Winterize - did I miss anything?

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mijdeets

Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2018
Posts
16
Location
Alberta, Canada
I watched a friend winterize my trailer last year.  This year i did it by myself and just want to ask if I missed anything....
I have a 1994 5th Wheel Travelair Rustler 26', so an older trailer

1.  I turned valves on and off to bypass the hot water tank
2.  I pulled the hot water anode rod and drained the water from the hot water tank.  One question here....do I leave the anode rod out or do I leave it in over the winter?
3.  I ran antifreeze through the cold and hot kitchen sink taps
4.  I ran antifreeze through the cold and hot water bathroom sink taps
5.  I ran antifreeze through the cold and hot water shower taps
6.  I dumped a little antifreeze down all drains
7.  I ran antifreeze through the toilet and left some in the toilet tank
8.  I have solar panels so I have not removed the batteries but I placed some insulation around them anyways to help them be cozy!  I realize i will need to keep the solar panels free of snow
9.  I left the fridge and freezer doors open a bit
10.  I placed some covers over all 4 wheels

Anything else I need to do?  Thanks in advance!!!
 
Did you drain the low point drains, do you have an outdoor handheld shower?
 
Bob T said:
Did you drain the low point drains, do you have an outdoor handheld shower?
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OP, be aware if you forgot the low point drains (provided you have them), draining them now will likely result in some loss of antifreeze. Ideally you will have someone outside keeping an eye on when the pink stuff starts to come out of them and they will notify you so you can close the drain valves quickly and minimize the loss.
Definitely don't forget the outside shower if you have one.
 
I assume you used the on board water pump to circulate the antifreeze, so the pump does not contain water.

Did you drain the fresh water tank?  Gray and black tanks?  Adding antifreeze after emptying tanks is fine.

I stick the anode back into the tank and turn about 1 thread.  Keeps any bugs or critters out.
 
I do have an outdoor shower but didn't use it so I assumed I wouldn't need to drain it?  But maybe I will do that as well anyways.  I am not sure what is meant by the low point drains??  I did drain my fresh water tank and my grey and black tanks were drained after my last trip.  I do have an on-board water pump and changed tubing so that antifreeze was circulated that way.  Also thanks for the tip on the hot water anode rod.  I will stick that back in and thread it once.
 
Low point drains are tubes that stick out the bottom of the trailer that may either have a cap on them, or a valve higher up, or even inside the unit. These are supposed to be the lowest points in the fresh water system of the trailer.
 
Frank B said:
Low point drains are tubes that stick out the bottom of the trailer that may either have a cap on them, or a valve higher up, or even inside the unit. These are supposed to be the lowest points in the fresh water system of the trailer.
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hmmmm, I will look underneath and see if I can see anything that resembles this.  Is it possible that I don't have any?
 
mijdeets said:
I do have an outdoor shower but didn't use it so I assumed I wouldn't need to drain it? 
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You need to run antifreeze through your outside shower because right now, you probably have clear water right behind the shower valves which will freeze.
 
Put a spoon full or an eyedropper full of pink stuff in your city water inlet.
If not the check valve is liable to freeze and break. (from experience)!

Jack L
 
Gee. I just drive south for the winter :)  When I stayed in Detroit (The 2nd year) I blew the lines out with air.. I mean why spend the dollar on Pink stuff which does freeze Iit just does not expand) when AIR is cheap and ...  easy to dispose of come spring. NOT a hazard to humans or pets.
 
John From Detroit said:
Gee. I just drive south for the winter :)  When I stayed in Detroit (The 2nd year) I blew the lines out with air.. I mean why spend the dollar on Pink stuff which does freeze Iit just does not expand) when AIR is cheap and ...  easy to dispose of come spring. NOT a hazard to humans or pets.
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Yeah, I used to do that too. Only takes 1 gal of antifreeze to do the unit we have now, and it is easier to do that than get out the compressor. Just put the pickup tube in the bottle, flip a valve, turn on the pump, and let each tap run till its pink.  The previous unit we had was much harder to do.
 
When you pressurize the system with water, it goes everywhere in the system, whether you use the particular faucet or not.  When you winterize, you need to run pink out of ALL water outlets.

The Low point drains are to allow the system to be drained, both hot and cold, before winterizing.  This should drain MOST of the water from the plumbing.  You should have them.  Look where others have said.  They need pink running out there, too.
 
I dont mean to sound mean, but you should get someone who knows to help you. You are setting yourself up for a costly mistake. If you havent even drained the main water lines, you are not even close to having it done properly. Use air pressure to blow them out, then put rv antifreeze in all the tanks, traps and through the pump to all fixtures. If you have an ice maker on your fridge, it will need drained as well.
 
There's nothing difficult about this. Just remember that any place that touches water needs to be addressed - blown out with compressed air, or the water replaced with antifreeze. Don't put antifreeze in the fresh water tank; just drain it and leave the drain open for a while after the water stops. There's room in the tank for any remaining water to expand when it freezes, and it's not fun to flush the antifreeze from the tank.

Watch out for any gotchas that aren't obvious: low point drains and showers as previously mentioned, and the kitchen sink sprayer. I remove the shower hoses and hang them up to drain. If you have a black water flush system, the line needs to be blown out.

I'm a belt and suspenders guy, so I blow out the lines and add antifreeze. I'm never comfortable that all the water was actually blown out, so I figure twelve bucks worth of antifreeze is good insurance.

It takes me about 20 minutes and 3 gallons of antifreeze.
 
When draining the fresh water tank, what I use to do was just crack open the drain valve and let the water drain slowly. Then I would leave it cracked open all winter just in case some water would reach the drain line. At least it would have a chance of running out instead of sitting there, freezing and cracking the valve. Just being cracked will stop bugs from getting up in there.
 
Rene T said:
When draining the fresh water tank, what I use to do was just crack open the drain valve and let the water drain slowly. Then I would leave it cracked open all winter just in case some water would reach the drain line. At least it would have a chance of running out instead of sitting there, freezing and cracking the valve. Just being cracked will stop bugs from getting up in there.
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There, I just learned a new trick today! Thank you!
 
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