Winterizing Central and Winterizing Poll -2012

[Crabman]

Winterized today, took all of 15 minutes. Likely no more camping til Spring.

[Crabman]

Here`s hoping everyone in the way of this Arctic Blast is winterized!

[exjay1]

Whats the typical temp are we seeing lines with water freeze damage? My lines are blown out but not sure how well now that Im in frantic mode after reading several pages here Not sure how much I have to worry about here going to be low 20's tonight mid 30's tomorrow.

[NVGun40]

Greetings all, we just purchased and took delivery of our brand new White Hawk 25BHS. Enclosed underbelly and Glacier package. We live in Alaska, and I love to hunt, fish and generally enjoy the outdoors. The last RV I owned was 10 years ago and a Komfort Lite 5th wheel and I lived in Nevada then, that was ten years ago. It worked great for my hunting and camping needs though I did have to put a lift on it for ground clearance. Something I can tell I wont have to worry about with this new rig.
I know most of the common sense stuff about cold weather storage and camping regarding winterizing and such. I usually do my own winterizing but the dealership I purchased my new TT from does the winterizing and de-winterizing for free for buyers. I am looking for any tips or tricks others may have used or know of. I know things have changed a lot over the years. Living here in Alaska, I can see myself out on a Caribou or Moose hunt in a December time frame with temps in negative numbers.

My current intent is to leave the TT winterized and bring a 35 gallon water tank inside with the heater running, and using plenty of RV antifreeze in the grey and black tanks to keep those from freezing. I know there are ways to dry camp during these cold months, I have seen the campers, motor homes and TT's rolling down the highway in the winter.

Thanks,

[scottraycraft]

I live in Michigan so I absolutely HAVE to winterize
I winterized and de-winterized my pop up for 10 years and NEVER had a busted line or connection, so I plan on doing it myself with my new jayco TT...it will be easier with the jayco as it came with hot tank shut offs

[charles_cincy]

I did my own this year...

Primarily because we got the HTT (our first trailer) in October and the dealer was booked up.

We'll see how well I did here in a few more weeks. Perhaps I'll do it again next year!

[Crabman]

Bumped as some folks have begun the easy but dreaded winterizing process.

Wow, poll indicates 5 votes for enjoying having frozen pipes. Glad I added that option!

[Revschuette]

Just did mine last Saturday, simply because I had the time, and I know we are done with using water in it.

[nylyon]

We had planned to make be more trip, but our local place was booked, so after winterizing the boat, blew out the lines on the camper and poured antifreeze down the drains. Still have to finish packing it away, but the time is here to get er done.

[Gomez]

We have one more trip in 2 weeks, then it will be time to winterize the TH. I've read the posts about sealing everything and putting out rodent repellant, but what about mothballs? My wife is worried about the memory foam mattress.
thanks!

[Edd505]

I live in snowbird country and IF it gets that cold I just park it in my shop till weather warms.

[ocps9823]

I winterized our trailer today. A 2005 19H

It was a first time for me and with the tips from this thread it was super easy. Took about half an hour and 2 beers.

I was actually surprised how easy it really was. Why any one would pay a dealer to this is beyond me. A little research and it is a piece of cake.

Thanks for all the tips.

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by ocps9823

I winterized our trailer today. A 2005 19H

It was a first time for me and with the tips from this thread it was super easy. Took about half an hour and 2 beers.

I was actually surprised how easy it really was. Why any one would pay a dealer to this is beyond me. A little research and it is a piece of cake.

Thanks for all the tips.

We love to help folks save money.

[Golds]

We still have one more trip planned for this year but I have already been thinking of how to winterize the TT. This is my first trailer that needs to be winterized. I live in Southeast Missouri where we can see nights into the teens and single digits, although not very often. I was just going to use the compressed air method but after reading thru this thread I think a smarter idea would be to blow out the lines and then follow with anti-freeze, just to be sure. We are not sure but we might go out one more time in November, before it gets too cold.

There is a lot of great information on this forum, thanks to everyone that shares their experience and knowledge.

[Dan]

I winterized our TT for the first time and, due to the info in this forum, found it to be relatively quick and painless. We are taking our Whitehawk to Florida in December for ten days, so I will have the pleasure of de-winterizing and then winterizing again before heading back to Michigan. But still, it is just too much fun and well worth it!

[lodiguy]

Well it took two attempts and 4.5 gallons of antifreeze, but we finally got our plumbing winterized.
Drained the water out of the fresh tank. I had the water heater drained and the plug removed. I then thought I bypassed it.
Turned on the water pump and sucked the first gallon right out the water heater drain plug. Instead of flushing the outside shower. I had turned the lows point drain valves instead of the water heater bypass valves under the bathroom sink.
After another trip to Walmart, for more antifreeze. Back to the camper, armed with 4 gallons. I found the bypass valves for the water heater under the bed, turned them and everything went as planned. Finished up I though) and then forgot the toilet. Opened one more gallon and flushed that line. Dumped the rest down all the "P" traps. DONE!
Good for 5 weeks until we use it for a trip during Christmas. Now I know where everything is and what goes where.
Of course this is after I went and bought a hand pump and then found a suction hose on the water pump.
Darn rookie RV owner. And yes I did read the owners manual. It doesn't tell you where things are located, just the procedures.

[Crabman]

^^There is a learning curve for all of us to go through, next time should be a breeze now that you know where everything is and how the system works.

[Jayson 197]

The temps here in Sacramento typically do not hit freezing. I do not have any plans to winterize.

[exjay1]

Woke up the other night about 2am and realized I never drained the lines from our last trip (was 30-32 outside). Didnt sleep good the rest of the night and grabbed 2 gals of RV antifreeze the next morning before I forgot. My T-day chore or at least one of them.

[pmames]

Originally Posted by lodiguy

Well it took two attempts and 4.5 gallons of antifreeze, but we finally got our plumbing winterized.
Drained the water out of the fresh tank. I had the water heater drained and the plug removed. I then thought I bypassed it.
Turned on the water pump and sucked the first gallon right out the water heater drain plug. Instead of flushing the outside shower. I had turned the lows point drain valves instead of the water heater bypass valves under the bathroom sink.
After another trip to Walmart, for more antifreeze. Back to the camper, armed with 4 gallons. I found the bypass valves for the water heater under the bed, turned them and everything went as planned. Finished up I though) and then forgot the toilet. Opened one more gallon and flushed that line. Dumped the rest down all the "P" traps. DONE!
Good for 5 weeks until we use it for a trip during Christmas. Now I know where everything is and what goes where.
Of course this is after I went and bought a hand pump and then found a suction hose on the water pump.
Darn rookie RV owner. And yes I did read the owners manual. It doesn't tell you where things are located, just the procedures.

We did the same thing used 3 gallons to complete. Thought we had bypassed the hot water heater but the valves seemed to turn back openn we pumped it in, a lot ran out the hot water heater. We are rookies too, but it is done.