B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[burlmart]

we just got our 1st Rv, a trail lite b+ 213 fromn Blanchards here in baton rouge.

took it to lake lincoln sp in ms for 1st weekend, and just returned from 8 days w/ stays in tishomingo sp, ms; timms ford sp. tn; fall creek falls sp, tn; and lake okitibbee water park, ms.

love it. waited too long to get one!

[TonyTiger]

I winterize with about 4 gallon jugs of antifreeze total. Drain the entire system including the water heater. Bypass the water heater. Put 2 gallons in the fresh tank. Run the pump and faucets until antifreeze shows up. Use the other jugs for all of the drains and holding tanks.
In the Spring, I use a pump and plastic hose to clear out the fresh tank, fill with fresh water and flush the lines. Drain the tanks again. Fill with water and sanitizer tab. Let stand for the presecribed time. Drain again. Fill and flush with fresh water two more times. Drain and fill. Open water heater. Run hot lines. Top off fresh tank and ready to go.

[Reno_3]

AJ I do use the "Pink" antifreeze but I pump it straight out of the bottle through the lines (of course after draining all the water out of the lines and tanks and using the by pass valve on the hot water heater and then draining the heater) But have always been told to not under any circumstance put it in the water tank even tho its not toxic) If you pour it into the water tank it'd take a ton of antifreeze to get it back into the lines and also if you don't by pass the hot water heater then you're talking another 6 or 10 gallons of antifreeze to fill that up.

[cheeze1]

Sue, I have plugged my unit into the house, set the thermostat for the lowest temp I can above freezing, and so far no problems. I would have a concern about an electric unit heater running in the rv overnite with no one checking it.
Pink antifreeze seems to work quite well, and flushing it out is not as big a deal as I expected.

[AJarand]

Won't the anti freeze polute your fresh water tank?? Your water tank will retain the odor of the antifreeze for like "ever" Or else it'll take a lot of work to santitize it again. Rule of thumb is never put antifreeze in the water tank.

You don't use regular anti-freeze... There is a special pink antifreeze for RV and boat water systems. It is not toxic. You can get it anywhere they sell camping supplies, Wallmart, home centers etc. Cost is about 2 bucks or so a gallon...
We winter camp when the weather in Illinois is decent.. When we get home, we just drain the system down, pour a couple of gallons in the fresh tank and run all faucets till the pink color shows up.
Next time out, flush water through till the pink is gone.
Whole process takes just a few minutes..
You should also turn on the water heater bypass and drain the water heater. It seems the anti-freeze is not good for the water heater for extened periods.

[kyotesue]

You have all been SO helpful! Thanks. I will open the faucets, make sure the pumps are off, and plug in the mo'home and run a small electric heater. If I were plugged in and had plenty of propane couldn't I just set the thermostat for 55 degrees or something and let that do it when it gets too cold? Klamath Falls is warm and springlike during the day but still gets early morning low temperatures into May. ANother really funny thing, however, is that I live in an area with geothermal heat (my house is heated with it) and the pipes go under my driveway. Plants grow there that won't grow anywhere else in the basin. I'll park the motorhome over the pipes!

For some reason the home didn't come with an overall manual, so I will have to track down winterizing procedures sometime before next winter. I have written Dynamax, but as someone here said earlier, they no longer make my model, so I am not sure if I will be able to track anything down.

Winterizing seems pretty straightforward. Drain everything and open everything! We did learn how to do that.

[Reno_3]

Won't the anti freeze polute your fresh water tank?? Your water tank will retain the odor of the antifreeze for like "ever" Or else it'll take a lot of work to santitize it again. Rule of thumb is never put antifreeze in the water tank.

[Gene_in_NE]

kyotesue - I reread your posting of 3/16/05 and concluded that the dealer winterized the unit and then you bought it, filled the tanks and drove it home. It might be a little risky to not do anything if it gets down to 25 degrees. I don't really know how cold it has to get before water freezes solid and breaks things. At 32 degrees it gets slushy. If it gets cold enough and breaks lines and cracks the water heater - you have big trouble.

You could follow TonyTiger's advice and put in an electric heater for those 1 or 2 nights when it gets that cold. I think he also added the pink RV antifreeze which might not be necessary with added heat.

Alternately, could drain the water heater and blow the lines as Cowboy66 suggests. This is not a major job. You can buy the simple adapter for an air line that screws in to the water fill connection. Just remember to keep at least one faucet open at all times. You can rupture water lines with frozen water or high pressure air.

[TonyTiger]

kyotesue-
We had a 98 or 99 Starflyte for 4 years before the Trail-Lite. One technique I used with success will ONLY work if you don't drink the water, brush your teeth with the water and don't cook with the water. I added a small quantity (1 gal) of anti freeze to half a tank of fresh water and ran it through the lines to fill them. I added another half of a gallon of antifreeze to each grey and black water tank. On predicted cold nights I would put a small electric heater in the coach set to keep it around 50-55 degrees. I opened the cabinet door where the water heater was so that the heat could get to it and opened the dinette seat cover so the fresh water could be warmed.
You will love the V-10. My wife said I drove it like a performance car on the turnpike. Our Trail Lite has the Chevy 6 liter, but the new Four Winds Siesta we ordered is back to the V-10. Just remember to check the oil level frequently in the V-10. It has a tendency to use oil. If you smell 'burning grass' and think the pine barrens are on fire, stop and check the oil.

[cheeze1]

Hi Sue, we are new to camping in general, but took the plunge to buy our vehicle and have loved it so far.
Our second trip, this past Xmas vacation was a 'baptism by ice' since we went to Maryland and had temps of 12-18 degrees! The only thing that froze were the dump valves, but some persistent application of 'hot water bottles' to the area eventually allowed them to open.
If your vehicle has all of the plumbing lines inside, and you can keep the vehicle interior well above freezing, you might be fine. We managed to get thru a bad spell where I neglected to winterize, and then couldn't until the weather got better. Everything was fine.

[Cowboy_66]

Hi Sue:
You are still cold at 25 but if you drain all the lines and blow them out you maybe fine. But still taking a chance. What do you think guys.
Good luck with the new Dynamax have a great time.
Gene

[kyotesue]

Hi there
I am learning a lot by reading this thread. Even though I came in long after Daniel C left, I too, appreciated all he wrote.

Just wanted to say that we finally bought the Dynamax Starflyte last weekend, 21 feet long, on a Ford 350 V10. Driving home down I-5 in Oregon was incredible, since that V10 just cruised along passing up all the semis on the passes. Nice.

A question. I am trying to find information about just how far I can go without winterizing again. The dealer cleared everything out for us, and now we are home where there may be cold night temperatures, but not really much below 25 degrees and only for a short period at a time. I am hoping we don't have to winterize again since we are planning on taking her on a trip in early April.

Thanks again for all the knowledge you share
Sue

[cheeze1]

Glad you are back Reno! For two reasons, just that you are back, and that I would love to know more about camping in the Adirondacks!
We stayed at Camp Sagamore a few years ago, and the smell of balsam was incredible!

[Reno_3]

Hi, Glad to find this thread again. Read it faithfully a while ago and then lost it. Brousing tonight I found it again. To make this short we bought a used Trail Lite 211 last May a 2003 model on the Chevy 1 ton chasis. Did n't get to use it too much last year but hope to head for Yellowstone with it in June. We like to camp in the Adirondacks and the big MH is just that tooo big to get into the DEC parks so for what we want it for the 211 is just the right size for the 2 of us and the dog. Hope to continue monitoring the thread and maybe picking up some knowledge. Thanks to all.

[Cowboy_66]

Cheeze 1- Yes we went to Mountain View for the first time last fall. We had a great time going to the folk center and spending time on the square listening to the music we cant wate to go back this spring. We just moved to Hot Springs Village AR. about a year ago. After full time in the RV for three years. We just love AR. it is a pritty state with many great state parks.