Winterizing Suggestions??

Here is a link to winterizing your RV.

If you want more instructions, google RV winterizing.

I use the antifreeze method; wouldn't try blowing out without someone I trust showing me how. How do you tell when all the water is out? I had a little trouble getting the pump to suck antifreeze out of a jug of antifreeze - had to use a syrup bottle to fill the hose to get it to prime. Finally solved that with a new pump membrane. My water tank is below the pump. I take time to loosen the fitting on the pump so the pipe down to the tank drains. Another approach is to pour the antifreeze into the water tank and pump from there but my pump wouldn't do that.

I'm only 64 and have given up carrying batteries in for the winter and I'm more than a thousand km further north. I disconnect the batteries and check voltages every month. If down from 12.6 even two tenths I put a charger on. Or leave my little maintainer on all the time. Cold doesn't matter unless discharged more than that. It seems batteries store best when fully charged to avoid the dreaded sulphation.

Remove anything mice might like the smell of - the little fellows are good at finding tiny holes.

I park on a bit of a slope so water runs off the flat roof and I use a roof rake to remove snow when it begins to melt.

I have never used a cover but heard it can cause condensation and mold inside, even in walls and ceiling if precautions aren't taken.

This year I changed the oil in the fall instead of spring. The farmers say old oil is a little acidic and can shorten the life of an engine.

Really appreciate the input, assistance, & links that you all took the time to provide. Yes this is the first time I will be looking into storage for the Winter.

I expect that we will be on the road for Thanksgiving & Christmas visiting family & friends. After that the final process will be initiated. The RV came with the hot water system shut off and bypassed, however you prefer to say it. That will help as it will remain closed.

For now I poured some RV antifreeze down each sink and trap to hold them, as we try to use them as little as possible. Put some RV antifreeze to mix with the water holding tank for now to use to flush toilet, etc. We use bottled water & jug water for drinking purposes, etc.

Will add Sta-Bil to gasoline & run generator & engine for awhile. Have to remember to remove batteries from engine & back up dc system, if necessary?? Intend to jack up unit & purchase a RV cover. Have to shop around for that to see where I can find a reasonable cover for the unit?

Should I leave the unit plugged into AC? What's the advantages or trade-offs. Not sure if it will keep the batteries charged and not have to take them out. Your input would be appreciated. Hope this helps! KC

If you are a first timer, taking care of the plumbing even with a list of steps and some video backup is not as easy as it sounds. First time I did it, I left the low point drains open and wasted a whole bottle of antifreeze! Then I could not figure out how to close them as I had forgotten how I opened them--that is they only close in one direction but opening is at a 90 degree angle. This year it went very smoothly so it was just a beginners learning curve.
We have a hot water heater bypass which took me awhile to figure out. I remove the plug on our water heater to drain it. First I closed the bypass valve which is under our stove next to the water heater. Then I make sure the water pump is turned off, open the faucets and open the low point drains. Our low point drains are under the shower, kind of a pain to access.
The suction for ours is next to our water tank. There is a valve that opens the suction hose. Have to have the pump running and the low point drains closed for the suction. When everything is correctly done on ours, it only takes a half bottle of antifreeze to get all the open faucets to run pink stuff. I close them as they start to run pink so that the antifreeze is forced into the other faucets. When that is done, I put a bit of extra pink in the drain traps, and in the toilet.
We also bought a winter cover for ours. Turns out that ours doesn't leak in rain but we did get a leak in the snow and ice. Especially when it was heated inside because I didn't winterize in time. So the cover is an extra layer of protection. I bought ours on Amazon as that is where I found the best price. It is a tent type nylon material that is longer lasting that the tyvec type material. Just put it on this weekend!
I didn't put in Sta-bil but now that I have been reminded I probably will. We try to run the generator every month or so but we are not that great at getting out there to do it.
Just about everything we do to the RV is rewarding for some reason. Guess we just really like the thing.

I store my 'C' and "toad" in a metal building that I own. (3) 12' x 12' doors with openers and gas fired, vented furnaces inside. I got it cheap because the previous owners had unvented gas heaters, so in the winter it "rained" inside, getting their equipment wet. Really just condensation dripping from the metal roof.
Bottom line, I don't have to winterize, so I don't.

Yes, I add Sta-Bil Marine to the fuel tank, fill it and run the engine/generator for about 10 minutes to make sure the treated fuel is in the lines.

There are several sites with information on Winterizing Your RV. Also, check Youtube for videos.

Does anyone fill the gas tank, putting in a fuel stabilizer, then run it through the generator?

you call yourself a senior at the 71? you're just hitting your stride !!

This is what I do:
Empty black/grey/fresh water tanks
Open all the faucets and open the low point drains
Open the hot water pressure relief valve (which will allow the hot water heater to drain)
Clean the motor home inside and out - don't leave food for the mice to enjoy
Remove batteries and store them indoors on a trickle charger.
Switch off propane
Check tire pressure
I also clean the underside of my TT with water to get all the grime/dirt off the chassis and the springs/brakes. I then spray a mixture of MMM/WD40 all over the exposed chassis (You have a motorhome so probably skip this step)
I also take care of any maintenance; like painting any areas that show surface rust.

It usually takes me a whole day but the TT still looks like new - so it's worth it to me.

Gerry

There's really not much to it. The main thing (and it's important) is to get the water out of the plumbing system, both the fresh water system and the holding tanks.

Taking care of the holding tanks is pretty easy—you just dump everything normally. There are a couple of ways of taking care of the fresh water system. First, you drain what you can with the low point drains and tank drain and water heater drain plug. Then you can either use an air compressor hooked up to the water inlet to blow all the water out of the plumbing, opening each faucet and fixture in turn to get all the water out of the lines; or you can pump RV antifreeze through the pipes from bottles. (There is likely a suction fill/winterize port to hook up a hose to that will let you pump the antifreeze in.) In the latter case, you need to bypass the water heater if there is set of bypass valves installed. Theses bypass valves would be near the water heater, and often are hidden under a drawer or cabinet or something.

If the water system is taken care of, you just have to make sure the batteries are fully charged and either disconnect them or have some sort of a float charger or maintainer to keep them charged. (If fully charged, they won't self-discharge too much over the winter when disconnected, but will be discharged quite a bit by sitting with the usual parasitic loads from the motorhome.)

It is, of course, good to clean out any food and anything that might freeze and burst containers, and to make sure all the windows are closed and all the seams caulked weathertight and so forth. It is best to leave a ceiling vent open a bit, which is easy to do if you have a vent cover over one or more of them, for a bit of ventilation. Unless there's a whole lot that piles up, it's not really necessary to worry about snow accumulation on the roof.