Winterize or not?

winnehonda wrote:
Won't be going until the end of March. I won't leave the MoHo unattended. Maybe I'll chance it. Thanks, all.

OK Mark,
Now we know what we need to know.
Don't winterize. You will hit freezing weather in Ohio in March (and even some in April), But if you are living in the coach, just keep track of your battery and Propane.

We used to travel in the cold all the time and never had a problem inside the coach. Run water out of your tank and if it gets low, refill it. Don't leave the hose out without draining it and coiling it up or you may have to leave it behind.

Matt

Won't be going until the end of March. I won't leave the MoHo unattended. Maybe I'll chance it. Thanks, all.

I'd at least dry winterize, or use an air compressor to blow the lines out, run some cheap vodka through, then blow the lines out again. The vodka is intended to find any water in low places and get its freezing temperature lowered. This way, de-winterizing is just filling up with water and running water on the lines a few seconds with no foul antifreeze in the lines.

Disclaimer: I've had not had issues doing this in Texas... but if I were up north for long stretches, I'd be using the pink stuff.

You're going from Florida to Ohio?

I'm in central Pennsylvania, we had a high of about 20 today.

Personally, I would winterize. Just in case you get stranded.

Enjoy your trip. I'm sure you will make it a quick one.

jim1632 wrote:
I'm probably adding to the confusion but here goes.

We took a trip to AZ the first week of Jan. Our RV was already winterized but we could not trust filling with water until we got to AZ due to really cold conditions. Right now, very cold weather seems to be existing in the Midwest and Northeast so I would be very concerned with traveling unwinterized.

I just blow out the lines after draining the fresh water and water heater tanks. At home I have a compressor to blow the lines. On the road, just go to a service station or truck stop and feed quarters into the machine. I always leave the faucets open (and don't forget the outside shower) to allow escape of any pressure caused by freezing, just as an extra measure. Use a gallon of red stuff to pour into the traps and any extra into the gray and black tanks. Learning to blow out your tanks is the only way to travel confidently in the winter. Total cost will be less than $10.

Living on bottled water is a lot easier than paying for broken pipes. Just be sure to add some windshield or pink antifreeze to the gray and black tanks as you put liquids into them.

If you have to pay for a winterization, have the technician show you what must be done for a blow out so you can handle the problem in the future.

I wouldn't use the compressor at a service station or any other commercial place. Most likely their compressors are oil type and you don't want to use that as you don't want oil in your fresh water lines.

I carry a oil less compressor with my in my rig for tire top offs and I use it on my water lines also.

Wind chill only affects us, it does not affect machines so don't worry what the wind chill is as far as freezing the water lines but it does mean a lot to a human.

I would. Better safe than sorry...the few bucks and few minutes it will take are cheap insurance against expensive problems.

I'm probably adding to the confusion but here goes.

We took a trip to AZ the first week of Jan. Our RV was already winterized but we could not trust filling with water until we got to AZ due to really cold conditions. Right now, very cold weather seems to be existing in the Midwest and Northeast so I would be very concerned with traveling unwinterized.

I just blow out the lines after draining the fresh water and water heater tanks. At home I have a compressor to blow the lines. On the road, just go to a service station or truck stop and feed quarters into the machine. I always leave the faucets open (and don't forget the outside shower) to allow escape of any pressure caused by freezing, just as an extra measure. Use a gallon of red stuff to pour into the traps and any extra into the gray and black tanks. Learning to blow out your tanks is the only way to travel confidently in the winter. Total cost will be less than $10.

Living on bottled water is a lot easier than paying for broken pipes. Just be sure to add some windshield or pink antifreeze to the gray and black tanks as you put liquids into them.

If you have to pay for a winterization, have the technician show you what must be done for a blow out so you can handle the problem in the future.

A couple gallons of anti-freeze are a lot less expensive than repairing damaged pipes.

Wind chill doesn't have much effect on enclosed areas. If temp drops below 10 degrees I like to winterize. I winterize on the road by just blowing out my lines. When it goes above 10 degrees I take on water and good to go.

We are headed for sub zero temps and wind chills that will be -20