Winterizing Questions

[katiesteve]

Hello All! My fianc? and I purchased a new 2018 Rockwood GeoPro 19FBS in September. Since we are in the DFW area, I honestly had just barely started to research winterization and bam, surprise cold front will drop us to 31 tonight, 29 tomorrow and 31 Wednesday night with mid 40's during the day. Normally, our RV stays at a storage facility so running it during the day would not be an option, and we already have reservations at Ouachita National Forest the week of Thanksgiving so I didn't want to winterize it yet, so we decided to pack up and head to a local state park for a few days. I'm wondering if we disconnect the hose and use our fresh water tank, keep cabinets open and the heat on if that will be enough to protect our pipes for the next few days? Should I go ahead and drain the water and just dry camp? Will the water heater be ok? (It's stored under our bed if that helps) I've also seen to put a light in the exterior box with the connections, but we don't have one of those boxes. (It's just a small 20 ft toy trailer) Thoughts?

Also, looking past this weekend, we are wanting to take it out at least once a month even through out the winter but I was still planning on blowing out the lines and putting antifreeze in the traps after our Thanksgiving trip. Is that a pain to clean up and get the rig going again? Is it even ok to winterize it like that multiple times throughout the winter? Is that even the best option for us?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!! 

 

[Rene T]

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your weekend. It would take a few days of temperatures below freezing for pipes to freeze. You're going to have heat on so you should do just fine.

 

[katiesteve]

Thanks so much!!

Do you think the hose will be ok too or should we use our tank?

 

[Larry N.]

I'd use your onboard tank, since the hose (and maybe faucet) can freeze up. Just fill your tank from the hose, then disconnect the hose and put it away to avoid it freezing. The water heater should be fine as long as it's turned on. With the mild freeze you're talking about chances are the only precaution you'll need is the disconnecting the hose. For colder and longer, a lot depends on the rig, whether you have tank heaters, etc.

Is it even ok to winterize it like that multiple times throughout the winter? Is that even the best option for us?

That method should work fine for you, and multiple times won't hurt a thing, other than causing you some work. Be sure you drain the water heater, too, unless you have it on in which case you MUST have water in it.

 

[katiesteve]

Thanks so much! I just took the hose off and put water in our tank.