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rowekmr's avatar
rowekmr
Explorer
Oct 29, 2017

2000 Dutch Star 3851 Winterizing Questions

This is my first season with this and after reading the factory manuals I decided to try winterizing myself. Previous owner memory is getting cloudy.

I opened both hot and cold water drains at bottom then closed them when water stopped.

I tried to open hot water tank plug but it was in there good and my only pliers couldn't fit inside to turn the plug (looks like it is solid in there)

I uncapped winterizing tube and open the valve for it while closing valve for water intake and put in a total of 6 gallons (1 at a time) while going in coach and turning on water pump and opening faucets starting from the back going to the front.

For all the cold weather faucets I got good streams of antifreeze but for the hot water ones I was getting mainly air.

Questions:
Can I put in enough antifreeze where I don't have to open the hot water heater plug (will try a socket next time)?

How do I winterize the washer/dryer machine?

Anything else I have to winterize?

I got several hoses in the water compartment. Previous owner add filters so I guess I will have to figure them out eventually. When I winterize is the antifreeze going through the filters or into the freshwater tank (tank valve is closed) when I am using the winterizing tube?

Thanks
Class A

10 Replies

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  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Nov 02, 2017
    rowekmr wrote:
    But I forgot to ask 1 more question. I found the chassis battery disconnect switch in the rear compartment that I plan to use coupled with the house battery disconnect on the electrical panel inside but reading the owner manual it says the propane gas detector will still stay on. Any way to cut it off so won't drain batteries dead?


    The easiest way is to disconnect one of the battery cables, preferably the negative one to chassis ground.

    There may be a fuse that's somewhat accessible that you could pull to disconnect it, but I would not bet money on that. There may also be a less accessible fuse (say an inline fuse behind the detector) that could be pulled with a little work.

    There also could be some other parasitic loads that are not disconnected, such as radio or clock memories.
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Nov 02, 2017
    I watched some YouTube videos and was able to disconnect the plastic fittings so I could remove the reverse osmosis system.

    But I forgot to ask 1 more question. I found the chassis battery disconnect switch in the rear compartment that I plan to use coupled with the house battery disconnect on the electrical panel inside but reading the owner manual it says the propane gas detector will still stay on. Any way to cut it off so won't drain batteries dead?
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Oct 31, 2017
    I ended up removing the water softener system and will try to remove the reverse osmosis system. How do you disconnect the plastic fittings?
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Oct 31, 2017
    Will using the air to winterize clear out water in the ice maker and clothes washer lines?
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2017
    Oh I got them just didn't bring them to the campgrounds lol

    On my travel trailer the drain plug can only be reached with adjustable offset pliers so that is what I brought. You are right I don't want to break anything so I returned with the proper size socket wrench and extensions.
    old guy wrote:
    sounds like you need to invest in a proper set of tools you need to do this job correctly. If not you are going to ruin something and then it will really cost you some money to fix what you messed up
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2017
    Thanks I found the bypass valves in the next basement compartment. Could not see the direction of the pipes so deduced just reversed the 3 valves position. In my TV I can see which pipe goes where so it is easier to figure which valve to open and which to close. I ran out of time so moved it to site and plugged it in and turned on the heating strips to be safe. It isn't supposed to get to freezing but close enough (33F) that I want to be careful. If I can't figure it all out tomorrow I will take it to nearest dealer and see if they can finish what I started.
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    Don't forget to run some anti-freeze out of each low point drain PLUS showers and toilet

    As stated......water heater.
    Only air from hotside at faucets cause you didn't bypass water heater

    Don't forget city water inlet line
  • rowekmr's avatar
    rowekmr
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2017
    Sorry been working a lot so didn't get a chance to respond earlier. Turns out it is a Suburban model. Thanks for the helpful info the manuals didn't specify the size plug.

    I brought a 1 1/16 and several extensions and removed the plug/anode which was covered with think white minerals deposit. It drained clear first then turned pink with antifreeze.

    After a few minutes it was dripping then I reopened the low water drains then I saw another valve at bottom of cabinet that I opened then the hot water tank and all drains had a lot of water coming out.

    I checked the manufacturer manuals and didn't find info on that valve so I assume it is a vent or another drain that acted like a vent when I opened it. I closed all when they were all pink because I wanted to keep antifreeze in the lines to do the clothes washer and ice maker.

    jplante4 wrote:
    Well, your hot water heater alone is going to take 6 or 10 gallons so if you've only put 6 gallons of the pink stuff in, then there's still water in the tank. You didn't say if you have a Suburban or Atwood water heater, but neither of those have a plug you can remove with pliers. The Suburbans take a 1-1/16 socket and a decent length ratchet. Over the course of the year, the threads will collect enough corrosion to make it difficult to remove. Also, you want to stick the flush wand in the drain hole to clear all the accumulated stuff in the bottom of the tank.

    The penalty for not draining and bypassing the water heater is the price of installing a new one, so it is worth your while to get the plug out and completely drain the tank.

    To winterize the washer/dryer, pressurize the water system with pink stuff and run it through the beginning of a wash cycle long enough to see pink stuff in the drum, then advance the control to the start of the spin cycle to flush the anti-freeze out of the drum and into the trap. Remember to uncap the drain.

    If you have a fridge with an ice maker or a standalone ULine icemaker, you have to run antifreeze through that as well.
  • old_guy's avatar
    old_guy
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2017
    sounds like you need to invest in a proper set of tools you need to do this job correctly. If not you are going to ruin something and then it will really cost you some money to fix what you messed up
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Oct 29, 2017
    Don't forget to run some anti-freeze out of each low point drain PLUS showers and toilet

    As stated......water heater.
    Only air from hotside at faucets cause you didn't bypass water heater

    Don't forget city water inlet line
  • jplante4's avatar
    jplante4
    Explorer II
    Oct 29, 2017
    Well, your hot water heater alone is going to take 6 or 10 gallons so if you've only put 6 gallons of the pink stuff in, then there's still water in the tank. You didn't say if you have a Suburban or Atwood water heater, but neither of those have a plug you can remove with pliers. The Suburbans take a 1-1/16 socket and a decent length ratchet. Over the course of the year, the threads will collect enough corrosion to make it difficult to remove. Also, you want to stick the flush wand in the drain hole to clear all the accumulated stuff in the bottom of the tank.

    The penalty for not draining and bypassing the water heater is the price of installing a new one, so it is worth your while to get the plug out and completely drain the tank.

    To winterize the washer/dryer, pressurize the water system with pink stuff and run it through the beginning of a wash cycle long enough to see pink stuff in the drum, then advance the control to the start of the spin cycle to flush the anti-freeze out of the drum and into the trap. Remember to uncap the drain.

    If you have a fridge with an ice maker or a standalone ULine icemaker, you have to run antifreeze through that as well.

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