Blow out or RV Antifreeze Poll - Page 3

RAurand · 10-08-2017, 05:58 PM

Empty the hot water heater, I open the low point drains, let drain, then blow out the lines then pump anti freeze thru the lines and pour antifreeze in all the traps, toilet bowl and shower drain.

Bassdogs · 10-09-2017, 07:56 AM

Wondering how this poll is tracking with the previous polls on the same question over the last 2 or 3 years?

Marklwil · 10-09-2017, 09:49 AM

Hi.. Blow it out. Antifreeze in the drains and traps, pour some in the Black and toilet for the seal. Leave all the faucets open, take the drain plug out of the WH. Also leave the low point drains open as a normal process.
Note when blowing it out.. I have found that you need to cycle through the drains numerous times.. also the low point drain.. as the air cycles through it appears to push water to the various faucets.
Oh and DONT FORGET THE SHOWER.. pull it out and let it hang to blow it out.. same with the shower wand.
I have used this process for 10 years in row on my third trailer in Colorado.. never a problem..yet haha (knock on wood as I just competed the process yesterday)

bankr63 · 10-09-2017, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Owl

I don't like the idea of the anti-freeze in the lines that we use to brush our teeth or drink from.

Not sure why. Plumbing Antifreeze's primary ingredient is Ethanol. That's Whiskey man! In college we would have thought we had gone to heaven if it came out of the taps and we could have brushed our teeth in the stuff.

Unfortunately it is spiked with compounds to make it unpalatable, but it is non-toxic and will not harm you.

Kim Gass · 10-09-2017, 12:45 PM

at minus 40. Antifreeze and blow out. Who needs cracked valves from drops of ice?

Gord60 · 10-09-2017, 06:16 PM

Cheap,never fails and no-worries

GrayHawk · 10-09-2017, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bankr63

Not sure why. Plumbing Antifreeze's primary ingredient is Ethanol. That's Whiskey man! In college we would have thought we had gone to heaven if it came out of the taps and we could have brushed our teeth in the stuff.

Unfortunately it is spiked with compounds to make it unpalatable, but it is non-toxic and will not harm you.

May as well use Corn Whiskey...good old Moon Shine

need-a-vacation · 10-10-2017, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerR

I blow out and then add antifreeze to dilute low spots and blow out again. Does not take much extra time as hauling the air compressor out back.

X?. I thought I was the only one with this crazy method, but there are a number of us who do both!!! Lol

I also pull the p traps off to drain before pumping the pink juice through. That way it is not as diluted in the traps. Shop vac is used on the tub trap to drain it.

One thing I make sure to do is get the pink juice that does not have any of the ethanol it it. Can make the water stink as I understand if you don’t get it flushed out 110%. Plus it can possibly evaporate some. I buy the stuff that lists the glycol phosphate (think that’s the ingredient) only, without any ethanol.

RogerR · 10-10-2017, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bankr63

Not sure why. Plumbing Antifreeze's primary ingredient is Ethanol. That's Whiskey man! In college we would have thought we had gone to heaven if it came out of the taps and we could have brushed our teeth in the stuff.

Unfortunately it is spiked with compounds to make it unpalatable, but it is non-toxic and will not harm you.

There are two kinds, ethanol based which tends to evaporate and ethylene glycol which does not seem to evaporate

I changed over for my hot tub and RV from the ethanol cheapo stuff. Just did not seem to offer continuous protection like glycol.

RPreeb · 10-12-2017, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gord60

Cheap,never fails and no-worries

Same here. Takes about 10 minutes. I just did mine a few minutes ago. We had a hard freeze last Monday night and I wasn't prepared to winterize so I drained the water heater, opened the low point drains and opened all of the faucets, then said a prayer and I seem to have been okay. No indication of anything wrong, but a couple hours of freeze one night with a little residual water shouldn't hurt it. Now I'm good for the winter.

merlinhomeauto · 10-12-2017, 05:06 PM

I just blow out lines as we use our camper year round.

Rice1951 · 10-18-2017, 10:25 PM

I trust pink versus what I cannot see. And I've been seeing pink for over 30 years.

Force · 10-19-2017, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Always anti-freeze. Too many low spots, especially fittings. Rather spend $10.00 than take a chance.

X2. I tried the air method once as a test. I then added antifreeze as usual, and the amount of clear water that came out of every faucet before it started running pink was far too high for me to ever trust air alone.

DocBrown · 10-19-2017, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Force

X2. I tried the air method once as a test. I then added antifreeze as usual, and the amount of clear water that came out of every faucet before it started running pink was far too high for me to ever trust air alone.

Glad we can check both boxes. This is the main reason why I do both. The second is that enough water can stay in a valve to freeze and crack the valve. They are only plastic. I had it happen on the water heater bypass of our old trailer. So when I run the antifreeze through I open every valve now. I use a bit more anti freeze but it's worth it.

And don't forget about that outside shower! The first year we had one I forgot it and had to replace the fixture the next season!

o2silverado · 10-19-2017, 05:52 PM

Both , you can never be to safe . 10 min with air & a gallon / half of antifreeze done .

shadester · 10-19-2017, 07:56 PM

I figured the antifreeze was the easiest way. Especially with the siphoning setup. I didn't want to worry about over pressurizing anything in the system and causing damage. Then just drain tanks, open low point drains and pour some antifreeze down the traps.

North of 49° · 10-19-2017, 08:38 PM

I do both. I blow out the lines then pump AF through. If I'm feeling energetic, I blow them out again, but not always. That way, if there's anything left in there, it's just antifreeze. Around here in the winter, we have temperatures of -30* for extended periods of time, so I want to make sure that the system is protected. Sure, it's extra time and effort, but it's a lot easier than trying to fix a burst line in the spring.

Doubleheader · 10-21-2017, 06:24 AM

I just used antifreeze and followed the instructions in the manual.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Witt74 · 10-21-2017, 06:59 AM

I normally just blow out the lines and drain the water heater. Here in south MS, we normally don't get extreme freezes or prolonged freezing weather.

01tundra · 10-23-2017, 05:48 PM

Just finished blowing the entire plumbing system out with a bottle of CO2 with the regulator set to 30 psig and then ran anti-freeze through all of the fixtures. I also drained all low point drains, blew out the black water spray system and filled all traps with anti-freeze.

I do have a couple questions since this was my first rodeo -

1. Once I had pure anti-freeze flowing through all fixture hot & cold circuits ( one fixture at a time) I pulled the clear draw tube from the gallon jug and ran the pump for a few seconds to draw any remaining anti-freeze out of the clear hose. I left the valve to the fresh water tank closed, I’m assuming this is how I leave it until I dewinterize?

2. After turning the pump off, I relieved the system pressure through the outdoor shower hot/cold, was this a mistake? I figured it would be better if the pipes weren’t under the pump shut-off pressure.

3. I left the drain valve on the water heater open after blowing out the water, I’m assuming that’s OK?

Thanks.

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