will this be okay to do ?

[JIGGS]

I live in Western pa and for the most part this winter has been very mild. very little snow and above normal temps. I want to take advantage of this weather and go camping. I don.t want to dewinterize it because winter will come. My question is . If I hookup to city water and use the toilet only. Do I have to winterize the whole HM or just the toilet when i get home. I allready have the water lines filled with antifreeze. If I only use the toilet the city water should not run in any other line since they have antifreeze in them. Does this make since or is this another dumb idea.

 

[Jeff]

The water is going to fill the water lines other than the amount of compressed air left in the lines.

I would rewinterize to be safe.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The antifreeze in the other lines will get diluted by the fresh water, even though the taps are not opened. And antifreeze mixture will get flushed down the toilet as well (no harm there, though). You can't put one liquid in one part of a container and a different liquid in another part and expect them to stay separate.

You can carry keep a gallon jug of water handy and simply pour it into the toilet to flush. Refill as needed from the campground supply (assuming the campground has their water turned on during the winter). As long as the pump is off and city water is not connected to the rig, no harm can happen. You will lose some antifreeze from the lines, but it gets replaced by air, so its not a problem. Any remaining liquid still has antifreeze in it.

 

[rclark]

If you have an air compressor it is very easy to blow the lines out after winter use, and then just pour antifreeze down the traps!!

I set the air pressure regulator to 80 lbs. and do just as if I were putting in antifreeze.. Open the one furtherest away first and so on..

Does anyone have any precautions to using air pressure to winterize?? This is my first winter with it, so any experience would be welcome!!!!!!!

Randy

 

[Just Lou]

I think 80 pounds of pressure is a little risky if you have any/many/all of your taps closed.  You don't need nearly that much pressure to blow out the lines if you have your low points open as well.  JMHO, lou

 

[JIGGS]

Yes I think using the gallon jug is the best way to go. thanks for the idea. As far as blowing water lines out with air. I tried that last year. I lucked out because i chickened out and decided to put antifreeze in after the first cold day. There was one water line allready frozen. Took a few hours to get the HM warm and thaw the line. Many people use that method but for me no thanks. Doing this on your own with no help is to risky for me. I ran air in for a while and thought all the water was out but I guess not. The age of my HM is almost 20 years old so there is some pipes that sag and is hard to get all the water out.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As far as blowing water lines out with air.

I wasn't suggesting that you change from antifreeze to blown air. When you flush the toilet, you open the water inlet valve, even though you are using water poured in  via a jug.  Opening the water valve will let some water trickle from the water line, even though the pump is off. That water trickle will leave some air space behind where once therr was an antifreeze solution. This should not be a problem, as long as no more fresh water is introduced. So don't ever turn the pump on thereafter, because the air in the lines might allow it to pump additional fresh water from the tank. If that happens, you could dilute the antifreeze solution enough to make it ineffective.

 

[JIGGS]

RV Roamer .  Sorry for the mix up I was giving my two cents on the air for rclark If i said it wrong I did not mean to. I look forward to your insight on this forum. I was not trying to put words in your mouth.
thanks jiggs

 

[Barb]

We winter camped for 7 years.  Had a TT and than 2 different 5'ers.  We were on a 30A FHU site.  With electric and sewer connected only.  Our RVs stayed winterized.  We had a 2.5 gal jug near the kitchen sink.  Used the dish pans for washing dishes.  And the water went down the potty.  A 1.5 gal. jug at the bathroom sink.  Used a small pan in the sink, and the water went into the potty.  We had a 1 gal. jug for flushing the potty.  We filled our drinking water from home, and than filled the other jugs when we got to the cg.  And we had two, 3 gal jug for refilling.  There was an electric blanket on the bed.  Had an electric ceramic heater.  Cooked most of our food at home.  Soup, chili, and stew.  You have to manage your power usage with 30A, or you pop a lot of breakers.  50 is better if you can get it. 

We enjoyed our winter camping.  There's something relaxing, and calming about a new snowfall. With a little effort you could be enjoying a crisp walk in the woods.  After all, you pay for it all year, why not enjoy it.

We now have developed a allergy to snow, and snow shoveling.

Learning to keep it between the white lines
Currently in Yuma,AZ
Barb

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Sorry for the mix up I was giving my two cents on the air for rclark If i said it wrong I did not mean to. I look forward to your insight on this forum. I was not trying to put words in your mouth.
thanks jiggs

No offense taken, Jiggs. I was just clarifying what "air" I was talking about.