Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-13-2011, 04:32 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 24
Winterizing question

Ok, i winterized my camper by draining the hot water heater, bypassing it and pumping RV antifreeze through the water system opening all faucets until pink stuff came out, including the outside shower and the toilet. I also poured some in each of the p-traps. Am i missing something? This was the first time i winterized my camper by myself and found it really easy. Also, i noticed when i bypassed my hot water heater there is about 6 in or so of tubing from the bypass valve to the hot water heater and there is a small amount of water still in it it. How do you get that water out or is it fine where it is?
jrusse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2011, 06:08 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Aldergrove British Columbia
Posts: 815
One thing you can do is just turn on the pump to suck the water out of the line. It won't hurt the pump to run dry for a few seconds. Then suck a little more antifreeze through the pump to ensure it's ok. In the past I have jacked the trailer up to get the standing water out to the low point drain. Sounds to me like you got all the bases covered aside from getting one of those moisture dehydrators. I've seen the ones with an element in them for about 70 dollars. I don't know how well they work but might consider one for our new trailer.
__________________
Richard
2011 Jay Feather Select 28U
2007 Silverado Crewcab LT 6.0L
Happily married and father of
two university students.
Cancer survivor
Murphie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2011, 06:12 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 10
I just attended a dealer winterizing seminar. One point I overlooked was the city water entry. They sugest pushing in on the check valve on the city water entry point with low pressure in the system until the pink anti freeze comes out. Another suggestion was to spray WD40 into the water heater burner tube to discourage spiders from making nests.

On water in the bypass hose open a faucet with the pump on and see if it clears.
shellback is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2011, 07:14 PM   #4
Site Team
 
FPM III's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Fayette Ridges of PA, USA
Posts: 5,252
You don't say whether you pulled the low point drain valve(s) and drained the water lines before pumping the antifreeze in. I hope you did this.

I always open all three HWT bypass valves when I drain the lines. Otherwise you'll still have water in the upper portion of the line that runs between the hot and cold water lines.

You should not set the HWT bypass valves to their "winterize" positions until both the tank and water lines have drained completely.

Many folks also miss this final step of the winterization process. After you have pumped the antifreeze through all the water lines:
  • Turn off the water pump
  • Open a faucet to relieve the pressure on the water lines, then close it.
  • Have someone go outside, remove the cap from the fresh water inlet and press in on the check valve that's inside the water inlet (Note: if you have a screen in your water inlet, you will have to remove it first)
  • While pressing on the check valve, have someone inside turn on the water pump. Caution: water, then antifreeze will shoot out of the water inlet. You will get wet and possibly get water and/or antifreeze in your eyes if you're standing directly in front of the water inlet while pressing on the check valve.
  • When the "pink stuff" comes out, release the check valve and allow the water lines to pressurize again.
  • Turn the water pump off when it stops running.

Why did you do this? Water and/or air remains in the vertical portion of the water line that runs up to the water inlet. This procedure allows this portion of the line to fill with antifreeze.
__________________
MODERATOR

TV: 2009 GMC Sierra 2500HD | Crew Cab | Std. Box | 4WD | Duramax/Allison
RV: 2000 Jayco Eagle 266 | FBS | TT
PREVIOUS: 1986 Coleman Laramie pop-up -- Still in the family!!!

FPM III is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2011, 09:04 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Merrimack NH
Posts: 917
jrusse--One other thing to do is remove the battery ( attach to a battery minder if you have one) and store in a warm place. I failed to mention this in my " night night 19h" post of the other day. Larry
__________________
Larry & Rachel Demers 2013 F150 Eco Boost Super Cab 6.5 bed 6 sp. 3.31 4x4 White Hawk 28DSBH
29BHS ECO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-15-2011, 09:10 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
David472's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 1,393
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrusse View Post
Snip......Also, i noticed when i bypassed my hot water heater there is about 6 in or so of tubing from the bypass valve to the hot water heater and there is a small amount of water still in it it. How do you get that water out or is it fine where it is?
I know the line you're referring to, it's the cold water input to the water heater. What I did after by-passing and pressurizing with antifreeze, I briefly cracked open the valve to that input line to shoot a bit of antifreeze in that low lying elbow. Of course this means it will need flushing in the spring, but I feel better about having a bit of the pink stuff in that elbow.
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 31.5RLDS
2018 Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
David472 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-2011, 01:06 PM   #7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 24
Thanks for the info all. I did push antrifreeze thru the city hook up and because of the pressure i suggest to anyone trying it to stand to the side. I opened the low point drain but nothing came out, maybe i didn't open correclty as it was hard to turn. I don't have a battery for it so i'm good there.
jrusse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-2011, 02:19 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Merrimack NH
Posts: 917
jrusse-- If your tt has electric breaks and a break away switch , you need a battery. I f not then happy winterizing Larry
__________________
Larry & Rachel Demers 2013 F150 Eco Boost Super Cab 6.5 bed 6 sp. 3.31 4x4 White Hawk 28DSBH
29BHS ECO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-2011, 03:08 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: South Central Ohio
Posts: 216
Through the years (since about '84 when Mom & Dad bought their first camper) I have tried various ways to get anti-freeze out through the city water connection. I've tried w/ pressure, a little pressure, and no pressure on the water lines, pump on, pump off. It seems like no matter what I do, I end up unseeding the rubber seal around the check valve. So I decided last year to do something different with the campers. I have an extra pump that I use to pump water from a tank in the bed of the truck to the camper holding tank that needs winterized as well. I just connected that down in a jug and let it pump antifreeze through the city water connection. I didn't unseat the check valve and my water pump was winterized at the same time.
jwstewar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-2011, 05:48 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
David472's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 1,393
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrusse View Post
Snip.......I opened the low point drain but nothing came out, maybe i didn't open correclty as it was hard to turn.......Snip
The low point drains lift up to open, not turning.
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 31.5RLDS
2018 Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
David472 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2011, 09:45 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Denver
Posts: 148
For the city water inlet - my Greyhawk has a pair of "switches" that reroute water/antifreeze/sanitizer in a couple of different ways - all outlined in the manual. One of the positions does connect the City water inlet to the pump and then directly into the lines (not through the fresh water tank). This configuration allows me to pump antifreeze out of a jug and into the water system of the coach - really cool idea. And since the antifreeze is entering via the City water connection, I don't have any water left in that area. I haven't had any issues with water in the Hot Water Heater bypass - maybe I have been lucky. And of course we all have to address the battery issue....
__________________
Gma-n-Gpa
2017 Precept 31 UL
2006 Ranger Reata 1850
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Gma-n-Gpa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2011, 11:15 AM   #12
Junior Member
 
dave40BHS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 5
The other thing I did with mine was hook an air compressor to the city water connector and blow the lines out before doing the antifreeze step.
__________________
2011 Jayco Bungalow 40BHS
Crowe Lake, Marmora,ON Canada
Wifey, 2 boys, and a jack russell terrier
dave40BHS is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.