Winterizing 5th wheel

[jbranontn]

When winterizing my 5th wheel , can i just drain fresh water tank and pour rv antifreeze in and run pump though faucets

[Dave_H_M]

:h I don't know how it is plumbed since it came that way but the water heater in my fifth wheel only has one valve to flip to bypass.

[NMDriver]

Regardless of how you get the pink in the line, drain/blow it out and after adding some to the p-traps, save it for next year.

I blow out my lines then add the pink to my fresh tank-about 8 gallons- and get 8 gallons back out by opening the fresh tank drain and blowing out lines to the low point bib. I only loose the little bit that goes into the P traps. My 5er does not have a by-pass or easy access to the pump so this works best for me.

[hotpepperkid]

If I keep the inside of the 5er 40 or above will I need to winterize? Night time temps will be in the upper 20's day time mid 50's I just dont want to do it as we will be using it off and on this winter. It will sit for like 3 weeks the used for a week until mid March which by then wont worry about it freezing

[RoyF]

Look at the "water in" side of your water pump. Is there a T-connection with one line being a short section of hose with an on-off valve and the other end not connected to anything? That is the line that you put into the anti-freeze bottle. Turn the value in that line to "open". (I'm doing this from memory: isn't there also a value in the other line, which goes to the fresh-water tank? Close it.) With the short line in your gallon of anti-freeze and the valve on that line "open", start your water pump. Go to the bath and open a tap until you see pink. Close that tap and repeat for each tap. Run the toilet until you see pink. Do the same for each kitchen sink tap.

BEFORE DOING THE ABOVE, you will by-pass the hot water heater. Normally, this is done by turning three values: the cold water line into the heater, the hot water line out of the heater, and a third line that routes cold water to the hot lines without going through the heater. (If you don't do this step you will put anti-freeze into the hot water heater and not through the hot lines.)

My fifth-wheel can be winterized with one gallon of anti-freeze. You might want two gallons on hand, just in case. If not needed, the extra gallon will always keep until next year.

[DutchmenSport]

Don't put RV antifreeze directly into your fresh water tank. Of course every tank is designed different, but most tanks never drain 100%. If there is even 1/8 of an inch of water still on the bottom of the tank, that could translate to 1/4 to 1/2 gallon of water, depending upon the dimensions of your camper. Now you add the RV antifreeze to the tank, and its now diluted. You've just lost the value of winterizing. Don't take that chance.

Pump the pink directly at the on-board water pump and you'll never this problem. Not to mention the work involved and the amount of water needed to flush and rinse and run fresh water in that tank to rid the "pink stuff" out come spring.... ESPECIALLY if it doesn't drain 100% dry!

Don't put RV antifreeze in your water heater either. Drain it, bypass it and let it go. Getting the antifreeze out of the water heater requires a lot of draining and flushing too, especially since there is always some water on the bottom of the tank, unless you vacuum it out.

[Artum_Snowbird]

Never put antifreeze into your fresh water tank or your hot water tank. It's just not the right thing to do.

If there is not a bypass at the water pump so you can put a short hose into a gallon of antifreeze, there should be.

Your water tank should be drained. If you can drive around with your fresh tank drain valve open, it does get out the very last bits.

[rhagfo]

Not a good idea, it will take forever to get the antifreeze out of the tank.

[Dave_H_M]

don't forget the outside shower and the city water hook up. :W

you need to get a kit so you can suck that stuff out of the bottle and not pink up your fresh water tank. :h

[Trackrig]

Yes, but it will probably take more antifreeze than taking it straight from the jug at the pump, but it's cheap.

Don't forget to either blow out your black tank flusher or pump antifreeze into it as no water from your water system goes through it.

Bill