winterizing trick

[castn4bass]

Here's a trick I figured out while winterizing .  On the city water connection , attach a long  hose  then place your adapter for the air hose to that.  Hook it up to the air hose from your compressor , Now you can go from fixture to fixture with the air in hand . Much easier than yelling back and forth to another person when you want air! also makes it a one man job!!  Don't forget  to drain the hot water tank, and place it in by-pass. Hope this is helpful!

 

[Ron]

One caution though make sure you airpressure is not set too high.  I use 65 LBS which is a safe pressure for the coach I was blowing the lines out on.

 

[Woody]

Make sure to hold down the pedal on the toilet while blowing the air through the lines. That flush valve is the first thing that will freeze and crack.

Woody

 

[MPG8.8]

I attach my compressor to the water inlet on my MH.  I set the pressure on the compressor at about 40 lbs.  I then go from faucet to faucet and bleed the water out.  Never bothered the wife for help.  I know better.  Also don't know what she would do. 

 

[scottydl]

I see lots of reference to using compressed air as you all describe to clear out the pipes, but is there any reason to do that when using the pink RV antifreeze?

Overnight low temps tonight are in the 30's here in IL, with wind chills in the 20's.  Yikes.  (I still haven't winterized)

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Wind chill has no effect on how cold a RV gets. The only thing wind chill will do is shorten the time it takes to get the RV down to 30o once you shut off the heat. It could be -50o wind chill and your RV will never get colder than 30o if that is the air temperature.

In Alaska I never used the pink stuff. Just blew out the lines real well with compressed air.

 

[scottydl]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about tonight in particular since it's supposed to stay at least a few degrees above freezing.  But it's just evidence that the cold nights are a-comin' and I need to get the pipes protected soon.  *sigh* I wanted to get one more trip in this year, but it looks like it'll be another 6 months or so until we hit the road again.  If this upcoming winter is anything like last year's (long, cold, and snowy), it will be late April before we can even think about getting out there. 

 

[castn4bass]

to Scottydl,,, blowing out the lines with air removes any water left in the system before you add  the anitfreeze,  water left in the lines will dilute the antifreeze making it less effective! 

 

[regularguy]

after I am done winterizing, I usually open the bypass for the hot water heater to let the little bit of water out of the supply line [and the pink stuff in] [then close it]. Of course some pink stuff gets into the hw heater tank so I then put a 1/2 gallon or so of water in by the drain hole to flush it out. Pink stuff can damage some tanks and anodes.
Compressed air is a great trick.

 

[scottydl]

to Scottydl,,, blowing out the lines with air removes any water left in the system before you add  the anitfreeze,  water left in the lines will dilute the antifreeze making it less effective! 

I suppose that makes sense, but I'm guessing the antifreeze is pretty effective if the fluid is allowed to run through the pipes until it exits the faucet full strength.  That's the best I can do without an air compressor.  In fact, I finished winterizing today and did just that.  I did run all the water out of the faucets until they were spitting air, before sucking the pink stuff through.  I'm pretty satisfied with that technique.

 

[Just Lou]

Scotty, the only thing I see missing in your procedure is attention to the low point drains.  This is the only way to ensure that the pink stuff gets into these tubes.  Open them in sequence just like the water taps until the pink stuff flows. 

I always thought I only had three until I checked the plumbing diagram for my coach and discovered there are actually five.

 

[Karl]

Pink stuff can damage some tanks and anodes.

Who told you that? Not true.

 

[regularguy]

Who told you that? Not true.

Here is a quote from the Suburban site:
Question 9
Are there any tips for winterizing my water heater?

Answer:
If your water heater plumbing system is equipped with a bypass kit, use it to close off the water heater. Drain the water heater completely and leave it closed off (out of the system) in the bypass position, particularly if you are introducing antifreeze into the plumbing system. Antifreeze can be very corrosive to the anode rod. The result will be accelerated deterioration of the rod and heavy sediment in the tank. If the plumbing system is not equipped with a bypass kit and you intend to winterize by adding antifreeze into the system, remove the anode rod (storing it for the winter) and replace it with a 3/4" drain plug.

Also: Some tanks such as the Atwood Clad Tank," have a 15% thickness of type 7072 aluminum (pure aluminum and zinc) that is fused to the core to prevent the harmful effects of heavy metals...." The pink stuff is corrosive to this coating the same as it is to the anode rod.

 

[scottydl]

Scotty, the only thing I see missing in your procedure is attention to the low point drains.  This is the only way to ensure that the pink stuff gets into these tubes.  Open them in sequence just like the water taps until the pink stuff flows.

Well, here comes my ignorance.  WHAT drains??  :-\

 

[Just Lou]

Scotty, the low point drains are little "T" handle valves in the plumbing lines at the lowest point each line reaches in your coach.  I have two near the outside shower in the service bay, two near the water heater and one near the outlet for my fresh water tank.
They drain to the underside of your coach.

If you have run antifreeze through all taps then you probably don't need to be concerned with these valves.  Those that use only the compressed air method of winterizing should open these drains.

 

[scottydl]

Gotcha.  I did notice one of those between my water pump and outside shower, but since I ran antifreeze out the shower head I think I'm covered there.  Plus the metal plug looks like it's pretty much rusted onto that drain outlet!

 

[Chet18013]

I've been doing this for years. Don't forget to empty your holding tanks and add antifreeze to the sink and shower drains.

Chet18013

 

[Just Lou]

Chet, I let my taps open until they run as pink as they are going to get.  I assume this is sufficient to fill the traps in each drain.  As for the tanks, I know the danger in freezing water is the expansion involved and again, I assume (dangerous in it's self) that an inch or so of frozen water in a 45 to 100 gallon tank is NOT going to split it open. 

I was born and raised on a northern Illinois farm and we had to have water available to the stock at all times.  The only freezing problem (where it damaged the equipment involved) was when we didn't allow for the expansion.  Freezing water in an open container never damaged much.  I don't get concerned that I've gotten every last drop drained from the tanks if I leave them open.

 

[BruceinFL]

When you empty your holding tanks, do you leave your valves open or closed? Either way, wouldn't this dry out the valve seals? Wouldn't it be better to empty the tanks, close the valves and spring for enough gallons of antifreeze to cover the valves?

 

[Just Lou]

Bruce, I never concerned myself with ensuring that some antifreeze does or does not reach the holding tanks.  I'm sure that some does, as each trap overflows as the taps are run to ensure full flow of pink stuff. 

My tank valves are always closed purely out of habit.  I just wouldn't sleep well knowing they were open and exposing my parking pad to whatever might drain from the tanks.  If this provides seal protection then I'm ahead of the game.