Blowing out water lines
I am hesitant about just blowing out my water lines to winterize. How does that affect the water pump when it has a backflow valve? I am afraid the water pump won't be winterized. I had an RV salesm...
Forum Discussion
Yes, its not a bad idea to run some antifreeze through the water pump, to protect it. You're right, blowing air through lines from the city water connection will not protect the pump.
I typically turn on, run the water pump making it suck antifreeze in for a few seconds before doing any air blowing. Long enough that I know the pump and its check valve, etc. is full of antifreez, not water. Then, proceed with the regular compressor blowout method - bypass water heater, drain water tank, remove water filter, hook up air compressor and open each water outlet one at a time letting water out, etc. Then, of course, pouring some antifreeze down each drain to protect traps, then rest of antifreeze (a good gallon or two) goes down the toilet, into the black tank.
With this approach, yes, there is a tiny bit of the pink stuff in the water lines near the water pump, but only a very little bit. Not enough you'll notice when you get it back out in the spring.
I've been using this approach for as long as I can remember, and its always worked great. 'Tis really nice in the Spring (or winter if you want), to be able to just GO when you want, not have to worry about flushing out antifreeze and 'de-winterizing'.
As to the larger issue that gets debated on here a lot, about whether or not the blow out method protects everything sufficiently or not: All I'll tell you is that I've talked to a professional RV service tech that does contracts to winterize units that sit up in the mountains all winter (where it gets pretty cold, haha). Guess what method he uses exclusively, and always has? Yep, compressor blow out.
Also, a fellow RVer I know recently called a well known and well respected RV manufacturer (Tiffin), asked what they used for units they ship up north where it gets really cold. Wanted to know the truth. Guess what method the RV manufacturer uses on their new units? You guessed it, Compressor blow out.
Suffice it to say, if that method is good enough for the folks that build these things, AND its good enough for service professionals that winterize many units every year...Its good enough for me. :)
I typically turn on, run the water pump making it suck antifreeze in for a few seconds before doing any air blowing. Long enough that I know the pump and its check valve, etc. is full of antifreez, not water. Then, proceed with the regular compressor blowout method - bypass water heater, drain water tank, remove water filter, hook up air compressor and open each water outlet one at a time letting water out, etc. Then, of course, pouring some antifreeze down each drain to protect traps, then rest of antifreeze (a good gallon or two) goes down the toilet, into the black tank.
With this approach, yes, there is a tiny bit of the pink stuff in the water lines near the water pump, but only a very little bit. Not enough you'll notice when you get it back out in the spring.
I've been using this approach for as long as I can remember, and its always worked great. 'Tis really nice in the Spring (or winter if you want), to be able to just GO when you want, not have to worry about flushing out antifreeze and 'de-winterizing'.
As to the larger issue that gets debated on here a lot, about whether or not the blow out method protects everything sufficiently or not: All I'll tell you is that I've talked to a professional RV service tech that does contracts to winterize units that sit up in the mountains all winter (where it gets pretty cold, haha). Guess what method he uses exclusively, and always has? Yep, compressor blow out.
Also, a fellow RVer I know recently called a well known and well respected RV manufacturer (Tiffin), asked what they used for units they ship up north where it gets really cold. Wanted to know the truth. Guess what method the RV manufacturer uses on their new units? You guessed it, Compressor blow out.
Suffice it to say, if that method is good enough for the folks that build these things, AND its good enough for service professionals that winterize many units every year...Its good enough for me. :)
