Winter without winterizing

[ORbiker]

I recently bought a 2016 380TH. I had a pickup camper before the toyhauler.

I live in Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. It gets down to the 30's sometimes or colder during a cold snap. In the camper, it was pretty easy to keep the plumbing and tanks warm with a little cube heater in the basement set on 750w and 35*.

The toyhauler has tank heaters. Where else do I need heat?

Am I going to have to set the furnace on 35*? Or is there a better way?

Thanks, KEN

[ORbiker]

The weather was going to get cooler (low 20's ) here in the Willamette Valley, so instead of paying for electric I decided to winterize with air.

I blew out the water lines with a little compressor. Piece of cake. Emptied the black and gray tank before we left the RV park last weekend too. I let all the water out of the water tank and pulled the andode rod on the water heater. I put a little RV antifreeze in the traps and toilet too. I should be good to go.

I made a fitting for connecting the air.
20151126_114909 by orbiker, on Flickr

Here is the tools necessary.
20151126_114900 by orbiker, on Flickr

I was also curious about what was behind the wall in the storage. I snapped a few pics from over the wall into the plumbing area.

[nayther]

bvereshagen wrote:
We could argue forever about what the critical climate conditions are that would definitely require winterizing. It comes down to these two options:

1) Do nothing and constantly watch the weather forecast to see if it is going to freeze, leave an unattended heater going which costs money, poses a fire risk and may not sufficiently heat all areas. You can then spend the wintering wondering if your lines have frozen.If they do, it will be a nightmare.

2) Spend six bucks on a jug of plumbing antifreeze. Take fourty minutes to drain your tanks and run antifreeze through the lines. You are now good to -50C and do not need to worry about mold or algae in your lines. You can then forget about your rig for the winter.

You decide.

Or move!

[bvereshagen]

We could argue forever about what the critical climate conditions are that would definitely require winterizing. It comes down to these two options:

1) Do nothing and constantly watch the weather forecast to see if it is going to freeze, leave an unattended heater going which costs money, poses a fire risk and may not sufficiently heat all areas. You can then spend the wintering wondering if your lines have frozen.If they do, it will be a nightmare.

2) Spend six bucks on a jug of plumbing antifreeze. Take fourty minutes to drain your tanks and run antifreeze through the lines. You are now good to -50C and do not need to worry about mold or algae in your lines. You can then forget about your rig for the winter.

You decide.

[joebedford]

I turn the furnace on mine if it's going to be -5C or colder (what's that in the old scale? - about 25 maybe). I'm not worried about the tanks, it's the pipes and T's and water diverter valves etc in the services compartment. There is ZERO insulation there.

[lawnspecialties]

Full tank of water wouldn't concern me at all right now. Its those little water pipes here and there that concern me.

[ORbiker]

fly-boy wrote:
For those temp I wouldn't even think of winterizing.
You re wasting your time and money...

Unless you have several days below 32 with nights in the 20's or teens there is really no chance you are gonna have a problem.

We are down in the 20's already at night (days are well above freezing) and my rig is sitting waiting to head to Glamis next week for the season- water is full...

I won't be winterizing till after Christmas, if then. So far it's only gotten down to 35*. The new toyhauler will be going on it's madden voyage this Thursday to the Oregon Coast.

And after Christmas we are going back to the coast for a week(thru the New Year).

[Strabo]

fly-boy wrote:
For those temp I wouldn't even think of winterizing.
You re wasting your time and money...

Unless you have several days below 32 with nights in the 20's or teens there is really no chance you are gonna have a problem.

We are down in the 20's already at night (days are well above freezing) and my rig is sitting waiting to head to Glamis next week for the season- water is full...

X2

[fly-boy]

For those temp I wouldn't even think of winterizing.
You re wasting your time and money...

Unless you have several days below 32 with nights in the 20's or teens there is really no chance you are gonna have a problem.

We are down in the 20's already at night (days are well above freezing) and my rig is sitting waiting to head to Glamis next week for the season- water is full...

[Y-Guy]

I emailed a friend that still lives in Eugene, I grew up there. He said you need to winterize, may not be necessary some years but if it sneaks up on you then it's to late. He blows the lines out and uses RV antifreeze pink stuff in the traps and tanks. They still camp so he just blows the lines out between trips and adds pink stuff. He did suggest the drizair stuff since there is so much moisture in the air.

[ORbiker]

I'm getting the drift.

Safe not sorry.

And only a half hour to an hour for peace of mind.

The toyhauler is so big compared to the pick-up camper, the heating bill would be a bit expensive.

Thanks for all the thoughts everyone. I watched a bunch of youtube videos on winterizing. Seems pretty easy.

[Dirtclods]

Tank heaters well only keep the tanks from icing up. And you would need to be plugged in.

You said -(Am I going to have to set the furnace on 35) that would use propane. Or are you going to leave a space heater plugged in unattended?



I totally agree with all the above commits.

[lawnspecialties]

I'd do it for three reason.

1. Its easier and cheaper than you think.

2. Better safe than sorry.

3. When water sits in there for several months, it gets smelly and can grow mold. The RV anti-freeze seems to keep the pipes clean during the winter.

[n7bsn]

I've seen nights going down to zero in your area.
A friend decided to not winterize, just leave the AC heat cube set for about 35.
The we got 1) a large cold storm the dropped temps below freezing and 2) a power outage.

He never has found all the small leaks in his piping.

[ksg5000]

I am in the Portland area - like yours the weather is normally not too cold but stuff happens. When I put the rig away for winter I drain the tanks (including hot water tank), flush out any water in the lines using air (lots of posts on the subject), add a bit of antifreeze in the traps. This procedure works well for me - we get the occasional warm spell during the Winter and if I want to go camping I just add some water to the FW tank and hit the road - pretty easy.