Winterizing: Antifreeze or Compressed Air Blow-Out?

[Joezeppy]

I would say is six of one and half dozen of another. Can't hurt to open them but the only benefit I see is it might save a few minutes since there is less to drain in the Spring. You'll still have to sanitize the entire system either way.

 

[uchu]

Now I'm considering opening the low-point drains and
letting out what wants to drain out, but leaving the rest in.

That's the ticket!

 

[Rene T]

I did open them before, then I closed them and ran antifreeze in.
There's no water in the system at this point, so what would it matter?
I'm thinking it might minimize the residue and make flushing the system next year easier.
This is my first winterization, so I'm sort of experimenting.
Maybe I won't open them.

At a minimum, you should open each low point drain just to see if the pink stuff is at the vves

 

[Danny Pyle]

I’ve done it both ways without issues.

 

[msw3113]

Being a belt-and-suspenders person, I always used both methods. Maybe it took some extra time but the effort was worth my peace of mind.

 

[Boat Bum]

That's the ticket!

agreed

 

[Edd505]

I use the air always, I live where it can freeze and I RV all year. Using the air I can use it and re winterize in a few minutes. Open low points, all air open all faucets & shower, open valve and purge water from toilet water valve. Don't for get the outside shower, if you have a washer dryer consult the manual. Get a fitting and connect the air hose with the PSI set to 25-30.

 

[Rene T]

I use the air always, I live where it can freeze and I RV all year. Using the air I can use it and re winterize in a few minutes. Open low points, all air open all faucets & shower, open valve and purge water from toilet water valve. Don't for get the outside shower, if you have a washer dryer consult the manual. Get a fitting and connect the air hose with the PSI set to 25-30.

View attachment 158148

Unless you have a really big compressor with a very large tank, I would go around opening the faucets one at a time until all the water is gone then close it and move on to the next faucets. Do the low point drains last and one at a time slso

 

[John From Detroit]

Used pink stuff the first year and had a lot of "Fun" (NOT one bit) getting the lines cleared come spring.
Used air after that.. My procedure using a 6 Gallon pancake compressor with regulator set to 50 PSI.
Open all valves.. BLOW till I ran out of air.
Force cycle ice maker.. then close the supply valve to it (Gravity siphons the lines clean when the solenoid opens)
Flush toilet and lock vlave open (Used somethign to hold pedal down or use partner)
Once compressor refills Blow again
Release toilet pedal
Once compressor refills blow again like 10 times.
Close upper valves
Will there be a few drops of water remainin in the lines: yes
Will they cause issues: NO
Then pour pink in drains, traps and toilets (Where flushing them out in the spring won't even be necessary as you will flush them in normal use)

 

[FunSteak]

My compressor is too small to blow out effectively, so I use pink stuff. Our rig is quite simple, and the whole process takes 15 minutes or less.

First I drain the tanks, including fresh of course, and bypass and drain the water heater.

My rig has three input fittings - tank, city and black flush. I have a small electric pump that I connect to each input and pump antifreeze for a few seconds to ensure those lines are filled with pink. Fresh tank drain is open, so any that makes it into the tank goes right back out.

Then I disconnect the suction line from the pump and attach a 3' hose. That goes into the jug of pink stuff. Turn on the pump, and run each fixture and the the toilet until it comes out fully pink. This also ensures the traps are all filled with antifreeze, as well.

Reconnect the pump line and I'm done. Easy peasy.

In the spring, I just connect my garden hose to the city line and run the heck out of everything to clear the lines. Takes 15 minutes or so. We might get a bit of foam when first turning on a faucet during our first trip, but that clears quickly.

This works well for me. Easy and quick.

 

[jymbee]

Unless you have a really big compressor with a very large tank, I would go around opening the faucets one at a time until all the water is gone then close it and move on to the next faucets.

 

[Edd505]

Unless you have a really big compressor with a very large tank, I would go around opening the faucets one at a time until all the water is gone then close it and move on to the next faucets. Do the low point drains last and one at a time slso

I use my small 6 gallon harbor freight the 60 gallon in my shops is too large to haul out. I guess I could park the RV in front of the shop and run a hose. The 6 gallon Looks like this but it's a CP , dial in the lower pressure and it is able to keep up.