De-winterizng an RV
Just got a used RV. It has been in storage for sometime and all water was blown out and then everything shut down for the winter. There is some red stuff in the toilet. That is what I know. Can som...
Forum Discussion
About sanitizing -
It is something you should do at least once a year, when first dewinterizing. And perhaps again after any period of a couple of months or more of not using. Nothing that grows in the system will make you sick, but can produce "musty" tasting water, or give a rotten egg smell to it.
Traditional is to use 1/4 cup of bleach to each 15 gal of water your fresh tank can hold. Use only plain bleach - no color laundry or smell enhancers, or other additives. Premix the bleach in a gallon of water to weaken it, before adding to your tank. How to depends on your trailer - some have an outside port that you can just pour it in (and then use a hose to fill the tank). Use the water pump to have the bleach water come out of every fixture and faucet. Make sure to also do the same for outside shower/water spigots, the toilet, shower, as well as the low point drains. Yes, you should fill your hot water heater with the bleach water too.
Some will warn about corrosion of the aluminum tank, but the concentration is very low AND it won't be in there all that long. But the heater is one of the best places to grow things. Let it all sit for 4-6 hrs.
Drain your fresh tank, and pull the plug on the heater to drain it. Open your low point drains to drain all the piping. Yes, it is safe to just dump on the lawn, it will not hurt grass/plants at all, and dissipates rapidly.
Fill your fresh tank again, and run clean water through everything to flush any remainder out.
It is something you should do at least once a year, when first dewinterizing. And perhaps again after any period of a couple of months or more of not using. Nothing that grows in the system will make you sick, but can produce "musty" tasting water, or give a rotten egg smell to it.
Traditional is to use 1/4 cup of bleach to each 15 gal of water your fresh tank can hold. Use only plain bleach - no color laundry or smell enhancers, or other additives. Premix the bleach in a gallon of water to weaken it, before adding to your tank. How to depends on your trailer - some have an outside port that you can just pour it in (and then use a hose to fill the tank). Use the water pump to have the bleach water come out of every fixture and faucet. Make sure to also do the same for outside shower/water spigots, the toilet, shower, as well as the low point drains. Yes, you should fill your hot water heater with the bleach water too.
Some will warn about corrosion of the aluminum tank, but the concentration is very low AND it won't be in there all that long. But the heater is one of the best places to grow things. Let it all sit for 4-6 hrs.
Drain your fresh tank, and pull the plug on the heater to drain it. Open your low point drains to drain all the piping. Yes, it is safe to just dump on the lawn, it will not hurt grass/plants at all, and dissipates rapidly.
Fill your fresh tank again, and run clean water through everything to flush any remainder out.
