jpcoll01 Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 I live in KY so winters get pretty cold. I want to keep my RV so that I can jump in it and drive south without much notice. I don't have a heated building to store it in. If I blow out the lines, put some antifreeze in the traps and put a small heater in the RV is there a decent chance I won't have all of my lines freeze and bust. I have insulation (foil bubble wrap stuff) for all windows. Understand each scenario is different wondering what folks do. The answer may be to get really good at winterizing/dewinterizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray,IN Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 I would fill the lines with RV anitfreeze unless I was confident there were no low spots to collect water, then freeze and ruin a water line in an inaccessable spot. Storing outside is much different than indoors, even a gentle breeze can quickly remove residual heat from the days sunshine, that might otherwise keep that residual water from freezing hard enough to burst a line. I say this because one cannot use compressed air to remove ALL water from an RV plumbing system, even if you have low-point drains. When I stored our 5er outdoors, I never had a frozen water line if daytime highs reached 50, and night lows stayed above 28 until I could find time to winterize. It will take about 2-3G RV antifreeze if you know what you're doing. (leastways for my MH w/clothes washer) Time-wise, about 30 minutes. We dewinterize in N. Alabama, our first overnight from S. Indiana. 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 If you have a heater running you should be fine. Drain and blow the lines (don't forget the toilet, outdoor shower & ice maker... if equipped). For good measure.. antifreeze in the p-traps and disconnect and cycle the water pump to remove the majority of any residual water.. if you like. Remember to keep all taps full open. In extremely cold areas some folks will run antifreeze into the water pump to displace any water. That minimizes the amount of antifreeze needed to winterize, but kind of defeats the purpose of what your wanting since you would have to sanitize your water system before every use. Personally, with a small heater in play, the most I would do is drain, blow and antifreeze in the p-traps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 I tend to agree with Yarome, but don't forget to run the fresh water pump dry as well as blowing things out. With the nonmetallic water lines used in RVs today, small amounts of water freezing in the lines isn't a big deal, especially where it isn't cold for long periods of time. We used to do a full winterize of the RV when we lived in WY, but once we moved to TX I have only blown the lines out with compressed air after draining all water lines, the tank, and the pump. I do put antifreeze into the drain traps for sink and showers. And be sure that you drain your water heater as step #1 in this process. Make sure that the air pressure used is no greater than 50#. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpcoll01 Posted October 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 Appreciate the responses. I'm really trying to avoid any excuse to not jump in the rig and leave and I can already hear myself saying "You know that's an hour to un-winterize and a couple more to winterize" and avoiding a weekend trip to NC/GA to see the sun :-) A heated garage sure would be nice, but that will have to wait a while I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dartmouth01 Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 If you are running a heater to keep the inside above freezing, leave any cupboards open that have access to the water pipes, and blow out the lines with compressed air, I think you'll be fine! The water pump should be inside the rig, so it should stay above freezing, as well as much of the water piping, depending on how your rig is laid out plumbing wise. Look, the way I see it, it is a risk, but the risk is worth taking if it gets you into your RV more often to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted October 6, 2016 Report Share Posted October 6, 2016 We used to go with blowing the lines and storing the rig dry aside from potable antifreeze in the traps and toilet. The biggest pain was the under-sink water filter that had to come off and have a bypass disc installed. We stored the filter in the house where it wouldn't freeze. We didn't store our rig that had a washer/dryer in it but I'd guess that takes a bit of doing to get dry, maybe the same for a fridge with an ice maker. Doing the air method make very sure you do every line, every appliance, forget one and you'll be fixing things. If we skipped hooking up the under sink filter we could be on the road as soon as we had the fresh tank filled, took a bit over an hour to get the plumbing dry enough I was happy when coming home. First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray,IN Posted October 7, 2016 Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 Perhaps I was over-cautious with protecting your property. It is your choice. https://weatherspark.com/averages/29835/Bowling-Green-Kentucky-United-States 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpcoll01 Posted October 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 No, after going through a complete blow out today I think I am going to lean toward anti-freeze. I may try to plumb in a fill line as the Gulfstream manual says to pour into fresh water tank but I'd like to avoid that. Thanks again everyone for your input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted October 7, 2016 Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 Adding an antifreeze suction line to the pump inlet is almost always a very simple job. Getting all the antifreeze out of the fresh tank isn't a fun job, it can take a couple flush cycles to get the taste down. First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted October 7, 2016 Report Share Posted October 7, 2016 I think I am going to lean toward anti-freeze. I really wouldn't. You might think your part of the country is "cold".. but it's relative. As Stan stated.. you're looking at having to flush/sanitize your system with every use which really defeats what you're trying to accomplish... "fill and go" on a whim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted October 8, 2016 Report Share Posted October 8, 2016 Fill and go... saw that and can't resist! Don't flush well and go and go and go! Most RV antifreeze is polypropylene Glycol, you can get it in powder form under the MyraLax brand name! First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted October 8, 2016 Report Share Posted October 8, 2016 Don't flush well and go and go and go! That's NOT what I meant. Bucksnorted my cuppa you dork! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ms60ocb Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 I don't know what what part of KY you live but bad tasting "White Lightning" would be good purge material. When ready to go just fill fresh tank and go. Don't Drink and Drive. Just a thought. Clay Clay & Marcie Too old to play in the snow Diesel pusher and previously 2 FW and small Class C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'mdonewiththis forum Posted October 12, 2016 Report Share Posted October 12, 2016 You shouldn't have much problem just running the pump dry (30 seconds according to my manual), blowing everything out and anti-freeze in the traps. I did my trailer that way (my manual says to do it that way) for TEN years in northern Minnesota. It would take me about 15 minutes to winterize my trailer. I was a little concerned at first, but it works for me.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickS Posted October 14, 2016 Report Share Posted October 14, 2016 Also, you probably have a bypass for the hot water heater....don't want to fill tank with antifreeze. I turn the valve on HWT bypass pull bottom plug and drive around to empty tank with plug out. Here with temps getting to -40 just blowing out the lines is a big risk. In the tropical south you could probably get away with blowing out the lines. Antifreeze is cheap.....frozen and cracked waterlines are not. Rick & Carey,Excel W41GKE Wild Cargo Toyhauler Volvo 730, D13, I-shift, 500/1850Brabus Smart Car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.