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Old 11-08-2018, 09:37 PM   #1
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Winterizing in the South

We live in SE Texas.
When we purchased our camper, the person told us that we wouldn't need to use antifreeze unless it dipped into the low 20s and stayed there. He recommended we put rubbing alcohol down the drains so that it gets in the pea traps.

How many of you in the south winterize your camper?

What steps do you take to do this?

Do you completely drain the tanks? We have been leaving about 6 gallons of water in the black tank at all times. Do we need to drain it?

Is there a procedure we should go through if the weather is ever expected to get into the 20s? It doesn't happen much here, but we are about to get into the mid-30s next week, and that's early for us. It has me thinking we might get some lower temps this winter, and I want to prepare.

FWIW, I hate to winterize unnecessarily. We will use our unit in December and maybe in January or February.
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Old 11-08-2018, 09:42 PM   #2
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I live in NW Houston. Never winterized any rig. If it gets really cold, I simply open up all the low point drains, and open the faucets in kitchen and bath. I will also empty the water heater.

Not saying what I do is right but since we rarely get really cold temperatures for extended time, it’s worked for me.

I don’t bother emptying the black tank either.
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Old 11-08-2018, 09:49 PM   #3
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For what it's worth, I still haven't winterized here in PA and we are seeing high 20's at night on a regular basis. I may have to next week if it stays in the 20's for an extended period.

My point is, I wouldn't worry about a quick drop in the 20's in your area. If you feel the need to winterize, just empty your low point drains, blow the lines out with compressed air, and drop a little antifreeze down each drain. You will be fine.
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Old 11-08-2018, 11:41 PM   #4
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I agree with above, I’m in the northwest and although I do winterize (just a blow out), you really don’t need to worry about it unless you see a week of the 20’s coming up in the forecast. Just blow the lines out, should do that anyway to get the old water out so it doesn’t go bad on you and stink the rig up. Then if I see really cold weather coming I add some antifreeze to the sink and shower drains.
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Old 11-09-2018, 07:13 AM   #5
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We live along the coast in GA. We'd usually get a handful of nights below freezing and usually get a couple that were in the 20s. We used our RV year round. After January, we would blow the lines out and drop anti-freeze into the p-traps after every trip. A bottle of anti-freeze would last a couple years.

I wouldn't use rubbing alcohol as it evaporates quickly.

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Old 11-09-2018, 11:41 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom View Post
I live in NW Houston. Never winterized any rig. If it gets really cold, I simply open up all the low point drains, and open the faucets in kitchen and bath. I will also empty the water heater.

Not saying what I do is right but since we rarely get really cold temperatures for extended time, it’s worked for me.

I don’t bother emptying the black tank either.
What Tom said........
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:05 PM   #7
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Thank you for replies.

Sounds like we don't need to be very concerned. We plan to use it a few times this winter.
One if us will go blow out the lines if we see a hard freeze coming.
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:08 PM   #8
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Magnolia Tom, you are closest to me geographically, and mentioned that you also keep water in the black tank.
So I need to worry about the black tank freezing when it gets in the 20s for several days?
I'm thinking that much water won't freeze all the way, plus it does have head room to expand. However, I'm wondering if the water that's in the pipe going out will freeze and bust the pipe/line.
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Old 11-10-2018, 01:18 PM   #9
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I lived in San Antonio for a few years, just blow out the lines, pour a small amount of antifreeze down each drain if it’s going to drop into the 20’s (like a half gallon total) and drain your holding tanks. Blowing out your lines only takes 5-10 minutes, no reason to risk it.
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Old 11-14-2018, 03:44 PM   #10
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I lived in San Antonio for a few years, just blow out the lines, pour a small amount of antifreeze down each drain if it’s going to drop into the 20’s (like a half gallon total) and drain your holding tanks. Blowing out your lines only takes 5-10 minutes, no reason to risk it.
We live north of Tyler ( You Houston folks probably call us Yankees) & this is all I have ever done plus I drain the water heater. When blowing the lines be sure & open all the sprayers, faucets , & low point drains.
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Old 11-14-2018, 05:09 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Octopus Prime View Post
Magnolia Tom, you are closest to me geographically, and mentioned that you also keep water in the black tank.
So I need to worry about the black tank freezing when it gets in the 20s for several days?
I'm thinking that much water won't freeze all the way, plus it does have head room to expand. However, I'm wondering if the water that's in the pipe going out will freeze and bust the pipe/line.


I don’t worry about that. As long as the black tank isn’t completely full, it has room to expand. The valve is at the tank, not at the outlet of the pipe so I don’t worry about the pipe.

Same principle for all the water lines. As long as there’s room for expansion (from draining the low point drains and opening up the faucets), there should be minimal risk in any pipe bursting.
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Old 11-14-2018, 05:24 PM   #12
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Michael, question for you from a fellow Georgian... Temps are going into 20's tomorrow night, so I went up this afternoon to here I store the RV and did just what you noted. question is, do you do anything with the heater bypass, or just leave it as is? I drained the heater. Thx.
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Old 11-14-2018, 11:39 PM   #13
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We live north of Tyler ( You Houston folks probably call us Yankees) & this is all I have ever done plus I drain the water heater. When blowing the lines be sure & open all the sprayers, faucets , & low point drains.
Well, I currently live in Idaho, and lived in Montana for 2 years after leaving San Antonio, and still, I winterize the same way in all regions, never a problem, if you blow out the water, it won’t freeze
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Old 11-22-2018, 10:13 AM   #14
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What MidnightMoon said.... We live in SE Ark.
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