Blowing out water lines mistake ??

Well, I blew it out again and got about one quarter of a cup of water. Not much. I do use rv antifreeze in the traps. Thanks

cdru wrote:
Well, I blew it out again and got about one quarter of a cup of water. Not much. I do use rv antifreeze in the traps. Thanks

That quarter cup in the wrong place could have caused you some major headaches next spring. Don't you feel better now? :B

Yes, I do feel better. I might even sleep at night again!!!!!!!

I didn't see where you drained the water heater, did you?

I am also in Minnesota. I like the antifreeze method. Seems safer to me. We don't drink water out of a tap. The pink stuff rinses right out when we recharge the system with city water before the next use. I recommend carrying filtered water (reverse osmosis) for drinking. There is a lot of stuff floating around in our water supplies that doesn't get filtered out by the municipality or an on board water filter.

The pink stuff comes out without issue if you need to camp again in winter. Just drain, run some water thru, if not satisfied add some TastePure to run thru lines. Done.... better to be safe than sorry!

Considering the low cost for anti-freeze (about $3.47 per gal. at Walmart). I can not understand why anyone would just blow out the lines and pray they got it all out. Just a little amount of water left in the system could result in some big expenses for repairs and parts. Not worth the gamble to me.
I blow out the system, drain every tank plus the water heater (leaving the plug out) with the by-pass set, then I pump the system full of antifreeze, add some to the traps and some into all the tanks.
When spring arrives I flush out the system, run a bleach water solution through the pipes, rinse again to clear our the bleach smell and taste. No leaks, no blown out pipes, no cracked tanks....no big repair problems.....Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

Uplander wrote:
Considering the low cost for anti-freeze (about $3.47 per gal. at Walmart). I can not understand why anyone would just blow out the lines and pray they got it all out. Just a little amount of water left in the system could result in some big expenses for repairs and parts. Not worth the gamble to me.
I blow out the system, drain every tank plus the water heater (leaving the plug out) with the by-pass set, then I pump the system full of antifreeze, add some to the traps and some into all the tanks.
When spring arrives I flush out the system, run a bleach water solution through the pipes, rinse again to clear our the bleach smell and taste. No leaks, no blown out pipes, no cracked tanks....no big repair problems.....Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

What ever floats your boat..

I have owned a TT for the last 14 yrs and I simply use compressed air only to empty the water lines.

So far no broken water lines and to make the point very clear, my current TT is a 1984 with the ORIGINAL GREY plastic lines which are KNOWN to get brittle and break (for those who don't realize it there was a big brew-ha-ha and a recall on the Quest (polybutylene)grey plastic).

What folks seem to not understand about using air is that you do not necessarily NEED to get ALL the water out provided you open the low drain points (they ARE there for this reason).

The water lines in my TT are ALL screwed down to the floor at the low points so all you need to do is put some air in and allow it to shove the water out until you get no more water (I open my faucets and let the water push out until I get a mist).

The theory behind it is you simply need to get the majority of the standing water out of the lines and what is left behind (droplets) will have the room to expand with out causing damage.

Once I have no more running water I simply turn off the compressed air and then leave ALL the faucets AND the low drain points OPEN. This allows for any expansion or contraction to happen without causing any damage.

Works for me and I am not worried..

For those concerned about your water heaters.. Well there is ALWAYS water in the bottom of the tank, your drain point on the tank is ALWAYS higher than the actual bottom of the tank.. That small amount of water is not a problem since there is plenty of room for the expansion (think like what happens to the old fashion ice trays in which the water as it freezes just simply pushes UP). As long as you drain the MAJORITY of the water out the tank will not be harmed. The manufacturer of the water heater HAS figured that out and made sure the low drain point will be safe..

In the spring I connect compressed air to my system for a dry run at pressuring the system. If something has been broken by freezing I WILL hear the leak. If no noise is heard I then simply connect my water hose and pressurize with water..

Done correctly it is very effective and in many camps or summer homes they simply drain the water systems by gravity which as long as the water lines have some angle towards the drain point it will always work well.

But for those who are the "belt and suspenders type" of person (I don't know about you but I don't wear suspenders AND especially when I only wear belts) you are more than welcome to use the pink stuff if it makes you feel better.

BUT just remember, you MUST allow a lot of the pink stuff to flow out the faucets if you don't blow the water out first.. Failure to ensure enough pink stuff flows results in the water in the lines to be absorbed by the pink stuff and WEAKENING the pink stuff to the point of possible damage..

The pink stuff is already properly diluted and diluting any further renders it less than optimal.. Many people tend to only let it run long enough to turn pink.. That actually may allow weakened pink stuff to be in the lines..

Gdetrailer wrote:

Uplander wrote:
Considering the low cost for anti-freeze (about $3.47 per gal. at Walmart). I can not understand why anyone would just blow out the lines and pray they got it all out. Just a little amount of water left in the system could result in some big expenses for repairs and parts. Not worth the gamble to me.
I blow out the system, drain every tank plus the water heater (leaving the plug out) with the by-pass set, then I pump the system full of antifreeze, add some to the traps and some into all the tanks.
When spring arrives I flush out the system, run a bleach water solution through the pipes, rinse again to clear our the bleach smell and taste. No leaks, no blown out pipes, no cracked tanks....no big repair problems.....Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

What ever floats your boat..

I have owned a TT for the last 14 yrs and I simply use compressed air only to empty the water lines.

So far no broken water lines and to make the point very clear, my current TT is a 1984 with the ORIGINAL GREY plastic lines which are KNOWN to get brittle and break (for those who don't realize it there was a big brew-ha-ha and a recall on the Quest (polybutylene)grey plastic).

What folks seem to not understand about using air is that you do not necessarily NEED to get ALL the water out provided you open the low drain points (they ARE there for this reason).

The water lines in my TT are ALL screwed down to the floor at the low points so all you need to do is put some air in and allow it to shove the water out until you get no more water (I open my faucets and let the water push out until I get a mist).

The theory behind it is you simply need to get the majority of the standing water out of the lines and what is left behind (droplets) will have the room to expand with out causing damage.

Once I have no more running water I simply turn off the compressed air and then leave ALL the faucets AND the low drain points OPEN. This allows for any expansion or contraction to happen without causing any damage.

Works for me and I am not worried..

For those concerned about your water heaters.. Well there is ALWAYS water in the bottom of the tank, your drain point on the tank is ALWAYS higher than the actual bottom of the tank.. That small amount of water is not a problem since there is plenty of room for the expansion (think like what happens to the old fashion ice trays in which the water as it freezes just simply pushes UP). As long as you drain the MAJORITY of the water out the tank will not be harmed. The manufacturer of the water heater HAS figured that out and made sure the low drain point will be safe..

In the spring I connect compressed air to my system for a dry run at pressuring the system. If something has been broken by freezing I WILL hear the leak. If no noise is heard I then simply connect my water hose and pressurize with water..

Done correctly it is very effective and in many camps or summer homes they simply drain the water systems by gravity which as long as the water lines have some angle towards the drain point it will always work well.

But for those who are the "belt and suspenders type" of person (I don't know about you but I don't wear suspenders AND especially when I only wear belts) you are more than welcome to use the pink stuff if it makes you feel better.

BUT just remember, you MUST allow a lot of the pink stuff to flow out the faucets if you don't blow the water out first.. Failure to ensure enough pink stuff flows results in the water in the lines to be absorbed by the pink stuff and WEAKENING the pink stuff to the point of possible damage..

The pink stuff is already properly diluted and diluting any further renders it less than optimal.. Many people tend to only let it run long enough to turn pink.. That actually may allow weakened pink stuff to be in the lines..

lets see, a non-user of antifreeze giving the rest of us tips.
thanks,
bumpy

"BUT just remember, you MUST allow a lot of the pink stuff to flow out the faucets if you don't blow the water out first.. Failure to ensure enough pink stuff flows results in the water in the lines to be absorbed by the pink stuff and WEAKENING the pink stuff to the point of possible damage.."

This seems like someone that is convinced his method is without fail and the "pink" one is for those that don't do it his way.
Sorry but been doing the pink thing for 18 years without any problem and trailer is stored in the great white north. The pink stuff is "made" for one purpose and does it well without any other effects.