Where should you dewinterize?

[JerseyB1G]

Newbi here...should I dewinterize at home and have flushed water drain into both black and gray tanks? Or....should I wait until first camping trip of Spring season and just hook up city line at campground and drain tanks to sites sewer hookup?

[rbpru]

I flush the water lines when I leave home and fill the fresh tank from the garden hose. The antifreeze stays in the tanks till we dump when we leave the campground.

I never leave the black or gray tanks empty, after dumping I add about 5 gallons to them to keep any debris from drying out.

My fresh tank is always 2/3 full, you never know what the water at the next campground will be like. We also use a lot of electric only sights.

[mobeewan]

I've driven with fw, black and grey tanks at various levels. The total weight of the contents of each tank at any level is insignificant compared to the total weight of the trailer, plus the tanks are at the lowest point of the trailer. Sloshing tanks will not add any significant amount to trailer sway. Now if the tanks were a lot larger and located above the center of gravity you might have a problem. But they would need to be very large.

[BB_TX]

We always travel with fresh water tank about 1/2 full to use the bathroom while on the road. Rather use that than a public restroom. Not a problem.
Almost always dump waste tanks before leaving a campground just so as to not carry the extra weight, not because I think that would be a problem.

[Lynnmor]

JerseyB1G wrote:
Thanks all! Seems like everyone does at home and appears you don’t need a whole lot of water to get it done. Now I have one other question....I read another blog warning about making sure your fresh tank is either completely full or completely empty. Basically it warned that you don’t want a half tank while traveling on the road since it could swish around and cause trailer sway. So going back to dewinterizing...am I safe draining the few gallons of water into black and gray tanks and then towing with this until I can dump at first CG of season? From what I gather I’m thinking it’s fine because it’s not a lot of water. I’m thinking the other blog was focusing on the fresh water tank because a half full tank could weight a lot.

You should be able to have any amount of water in any tank. If that proves to be a problem, you have a mismatched combination of tow vehicle and trailer.

[JerseyB1G]

Thanks all! Seems like everyone does at home and appears you don’t need a whole lot of water to get it done. Now I have one other question....I read another blog warning about making sure your fresh tank is either completely full or completely empty. Basically it warned that you don’t want a half tank while traveling on the road since it could swish around and cause trailer sway. So going back to dewinterizing...am I safe draining the few gallons of water into black and gray tanks and then towing with this until I can dump at first CG of season? From what I gather I’m thinking it’s fine because it’s not a lot of water. I’m thinking the other blog was focusing on the fresh water tank because a half full tank could weight a lot.

[DutchmenSport]

I've done it both ways, at home and at the campground. We started using the camper in the driveway this year before we had any trips planned out. So I de-winterized at home this year. Caught it in my blue tote and down the septic tank.

In the past, we've dewinterized on our annual pilgrimage to Florida in the December, and then in South Carolina in March (again) at the campgrounds. And then winterize coming back North before hitting the freeze zone again.

FYI, the Pink Stuff antifreeze is potable, meaning you can drink it and won't hurt you. So, if it gets dumped on the ground or in a septic tank, it really doesn't matter. It won't hurt anything and it's not considered bio-hazard, like automobile antifreeze or motor oil.

[RoyB]

Ahhh the beauty of being a RV Camper verses the RV Traveler and having a small POPUP trailer.... I drain my water system at the low water point when it gets cold. I open the hot water water spigot while draining the fresh water tank and this also drains down my hot hot water heater leaving only a couple of inches of water in the bottom of it.

Then I hook up my portable 12V Air Compressor to the city water port and blow out my one or two water water lines down the sink. Then I add a tad of the pink stuff to one P trap I have. Takes only a few minutes with the longest part being draining the fresh water tank on the ground under the trailer.

I capture my sink water in two containers and when one gets full I haul it off to the central bath house or primitive toilet. If none of those are available I pour my gray water around a tree somewhere if allowed away from the camp site.



Watch HDTV every night just like the big guys do hehe...

Works good for us...

Roy Ken

[dodge_guy]

The above is correct. The only thing I’ll add is that I sanitize one more time in the middle of the year. It’s cheap insurance to keep the system clean. Especially since the trailer may sit for 2-3 weeks at a time.

[jerseyjim]

I hook up a hose at home and flush the entire system as well as I can. I DO NOT dump until I get to a CG on the first trip. Your tanks can take the few gallons of "new "water with ease. Even AT the campground, open the gray water tank and flush the lines again until you see clear water from all the spigots.

Then open the black water tank as you need to like on a normal camping trip. However...NEVER dump anything on the ground. Illegal and stupid. Even on your own property.

[NanciL]

I always do it at the first camp ground I go to.
When we get there I just change the water heater by pass valves, hook up to city water and turn it on.
I leave the cold faucets closed and all the hot ones open. When the water heater tank is full, and the water runs clear out of the hot water faucets, I close them and open the colds one at a time until each runs clear, (it only takes a few seconds). then I flush the toilet.
We never use the fresh water tank and we drink bottled spring water.

This has worked for us for the past thirty years

jack L

[mobeewan]

Flush the pink stuff then sanitize the system, fresh water tank, pump and water heater, let it set with the bleach and clorine 24 hrs then flush everything once except the FW tank, flush it twice. Doesn't hurt to dump it all on the ground while at home.

[bobndot]

When I winterize I blow out the pink stuff after I run it through the system so it doesn't stay in the system.
When spring arrives, I just hook up my water hose and I'm up and running.

[BB_TX]

Dewinterizng doesn’t take a lot of water. No problem doing it at home and draining at first stop.

[Lwiddis]

At home. I want to arrive at a campsite ready to camp, and lots of Western campsites are dry.