Last fall, I winterized my TT by pouring in vodka, letting that run through fixtures... then blew the lines out with an air compressor. Any water at low points would have some ethyl alcohol in it, lowering the freeze point and turning it into a slush first.Well, after one of the worst Texas winters since 1997, I dumped the bleach mixture in, filled the FW tank up, hit the switch on the water pump, and it started going, then stopped. After waiting a bit to hear for prolonged "burrup" noises, it appears that the plumbing is intact. After finishing up the sanitizing cycle (including bleach water in both tanks and rinsing everything out), looks like I got off lucky.Morale of the story. My method of winterizing seems to have worked, assuming I don't have any hairline cracks in plumbing buried deep somewhere that are leaking slowly.

How much Vodka did you use? Wouldn't RV Antifreeze be cheaper?I know it doesn't taste as good.......

Was the vodka cheaper than the antifreeze? Or were you trying to stop drinking?

Strangely enough, I got the vodka at a discount, so it was cheaper than RV antifreeze.I have a few marine friends who did this, and was also curious how this would hold up in a RV scenario.

If you can buy vodka cheaper than RV antifreeze I sure wouldn't want to drink it :).

We got off lucky too. We did nothing but drain the tanks and the water heater. After all, how much winter does central Texas normally get? NOT MUCH! Anyway, this winter was surprising and we had many nights in the teens with some days not getting out of the 20's. Heck we even had our sprinkler system at the house bust this year and that has never happened. Drove up in the driveway to a lake which I could have sold tickets for ice skating the next day. Uncommon for sure. Glad we didn't have any leaks in the FW. None that were evident on our last camping trip anyway. No doubt we were lucky and we will definitely not risk it next year. Hopefully before winter, our new shop/FW garage will be built and it will be kept completely out of the elements and above freezing temps.

Dewinterizing results... | Good Sam Community

jjjandrbaker
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
I went camping with friends at Kerrville Schreiner Park over that really cold weekend where it stayed in the twenties a few days in January. It even got down to 16 one of the nights for about three hours. My camper was fully winterized, but two of the others weren't. At about 10:30 the first night, one of my buddies asked me to come over and help him figure out his water pressure problem. His wife was trying to shower and there wasn't enough pressure. His pipes were starting to freeze up. By morning, his regulator and water filter had both exploded. I would rather do without on-board plumbing until late February and not risk any damages. The Colby T is too important to me.
mlts22
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
One other thing which likely saved my black/grey tanks from cracking: I think both the alcohol which fell into the tank, as well as some soapy water (to keep the sides of the black tank slick) kept the freeze point low enough that the mid-20s temperatures didn't crack the drain valves of the waste tanks... and when looking under my trailer, I noticed that they are exposed to the wind, so if anything got to ambient temperature, those tanks were.
wbwood
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
gbopp wrote:
How much Vodka did you use? Wouldn't RV Antifreeze be cheaper?
I know it doesn't taste as good.......

That's what I was thinking. Lol
2-MTnesters
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
Vodka for less than $5 per gallon? Bet that's some REALLY good stuff! Pretty sure it's not nearly as tasty as my 6X distilled Titos......
Heavy_Metal_Doc
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
The vodka idea was recommended by a dealer we worked with a few years ago. He said you can get cheap stuff for less than RV antifreeze. I never did it, though......
2112
Explorer II
Apr 06, 2014
I was right there with you. Living on the coast I am never concerned about freezing. Maybe 6 hours below freezing at night is the worst we usually see. I drain my lines at the low point drain and don't worry about the tanks. I was a nervous wreck this winter worrying about the camper. Fortunately it all worked out and no leaks so far.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Apr 06, 2014
:h OK so tell us where you can buy Vodka for less than the cost of RV antifreeze. I am ready to get in line there.
pompomgirl
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
We keep remembering the winter we had snow in May and so aren't dewinterizing yet until we are close to actually going somewhere. Here the traditional wisdom is ... don't put your parka away until after July 4. And I've been on Coast Guard Auxiliary patrol at Seafair, which is the first week in August, wearing the damn thing.
MitchF150
Explorer III
Apr 06, 2014
I don't think you needed to sanitize with bleach after using the vodka?? But, whatever works for you! :)

Interesting concept!

Mitch
ddschuman
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
We recently went camping at Inks Lake (Burnett, TX) and met some camp host that were wintering here from Colorado. It was their first visit to the park and also as camp host in the area. They questioned us if this winter was normal for the area? Uh, NO! Very unusually for this part of Texas. While I am not complaining because we probably needed it to hopefully cut down on grasshoppers and crickets, it was different. Again, I am very thankful that we didn't have any leaks in the FW.

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