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Old 10-20-2010, 03:59 PM   #1
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Winterizing RV - How I Do It

I thought this might be helpful to our forum members especially for new RVers.

RV Winterizing….Blowing Out the Lines Method.

You will need an air compressor or some source of air with an air hose.
An air hose chuck.
A water inlet / air adapter.
And less then a gal. of RV antifreeze.

1. Drain fresh water tank, close valve.
2. Drain hot water heater replace drain plug.
3. Dump and (flush if possible) both black and gray water holding tanks, leave gray water valve open.
4. Screw compressed air adaptor into the fresh water inlet. The adapter is available from Camping World or most RV dealers.
5. Apply compressed air, keeping the pressure at 30 PSI but less than 40 PSI. You may need someone to hold the air hose on the adapter.
6. Open then close each faucet, hot and cold, one valve at a time, allowing the compressed air to force the water out of the line. Don't forget the shower and toilet and outside shower. Open both low point drains and close.
7. Remove the drain plug from the hot water tank and allow the compressed air to blow out the remaining water. Reinstall drain plug.
8. Remove the compressed air source and adapter. 9. Close gray tank valve.
10. Pour a few cups of RV antifreeze down each drain and toilet.
11. You’re done.
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Old 10-20-2010, 05:51 PM   #2
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I'm struggling with winterizing right now. I'm trying to pump the anti-freeze into the lines but it's not going. Do you always just use air? Obviously you have not had any problems or you would not go that route.
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Old 10-21-2010, 04:33 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by RedWingsFan View Post
I'm struggling with winterizing right now. I'm trying to pump the anti-freeze into the lines but it's not going. Do you always just use air? Obviously you have not had any problems or you would not go that route.


I use to do the antifreeze method but for the last 10 years or so I use the air method, much easier and quicker.
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Old 10-21-2010, 07:39 AM   #4
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I really urge caution on using the air method. I have seen too many units that have had frozen lines because of moisture left in the lines. For what it costs a couple of bucks worth of anti-freeze should give you peace of mind.
Redwingsfan, there must be an explanation as to why the anti-freeze is not going through. I would stop in at any RV dealer and one of the techs should be able to give you the right advice.
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Old 10-21-2010, 02:58 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by RedWingsFan View Post
I'm struggling with winterizing right now. I'm trying to pump the anti-freeze into the lines but it's not going. Do you always just use air? Obviously you have not had any problems or you would not go that route.
The air method works just fine as long as you keep the pressure within bounds. As for going the anti-freeze method find the tube at the water pump that will let you put a funnel in one end, then turn the pump on and slowly pour anti-freeze in the funnel with the facets open (furthest distance from pump first) until the lines are full. Should take all of 10 minutes once things are hooked up. If the anti-freeze just won't go in there's something wrong with the pump or a blockage in which case you need to have it looked at, as mentioned above.
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Old 10-21-2010, 03:22 PM   #6
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You shouldn't need a funnel. Just stick the tube in the jug of antifreeze and the pump should suck it out.
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Old 10-21-2010, 06:17 PM   #7
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I'm a newbie and tried adding antifreeze for the first time tonight. i too had trouble with getting the suction to start, but it finally kicked in. a couple of questions:

1. My pipes are clear plastic and I can see which ones have the pink fluid in them. After adding the antifreeze, only SOME of the pipes showed fluid and some had fluid in parts of the pipe. Is this normal? However, I was able to get pink fluid to come through all of the taps and the toilet.
2. My Jay Feather Sport took about 2 jugs of antifreeze. Is this normal? I'm sure I bypassed the hot water heater, so I don't know where all the fluid went.

Thanks for your feedback.
Ray
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Old 10-22-2010, 06:48 AM   #8
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Thanks for all of the responses. I knew I would get the help from the group. I finally did find the problem. The owners manual was just about useless as far as this process goes. Using the phrase "attach garden hose to city water connection" starts the process outside of the RV. Reading old posts from this site I realized there had to be a way to get near the pump and there was. Under the dinette. The manual stated nothing about removing the dinette access panel, closing the valve from the fresh water tank, opening the valve to the clear hose provide specifically for sucking the anti-freeze...Oh well, it's done now. I went through about a gallon and then some of the pink stuff and feel pretty confident that I am covered. I still have concerns that the HWT is not completely drained. Can I blow air through the pressure relief valve and force it out of the drain plug hole? Ray364 the tubes that I could see looked pretty full of the anti-freeze, except by the hot water tank. I'm assuming that has something to do with the routing around the bypass.
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Old 11-12-2010, 06:23 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray364 View Post
I'm a newbie and tried adding antifreeze for the first time tonight. i too had trouble with getting the suction to start, but it finally kicked in. a couple of questions:

1. My pipes are clear plastic and I can see which ones have the pink fluid in them. After adding the antifreeze, only SOME of the pipes showed fluid and some had fluid in parts of the pipe. Is this normal? However, I was able to get pink fluid to come through all of the taps and the toilet.
2. My Jay Feather Sport took about 2 jugs of antifreeze. Is this normal? I'm sure I bypassed the hot water heater, so I don't know where all the fluid went.

Thanks for your feedback.
Ray
as long as antifreeze comes out your faucets you have pushed all the water out
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Old 11-12-2010, 06:26 PM   #10
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i also did the air method this year and i feel really good about it
i made sure all the water was out by repeating blowing air thru the lines
i still cannot find my valves for front low point drains but i will
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Old 11-13-2010, 11:21 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by hammerdown View Post
I thought this might be helpful to our forum members especially for new RVers.

RV Winterizing….Blowing Out the Lines Method.

You will need an air compressor or some source of air with an air hose.
An air hose chuck.
A water inlet / air adapter.
And less then a gal. of RV antifreeze.

1. Drain fresh water tank, close valve.
2. Drain hot water heater replace drain plug.
3. Dump and (flush if possible) both black and gray water holding tanks, leave gray water valve open.
4. Screw compressed air adaptor into the fresh water inlet. The adapter is available from Camping World or most RV dealers.
5. Apply compressed air, keeping the pressure at 30 PSI but less than 40 PSI. You may need someone to hold the air hose on the adapter.
6. Open then close each faucet, hot and cold, one valve at a time, allowing the compressed air to force the water out of the line. Don't forget the shower and toilet and outside shower. Open both low point drains and close.
7. Remove the drain plug from the hot water tank and allow the compressed air to blow out the remaining water. Reinstall drain plug.
8. Remove the compressed air source and adapter. 9. Close gray tank valve.
10. Pour a few cups of RV antifreeze down each drain and toilet.
11. You’re done.
We are ready to winterize for the first time Thanks for the info.
So you just blow out the fresh water lines instead of adding antifreeze to those lines?
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Old 11-13-2010, 11:36 AM   #12
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We are ready to winterize for the first time Thanks for the info.
So you just blow out the fresh water lines instead of adding antifreeze to those lines?
Yes, you can use either method, here's the Antifreeze method.

If you have any inline water filters remove and bypass before starting.
Drain the fresh water holding tank, close the valve.
Drain and flush the gray and black holding tanks. If your RV doesn’t have a built in tank flushing system clean the black tank out with a wand, or use a product like Flush King that allows you to clean both the black and gray tanks, close the valves. Drain the water heater. Remove the drain plug and open the pressure relief valve, close the valve and replace drain plug. CAUTION (never drain the water heater when it is hot or under pressure)
Open all hot and cold faucets; don’t forget the toilet valve and outside shower.
Locate and open the low point drain lines. There will be one for the hot and cold water lines. Using the water pump will help force water out, but turn it off as soon as the system is drained.
Recap all drains and close all faucets.
By-pass the water heater. If you do not have a by-pass kit installed the water heater will fill up with antifreeze before it goes through the water lines, wasting six gallons of antifreeze.
Install a water pump converter kit, or disconnect the inlet side of the water pump (the line coming from the fresh water holding tank). Connect a piece of clear tubing to the inlet side of the pump and put the other end into a one gallon container of non-toxic RV antifreeze.
Turn the water pump on and pressurize the system. Starting with the closest faucet, slowly open the hot and then cold valves until antifreeze appears. Replace the antifreeze container as required.
Repeat this process on all faucets from the closest to the farthest away. Don’t forget the outside shower, if equipped.
Flush the toilet until antifreeze appears.
Turn the water pump off and open a faucet to release the pressure. Pour a cupful of antifreeze down each drain. Pour a couple of cups in the toilet and flush into the holding tank.
If your water heater has an electric heating element make sure it is turned off. This will protect the element if the unit is plugged in while being stored.
Make sure all the faucets are closed.
Consult your owner manuals for winterizing icemakers and washing machines.
The unit is winterized.
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Old 11-13-2010, 12:43 PM   #13
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Thank you very much for posting this!
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