Winterizing question

personally, i dont bother much with the pink stuff. after draining the fresh tank, and opening low point drains, if you have a compressor or can borrow one, i blow out the fresh water lines with air pressure (i think 35psi max, i forget exactly but its in the manual). there are adapters for a few bucks that connect to the city water connection on the TT for a compressor. pour some pink stuff in the drains just for any water left in the traps. i also pour a little down the toilet, in case there's water down there also. probably not necessary as there's plenty of room for expansion in the tanks, but i figure its easy and why not.

this makes de-winterizing in the spring super easy, nothing to flush from the fresh water tank/lines as nothing was in there. the pink in the drains just gets flushed when it's time to dump the first trip out.

oh, and make sure to use an oil-less compressor

I've always made it a habit of taking a short drive with the freshwater tank drain open to help get out as much water as possible by the sloshing around.

Having a few gallons of water left in the tank after draining is normal. Don't worry about those few gallons freezing, there is lots of room for that little bit of ice to expand.

I located the pump and ordered the kit to pump the antifreeze directly out of the bottle. My water heater came with the by pass from the factory, so that's one less headache to deal with. Having residual water in the fresh water tank is the only thing that would make sense as to why it was draining clear. For that to happen though, there must be several gallons of water in the tank. Do I need to worry about this freezing? Is it normal for that much water to be in the tank after draining it? The pump won't suck anymore out of the tank either.

Does yours have a filter on the fresh water side? If it is still in place it will filter out the color of the RV antifreeze so it will look (clear). As mentioned (do not put the antifreeze in the fresh tank "or the water heater"). JMHO

hanks396 wrote:
The TT is a 2016 Keystone Hideout 272LHS. I have no idea where the pump is located. I'm assuming I'll have to dismantle something to get to it. Has enclosed belly, so there's not much visible from below.

The pump won't be in the underbelly, it will be behind an access panel, under a seat, or behind a drawer like mine. Run the pump, and listen for where the sound is coming from. You know have to by-passing the water heater also, right?

The TT is a 2016 Keystone Hideout 272LHS. I have no idea where the pump is located. I'm assuming I'll have to dismantle something to get to it. Has enclosed belly, so there's not much visible from below.

KKWilliams wrote:
Hanks what year, make and model trailer do you have. Any newer unit will have a bypass by the water pump.

Mine is a 2016 and didn't come with the bypass kit (people in the south probably don't need it). I had mine installed as part of the deal I made when buying it. Matter of fact they conveniently forgot to do it (and a few other things) when I got there to pick it up. So I had to wait for them get the stuff done before I would sign their papers.

Hanks what year, make and model trailer do you have. Any newer unit will have a bypass by the water pump.

You shouldn't be pouring the antifreeze into your fresh water tank to begin with. You need to start by installing a "winterizing bypass kit" on your water pump if you don't already have one; that is what you use to "pump" the antifreeze directly from the jug into your lines.

The answer to your question is, your drain is probably not draining the tank completely (not at all unusual). This will dilute your antifreeze and you will probably need about 10 gallons of antifreeze by trying to pump antifreeze out of your fresh water tank instead of pumping it from the jug, which would take about 2 gal.

And secondly, you will play hell trying to get that antifreeze out of your fresh water tank in the spring. Be prepared to fill and drain that tank about 10 times.