Winterizing by blowing out lines

dickiebob wrote:
Have been reading all posts about using air to winterize. Something I have never seen mentioned is where you have a brass fixed pressure regulator attached to the inlet as Monaco placed on my motorhome.

I assumed that the regulator would only keep the water pressure down when using external city water and not the air pressure when blowing out, but I decided to take an identical brass regulator (I sometimes use it at the bib to protect my hose - ask me why!) and hooked up a water pressure gauge to the regulator outlet and my Camping World air hose adapter on the regulator inlet. I set my air compressor to release 90 pounds of air and the regulator kept the air pressure around 45 pounds according to the water pressure gauge.

If the brass regulator is affixed to your motorhome as mine is and is working properly it appears you do not have to worry about too high of a pressure being applied to the water lines.

Any thoughts and has anyone else assumed the same as what I initially thought? (I hate working with plumbing problems)

A pressure regulator will regulate the pressure. It doesn't know or care what is passing through it. Depending on design it may do better or not as accurate with air, but it is still a presure regulator.

This comes up every fall. Higher air pressures (up to 100 psi at least) are not a problem IF YOU ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE FAUCET OPEN!!!!!!!!!!! I hook up my 100 psi larger tank style compressor to the water inlet with one faucet open. Before I close that faucet, I open another..................and so on. Just the pressure drop (when air is flowing) through the air hose and fitting at the water inlet probably lowers the pressure to 50 psi.

Just don't do it with all the faucets closed.

Have been reading all posts about using air to winterize. Something I have never seen mentioned is where you have a brass fixed pressure regulator attached to the inlet as Monaco placed on my motorhome.

I assumed that the regulator would only keep the water pressure down when using external city water and not the air pressure when blowing out, but I decided to take an identical brass regulator (I sometimes use it at the bib to protect my hose - ask me why!) and hooked up a water pressure gauge to the regulator outlet and my Camping World air hose adapter on the regulator inlet. I set my air compressor to release 90 pounds of air and the regulator kept the air pressure around 45 pounds according to the water pressure gauge.

If the brass regulator is affixed to your motorhome as mine is and is working properly it appears you do not have to worry about too high of a pressure being applied to the water lines.

Any thoughts and has anyone else assumed the same as what I initially thought? (I hate working with plumbing problems)

mchero wrote:
I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to put the pink stuff in the lines!

I open ALL valves on the drain lines, open all faucets & such, Open the expansion valve on the HWH, ALL water drains from the system.

Pink stuff used in the traps.

Been doing it for about 9+ years w/o issue here in COLD NH.

A friend of mine winterized his new 5er just like that last winter. He was lucky. All he had to replace was the plumbing in the shower.

Lobstah wrote:
Dunno...but doing something once and having it work ok might be "luck"...
Doing it 9 times and having it work out every time, not so much :)

Just sayin.

Jim

You are 2 ahead of me.

Dunno...but doing something once and having it work ok might be "luck"...
Doing it 9 times and having it work out every time, not so much :)

Just sayin.

Jim

Vulcaneer wrote:

mchero wrote:
I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to put the pink stuff in the lines!

I open ALL valves on the drain lines, open all faucets & such, Open the expansion valve on the HWH, ALL water drains from the system.

Pink stuff used in the traps.

Been doing it for about 9+ years w/o issue here in COLD NH.

You are lucky. And here's why. Your RV apparently has ho sags in the water lines where water will settle. Otherwise, you would need to blow the lines with some pressure.

The lines in my 5th wheel have low sags in them in several different areas. One is in the toilet inlet, there is another in the outside shower lines, another is in the water pump. Another is in the black tank flusher...between the black tank and the siphon breaker (mounted in the shower wall and higher than the toilet), there is a sag under the kitchen counter where the sink is, there is one before the water heater, and there are a few others.

If I was to ONLY open the low point drains and then go around opening faucets to let the lines drain, I would have big problems in the spring. So I do blow them out with 40# air. And then I pump the A/F thru. I could probably do one OR the other. But I do both.

But then I am an hour North of you. Maybe it's colder here?

Lucky in more ways than that. It's a wonder your faucet seals haven't frozen, and failed, as any water left around the seals can ruin the O rings, and seals in the water pump as well.

Don't forget to remove the water pressure meter from the regulator or it will be ruined if it any water in it (even oil filled) freezes.

mchero wrote:
I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to put the pink stuff in the lines!

I open ALL valves on the drain lines, open all faucets & such, Open the expansion valve on the HWH, ALL water drains from the system.

Pink stuff used in the traps.

Been doing it for about 9+ years w/o issue here in COLD NH.

You are lucky. And here's why. Your RV apparently has ho sags in the water lines where water will settle. Otherwise, you would need to blow the lines with some pressure.

The lines in my 5th wheel have low sags in them in several different areas. One is in the toilet inlet, there is another in the outside shower lines, another is in the water pump. Another is in the black tank flusher...between the black tank and the siphon breaker (mounted in the shower wall and higher than the toilet), there is a sag under the kitchen counter where the sink is, there is one before the water heater, and there are a few others.

If I was to ONLY open the low point drains and then go around opening faucets to let the lines drain, I would have big problems in the spring. So I do blow them out with 40# air. And then I pump the A/F thru. I could probably do one OR the other. But I do both.

But then I am an hour North of you. Maybe it's colder here?

I'm one of the lucky ones who don't have to put the pink stuff in the lines!

I open ALL valves on the drain lines, open all faucets & such, Open the expansion valve on the HWH, ALL water drains from the system.

Pink stuff used in the traps.

Been doing it for about 9+ years w/o issue here in COLD NH.