Extreme winterizing required........
- Thread starter Gene50
- Start date
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Larry N.
Well-known member
That depends on where you are. In the northern U.S. and much of Canada that's likely true at least part of the time, but Arizona and Florida probably find that rare. I'm not sure that Colorado ever got that low (except high on mountains), either.
Be careful about blanket statements.
Rene T
Site Team
Gene50 said:
I live in NH and have never seen it that cold at least that I can remember so it's not regular for us.
IBTripping
Well-known member
When I lived in Montana, I saw -40 F a number of times and -55 F once. Those are dangerous temperatures. I have a great deal of respect for Northern full-time RVers and their efforts to live in cold weather extremes. It's supposed to get down to +28 F tonight here in my RV in Virginia. It'll be a piece of cake compared to -40.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
On an RV for -40 the Dry method (Blow the lines out my boys blow the lines out) and pink up the Drains and toilets works just fine.. Be sure to dump waste tanks after you pink up and then add more pink is the only thing I would change. The wet method works a well (pink up the lines)
NOTE Pink will freeze. but water is unique in on aspect. as it turn from liquid to soild (Freezes) it EXPANDS. no other compound that we know of does this. JUST water. and it's that expansion as it freezes that does the damage. Pink freezes. it just does not expand. But I'd still blow the lines out dry because.. I had a real "Fun" (not one bit) time getting the taste of pink out of the lines the first time I de-winterized.. No problem at all the 2nd.
now I winterize (Monday noonish) by the "S" method.. (Drive to warmer places).
NOTE Pink will freeze. but water is unique in on aspect. as it turn from liquid to soild (Freezes) it EXPANDS. no other compound that we know of does this. JUST water. and it's that expansion as it freezes that does the damage. Pink freezes. it just does not expand. But I'd still blow the lines out dry because.. I had a real "Fun" (not one bit) time getting the taste of pink out of the lines the first time I de-winterized.. No problem at all the 2nd.
now I winterize (Monday noonish) by the "S" method.. (Drive to warmer places).
IBTripping
Well-known member
mel s said:
Yeah, I'm aware of that. I was referencing the challenge of keeping a poorly insulated RV warm at -40.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
Keep in mind at -40 you may have other issues, materials get brittle and thermal contraction can do damage. Multiple people have reported solid surface counter tops cracking at those sorts of temperatures in RV's, etc.
IBTripping
Well-known member
And, if you forget to plug in your vehicle's head bolt heater, you won't be going anywhere. Or you could use my brother's method of putting a little gas in a hubcap, lighting it, and sliding it under the oil pan. Not something I'd recommend, but it did work for him. After a short time, his pickup fired up and he drove off.
The trick for that is to verify that you have strong enough antifreeze in the engine and full synthetic oil helps a lot. Last year, it got down to -60 and my only issue was that the battery was weak at that temp. This year, I am installing a battery warmer. The Hemi in my Durango is a little cold blooded and takes another 2-3 seconds of cranking to fire compared to most other vehicles.IBTripping said:
I, too, have had trouble getting the taste of RV antifreeze out of my water lines come spring, so now I blow the air lines out. I haven't figured out a good solution to completely emptying the residual water in my tank though. It still leaves a bit of water in there which freezes. I was thinking about trying a few cans of iodized salt vs the RV antifreeze so it doesn't taste as bad after I flush it.
Rene T
Site Team
cerd said:
IMHO, Having just a little water in the tank shouldn't hurt anything. The water has plenty of space to expand. DO NOT put pink antifrezze in the tank. Just pump out as much as you can or open the drain and leave it open. If you keep it shut, it may freeze and split the drain valve and pipe.
My concern is that I have noticed the lines holding water; not so much the tank. This year, I tried using a vacuum to blow air into the tank to blow out the lines from the tank. I think next spring, I am going to replace the gray pex with clear so I can inspect it.Rene T said:
Rene T
Site Team
cerd said:
Did you try just running the pump to clear the line?
I remembered hearing something contradictory in school, so I looked it up. I did recall for some reason that water is most dense (or most compressed) at 4C, which is about 39F.mel s said:
It seems like it does expand a little more, but its a really miniscule amount.
http://butane.chem.uiuc.edu/pshapley/GenChem1/L21/2.html
maddog348
Well-known member
can you 'blow' with a 'vacuum' ?? Maybe I just need more coffee.
Rene T
Site Team
maddog348 said:
I can with my shop vac. so assume the PO meant what he said.
Larry N.
Well-known member
Yes with a vacuum device, no with a vacuum condition.maddog348 said:
Almost all shop vacs have 2 ports: 1 in and 1 out. By moving the hose to the outlet port, it blows the air that would otherwise have been sucked in from the other port. I also use it as an inflator at the lake or if someone has an air bed at camp.maddog348 said:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-18-Volt-2-Gal-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Wet-Dry-Vacuum-Tool-Only-0880-20/202043806#
