winterizing with compressed air

Lantley wrote:

larry cad wrote:

JaxDad wrote:


It might just be easier to learn how to do it properly.

For several years I used the pink stuff, and several years ago, I decided to do the air winterize procedure. Come spring, I put water in the coach and guess what, I had a leak. Now, here is the interesting part, the leak was behind my shower, in the water control spigot. Even more interesting is the mode of failure. The water control valve has a threaded hole in the bottom, and there was a nylon 1/2" pipe plug in it. In the top side of the pipe plug, was a depression molded in during manufacturing. If you look at a nylon pipe plug, you will see it. Since the depression was facing up, it remained filled with a tiny bit of water during the winterizing. During the winter, it froze and cracked. When I put water into the system, it ran out the crack.

So, as suggested above, I learned how to do it properly. Properly would be to remove the wall around my shower every winter, remove the plug, empty out the tiny bit of water remaining after I use compressed air, replace the plug, and my RV is winterized.

Or, I can just use the gallon of pink stuff I always had used in the past. Even though I now know how to do it "properly"!!

:S

This^^^ Is why you use the pink stuff. It is simply more foolproof.
Air is doable, but as mentioned there are more variables to deal with that simply are a non factor with anti freeze.

:B

Some of those pipe plugs are basically hollow, I can see how one could break from freezing full of water. The fact that nothing else broke, i. e. pipes, means to me that he had blown out the lines enough to clear them. It would be hard to blow enough air to clean out an upside down pipe plug full of water. I for one will use anti freeze!

larry cad wrote:

Lantley wrote:

larry cad wrote:

JaxDad wrote:


It might just be easier to learn how to do it properly.

For several years I used the pink stuff, and several years ago, I decided to do the air winterize procedure. Come spring, I put water in the coach and guess what, I had a leak. Now, here is the interesting part, the leak was behind my shower, in the water control spigot. Even more interesting is the mode of failure. The water control valve has a threaded hole in the bottom, and there was a nylon 1/2" pipe plug in it. In the top side of the pipe plug, was a depression molded in during manufacturing. If you look at a nylon pipe plug, you will see it. Since the depression was facing up, it remained filled with a tiny bit of water during the winterizing. During the winter, it froze and cracked. When I put water into the system, it ran out the crack.

So, as suggested above, I learned how to do it properly. Properly would be to remove the wall around my shower every winter, remove the plug, empty out the tiny bit of water remaining after I use compressed air, replace the plug, and my RV is winterized.

Or, I can just use the gallon of pink stuff I always had used in the past. Even though I now know how to do it "properly"!!

:S

This^^^ Is why you use the pink stuff. It is simply more foolproof.
Air is doable, but as mentioned there are more variables to deal with that simply are a non factor with anti freeze.

:B

When two people are wrong it doesn’t change the facts and suddenly make it right.

Google “Venturi effect”. If you pass air over a dead end to the passing air will create a vacuum on the dead-end tube and inhale the water out of the tube and pass it into the stream of moving air.

If you pass air over a dead end tube the passing air will create a vacuum on the dead-end tube and inhale the water out of the tube and pass it into the stream of moving air.

That is why Doug said clearly you need to keep the air flowing until there is no more drops spitting out of the fixtures.

Using too little a volume of air and / or not blowing the lines long enough will almost certainly leave water behind.

THere is no Venturi effect or any other effect with anti freeze. Just put it in.It's foolproof

downtheroad wrote:
Winterizing with compressed air is just fine...if done correctly....and it makes un-winterizing soooo much easier. In fact there is no need to un-winterize...(flushing, rinsing lines etc.)

5 Trailers 30+ years and I have never used anti-freeze except in the traps.
Since the ice maker was your only problem, my guess is that that system was not done correctly.

I agree with you. I never used RV anti freeze except drains for 20 years and zero problems. My first two coach's were super simple to use the air only method. No dishwasher, no ice maker, no clothes washer, no Aqua Hot, no macerator toilet. I also agree with everyone who choose to use the pink stuff as it is the industry standard. If I was the OP in this thread I would do the same next winter except remember to cycle the ice maker.

My mode of winterization was easy, I moved south.

Lantley wrote:
THere is no Venturi effect or any other effect with anti freeze. Just put it in.It's foolproof

You quite correct, as Mr. Bernoulli proved the drop in pressure that creates the Venturi effect requires, and is in relation to, an increase in velocity caused by restricting the flow.

Since the little 12 volt water pump has very little flow, and with a tap open VERY little pressure compared to a good supply of air being released into the system at ~50 psi there is almost no Venturi effect at all.

The result?

That water left in the dead end of the T shaped pipe has very little chance of being vacuumed out and replaced, or even mixed with, that pink stuff.


There’s an old saying about ‘fool-proof’ ......

Just when you think it’s fool-proof, along comes a better fool.......

JaxDad wrote:

Lantley wrote:
THere is no Venturi effect or any other effect with anti freeze. Just put it in.It's foolproof

You quite correct, as Mr. Bernoulli proved the drop in pressure that creates the Venturi effect requires, and is in relation to, an increase in velocity caused by restricting the flow.

Since the little 12 volt water pump has very little flow, and with a tap open VERY little pressure compared to a good supply of air being released into the system at ~50 psi there is almost no Venturi effect at all.

The result?

That water left in the dead end of the T shaped pipe has very little chance of being vacuumed out and replaced, or even mixed with, that pink stuff.


There’s an old saying about ‘fool-proof’ ......

Just when you think it’s fool-proof, along comes a better fool.......

It also has very little chance of freezing and causing a problem. Don't overthink it. Antifreeze is that simple and that cheap.
As I said air is doable but there is more to know and more to do to ensure there are no problems.
Anti freeze does not have all of those variables.
If one is knowledgeable enough anti freeze maybe their preferred method.
But if you want to keep it simple and avoid the gotchas antifreeze is easier and just as effective.

Mont G&J is correct - the job isn't finished till the line past the solenoid is drained. The only time that line would leak though is when the ice maker solenoid is open. It will only open at the end of the harvest cycle and then only for a few seconds.

The trigger to open the ice maker valve is to get the mold where the ice is made below 15 degrees to start the harvest cycle pushing out the cubes and opening the water valve for a few seconds to allow more water in to fill the mold and start the process over again. Once the mold is down to 15 degrees again (a sign the water has all turned to ice), the harvest cycle begins again. The length of the cycle is controlled by the timer motor that opens and closes switches in contact with a cam on wheel attached to its shaft. There's also a gear on the edge of that wheel that causes the arm on the ice maker to go up and down. If it doesn't make it all the way down (signalling the ice bin is full) the process is interrupted till the arm falls to the bottom again and waits for the mold to drop to 15 degrees.

I've been using compressed air for winterizing for many years with no problem but I disconnect the ice maker solenoid valve and leave to disconnected for the winter. The alternative is to disconnect the solenoid valve connector and apply 120v to it using an extension. Many wouldn't feel comfortable doing that and I understand but with power applied to the solenoid valve, any water in that line can be blown out. Disconnecting the waterline should allow gravity to drain the line though. There is nothing but an open tube up to the ice maker past the solenoid - therefore, nothing to stop gravity from sucking all the water out.

Mont G&J wrote:
The problem is unless the ice maker is cycled several times like it is making and dropping ice cubes the pink stuff or compressed air cannot get the water out of the input hose and the ice maker. I use compressed air to pressurize the system, open the refrigerator and take off the front cover of the ice maker, rotate the gears manually to speed up the ice maker cycle. You need to do this until
all the water is out of the system and either the pink stuff or air is all you get when it is calling for ice cube water.