2 winterize or not?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

LFD2037

Active member
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Posts
29
Location
The Lone Star
This will be the 1st winter I've owned a TT & I don't know what to do about this winter. We live in N. Texas & will be using the TT 4-7 times this winter. I do have the underbelly cover thing( like a layer of black plastic composite of some sort) & the tank heaters. I think the tank heaters only heat right near the drains, but I could be wrong. What provisions should I take to make sure I don't mess up the pump, H2O heater, lines,etc. Is it nec. to do a full winterize between each trip? HELP !!!!!
 
I have had frozen hoses in Texas, never bothered anything inside my motor home but the hoses OUTSIDE froze.  I would make sure that either 1: The unit is heated or 2: The lines are empty of water when freezing temps are expected.

Now in Az. It was warmer
 
Since you will be using your trailer through out the winter months, for storage, I would drain the HW tank and holding tanks, blow out the water lines with 20 to 30PSI of compressed air and dump a cup or so of RV antifreeze in each drain to protect the 'P' traps. That way, you don't have to go thru all the hastle of de-winterizing it. This is all I do - in fact if the temps are just going to drop below 30 for a couple 3 hours, I don't even worry about it. The only thing that keeps us from RVing in the winter is ice on the road .... I'm not quite that brave.

Larry
 
If you head further north, yes winterize.  It's way too cold even for a visit up here anyways.  Stay south.  Here in ND, we can have prolonged periods of cold in December and January  of daytime highs of -20 and overnight lows of -40 not factoring in the wind for a couple weeks at a time.  We usually take every precaution :mad:
 
I have not winterized in 15 years (3 different motorhomes), but, I've had a couple of close calls (soft ice). Here is what I do in Toledo Ohio. If the basement is well insulated, I place an electric disc heater in the fresh water compartment (near the pump and plumbing) with the blower on variable speed. That keeps that general area about 50 degrees or more average. In the coach, the thermostat will go all the way down to 40 degrees. That is what I set it on. The only other thing I do is, if it's going below 15 degrees, I'll bump the thermostat up to about 50 (60 if below zero). The reason I don't winterize is the rig is only in storage from mid November until the 1st of January when we head for Blythe CA and again from the 2nd week of February until the thaw. The key is to insure a well insulated compartment, some modest warmth in the rig (leave cabinet and shower doors open) and be ready to take additional measures during temperature drops under 20 degrees. Of course, you must insure a constant supply of a/c to prevent freeze up.
 
I just drain the tanks and blow out the lines 20-30 psi seems right too. make sure to flush the toilet to get the water out of the valve that's the only damage i've had in Michigan with temps below zero for days at a time.
 
Back
Top Bottom