Winterizing: Air compressor and/or RV Antifreeze?

I have found RV antifreeze at Walmart for $3.00.  I'm in Las Vegas but my TT is up north and it will get cold and snow.  I'm still using it, but made sure I drained my tanks and opened the low point drains when I left two weeks ago.  I will be back up in about a week to use it again and sometime in November I will button it up. 

I plan on using the antifreeze.  None in the fresh water line.  I will gamble a bit and just try and blow the water out of the line. 

BillB:  A few cups = 32 oz X 10,000 RV's = 2,500 gal = 50 barrels.  Sounds like a lot of harm to me.

I forget the compressed air and flush the system, save the fresh water tank and water heater, with RV antifreeze. I drain those and bypass the water heater when pumping the pink stuff. In northern Kansas this has not caused me any grief in the four winters I've owned my unit. Even if the pink slushes, it won't freeze hard enough to cause damage to 50 below or the RV antifreeze manufacturers wouldn't continue to make that claim. They'd be afraid of the legal implications of so doing.

I live in Minnesota--  We have some pretty extremely cold temps here (sometimes -20 to -30 F).  I've followed this same procedure now for 12 years in various trailers and motor homes that I've owned, and have never had a problem (and I don't air compress the lines).

Drain and flush the fresh and black water tanks, disconnect city water (make sure your connecting fresh water hose is put away empty); add around two gallons of antifreeze to the fresh water tank (making sure that the drain is closed).  Bypass, then drain the hot water heater, turn on the water pump, run each water faucet (sinks, bath tub, shower, outside shower, toilet) separately until the pink antifreeze comes out-- when doing this with the sink or bathtub/shower, run it enough so that you're sure that the antifreeze has filled the drain traps as well; run the toilet, get some antifreeze in the black water tank, leave some antifreeze at the bottom of the toilet. Make sure you run the outside shower until antifreeze comes out, as well. 

And you're set.

If you really feel you must blow out the lines with an air compressor, by all means, knock yourself out; but in my experience, it is unnecessary.

BTW-- if you look hard enough, there are brands of Marine/RV antifreeze out there that are non-toxic-- they have worked as well as any of the more conventional brands.

For what it's worth, I just Winterized the water system on my TT two weekends ago.  Getting down into the low 30's at night. I don't like to take chances when I can't be there during the week. 

Anyhow, it took me about 30 minutes and 2 gallons of RV antifreeze.  Cost me $10.00 and a couple of Bud Lights.  Drain water heater and FWT, put in bypass mode, pumped antifreeze through, which left me with about a pint to pour into the FWT inlet to charge the fitting at the bottom of the tank so it doesn't freeze and split (Been there, done that).

All set for the Winter. And I will still be using the TT until the end of November here in MI.  If I do use the kitchen sink drain, I have an extra gallon to recharge the drain trap before I head for home.  Been doing this for years with no problems. 

John From Detroit said:

And it does not damage the environment.  ALL wet methods do.

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The pink antifreeze is propylene glycol mixed with water at about a 50% ratio.  Propylene glycol is not an environmental toxin.  In purer form it's used in food as a humectant. 

More info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol

Jammer said:

The pink antifreeze is propylene glycol mixed with water at about a 50% ratio.  Propylene glycol is not an environmental toxin.  In purer form it's used in food as a humectant.

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It is more a matter of concentrated amounts discharged and dilution/evaporation. Too much of anything, even bubble gum will kill the mouse.

Methanol is involved daily including through the consumption of various foods, and products washed away such as paint thinners and strippers, adhesives, cleaners, and inks. The theme has to remain not vast quanties in one concentrated area.  A cup or two of already diluted windshield wash and subsequent dilution into a holding tank, then subject to evaoporation and biodegradation ( or combining with some metals is not significant considering the further subsequent sewage treatment flows dilution.

Natural emission sources of methanol include volcanic gases, vegetation, and microbes; note methanol is also formed during biological decomposition of biological wastes, sewage, and sludge.
Unless spilled in high concentrations to ground water, it bio's out in soils via Methylobacterium and Methylomonas capable of utilizing methanol. Note methanol in aquatic organisms is not expected to be significant based on an estimated bioconcentration factor of 0.2

A diluted cup (far from 100%) or two diluted in our holding tanks is insignificant concentrations and gets further diluted in the sani sewage treatment path by exponential amounts and treated.

His use and disposal to the medium is not significant.

I know this is an older topic. I am wrestling with whether to blow out my lines or use the Antifreeze. My reasons have NOTHING to do with COST or the Environment and have EVERYTHING to do with the AWFUL taste that the RV Antifreeze leaves behind. 

We have only had our RV for about 7 years. When we first got it, we did as we were told and when it came close to winter, we winterized it using the AntiFreeze. BAD BAD BAD move. While it protected it well, the water tasted HORRIBLE and had a medicinal taste to it. Even boiling the water (as in use for my coffee) did NOTHING to improve it's taste.

Even "Sanitizing" it using bleach did little to help the taste. I have flushed (literally) Hundreds of gallons of water through the system and it still tastes horrible. Granted it's much less then it was initially, but still awful.

Couple this with the location I have to get to to try and hook my pump to the gallon jug is difficult (at best), I think this year is the "Blow Out" method for me. Then after all blown out, I believe I will leave all valves and plugs and drains open/out (except for black and grey water). I will add antifreeze to the traps and toilet and hope that as the years pass, the taste of the water from the tanks improves. (not just the tanks, water coming through the city connection are just as bad even though I have a filter on the line)

Lastly I have to say about using Wiper Fluid in the drains. I don't think it will work well in very cold climates, and because it's mostly alcohol (and water) it can and will evaporate which could also be of concern (depending on your climate). I don't believe the Wiper fluid is any worse then what gets sprayed on our windshields on a regular basis or spilled at the gas stations with their squeegees. I also don't necessarily believe the Glycol anti-freeze is non-toxic (particularly after consuming it as an after-taste in my water and coffee). I believe both are just as bad (or good) as the others. If you use them, take care in using them in appropriate amounts.

Good luck to all who use the antifreeze or the Blow out method. I will be blowing out, I think, from now on.

P.S. I don't care about taking a compressor to my camper. It's at my house before I put it away for storage. We clean it and, of course, winterize it, so whether I carry the compressor or the Antifreeze, it's not an issue either way. I do like that the blow out method leaves NO residue (antifreeze or otherwise) so that environmentally, it's probably the best way. (okay maybe some AF in the traps)

Properly done, and using a potable water type antifreeze, the antifreeze method should not leave any residue to taste, but that "properly done" may not always easy for everybody to achieve. The blow-out method doesn't have that risk. Many RV dealerships use it on their lot inventory, partly for that reason.

I can't help but think you somehow got another chemical in your water system. Some soaps and detergents, for example, can be extremely difficult to remove completely. Likewise any oil-based product. It takes only a hint of it to really ruin the taste [but you already know that!].  Did you try flushing with a baking soda solution? If that didn't work, it might be necessary to get some professional help.

Here's a recent discussion I started on this same topic, asked since I am likely going with the compressed air method on my new-to-me trailer.  I bought a quick-connect blow out plug on Amazon a week ago for use with my air compressor.  My primary reason for switching to air is convenience, because I cannot easily access the water pump & inlet lines (compared to my motorhome) for pumping in the pink stuff.

That said, I used RV antifreeze most winters in my previous motorhome, and never experienced any notable aftertaste in the Spring.  I also was in the habit of sanitizing and flushing the fresh water system each Spring with a water/bleach solution, so that probably helped.

i gotta tell you we Canadian get it cold almost as cold as Idaho lol (kidding) it hits minus 35 here for weeks on end sometimes - i open the low point drains and drain then close and take the plug out of the hot water tank and leave it out. Then i open up the fresh water tanks and make sure they are drained and close them, then i bypass the hot water tan run antifreeze through all the lines,starting with the tap FURTHEST away from from the input of the antifreeze. I use about 5 gallons a year. in the spring i flush out the system with fresh water and i leave all the taps on for about 10 mins - never had a problem yet.

Only difference is... I buy 1 gallon of anti-freeze every 5 YEARS. Not 5 gallons of anti-freeze a year.  Also I can be set up and functional is seconds without all the flushing of the anti-freeze.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned but keep in mind that if you do the blow down method and if you have a fresh water tank fill valve, make sure you open it to blow all that water into the fresh water tank.

I use the blowout method - this is my fourth year and I haven't had any problems. After I drain and bypass the water heater, I have a regulator on the air line that I hookup to the city water inlet and let each faucet and the toilet run for a few minutes to make sure all residual water is out, then open the low point drains one at a time. After that, a couple cups of rv antifreeze in each drain trap and the toilet and I am good for the Michigan winter!