Winterize questions

We do the antifreeze method. The water system in our camper is designed really well (I wish all of them were like this!) - it's all centralized into one compartment (pump, accumulator, filter, water heater & all the connections to allow for bypassing the HWH), and there is a separate inlet on the outside of the camper for pumping antifreeze through the system. It's great! We just finished doing it and it took us perhaps half an hour. :) Our winters haven't been that severe of late (minimum temperature probably about -15) and this method has served us well for quite a few years.

DrewE wrote:
Either method, if done properly, is effective and viable; like a lot of things, it comes down to personal preference as much as anything. I use the blow out method, since it's less expensive (as I already had a suitable compressor) and doesn't leave lingering antifreeze to make fresh water taste bad.

My procedure too for 30+ years and never had any freeze damage....It's also easier to de-winterize using the blow out method.

Either method, if done properly, is effective and viable; like a lot of things, it comes down to personal preference as much as anything. I use the blow out method, since it's less expensive (as I already had a suitable compressor) and doesn't leave lingering antifreeze to make fresh water taste bad.

If you're talking about the water heater bypass valves, leave them bypassed until you put the RV back in use. You want to avoid getting antifreeze into the water heater if possible because it takes a lot of water and time to rinse it out on the other end when you dewinterize. It doesn't make any difference in terms of preventing freeze damage one way or the other, though.

I do both. I know some will say it is a waste of money to use the antifreeze, but it is so dang cheap. You would need to pour it down the sink traps anyway.

Yes, the water heater plug is on the bottom of the tank and will get out all the water.

I leave the water heater in bypass mode until the spring.

Do you have an antifreeze inlet? I know people do both. For me, with the antifreeze inlet that is driven by the pump, filling the lines is easy and gives me a sense of security in case there is any lingering water anywhere. If I didn't have that, I might choose to just blow them out.

Which bypass valve are you talking about? Are you talking about the hot water tank? If you are talking about the HWH bypass, I leave it in place. In the spring, I run water through all of the lines to clear out the pink stuff before putting any water back into the water heater.

As for the plug, if you are talking about the heater, I'm not sure what you are 'supposed' to do, but I leave mine out all winter.