Winter Storage

[crazbs]

Hi,
I am about to store my class B camper(1999 Dodge Xplorer)for the winter in Wisconsin. This will be my 3rd winter doing this but the previous 2 winters I have been home. I have stored it covered in my driveway plugged into power and have gone out once a month to start it up, run the generator and move it so the tires can rotate a little. This winter I will be gone for 6 months so I will not be able to do that and it will just be sitting there the whole time. Does anyone have any words of wisdom on the best things to do to prepare for that?

I have already removed everything I can from the camper, drained the water and run antifreeze through the lines, filled the gas tank, added SeaFoam, put mouse deterrent packets around inside, placed mothball cakes in the engine compartment and will be parking it on wood panels so the tires(which will be covered)are not on concrete. Should I remove the batteries (house and engine)? Should I leave it plugged into my house power? Anything extra I should do to the generator (Onan gas generator)? Any help will be appreciated as I am really nervous about leaving it unchecked and untouched over the winter.
Thank you,
Carolyn

[spoon059]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi All,

I bumped into this video on fuel stabilizers:

https://youtu.be/UvS_D4_lF5U

Jeez, I tried to watch but that was painful. Why is he yelling throughout the video? From as much as I could watch, he intentionally added water to it? What is the point of that? If ethanol is hygroscoptic and if he was letting it sit for 9 months why not let it just absorb the water in the air, like it normally would in an engine or tank?

I'm not sure what I was supposed to get out of that video, but I got nothing. I've ruined small engines by leaving regular gas over the winter. I've also not ruined a single engine since using a Stabil or Startron type product that allows you to store fuel for longer periods.

[pianotuna]

Hi All,

I bumped into this video on fuel stabilizers:

https://youtu.be/UvS_D4_lF5U

[pianotuna]

way2roll,

Physical disconnection can't be beat. My RV is switched so there would be no parasitic loads from the "house".

[way2roll]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

What works is to disconnect the batteries and leave them in place.

For fuel I do the last two fillups with premium gas, and add the appropriate amount of Seafoam. I do the same for the generator.

In my case, I do not disconnect the batteries as all are maintained by the solar system. The starter batteries via a Trik-L-Start and the generator battery by a relay that closes when solar reaches 13.5 volts. I have extremely thin wire on the source wire to the relay to limit amperage.

For clarity, I assume you mean physically disconnect the batteries - not relying on the disconnect switch. As we all know, the disconnect switch can often leave a parasitic draw and drain them.

[spoon059]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi spoon059,

I've not used Startron, but Seaform works better for storage for me than Stabil.

I didn't know that. I've used Seafoam in the past on my GM engine that would get carbon buildup. Looking at it, it requires an ounce per gallon? That's $10 for a 16 gallon tank!

Startron is an ounce per 16 gallons. I buy the 32 oz container for $20 that treats 512 gallons.

[pianotuna]

spoon059 wrote:

I'm not sure if Seafoam is a fuel preservative or not, but if you fill the tanks put something in that will preserve the fuel. Stabil fuel or Startron are my preferred options.

Hi spoon059,

I've not used Startron, but Seaform works better for storage for me than Stabil.

[spoon059]

Unless you were driving the vehicle enough for the oils to get hot and the exhaust to burn off liquid, you weren't helping anything and potentially hurting it.

Same with the generator, unless you got it to operating temperature and put it under load for a specified amount of time, you aren't helping it at all.

I'm not sure if Seafoam is a fuel preservative or not, but if you fill the tanks put something in that will preserve the fuel. Stabil fuel or Startron are my preferred options. I've been using Startron in my small engines for about 10 years now with no issues over the winter. If keeps the ethanol from separating and the fuel from going to garbage. I drain the carbs so the fuel doesn't gum up over the winte rtoo.

[Matt_Colie]

Crazbs,

You have most of it right and Pianotuna has a lot right too.

If the disconnected batteries are good, they should only discharge about 1% of their capacity PER MONTH in the cold. If you are worried about that, go find a couple of solar battery keepers that they use in car storage lots. These are cheap and they are about 5 watt and that is plenty to offset the leakage discharge.

I (as an engine professional for multiple decades) am convinced that the "Exercise The Generator" is put up by the people that sell parts for them. I guess it may be good if you can't follow the instructions to drain or at least limit the left over fuel in the carburetor. I have several 40+yo Onans and a Honda near that same age. None get regular exercise and all will start right now if I put fuel in them. (Except for the waiting for a minor repair.) So, find out how to drain the carburetor or at least run it out (draining is better).

Matt

[pianotuna]

Hi,

What works is to disconnect the batteries and leave them in place.

For fuel I do the last two fillups with premium gas, and add the appropriate amount of Seafoam. I do the same for the generator.

In my case, I do not disconnect the batteries as all are maintained by the solar system. The starter batteries via a Trik-L-Start and the generator battery by a relay that closes when solar reaches 13.5 volts. I have extremely thin wire on the source wire to the relay to limit amperage.

[dedmiston]

Grit dog wrote:
No, our trailer has only 1 tank that feeds the generator and hooked to the fuel station.

That's how our old Weekend Warrior was. Our pump never worked very well, so it didn't really matter much. Plus we all rode bikes back then and didn't burn through as much gas as we do now.

Our new(er) hauler is a bigger 45' fifth wheel and we have the two tanks. Luckily the fuel station works great on this one. I just have to remember to loosen the gas cap on the fuel station before I pump any gas out, or else the tank will crush itself like a beer can.

[Grit_dog]

dedmiston wrote:
I love this. We really found your button, didn't we? I wish I had another quarter to drop in your jukebox and watch you sing some more. :B

You funny guy! LOL
I figger it's being helpful, better than saying "that dumb, this not" without any context.

No, our trailer has only 1 tank that feeds the generator and hooked to the fuel station.

[dedmiston]

BTW - Do you have separate fuel tanks on your hauler for the fuel station and the gen? Have you ran the gen down too far yet and had to pump it from one tank to the other?

[dedmiston]

I love this. We really found your button, didn't we? I wish I had another quarter to drop in your jukebox and watch you sing some more. :B

And for the fire starter, I try not to use gas very often because it just goes "boom" and blows your firewood out of the ring. I keep a jug of old diesel in the bed of the truck and use that at camp. It's hard to light if it's really cold out, but once it's lit, hooo doggie that's a good fire. No need for crumpled up newspaper.

[Grit_dog]

dedmiston wrote:
But my fires are awesome.

That right there is worth something!!

I don't have any old gas to burn, so unless I start the fire like a Boy Scout, it's propane bottle and tiger torch for me!

I also seen the after affects of likely massive evaporation and the resulting varnish and fuel degradation.
The ole new to us 2017 toy hauler had what was apparently just enough gas left in the tank to run the generator but not enough to pump any out through the fuel station hose.
To the extent I KNEW the gas had to be 4 years old, the PO swore the generator was LP fired as he never put gas in the fuel station (according to him and the generator only had 8 hours on it and he swore that 5 or 6 of those hours had to be from the dealer when he had it worked on in 2017 or 2018). But he said if he started the generator it wouldn't start without the propane tuned on, LOL. After de-bunking his theory and taking one sniff of the tank, it was nasty.
I've said it before idk how that genny even started.

First thing i did was dump in 5 gal of cheap 87 octane and take a drive around the block to slosh it around. Only Got about 3 gal back out of the fuel station hose, it was that low on gas.
What came back out looked worse than your first p!ss after a hard night of drinking and you're dehydrated! (And may have smelled similar....lol)
After that I dumped in 10 gal of AV gas and let the genny run for a while.
The filled it up full before vacation. Only used about 20 gallons of the gas this summer. Yet in about 4 months, the 10 gal of sweet smelling blue AVgas and the 20 gal of 92 non ethanol, came back out smelling like old gas, again, and pretty yellow, less than a bad hangover, bout like working in the sun for a few hours with no water breaks!

For the winter I dumped in another 5ver of AV gas and put the cover on it.

Couple key points:
If the PO of my camper had 20-30 gal of old gas in it, there would probably been alot more varnish in the tank, but I could have started like 10 kick @ss bon fires!
If he had kept the gas relatively fresh in it, well, I just got lucky that I didn't have to pull the carb and clean it out.