Forum Discussion

Camper_G's avatar
Camper_G
Explorer
Oct 22, 2013

Plumbing system winterization - when should I be conerned?

Hey y'all.

I've got a question for you about winterization of the plumbing system on my TT. I've had several rigs in the past and always winterized before the winter. I'm just not sure I've waited this long to winterize in the past ( I just bought this rig a little over 2 weeks ago).

Here in my part of the country, they are expecting a cold shot of air (cold for this time of year/area), which will limit daytime highs to the low-middle 50's and lows in the mid-low 30's.

It's been speculated we could have our first freeze in the next few days. I'm concerned about winterizing and broken pipes. I would like to get the camper out once, perhaps this weekend and maybe once the first part of November.

Do you think I'll be OK by letting it go without winterizing if we have the occasional night that dips below 32 degrees? I don't think any long/sustained cold is forecast, just a few of the nights between now and then will flirt with the high 20's low 30's for overnight lows.

I seem to remeber reading in the past that it will likely be OK as long as we don't get any sustained cold, meaning the high temperature during the day does not get above 32 degrees, or is that not right?

Thanks for any thoughts on this topic.

-Greg
  • dahkota's avatar
    dahkota
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    I'm just south of you. We have waited to winterize until mid-December for the last two years - the longest the temperature has gone below 30 before mid-December has, lately, been about 8 hours. We have had no problems.

    We have also camped in this area without problems in December and January with two exceptions: a freak snow storm in October which froze our almost empty fresh tank for a couple of hours and camping in January with 20 degree overnights where our fresh water hook up hose froze overnight. The pipes in the tt were fine - one tt with heated insulated underbelly and one without.
  • notruffinit's avatar
    notruffinit
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    My 5er is sitting on the driveway now because I am packing for a trip south in the next couple of days. The temp dropped to 26 last night. What I do is I will open the faucets and open the low point valves to drain the water from the pipes for the most part. I also turn on the furnace to 40 and open the cabinet doors inside. I have done this in the past and have gotten along very well. Before I get back to the north country, I will winterize before I head back home. Just the way I do it as long as it gets above freezing during the day.
  • schlep1967's avatar
    schlep1967
    Nomad
    Oct 22, 2013
    You should be alright. If you are really concerned and you are hooked into shore power just put a trouble light in the area of most of your pipes and leave it on over night. You would be surprised how much heat a light bulb puts off in a semi-enclosed area. We always kept a light bulb burning over the winter right by the well pump at my parents house. When that baby went out the water stopped flowing.
  • Camper_G's avatar
    Camper_G
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    Thanks guys.

    Here's the weather forcast for this weekend, From accuweather.com.

    Weather This Weekend, Oct 25 Next Weekend > Friday
    Oct 25
    Cool with periods of sun 52° Lo 30°
    RealFeel® 48° / Lo 26°
    more Saturday
    Oct 26
    Times of clouds and sun 53° Lo 35°
    RealFeel® 51° / Lo 32°
    more Sunday
    Oct 27
    Partly sunny and cool 56° Lo 34°
    RealFeel® 54° / Lo 33

    So I reckon the only day I have to be concerned about is Friday and if all goes well that day I'll be camping then with heat on in the trailer.

    Thanks for your thoughts as usual, I appreciate them. I think I'll wait to winterize until after our November trip, unless some very cold temps are forecast, IE into the low 20's at night or something.

    I know I've waited pretty long to winterize in the past and never had an issue, I just don't remeber exactly how long I have waited. I understand it's a "use your best judgement" type of scenario and "how much risk are you willing to take" Obvisouly I don't want to break water lines in a TT I just purchased, but I'd also prefer to wait till after our last trip if possible as well.
  • mpfireman's avatar
    mpfireman
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    For about 5 dollars and 20 minutes or less you can winterize most RV units. Just do it and forget about the cold weather. A frozen or broken water line will be a lot more than 5 dollars,
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    Oct 22, 2013
    Granted I live in the south (SC) but we do get cold spells here. Here is what I do, but only when it is going to be freezing for a period of time.

    1) Drain the water from the fresh water tank
    2) Place a regular light bulb in the storage are near the water pump
    3) Turn on a 1500 watt set on low heater in the RV and open all cabinet doors

    This assumes power to RV.
  • SteveAE's avatar
    SteveAE
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    My thought is that if you plan (hope) to use the rig some more, maybe even occasionally during winter, why not learn how to winterize yourself? It only takes a little time (and some money if you use anti-freeze), but is easy to undo should you want to take late fall or mid-winter trips. I winterize my trailer about eight times (or more) a year (have already done it twice now). I choose not to use anti-freeze other than in the traps. Instead, I just blow out the lines and drain everything well.

    Have a great winter,
    Steve
  • Camper_G's avatar
    Camper_G
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    Hi Steve,

    I've owned several TT's in the past and fortunately know how to winterize. I've done it many times over already, just not in the past several years since it's been about 3 yrs since I've owned a camper.

    I understand what you are saying, but the stretch we are going into (lows at or a little below freezing) is not expected to be that long in duration.

    I think what I may do, is buy a heavy-duty timer and hook that up to a small ceramic heater and set that on Low temp inside the TT, that way I can set it to come on around 12am or so, when the temp really starts getting colder, then turn off around 10am or so the next day so I'm only heating it during the time when temps are at their coldest and the chance of freezing is at it's greatest.

    At least I think that will get me through to this next camping trip and then after that, I'll winterize, just in case I don't make it out in November as I'd like to.
  • NinerBikes's avatar
    NinerBikes
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    Open up all the faucets, drain all the water, then blow the live pressurized side out with an air compressor. Pour just a little antifreeze in the P traps of the sinks, toilets and showers on the sewer / drainage side, and call it good.
  • SteveAE's avatar
    SteveAE
    Explorer
    Oct 22, 2013
    Camper G,

    I tend to agree with you that lows at or just below freezing for only a couple hours is unlikely to cause any problems....especially if warms up to the low 50's or so during the day. And as you said, you can always put a small heater in there. If it was me, and it wasn't going to be long (less than a week.....because I can winterize so fast) before I took my trailer out again, I would leave water in it and go with the heater route. However, rather than turn it ON/OFF every day, I would be inclined to set to about 50 or 55 and leave it on 24/7. Just remember to get your rig winterized before it really gets cold.

    Steve

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