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09-23-2014, 12:47 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 18
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Antifreeze vs Blowout
We are going to get ready to winterize our 267bhs in the next few weeks and wondered if there were many opinions on blowing out the water lines with an air compressor and dumping some anti-freeze down the drains vs. pumping anti-freeze throughout the whole system and sanitizing and spring.
It is getting stored on the pad next to my house in Minnesota so the winters can get a bit brutal.
Thanks
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09-23-2014, 01:16 PM
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#2
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Woodstock
Posts: 1,128
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I will do both.....I paid a lot of money for this thing....nothing is going to happen to it if I have anything to do with it....10 dollars worth of pink and maybe 100 gallons of water to rinse in the spring.
No brainer IMO
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09-23-2014, 01:18 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,588
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I do both. It's cheap insurance. I can winterize for under $20 using 3 gallons of antifreeze after I blow out the lines with compressed air @ 40psi. I like having antifreeze in the system because it keeps rubber seals from drying out - grey and black tank valves, toilet bowl seal, even the faucet seals themselves. Make sure you remember to winterize the city water connection, outdoor shower, and black tank flush line as well.
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09-23-2014, 01:48 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: South Texas
Posts: 7,207
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Here in TX, I got away with just blowing out my system and dropping some pink stuff in the traps last winter. It will be the last winter I do that. Like mentioned above, it's not worth the risk, and it's cheap to do both.
Now, this was in TX where we can sometimes count the number of nights below freezing with our fingers, and most years we don't even need both hands. Most of those nights it gets significantly above freezing during the day after a night below freezing.
If I'm you, in MN, I would do a full winterization (pink stuff everywhere) without even a second thought.
__________________
-2018 Greyhawk 29MV
-2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (JLU) (Primary Toad)
-1994 Jeep Wrangler YJ (Secondary Toad)
-2014 Jay Flight 28BHBE & Ram 2500 6.4L CC 4x4 (sold)
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09-23-2014, 01:52 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Silver Spring, MD
Posts: 1,795
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Even a small amount of water can freeze and expand, damaging a waterline. It is cheap, cheap, cheap to buy a couple or 3 gallons of antifreeze and displace any expandable water.
Blowing with water may, or may not, remove all the water. Antifreeze is your safest bet at removing water.
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09-23-2014, 02:06 PM
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#6
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: N/A
Posts: 567
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I just blow out the lines, drain the tanks, drain the hot water tank, and poor a gallon or so down the P-traps and have never had a problem. A little water freezing in the bottom of a flat holding tank won't hurt anything. The PVC drains are schedule 40 and shouldn't break even with some water in there. Many other parts of the camper are flex hose which will expand without damage if there is any left over water in a line. I go through all my lines and drains twice cracking them one at a time just to be sure. Plenty of RV owners do it this way with no problems. The cool thing is when you are ready to use the camper next spring all you have to do is fill the fresh water tank and you are good to go rather than pump and blow out all that sticky RV antifreeze and then sanitize and rinse and then clean up the mess as it always gets all over stuff. This seems to me to be four time the work and take four times as long as just blowing the lines out which only takes a few minutes. I use 20 - 30 psi air pressure BTW.
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09-23-2014, 02:32 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 3,430
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I do both. It's only a few minutes to blow out the lines and doesn't cost anything.
But this is really personal preference. I really don't know anyone that has only done one or the other that has had freeze issues. On the flip side I do know someone that replaced plumbing (at a cost of $600) because he thought winterizing was a gimmick.
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Chuck
2013 Jayco Jayfeather X20 E (sold)
2016 Chevy Silverado LTZ 2 Z71 Crew Cab (sold, and dearly missed)
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09-23-2014, 03:25 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: South Texas
Posts: 7,207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DocBrown
On the flip side I do know someone that replaced plumbing (at a cost of $600) because he thought winterizing was a gimmick.
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Oops, that's an expensive lesson! AND that assumes that only the plumbing was damaged. If you have a cracked fitting in an obscure place, you could be leaking water for a while before you even notice. Then you have additional repair issues above and beyond replacing the plumbing.
__________________
-2018 Greyhawk 29MV
-2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (JLU) (Primary Toad)
-1994 Jeep Wrangler YJ (Secondary Toad)
-2014 Jay Flight 28BHBE & Ram 2500 6.4L CC 4x4 (sold)
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09-23-2014, 03:27 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Colorado
Posts: 282
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wwsmith111
I just blow out the lines, drain the tanks, drain the hot water tank, and poor a gallon or so down the P-traps and have never had a problem. A little water freezing in the bottom of a flat holding tank won't hurt anything. The PVC drains are schedule 40 and shouldn't break even with some water in there. Many other parts of the camper are flex hose which will expand without damage if there is any left over water in a line. I go through all my lines and drains twice cracking them one at a time just to be sure. Plenty of RV owners do it this way with no problems. The cool thing is when you are ready to use the camper next spring all you have to do is fill the fresh water tank and you are good to go rather than pump and blow out all that sticky RV antifreeze and then sanitize and rinse and then clean up the mess as it always gets all over stuff. This seems to me to be four time the work and take four times as long as just blowing the lines out which only takes a few minutes. I use 20 - 30 psi air pressure BTW.
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This is exactly what I do, and the same reason I do it this way. I have never had any issues caused by water freezing in the lines over the winter months, and it does get COLD on occasion. We saw -20F a few times last winter.
PS @ wwsmith111 - My truck has towed the truck that towed the space shuttle...
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Becky, Bob and Taylie & Bode
2009 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison
2014 Heartland Sundance XLT 245RL
His and Hers Polaris 570 Touring ATV's
2018 Polaris General 1000
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09-23-2014, 03:32 PM
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#10
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: N/A
Posts: 567
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That's great Bobx2 lol! A Duramax is on my wishlist!
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09-23-2014, 03:32 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: South Texas
Posts: 7,207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobx2
PS @ wwsmith111 - My truck has towed the truck that towed the space shuttle...
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__________________
-2018 Greyhawk 29MV
-2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (JLU) (Primary Toad)
-1994 Jeep Wrangler YJ (Secondary Toad)
-2014 Jay Flight 28BHBE & Ram 2500 6.4L CC 4x4 (sold)
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09-23-2014, 03:52 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: near Englewood, FL (South of Venice)
Posts: 1,237
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... never had a freezing problem (while living in Ohio) and never used any other system than blow the lines clear and add antifreeze to the traps.
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09-23-2014, 04:13 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Southeast, NY
Posts: 1,113
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I've had no problems for many years just blowing out the lines, but I see nothing wrong with doing both. I don't think that there's enough water to break anything when I'm done. Don't forget to blow out the black tank flush too and any water filters you may have. There can possibly be some water in there.
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Karl - Southeast, NY
2020 377 RLBH
2018 Ram 3500 Mega Limited 6.7L Cummins w/ Aisin
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09-23-2014, 04:47 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Greater Cleveland Area
Posts: 113
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Drain the hot water tank. Blow the lines thoroughly. Pour anti freeze down the traps. Never a problem.
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2018 28BHS
2019 RAM 1500
Equal-i-zer
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09-23-2014, 05:06 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,588
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What about the water line going from the fresh tank into the pump? I know the valve gets shut off on that line so the syphon line can suck antifreeze but would there be a bit of water left behind that? Or would gravity cause it to fall back into the fresh tank?
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09-23-2014, 05:31 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Greater Cleveland Area
Posts: 113
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Never actually looked at it. I hook the air line up to the city water connection and blow out all of the water. It does take some time as I go to each faucet/toilet a few times back and forth. I blow till there is no water at all.
__________________
2018 28BHS
2019 RAM 1500
Equal-i-zer
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09-23-2014, 07:03 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Northern CT
Posts: 223
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Just did mine for the first time. Used antifreeze without blowing the lines. It seems to me like an unnecessary step, since the water is displaced by the antifreze anyways. jMO.
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2013 Jay Flight 26BH
2017 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT 4x4
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09-23-2014, 07:18 PM
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#18
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Woodstock
Posts: 1,128
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KiltDog
Just did mine for the first time. Used antifreeze without blowing the lines. It seems to me like an unnecessary step, since the water is displaced by the antifreze anyways. jMO.
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it would mix not displace IMO. where blowing out would allow for a higher concentrate.
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09-23-2014, 09:28 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 9,740
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As a fellow Minnesota I would absolutely at minimum use the pink stuff. Personally I blow out the lines, drain the tanks, make sure the bypass valves during the process are all opened to ensure there is no potential captured water in any vertical sections. I open the screen filter on the pump and clean it, this will drain any water in the pickup tube. Once I feel that I have the system drained, then and only then do I add antifreeze. I bypass the water heater, it is a mess to drain and rinse if you add antifreeze to it. I also make sure to add enough antifreeze to the traps.
My reason to blow the lines first; It gets really cold here and I do not want to risk diluting the antifreeze and risk a ruptured pipe. My opinion, a little extra work will guaranty that in the spring all I have to due is flush, sterilize and go.
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09-24-2014, 06:10 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Orange County, N.Y.
Posts: 675
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I used to do both. But now just run the pink stuff through all the water lines.
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2017 Chevy 3500 HD Silverado LT Dually 4x4 .
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