Urgent Need of Advice re Winterizing!
I am stranded in Colorado high country and am facing four cold nights of 10-25 degree weather. I have read about what to do to winterize and this afternoon I will be draining/blowing out the fresh ...
Forum Discussion
Running the pump dry is sufficient (along with blowing out the lines thoroughly, draining the tanks, etc). RV water pumps are not harmed by operating them dry for a few minutes...or hours. If you use RV antifreeze, that gets pumped through the pump along with the rest of the system.
If it were me in your situation, I would probably dump the gray and black water on the ground; however, I am not in any way suggesting you disobey any sanitation laws or regulations in your locality.
A little bit of water in the bottom of the black or gray tank that freezes won't cause trouble for the tank. Some water in the pipe that runs from the tank to the drain valve that freezes could burst that pipe or its fittings, particularly if it is sufficient to fill the pipes without leaving an air gap at the top. One reasonable option to prevent freezing of black and gray water is to introduce some rock salt into the tanks, which I think preferable to windshield washer fluid. (Winter winshield washer fluid typically uses wood alcohol for its antifreeze ingredient; besides being rather poisonous, it is a somewhat active solvent. It probably would not attack any of the materials in the tanks and valves to any great extent, but still....)
If it were me in your situation, I would probably dump the gray and black water on the ground; however, I am not in any way suggesting you disobey any sanitation laws or regulations in your locality.
A little bit of water in the bottom of the black or gray tank that freezes won't cause trouble for the tank. Some water in the pipe that runs from the tank to the drain valve that freezes could burst that pipe or its fittings, particularly if it is sufficient to fill the pipes without leaving an air gap at the top. One reasonable option to prevent freezing of black and gray water is to introduce some rock salt into the tanks, which I think preferable to windshield washer fluid. (Winter winshield washer fluid typically uses wood alcohol for its antifreeze ingredient; besides being rather poisonous, it is a somewhat active solvent. It probably would not attack any of the materials in the tanks and valves to any great extent, but still....)
