Sort-a winterize

[retiredtraveler]

My wife and own a 1998 HR Endeavor DP. The tanks appear to be insulated. Now that we are retired we plan not to see the snow that invades CT every year. We are planning to go south for the winter.
Question is this: We are bringing Mother-in-law to Europe for a couple of weeks in November. It generally gets into the 20's or lower here at that time. Of course we will dump the tanks, but can I just drain the low system drain and put antifreeze in the drains and let the outlets be open and pour a bit of anti freeze in the drains?
I do have an air compressor but it gives out a lot of air pressure when needed but very low volume. Do I need to buy an air tank to get some volume to blow out the system?
Any replies are appreciated.
Keld

[wny_pat1]

Is it at home where you have power?? If it was, I'd put a 60 watt old fashion light bult or little heater in the utility bay, and a ceramic heater in the coach. Leave your sink and bathroom sink cabinet doors open and blow her out like you described. That is what I do every year, and I get a cold as your area does.

[PeppyPilot]

Winterize. We never blow air - chance of damage. Sucking the pink stuff thru the whole system (hot water drained and bypassed) will push all the water out and you're good. Takes 15 minutes or so and less than $10 for the pink.

Been doing this for 10 years in Chicago winters and water system as tight as ever.

[mtrumpet]

cbr46 wrote:
Do ALL mohos have water line drains separate from tank drain? 02 Fleetwood Terra

Before I go crawling around down under I'd like to know chances of finding such drains. I can drain the FW tank but not sure if that will drain the lines (and HW tank also).

I'll be using mine throughout the winter, probably every other weekend. And yes, it can easily get to 20F in GA.

Best,
- c bob

Most motorhomes (that I know of) have Low Point Drains. That is not the same as the FW drain. You should see two lines each with their own shut off valve somewhere in the vacinity of your plumbing bay. They will exit out of the bottom of the MH somewhere. Keep in mind that they just generally drain the system, but not completely. You still will have water in your drains, Ice Maker, Clothers washer etc. Also don't forget to pull the plug on your water heater tank as well. Always best to run some (low psi)compressed air through the system after draining too. You'll be surprised as to how much extra water will exit.

[cbr46]

Do ALL mohos have water line drains separate from tank drain? 02 Fleetwood Terra

Before I go crawling around down under I'd like to know chances of finding such drains. I can drain the FW tank but not sure if that will drain the lines (and HW tank also).

I'll be using mine throughout the winter, probably every other weekend. And yes, it can easily get to 20F in GA.

Best,
- c bob

[Rich_D_]

Keld,
The temperatures in CT do get cold in November but a really hard freeze won't come until later. If you have access to dependable electric power, I'd run a couple of good quality portable electric heaters, one inside and one in the bay area. If you have built in electric heaters, all the better. In NW CT I did this for a few Novembers, waiting for Thanksgiving to head south. If reliable power is not available, do a full winterizing. Don't rely on a "partial" winterizing". Always better to be safe than sorry. Winterizing is cheap, plumbing repairs are not.

[bucket1]

bsinmich I don't think the rv antifreeze will hurt the ice maker. I just pump it through all the plumbing because its fast and I don't have to take any lines apart.I wasn't too worried about the ice maker itself more because of the line outside that feeds it. I made up a short extension cord with spades on it to clip on the 120v solenoid, takes about 30 seconds to hook up ,then just plug in for ten seconds and let the antifreeze fill the tray.

[retiredtraveler]

I do thank all for the responses. Right now the coach is at the dealer for a new starter (Ouch) but we hope to have it back tomorrow and I'll spend some time reading the manuals.
Again, thanks all
Keld

[bsinmich]

bucket1 wrote:
The last thing i do is jump out the ice maker solenoid {120 volt} and it will pump the antifreeze through the ice maker. I don't have to mess with anything else and it only takes about 15 minutes.

I disconnected and drasined my water supply to the ice maker. Stop and think about this. Why are you concerned about the icemaker freezing? Isn't that normal? There is also the possibility the antifreeze will remove the coating from the icemaker and cause more problems in the future.

[APRSRVer]

Besides opening drain valves, pull anode out of hot water heater. Then cycle fresh water pump to clear it and step on toilet fill valve to get air into it. Open shower head valve and lay it down.
RV antifreeze in all traps with enough to get into grey water tank/s and some down toilet hole for black water tank.

[rockhillmanor]

Sort-a winterize

Oh My!
Sort-a-winterize is like being sorta pregnant! :B

Seriously broken water lines is not a cheap adventure. Fully winterize it will take you about the same time as doing only part of it.

IMHO I would never take the chance of even on broken water line. Way too many low points in the water system that you don't even know where they are at. Just saying.

[bucket1]

On my 98 endeaver there is a water by pass for the hot water heater. I just switch it over and pull the tank plug and let the tank drain. Then open low point drains in the water bay. After that , there is a short hose sticking out of the bottom of the water bay, which has a short fitting on it. I just take a piece of hose and push it on it and stick the other end in a bottle of rv antifreeze. turn on the pump and open the faucets, hot and cold one at a time . I think i use 2 gallons. The last thing i do is jump out the ice maker solenoid {120 volt} and it will pump the antifreeze through the ice maker. I don't have to mess with anything else and it only takes about 15 minutes.

[JimM68]

Insulation only helps when the heat is on, and I would not trust the heat to stay on for 2 weeks unattended.
Winterize.

[Argosy24]

Volume is more important than pressure when blowing out lines. You should regulate pressure down to prevent damage, volume is what moves the water out of the lines.

Is your water pump convenient to work on? I can take the tube off the inlet of mine and use one of the flexible hook up lines to draw antifreeze from the jug. With the water heater bypassed it only takes a gallon and 15 minutes.

As I normally drain the lines, blow the lines, fill with antifreeze and blow the lines again I would consider just filling with antifreeze sorta winterized, but good enough for that time of year.

[Community Alumni]

You can't 'sort of' winterise, you either winterise or not. Too much at risk not to in my opinion.