Forum Discussion

Desert_Captain's avatar
Desert_Captain
Explorer III
Dec 07, 2021

It's time to winterize...

I've been watching the forecast and it looks like winter is going to make an appearance on Thursday/Friday. We live in Payson Arizona {about 100 miles north of Phoenix} at 5,000' and so far we have only had one night with a low of 32.

The low for Friday is supposed to be between 22 - 25 with half an inch of snow predicted. My 24' C sits in our driveway and has 30 amps 24/7. Later this morning when it warms up a bit I will open all of the fresh water drains {along with draining the water heater which will get a cup or two of the anti freeze} and then will blow out the water lines with my compressor. I'll add a cup or two to each of the traps {2 sinks and the shower} and put a couple of quarts of pink RV anti freeze in the black and gray tanks.

For nights that are predicted to drop below 30 I will turn on the tank heaters and run my 1300/1500 watt AC space heater on low to hold the interior temps in the 50's. The lower cabinet doors will be propped open for better air flow.

For now our next trip will be to Quartzsite on the backside of January but all that will need to be done is to close the valves, add water and we will be good to go. Naturally we always travel in winter with with a couple of gallons of anti freeze as temps even in the desert can get down into the low 20's - upper teens.

I keep the 55 gallon fuel tank as well as the LP tank full and my AGM house batteries, 2 group 27's, stay fully charged. Only thing left to do after all that is to restock the bar... :C

14 Replies

  • Yes, there are always at least a couple of gallons of water {added after a thorough flushing in both the gray and black tanks} so adding a couple of quarts of antifreeze is about right. The black and gray tanks are only 20 gallons each and the tank heaters are not huge. I just use them to take the edge off of the low temps.

    The space heater is plugged into a GFI and has a kill switch if it is bumped much less knocked over. I had an electrician install the dedicated 30 amps with its own box just below the house breaker panel. Normal snowfall up here is about 23" a year spread over half a dozen 2 and 3 day events, no big deal but... last January we had 2.5' of heavy wet snow with temps in the mid to low teens which while unusual snow {like "stuff} happens".

    Here are a couple of shots taken last January:







    :E
  • The unattended space heater doesn't sit well with me, though I'm sure you have it plugged into a GFI.

    If I was on shore power and outside, I would prefer to set the furnace at 50 and expend some propane instead.

    Everything else sounds great- I don't have a compressor so we just fill the lives with pink stuff, but then again, Da Moose won't be let loose until spring break (we've been winterized about 6 weeks already - 14 degrees here this morning brr!)
  • Does pink RVAF qualify as "liquids in the holding tanks"?
    I ask because my tank heaters have a caveat "do not use on empty tanks".
    Unless you keep an amount of liquid in the holding tanks when they're sitting in your driveway?