New to Hybrid trailer camping

[Krazyboutcampin]

We have been camping in our Jayco pop up for decades. Like many others, we have upgraded to a Hybrid. We found a gently used 2016 X23B, with every option from that year except the heated bunks. We are excited to take the first trip. There are many new things to learn about making the transition. I have the 4 point hitch down. Now I have to go shopping for surge protectors, adapters, etc..

So now I have pre-trip questions.

Do I need to have a water filter installed on my hose to fill the storage tank?
I assume it is only a good thing, but unsure.

What steps are needed, & what products are needed to De-Winterize \ sanitize the water system from the winter?

What is a good leveling system? I like the looks of the red curved drive on chocks. Anyone have input on how they work, or something else good?

Thanks

[SteveMM]

Originally Posted by Krazyboutcampin

Do I need to have a water filter installed on my hose to fill the storage tank?
I assume it is only a good thing, but unsure.

What steps are needed, & what products are needed to De-Winterize \ sanitize the water system from the winter?

What is a good leveling system? I like the looks of the red curved drive on chocks. Anyone have input on how they work, or something else good?

Thanks

You don't NEED a water filter, but I don't trust campground water to be completely clean, so I have one.

Your best bet to learn about winterizing is to search YouTube for videos.

I use one of these and it works for me: https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Tri-Lev...dp/B07KQXYJ34/

[dhinkle57]

Congrats on your hybrid. This will be our 6th season in our x23b and we have never used a water filter (got one for Christmas so I guess we'll start using one). All we have done to de-winterize is put water in the fresh water tank (we are on city water at home so it already has chlorine in it, so by running this through the system to flush out the anti freeze it sanitizes it too. We use boards and lynx blocks. A lot of people swear by the Anderson leveler chocks and we may switch to this in the future. This is the way we do things but others do it differently, figure out what works for you.

[Jagiven]

If you wish, you can add a water filter to your hose prior to filling the tank. Our 2012, has provisions for an inline water filter on the cold waterside of the kitchen faucet. It looks like a pain to change.

Dewinterize before sanitizing. I connect the hose to the city water connection, flush all the lines for a few minutes. I also add a bit of water the the FW tank, and flush out the pump. Once flushed I then flip the WH bypass, and flush the FW tank with drain open for a few minutes. I then sanitize.

Sanitation is easy, if you do it at home, add a bit of plain bleach to the fw tank, fill with water, pump water through all the pipes until you smell bleach in the water. Let it sit at least 4 hours, I let it sit over night. Before rinsing I pump a bit of bleach water through the lines again. Drain the tank. Flush the tank with fw. I hook the hose to the city water connection, and flush until I do not smell or taste the bleach. I keep my grey water tank valve open and drain onto the grass.

A tip for adding bleach tothefw tank. Add the bleach to a pitch with water. Remove the outdoor shower head, shove the hose into the gravity tank fill, open the cold water valve, go inside use the antifreeze fill port, and pump the bleach water into the tank. I also do this when I need to refill the fw tank while boondocking.

As for leveling, I use 2x8. Cheap and easy. My parent's had the Lego blocks, but kept destroying them on rocks and tree roots in the campsite. I have not had any issues, with wood. I dont have any experience with anything else.

[bankr63]

Agree with all that is said above.

Just to add a bit as a user of the Andersen levelers. We have been using them for about 3 years now and generally like them a lot, they are pretty easy to use and take all the guesswork out of figuring how many blocks to use.

There are two issues I have had with these (although I have seen similar issues with other solutions), and one solution that even the manufacturer has caught on to. Th blocks are slick so they may slide on smooth surfaces (some concrete pads or asphalt). Also, on very soft surfaces (beach side sites) they will sink down into the sand considerably. I have solved both by carrying a couple of heavy rubber outdoor stair tread covers. These provide grip on smooth surfaces and spread the load on very soft surfaces. I noticed that Andersen has added this as an extra accessory for their system. Get it from them, or pay a bit less and get the stair covers for Home Despot.

Overall I do recommend them highly.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by bankr63

Agree with all that is said above.

Just to add a bit as a user of the Andersen levelers. We have been using them for about 3 years now and generally like them a lot, they are pretty easy to use and take all the guesswork out of figuring how many blocks to use.

There are two issues I have had with these (although I have seen similar issues with other solutions), and one solution that even the manufacturer has caught on to. Th blocks are slick so they may slide on smooth surfaces (some concrete pads or asphalt). Also, on very soft surfaces (beach side sites) they will sink down into the sand considerably. I have solved both by carrying a couple of heavy rubber outdoor stair tread covers. These provide grip on smooth surfaces and spread the load on very soft surfaces. I noticed that Andersen has added this as an extra accessory for their system. Get it from them, or pay a bit less and get the stair covers for Home Despot.

Overall I do recommend them highly.

X2. Started out using legos and keep them on board, but switched to Andersen and love ‘em. I’ve never had them slip, but I like the stair tread idea!

[geezerbob]

x3 on the Andersen levelers and a water filter

[DocBrown]

Our X20E is the baby brother to your X23B. Same basic floor plan just two feet shorter. Before the X20E we had an '03 Kiwi 17a hybrid. So you can see we rather like them.

When we've had to fill the tank we've never used a filter. For the past 10 years we've been mostly camping where we have a water hookup. I do use a filter with the city hookup. One like this, although we don't drink the water.

Regarding leveling we use 1 x 6 in boards about 2.5 ft long. Cheap and effective. I've been using the same 2 boards for nearly 15 years.

[bigjake392]

Went from boards to the Anderson levelers many years ago. Used then on a X20 and bought new for X23 . Had to cut one off due to the distance between tires on the X20 but Anderson had instructions to do this in the box. No big deal, just a hand saw works. Remember to keep the legos just in case as the Andersons are only good for 4-5 inches of level.