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Old_Uncle_Dave's avatar
Nov 29, 2016

Blow out the water??

I will be using my TT during the winter on occasion. Our coldest expected is perhaps 20. On rare occasions it may get to 15.

I have an adapter to use compressed air to blow out the lines.

Has anyone done this and did or did not have a busted pipe , faucet, etc. at the above temps. Trailer will be unoccupied and not be heated during this time.

I do not want to antifreeze the water system on Wednesday and then want to go camping on Friday and have to flush it out and then winterize it again on the next Tue.

24 Replies

  • I trust blowing out the lines more than just using AF. I've had AF turn into a gelatin type of mold and make a mess of the system. Since that happened 5 years ago I haven't used anything but good clean air. After doing so I would never go back because its much easier. But, most importantly, it works.
    Blowing out is easy and I dont have to flush anything when I want to go camping again.
  • Yes, many do blow out lines and do not use RV antifreeze in the water lines, myself included. I have not had a problem yet with destroying things because of freezing. But, make sure you get EVERYTHING blown out.

    Start emptying your fresh tank and then run your water pump until there is no more water being forced out from the pump.

    Then, hook up your air compressor and set the output to about 45 psi but also use an air restrictor on the City water inlet.

    I generally do the water heater first with air. When down to the last bits of water, I put my hand over the WH outlet to build up air pressure and remove the hand, letting water continue to get hurled out. I do this many time to get as much out as possible. Then turn your WH bypass valve.

    Next, I start with the closest connection and work to the furthest. Do not forget the following:

    Toilet
    Sinks hot/cold
    Outside shower hot/cold
    Shower hot/cold
    Black tank flush kit
    Any other water items YOU have
    Low point drains

    I will run through all of those and then do another run through. Usually pretty quick.

    Drain both gray and black tanks.

    Lastly, pour some RV antifreeze in all of the sink P-Traps and in the toilet. I usually use about 1 gallon for this so as to get some pink in the tanks for any left over water in there.
  • Old Uncle Dave wrote:
    I will be using my TT during the winter on occasion. Our coldest expected is perhaps 20. On rare occasions it may get to 15.

    I have an adapter to use compressed air to blow out the lines.

    Has anyone done this and did or did not have a busted pipe , faucet, etc. at the above temps. Trailer will be unoccupied and not be heated during this time.

    I do not want to antifreeze the water system on Wednesday and then want to go camping on Friday and have to flush it out and then winterize it again on the next Tue.


    I can winterize with antifreeze using less than 1 gallon and then flush in about 10 minutes. I trust antifreeze more than blowing out the lines. Our weather is about the same as yours.