Hello RV'ers -We just finished our last camping trip for the year. :( That being said, this is our first year having to winterize a travel trailer.We have a 32' Passport 2920bh. Does anyone have a link or tips to a good how-to on winterizing? Everything I have found so far focuses on the plumbing which I think I have a good understanding of now.But what about other areas of concern or attention? One thing I noticed on this last trip, which was cold an rainy, is that a lot of condensation formed on the inside of the windows. How do I prevent them from happening while being stored?Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.Thanks!

If you are storing your camper for the winter, and not running any heat inside, you won't have condensation. Condensation occurs only when the inside of the camper is very warm compared to the outside cold temperature. (Like a can of soda sweating). If you do not heat the inside, you won't have condensation. The inside will be cold too, and heat up as the outside heats up slowly through the course of the winter months.Make sure you leave your refrigerator doors propped open. You don't want it shut tight. It needs air to breathe over the winter, otherwise when you open the doors in the spring, the refrigerator will stink ... REAL BAD. Keep them open. Use the little spacers that came with your refrigerator to prop them open.Remove batteries from anything inside the camper that takes batteries so they won't leak over the winter by getting too cold and busting or just simply leaking and ruining whatever they are use for, including the smoke alarm.Make sure ALL liquids are removed from the camper. Even if they say they can withstand freezing ... take them out anyway. Nothing worse than finding broken cans of greenbean juice all over the cabinet bottoms, or a forgotten bottle of dishwashing liquid and the plastic bottle split and now you have a goo of a mess to clean up. Leave nothing ... food wise or "wet" wise in the camper. Remove any clothing and store it in the house, same with bedding, so it won't pick up musty smells and then you'll just have to wash everything in the spring anyway. Remove all your electronics you can, including your television, if it is removable. Why? Well, they can probably withstand sub zero weather, but they can't withstand theft. Just be extra cautious and bring it ALL inside with you, if it's possible.Remove all money and valuables. And even it has no true monitory value, if it has value to you, bring it in also. A thief might over look it, but that won't stop him from destroying it in the process of looking for something he can take. (Even if parked at home, this is still good advise).Make sure your holding tanks are dumped and rinsed out as good as humanly possible. If anything is left in there, believe me, it will have all winter to "ripen" and next time you push the peddle on the toilet, you'll wish you'd done a better job of rinsing those tanks!No, if you are parking your camper and home, and plan on using it throughout the winter, just be we wise with what you leave out there. We use ours through the winter, but when returning home, we always remove all the liquids again and ALL food items. Hope this helps.

You can crack a window or vent to reduce/stop condensation. You should also put bug screen over the heater, hot water, hose, and any other opening in the exterior of the trailer. Wasps particularly like to nest in behind the heater and hot water access doors and will even crawl down the fresh water breather tube to nest.We also spray a 9 mo insect killer around all the legs, wheels, windows and doors. You may want to put something over your tires if they are in direct sun but many people do not bother.BTW: if you use RV antifreeze you do not need to leave it in the lines all winter. Pump it in to displace the water and then drain/blow it back into the jugs to reuse next year.

I think the consensus on these forums is about 50/50 regarding leaving the roof vents open over the course of the winter. Especially folks in Washington State, where there is an over abundance of humidity that penetrates everything, they have their own problem to deal with there. I think, folks that put covers over their campers has a tendency to leave their roof vents open all winter. Those that don't have covers, usually close them to keep dirt and dust out, and potential rain or snow if the wind blows the right direction.Of course, wash everything down as good as you can before buttoning everything up. This also helps detour mice from making your camper a habitat for their winter pleasure. Any smells, odors, traces of food crumbs is an invitation for little critters to take up residence over the winter. Clean the inside ... clean, clean, clean. If you were ever in the Army, do a GI clean on the inside. This... especially for critter control... including bugs and spiders, and ants, or anything else looking for somewhere out of the rain and snow.If you used your oven (if it has one), remember to clean it too. You may want to remove the furnace vents from the floor and get a vacuum hose and sweep out those air ducts too. Lots and lots of dirt fall in there, not to mention jewelry, coins, and food.

You've gotten some pretty good advice here already.If you have a vent cover over one (or more) of the ceiling vents, you can leave them open a bit to provide ventilation and avoid condensation. If you don't have any vent covers, I would suggest getting and installing at least one; it's really nice when camping to be able to have the vent open when it's raining (or when you're away and it might rain). I think they ought to come standard.I set mousetraps when storing my RV, wintertime or not. I also remove anything that seems like food to avoid attracting critters.If you charge the house (lead-acid) battery fully and then disconnect it from all loads by e.g. removing the negative lead, you can leave it in the trailer over the winter safely without it needing charging. The rate of self-discharge when it's cold is much slower than in warmer weather. If you don't disconnect it, having some sort of a maintenance charger for the battery (maybe not in the trailer) is important for its health.Winterizing the plumbing is the most important part.

For a lot of folks on here, the "cracked" window works. For me, I must sweat or breath a lot... I need two windows full open and the roof vent, or if I'm on shore power or generator I will run a compressor dehumidifier. Otherwise condensation starts on the windows and is soon dripping off the ceiling. That's terrible for the paper covered paneling.

Winterizing Travel Trailer for Beginners | Good Sam Community

hokeypokey
Explorer
Oct 25, 2017
Son bought new camper and dealership winterizes it for free first year. Keep that in mind, everyone, maybe it can be part of the purchase deal.
JAC1982
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
This year, since our 5er is new and it's got more complicated systems than our old TT, we hired a mobile RV tech to come winterize it, and the husband watched him do it and asked questions etc. It was $125 but worth it to watch someone do it correctly for the first time. Might be worth looking into for your first time.

We did already learn from the previous one that certain liquids do expand... we don't leave food or anything like that in the camper anyway, but things like hand and dish soap do expand when frozen. We leave those in the sink now. Toiletries get left in a plastic bin in the bathroom cabinet.
Mortimer_Brewst
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2017
What worked for me was to get a giant bucket of Damp Rid and put keep that in the trailer over the winter. If possible, close up the trailer on a dry sunny day. Do not leave any vents open as this will allow damp air into the trailer. I did this for years and never had any problems with the trailer smelling musty in the spring.
Dick_B
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
Also consider a cover. Search this Forum for RV Cover for previous posts. A cover keeps the sun from beating down on the camper which helps keep the inside cooler and minimizes the heat up during the day and cooling down during the night.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 16, 2017
Glad I keep mine in a heated building. Lots easier.
jarata1
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
I also but dryer sheets by every pipe or floor opening
GordonThree
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
For a lot of folks on here, the "cracked" window works. For me, I must sweat or breath a lot... I need two windows full open and the roof vent, or if I'm on shore power or generator I will run a compressor dehumidifier.

Otherwise condensation starts on the windows and is soon dripping off the ceiling. That's terrible for the paper covered paneling.
DrewE
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2017
You've gotten some pretty good advice here already.

If you have a vent cover over one (or more) of the ceiling vents, you can leave them open a bit to provide ventilation and avoid condensation. If you don't have any vent covers, I would suggest getting and installing at least one; it's really nice when camping to be able to have the vent open when it's raining (or when you're away and it might rain). I think they ought to come standard.

I set mousetraps when storing my RV, wintertime or not. I also remove anything that seems like food to avoid attracting critters.

If you charge the house (lead-acid) battery fully and then disconnect it from all loads by e.g. removing the negative lead, you can leave it in the trailer over the winter safely without it needing charging. The rate of self-discharge when it's cold is much slower than in warmer weather. If you don't disconnect it, having some sort of a maintenance charger for the battery (maybe not in the trailer) is important for its health.

Winterizing the plumbing is the most important part.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
I think the consensus on these forums is about 50/50 regarding leaving the roof vents open over the course of the winter. Especially folks in Washington State, where there is an over abundance of humidity that penetrates everything, they have their own problem to deal with there. I think, folks that put covers over their campers has a tendency to leave their roof vents open all winter. Those that don't have covers, usually close them to keep dirt and dust out, and potential rain or snow if the wind blows the right direction.

Of course, wash everything down as good as you can before buttoning everything up. This also helps detour mice from making your camper a habitat for their winter pleasure. Any smells, odors, traces of food crumbs is an invitation for little critters to take up residence over the winter. Clean the inside ... clean, clean, clean. If you were ever in the Army, do a GI clean on the inside. This... especially for critter control... including bugs and spiders, and ants, or anything else looking for somewhere out of the rain and snow.

If you used your oven (if it has one), remember to clean it too.

You may want to remove the furnace vents from the floor and get a vacuum hose and sweep out those air ducts too. Lots and lots of dirt fall in there, not to mention jewelry, coins, and food.
NMDriver
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
You can crack a window or vent to reduce/stop condensation.

You should also put bug screen over the heater, hot water, hose, and any other opening in the exterior of the trailer. Wasps particularly like to nest in behind the heater and hot water access doors and will even crawl down the fresh water breather tube to nest.

We also spray a 9 mo insect killer around all the legs, wheels, windows and doors. You may want to put something over your tires if they are in direct sun but many people do not bother.

BTW: if you use RV antifreeze you do not need to leave it in the lines all winter. Pump it in to displace the water and then drain/blow it back into the jugs to reuse next year.