Need to Winterize in TX?

Bigbird65 wrote:
It is supposed to get down to 20 degrees tomorrow night in Arlington. Don't take a chance. Winterize! If you have an air compressor with an adjustable pressure regulator and a fitting for the city water supply the cost of a gallon of the pink stuff is insignificant. If you are slow it should take less than an hour.

This is a repeat of some of the steps above but this is the way I do it. I use the air compressor method. Essentially this involves: draining the 3 tanks, run the water pump dry, open the low point drains, drain the water heater, bypass the water heater, put 35 psi air on the city water inlet, and open each faucet in turn to blow out until you only get air. Blow out the toilet water supply. Blow out the black tank blow down line.

Leave the low point drains open until spring. Reinstall the water heater lower plug after it has been drained. Put some pink stuff (RV anti-freeze available at Wal-Mart) in the sink drains and enough in the shower drain to get it into the gray tank discharge valve. Also put some pink stuff in the toilet and flush to get it into the black tank discharge valve. Leave a little pink stuff in the toilet. Next spring or your next camping trip redo the heater bypass back to normal and close the low point drains.

is your compressor oil free?
bumpy

It is supposed to get down to 20 degrees tomorrow night in Arlington. Don't take a chance. Winterize! If you have an air compressor with an adjustable pressure regulator and a fitting for the city water supply the cost of a gallon of the pink stuff is insignificant. If you are slow it should take less than an hour.

This is a repeat of some of the steps above but this is the way I do it. I use the air compressor method. Essentially this involves: draining the 3 tanks, run the water pump dry, open the low point drains, drain the water heater, bypass the water heater, put 35 psi air on the city water inlet, and open each faucet in turn to blow out until you only get air. Blow out the toilet water supply. Blow out the black tank blow down line.

Leave the low point drains open until spring. Reinstall the water heater lower plug after it has been drained. Put some pink stuff (RV anti-freeze available at Wal-Mart) in the sink drains and enough in the shower drain to get it into the gray tank discharge valve. Also put some pink stuff in the toilet and flush to get it into the black tank discharge valve. Leave a little pink stuff in the toilet. Next spring or your next camping trip redo the heater bypass back to normal and close the low point drains.

proxim2020 wrote:
If there's not one, they're pretty cheap and fairly easy to add.

the "ease" depends on the layout of the rV. I could not get to the input side of the pump without major surgery so put it on the output side and pump AF thru with a boat bilge pump.
bumpy

rodwha wrote:
If the lines have been blown why is antifreeze necessary?

And what of the fresh water lines/tank? How do you ensure this is cleaned properly before use?

When blowing out the lines you run the risk of water getting trapped and never draining completely. Some run antifreeze through the lines afterwards to displace what little water, if any, that remains. It's kind of like cheap insurance.

Don't bother putting the pink stuff in the fresh water tank. Just drain the tank the best you can. The little bit that remains won't cause any problems. Run the pump to clear the lines that run from the tank. If you would like to add antifreeze, check to see if your trailer has a winterizing kit installed. You can use this to pump antifreeze throughout the lines without having to dump it into the tank. If there's not one, they're pretty cheap and fairly easy to add.

I live in Leander, I blew lines, and put the pink in the traps, That's all I have ever done, never an issue, 20 minutes and $5.00 is well worth it to me. We are loading up for a 10 day right after Xmas. Coastal

I'm just a bit North of Houston and it gets colder where you are than here. The main thing is how long will it be below freezing? If just a couple of hours, I wouldn't worry about it. If it is going to be more than a day, or two, take the appropriate action.

My Jayco was winterized, pink stuff and all, the first winter I had it. Since then, never in the past 13 years. All I do is open all the cabinets, closets, drawers, etc. and turn an electric space heater on the inside.

For the couple of hours forecast below freezing later this week, I plan to do nothing. If it freezes longer, I will use the space heater.

For me it's just easier to set the furnace thermostat on 50 and let it do it's thing. Doesn't use much propane and is very easy. It's not like up north where it gets below zero for 4 months. You're usually just talking about a few night a year.

My trailer sits in the driveway. If it was in a storage lot I guess I'd have to winterize one way or another. I think folks are about 50/50 for anti-freeze vs blow the lines.

If the lines have been blown why is antifreeze necessary?

And what of the fresh water lines/tank? How do you ensure this is cleaned properly before use?

You will really wish you had spent the hour or so winterizing if a line freezes and breaks. Because you know that the break will be in the most inaccessible spot in your camper and you won't know until you are set up at your campsite and someone asks, "Is water supposed to be coming out there?"
Now I may winterize and dewinterize 2 or 3 times a year.

Since you're going to be using the trailer over the winter then draining and blowing out the lines will be the quickest way to winterize / de-winterize. There's no need to flush out the pink stuff out of the lines which saves time. Our hard freezes generally don't last very long and we don't get them often so blowing out the line should be good enough for down here. Just remember to get the outside connections like the outdoor shower and outdoor kitchen if you have them. Don't forget to put some antifreeze in the traps and drop some in the holding tanks just for good measure.