Run antifreeze from the fresh water tank?

I just winterized by filling the fresh water tank with antifreeze. The key is to prime the water pump with regular water first, then drain the water tank, bypass the water heater, then fill up the water tank with anti-freeze. It took 4 gallons of anti-freeze for it to be pumped through to the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, toilet, shower and exterior shower.

When I was done doing that, I went back and drained what was remaining in the water tank and reclaimed 2 gallons. So it really only took 2 gallons to accomplish the winterizing. It is true that even after flushing out the system in the spring, there is a bit of the anti-freeze smell. But it isn't really a big deal, since we cook and drink bottled water. I took several showers last season with no problem.

If you don't prime the water pump first with regular water, then it can take 6-8 gallons of anti-freeze to get the water pump primed, which is a waste of money. This condition can be exacerbated depending on the angle the TT is parked at and where the intake is located within the tank.

On edit - after reading this thread, I just remembered that I didn't drain the hot water heater. Thanks for the reminder! :)

I detach the line from the feed side of the pump and attach a sink supply connector. It is a perfect fit.

Kansas couple wrote:
Thanks everyone for the input! As always, a lot of helpful folks on this forum.

Yes, I do have bypass valves for the water heater and I now have it on bypass. Did this before opening the drain plug.

If you were near McPherson I would be glad to walk you through winterizing.

Kansas couple wrote:
Am ready to winterize my rig (will be my first time doing this). I saw some YouTube videos. Question: since I don't have a piece of line and the matching clamp is it OK to just put the pink antifreeze in my fresh water tank and run it through the system from there?

Yes you can, it works fine. It is what I do.

As others have posted, you will use more antifreeze - I use 6 gallons of antifreeze, although 4 would work... Walmart RV antifreeze (Supertech) is only about $3.50 a gallon, so not that big a problem. Prestone RV antifreeze was $4.50 a gallon (as of yesterday near me).

I assume your water heater has a bypass valve? I have read and been told to not let the antifreeze get into the water heater (at least in any substantial amount). Find the bypass valve, make sure it is working when you run the antifreeze - with my plumbing, it is easy to see where the pink antifreeze is going and that it is not going into the water heater. Make sure your water heater is drained! and then leave the drain plug loose, but screwed in. (edit: I just re-read the thread and saw where you said you already found the bypass valve)

I start running the faucet closest to the freshwater tank and work farther away. Remember to run ALL your faucets (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bath faucet and shower head), including the outside shower if you have one, AND your toilet. Oh, and your outside kitchen if you have one.

In the spring I rinse out and sanitize the freshwater tank and water lines, no problems at all getting the antifreeze out.

As with everything, there are different ways to do things. Use the advice in this thread and figure out what works for you.

RVcircus wrote:
I just installed the Camco winterizing kit and it took about 15 mins. Now I can just turn a valve to draw antifreeze from a bottle and 2 valves to bypass the water heater.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JJ588/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A winterization kit makes winterizing wonderfully simple!

I just installed the Camco winterizing kit and it took about 15 mins. Now I can just turn a valve to draw antifreeze from a bottle and 2 valves to bypass the water heater.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006JJ588/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

TNGW1500SE wrote:
If you don't put rv antifreeze in the fresh water tank, how do you winterize the fresh water pump?

The winterization kit goes in front of the pump, so the antifreeze gets sucked through the pump too.

After finishing, I let the pump push the antifreeze out of the low point drains also so that dewinterizing in the spring is pretty fast. There's not much of anything left in the system.

Thanks everyone for the input! As always, a lot of helpful folks on this forum.

Yes, I do have bypass valves for the water heater and I now have it on bypass. Did this before opening the drain plug.

poncho62 wrote:
It will work, but you are going to have a hard time getting all the RV antifreeze out of the tank in the spring...Go buy a piece of hose and a clamp..maybe $5

never had a problem getting it all out. It goes out when I sanatize and flush in the spring.

On my previous fiver, I would disconnect the line from the fresh water tank, which is also the inlet line to the pump, and stick it into the pink jug and pump it into the system.