Winterizing --- Antifreeze or blow'em out??

Thanks for all the replies. I live outside Baltimore, MD about 35 miles and we get weather down in the low single numbers. I'll most likely use some of all the suggestions. Drain and Blow out the lines and use the water pump to add the antifreeze. I have the insulated under-side polar package and don't want to have to remove any of that for repairs. As for the posters in Florida -- I just might join ya.

It gets plenty cold here in Colorado. I blow out my lines, pour some pink stuff in the toilet, sinks and shower, and call it good. Never had anything freeze or break. It's just like the sprinkler system. Once you blow out the system, there's nothing left to freeze.

I live north of Syracuse, NY. Last year we had several days well below zero. My well water line froze for the first time in 20 years. I have only used air for the past 35 years. The smell of the pink stuff bothers me. Have never had a problem getting all the water out of the lines and no freezing of the lines. As for the traps, I either blow them out with a shop vac or vacuum them out with my wet vac.

What is this thing you call "Winter" ??

I use the RV antifreeze. It takes 3 gallons but its easier for me than blowing it out and then I still have to remember to put antifreeze in the traps.

We're in the south, so don't get those near-zero temps that folks up north do. My brother-in-law had a negative experience with the antifreeze (in New Mexico - used the pink stuff in his fiver one year and worked for weeks to get the taste out of the water system the next spring). As a result, we both drain all the lines at the low points (and water heater) and then blow everything out with air. Anti-freeze only goes in the P-traps in the shower and sinks. Haven't had a problem so far - and it got down into the single digits where my BIL lives a couple of years ago.

I always blow mine out just for piece of mind but I never get any more water out after doing the following.

First I bypass my water heater by closing the valve. (some may not have this feature)

Second I drain my water heater by pulling the plug and then opening the pop off valve. (in that order or you will get wet HAHA!)

Third is the most important step IMO. Go inside and open all of the sink valves hot and cold. Shower, sinks, washer(if you have them you must unhook the lines going to the washing machine) and the toilet flush valve. I just use a heavy object to hold it down.

Forth I open my outside valves (outside shower , etc.) Once all of the valves are opened then I will remove the caps from the low point drains. This will create a siphoning effect that sucks the water out of all the lines including any low spots there may be.

Like I said before, I then reinstall the low point caps and blow air through the system. I never have any water left to come out but I gives me piece of mind.

I will then pour a few ounces of RV antifreeze in each drain to force out the water in the traps. A gallon of antifreeze will last me a few years.

Again, this is just how I have done it and have never had any problems. We only get into the teens around here with the occasional single digit or sub zero day. This may not work for everyone.

fedrocker wrote:

Halmfamily wrote:
We blow ours out and add pink stuff to the drains. Of course we don't get the long hard freezes here in Alabama but we do freeze up occasionally. We also camp year round so having to clear pink stuff every month would be a pita. Happy camping

I live in GA, and you're description seems closest to mine, particularly because we plan to camp every month. Quick question: During the winter months, do you clear the lines of water with air and pour antifreeze in drains after each trip? And importantly, I assume this does not require de-winterization after, since you don't have to "clear" the pink stuff. Thanks,

Yes, after each trip blow lines and add pink stuff to traps, actually do it while at the campground. When ready to camp just hook up water and purge air from the lines. Make sure your water heater is filled with water prior to turning on electric or you'll toast the element. Done that once. Quick and easy. Enjoy your winter camping, so nice to be in the south.

My off-road POPUP is a small footprint water system and it just didn't make sense to go through a hugh winterizing method. The shower portion is part of my cassette potty install.

This is basically my small trailer water system layout..


My effort is to just drain all the fresh water at the low drain ports which will also drain down my hot water heater tank if I open the blow out pressure value and open the hot water water sink faucet. The water left in the hot water tank is just a tad left over which has plenty of room to expand and has never presented any freeze up problem associated with the water heater tank.

I can remove my cassette potty black water tank with ease and can dump it properly. I also have a small 6-gallon fresh water tank associated with the cassette potty setup which has a low point drain port.

Then I hook-up my 12VDC tankless compressor using an air adapter to the city water fill port and flush all of the water from the one or two line which drains down the sink drain. after all the water is out I then fill the sink drain p-trap with pink stuff...

We sometimes camp in our mtns during the winter months and can do this blow-out procedure in only a few minutes and then can re-fill the fresh water tank the next day when it warms up...


Having a larger trailer I would probably change my winterizing procedure somewhat but for the small POPUP footprint this works out great for me and can be done anytime the weather conditions gets down to freezing in just a few minutes of effort...

Roy Ken

Just did pink stuff.