seen the lake freeze, but the older timers say that the lake would freeze so hard you could drive to town on the ice.


Bottom line for me is not to wait too long because it is way easier to winterize when warmer rather than when the area is frozen.
 
pz said:
Bottom line for me is not to wait too long because it is way easier to winterize when warmer rather than when the area is frozen.
Click to expand...

One year I procrastinated to the point that I was out there in a snowstorm! Now it gets done as soon as I back into the driveway from our last trip of the season.
 
  When I very cold camp - use the RV systems without fresh water.  You heat the living space (electric or furnace).  Use a bottle or 3 of RV antifreeze to flush the toilets.  Use bottled water for everything else.  When done dump some pink stuff down to cover the P traps before you turn the heat off.....

  Never had a problem with frozen dumping doing this. 
 
It depends on the RV, but if yours has exposed pipes under it I would say yesterday would have been a good time.
 
The perfect day to winterize is the day before it is going to be 32 at sunset.  Knowing when that day is, is the hard part.
 
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