winterizing trailer but still using it in winter.

kardar2 wrote:
Hello All,
so okay so I know how to winterizing the trailer BUTTTT. I have it out on property and go out there just about every weekend. It is a pain to have blow out the lines before we leave. So I was thinking and please tell me what you think. When I go out to the property I hook up to city water. (I don't use fresh water tank) so I was thinking if I was to put antifreeze in the fresh water tank and before I leave turn off the city water and turn on the pump and pump antifreeze through system.the pump won't let antifreeze by. Then when I come back to the trailer I can hook up city water an flush out the antifreeze.would this work.I do realize you can buy the hand pump but if I do that I might as well just blow them out with air.. Thanks

I'd do this in a heartbeat if I lived where you are and used the trailer on the weekends. The weather doesn't look like it gets cold enough to gel the antifreeze except in rare circumstances.

Much easier and quicker than carrying around all the pink jugs and fussing with hoses and pumps. You will know real quick if the check valve is leaking because your tank will overflow.

You will need a hand pump to flush the city water line to the nearest drain though.

sperduton wrote:
I go winter camping and like to have running water and hot showers and not lug jugs of water around.
So sometimes I'll winterize a few times a winter. My camper has a winterizing kit at the water pump. So when done camping for the weekend. I drain the hot water heater, then take the hose from my winterize kit, stick it in a bucket that has a couple gallons of antifreeze, flip the hot water heater bypass and flip the water pump on pump the pink stuff through all the lines...Then take the left over pink and put it in the traps and tanks and all done. Takes maybe 15 minutes total.
Actually it's snowing where I am at right now and I'm leaving for camping tomorrow.

I don't think life will allow any trips this winter, but this is what I did last year, which was our first year owning a TT. I don't have an on-board winterization kit, but my pump did come setup with the quick change connectors, so I just left the pump access panel loose and winterized each time I closed up at the end of a stay. Even in the worst / coldest campout, it took just a few extra minutes in the campground (with a nice blanket of snow on the ground, I might add) to drain the water heater while packing up other gear / hooking up the TV and then pump the pink through and off we went.

kardar2 wrote:
Hello All,
so okay so I know how to winterizing the trailer BUTTTT. I have it out on property and go out there just about every weekend. It is a pain to have blow out the lines before we leave. So I was thinking and please tell me what you think. When I go out to the property I hook up to city water. (I don't use fresh water tank) so I was thinking if I was to put antifreeze in the fresh water tank and before I leave turn off the city water and turn on the pump and pump antifreeze through system.the pump won't let antifreeze by. Then when I come back to the trailer I can hook up city water an flush out the antifreeze.would this work.I do realize you can buy the hand pump but if I do that I might as well just blow them out with air.. Thanks

I see all kinds of answers, but nowhere does the OP or others say what the day temperature gets up to and night time temperatures get down to. Without that information all answers are sort of meaningless.

kardar2 wrote:
Humm never put antifreeze in fresh tank but you put it in your water lines, it is all plastic. So what the difference? Just curious.

You can flush the lines easily but most fresh tanks cannot be completely emptied or flushed. You will have trouble getting it all out.

RoyB wrote:
We use the blow out methed in our small water system... Drain the fresh water tank and other things using the low point drain. Opening both sink spigots when draining.. Then use our 12VDC tankless air compressor at the city water connection using an air adapter. This blows out all of the water in the lines down the sink drain. Then I add just a tad of the pink stuff at the P-trap.


Pretty much our popup trailer water flow system


Tankless type air compressor is slow to come up to pressure which is perfect for this app...

We always carry our own drinking and cooking water water - Fresh made bean coffee requires same water for best taste results...

We can reuse our water system by just adding water to the fresh water tank...

Granted we are not in a heavy freeze area but does freeze at nights around here but most often warms up the next day...

Roy Ken

yeah this what we been doing. I will just staY with with. It is cheaper too. Thanks

Opps

I go winter camping and like to have running water and hot showers and not lug jugs of water around.
So sometimes I'll winterize a few times a winter. My camper has a winterizing kit at the water pump. So when done camping for the weekend. I drain the hot water heater, then take the hose from my winterize kit, stick it in a bucket that has a couple gallons of antifreeze, flip the hot water heater bypass and flip the water pump on pump the pink stuff through all the lines...Then take the left over pink and put it in the traps and tanks and all done. Takes maybe 15 minutes total.
Actually it's snowing where I am at right now and I'm leaving for camping tomorrow.

We use the blow out methed in our small water system... Drain the fresh water tank and other things using the low point drain. Opening both sink spigots when draining.. Then use our 12VDC tankless air compressor at the city water connection using an air adapter. This blows out all of the water in the lines down the sink drain. Then I add just a tad of the pink stuff at the P-trap.


Pretty much our popup trailer water flow system


Tankless type air compressor is slow to come up to pressure which is perfect for this app...

We always carry our own drinking and cooking water water - Fresh made bean coffee requires same water for best taste results...

We can reuse our water system by just adding water to the fresh water tank...

Granted we are not in a heavy freeze area but does freeze at nights around here but most often warms up the next day...

Roy Ken

Yeah its a bit extravagant to put 10/whatever gallons of pink stuff in the tank and yeah it takes 3 or more good rinses to get it out, but I find the "never ever do that" comments to be extreme and dismissive of the OPs idea.

C-Bears wrote:
I have never understood why many RVers are freaked about putting RV pink in their fresh water tanks. The best/easiest way to winterize a large boat is to dump 15 - 20 gallons in the fresh water tank, turn on water pump, let is run to all your sinks until pink, flush toilet until pink....you are now done winterizing your water system. Of course that is after you empty and bypass the hot water heater.

The only downside is in the spring you have to completely flush the fresh water tank 3 or 4 times to get all traces of pink out.

I'm with you C-Bears. I mean it's food grade material, AND one doesn't need to pump the water out to rinse; simply open the drain valve on the bottom of the tank to drain it.