Winterizing (heads up)

Hoppy220 · 10-16-2016, 04:43 PM

New fifth wheel 2016 North Point 383flfs, it has the washer dryer prep water lines hidden in bathroom closet. While winterizing I got to thinking surely they valve out the washer and dryer water lines. Pdi never said anything about valves, so I removed false wall just for my own peace of mind, sure enough the supply lines were full of water. So all of you who have washer dryer prep, make sure you drain those supply lines when winterizing

robkelly · 10-16-2016, 04:49 PM

Thanks for the heads up. I winterized yesterday, and was pretty sure the low point drains in the basement drained the washer lines, but now I'm second guessing that. Will check later this week.

Rustysocket · 10-16-2016, 04:50 PM

Good Advice. I have a W/D in my rig and did my winterizing today. It would be easy to miss for a lot of folks.

Rustysocket · 10-16-2016, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robkelly

Thanks for the heads up. I winterized yesterday, and was pretty sure the low point drains in the basement drained the washer lines, but now I'm second guessing that. Will check later this week.

If you were to open your prep valves along with your low point my guess is that they would be clear. They are vertical and then run across the top of the basement right over to the low points. I zip tied mine up a little higher eliminating that little bit of sag across the basement.

robkelly · 10-16-2016, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustysocket

If you were to open your prep valves along with your low point my guess is that they would be clear. They are vertical and then run across the top of the basement right over to the low points. I zip tied mine up a little higher eliminating that little bit of sag across the basement.

Thanks Rusty! What you describe is exactly what I did, including the zip tie to eliminate the sag.

Hoppy220 · 10-16-2016, 05:06 PM

After clearing my residential refrigerator (pita) I use antifreeze therefore I don't leave my low point drains open. Plus the flfs (front living) has the bathroom on the lower level so not 100% the low points would clear them

Hoppy220 · 10-16-2016, 05:10 PM

Maybe I need to add a step to my winterizing process, open all valves, faucets, etc, open low points. Wait a day then add antifreeze

Paintinfool3 · 10-16-2016, 05:13 PM

I was concerned about mine as they were hidden behind the wall and without cracking the valves you couldn't drain those lines so I swung mine into basement below so they were easy to drain in the winter without removing the false back

Rustysocket · 10-16-2016, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppy220

After clearing my residential refrigerator (pita) I use antifreeze therefore I don't leave my low point drains open. Plus the flfs (front living) has the bathroom on the lower level so not 100% the low points would clear them

Yes, there are some floorplan specifics that need to be taken into consideration...especially with yours.

I have had so many different rigs over the years and each one has it's little quirks. In the past I just kind of committed everything to memory. This one is a little larger and has a few more spots that could be forgotten.

I think this will be the year I actually make a written step by step, as each appliance has it's own set of procedures as well as the rig and I can see myself struggling to remember each step as the years pass.

Hoppy220 · 10-16-2016, 06:09 PM

Almost miss my old tt, 20 to 30 min tops and winterizing done. I spent an hour with and air compressor hooked up to water line just trying to make sure I had the fridge in good shape. After that not to bad on antifreeze time, other than the after thought of the washer hook ups

P25ct · 10-18-2016, 07:03 PM

For Washer Dryer if I open he two valves, add hoses to empty into drain and run the antifreeze through until fully dark pink/red that should be sufficient and the antifreeze will displace any residual water left in those lines correct?

Hoppy220 · 10-18-2016, 07:16 PM

That's my plan on how to winterize them, my hookups are right beside the shower so running a hose from the w/d lines into shower drain and pump antifreeze. Still hard to believe they hid valves in the wall that I needed to access for winterization

schiguy · 11-01-2016, 08:38 AM

Quick question about North Point winterizing. I did mine this past week. While I was running the pink stuff with the hose in the jug, I turned on the pump and the pink stuff was sucked up. I thought that the pump would stop running until I turned on a faucet. I made sure all of the faucet were off and all drains were closed, but the pump kept sucking up the pink stuff. No idea where it was going. I made sure it was not the water filter and I know it was not the water heater. Any ideas?

rjackson · 11-01-2016, 08:44 AM

did you bypass your water heater??

Rustysocket · 11-01-2016, 08:54 AM

You have to have enough fluid to fully pressurize the line otherwise the pump will continue to run. Especially if you had opened your low point drains (you did remember to close them before sucking up the antifreeze I hope)

schiguy · 11-01-2016, 08:59 AM

I did bypass the water heater. I even pulled the drain plug again just to make sure. I did make sure all the low point valves were closed. It ran 3 gallons total before I gave up. Had pink through every toilet, faucet and low point afterwards. My thought/ fear is I have a leak hidden somewhere.

Hoppy220 · 11-01-2016, 09:43 AM

Did you blow out your lines with air prior to antifreeze, I have noticed a few times that the pump will not shut off until you get the air out of the lines. It took me a little over 3 gal to winterize my camper but one of those was used in traps and black and grey tank.

You may also like: