Winterizing for dummies

[Midwest5]

This will be the first winter that I have to fully winterize a travel trailer. I have watched the youtube videos and have a good grasp on the basiscs. Im looking for an helpful recomendations or tips on closing up specifically a hybrid. We have a 2008 23B and this TT was very well cared for and I want to keep that trend going as long as we own it. As far as I can tell everything on this is still in the factory configuration. Any helpful information is welcomed and appreicated. Thanks for taking the time to read this thread and I hope you have a great day.

[ultrarider]

I’m a first time winterizer to, and I just did mine yesterday. Was very simple. I live in the northeast, so I went with the Winter Safe -100 degree formula. I have a 16XRB. The manual is pretty straight forward. I did my grey & black water last weekend. Just drain, refill, flush, using the power flush port on the side, and a valterra 90 deg. Elbow with hose port , to flush as well. I did the black tank about 5 complete fills, and drain. I watch through to toilet, and level sensor lights, to tell when full. My sensors actually read correctly again!
For water lines-
Make sure trailer is pretty level.
Drain fresh water tank & hot water tank. Put hot water tank drain plug back in after draining.
Open low point drains, to drain water lines.
Open all faucets to allow the lines to gravity drain.
Put hot water tank cold in & hot out valves to Bypass. Don’t want 6 gal of antifreeze filling up the tank!
Set the water pump inlet/ suction valve located on the inlet/ clear tygon hose to tygon hose position. ( in line with tygon hose)
Close all drains & faucets.
Open 1st gallon of antifreeze insert tygon hose,.
Turn on water pump. Watching antifreeze being drawn into to tygon pump. Run until it’s stops. Max pressure reached.
Start at closest faucet, open slowly, and allow the pump to pump until water/air is purged, and antifreeze is a rich color. In my case Blue.
Do hot/ and cold faucets from closest to the pump to furthest from the pump, making sure your antifreeze supply is full, as not to suck air.
Don’t forget toilet& outside shower!
Just run antifreeze through, until all faucets flow with rich antifreeze,and no air or water.
Pour a cup or so down each drain for the traps.
That’s it!
Mine took 3 gallons, but the 1st gallon I ran through to remove as much water/air as possible.

[jbagnall]

Here is my full instruction list for myself that I did last year for my 19h and I didn't screw anything up over last winter! I plan to winterize mine in a couple of weeks.

--

Things to bring
2 boxes of baking soda to leave in the fridge
Dyson vacuum and charger
Dehumidifier things
Hose coils
Shop rags
Antifreeze
Tarps for the patio boxes

Items to complete
Clean camper inside and out
Install damprid things on each end of the trailer
Tilt couch open so storage area is also vented
Ensure propane tanks are closed - close valve for portable grill
Ensure all windows and vents are closed
Remove puck lights
Fill tires with air to proper level
Take cushions and mattresses home
Leave fridge, cabinets, and doors ajar to promote air circulation.
Winterize the fridge (defrost, clean, and put in baking soda)
Use great stuff to seal any cracks on the inside to keep bugs out
Take hose gutters off
Clean hot water heater
Disconnect and close sewer
Disconnect golf cart battery
Clean and cover golf cart


Order of operations
Put a ton of water down the black and grey tanks and dump them. Probably at least three times. Use the black flush port.
Disconnect the city water connection from the trailer
Open up kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, and outside shower faucets and drain them and then close them
Open water heater pressure valve and let it drain and then close it
Take out the water heater drain plug and leave it out
Open up the low point drains and let them drain and then close them
Bypass the hot water heater
Find water pump and pull out the bypass line and bypass it with the valve
Put the bypass hose all the way into the antifreeze bottle
Turn water pump on and let it come to pressure
Open cold water until antifreeze comes through and then close the faucet (sink, bathroom sink, shower, and outside shower)
Open hot water until antifreeze comes through and then close the faucet (sink, bathroom sink, shower, and outside shower)
Flush the toilet until you see antifreeze coming through
Turn water pump off. Take hose out of antifreeze. Open cold water on kitchen sink. Take the screen off of the city water inlet connection. Step out of the way, and press the white nipple with your finger until antifreeze drips out. Put screen back in and tighten outside cover. Close cold water on kitchen sink.
Take the remaining antifreeze and dump it down the kitchen sink drain, bathroom sink drain, shower drain, and toilet
Wipe up any excess / spilled antifreeze so it doesn’t stain anything anywhere with a damp rag

[Tunce the traveler]

If your lucky enough to have power during the winter a dehumidifier is a must as you’ll suck up gallons of water during the 6 months it will be in non use. Mattress’s come in the house

[2edgesword]

If you don't have power in the winter to use a dehumidifier use a breathable cover and leave a few windows cracked open. Winter usually means lower humidity and over ten years we've never had any issues with moisture (North East U.S. 5 miles from the ocean).

[ultrarider]

One thing I forgot to mention, is to purge the shore water inlet pipe also. Run the pump with antifreeze bottle attached to pump suction. Then manually press in on the check valve. It will squirt out!

Oops! I see Jbagnall already mentioned that!

[ultrarider]

How about mice? This is my first camper trailer. I’ve never had mice in any of my other
trailers, and vehicles. (snowmobiles, motorcycles, etc.) but am concerned because there’s a lot of fabric that’s appealing for the critters to nest in. I’ve always laid down a bunch of “ Bounce” dryer sheets in everything in the past. Not sure if they actually work to deter the varmints or if I’ve just been lucky. I’ve heard that it’s only the Bounce brand that works. Any thoughts?
Thanks

[Kim Gass]

I wouldn't consider a dehumidifier always. The air is very dry below freezing which it may be for several months ( it is here). As for mice we have the unit plugged into shore power all winter. We have a couple of ultrasonic rodent repellers that seem to have worked over the last four years. Plugged into 120 v outlets. We have the same units in our house which is in the woods.

We have never cracked the windows open. We forgot one once and it was cracked open.. Hence there was some snow on the bed.

We are in Northern New England. Its the peak of leaf color now. Campgrounds close in about two weeks. We are not done yet.

[Midwest5]

For mice, when we had our popup i would take a couple bars of Irish Spring soap and just put them on the floor. Supposedly its the smell of the soap that detures them. I actually broke down the box the soap came in and set it on that so the soap was not sitting directly on the flooring. And another bennift of that is that it smells really nice when you open it back up in the spring. Did this for the 2 years we owned the popup and had zero signs of rodents.

[Midwest5]

Thanks everyone for all the great advise!! This will definatley help with my closing process this fall.

[madmaxmutt]

I always remove alkaline batteries from things like smoke detectors, flashlights, TV and stereo remotes and anything else that may corrode over the winter.

[Slurugger]

Originally Posted by ultrarider

How about mice? This is my first camper trailer. I’ve never had mice in any of my other
trailers, and vehicles. (snowmobiles, motorcycles, etc.) but am concerned because there’s a lot of fabric that’s appealing for the critters to nest in. I’ve always laid down a bunch of “ Bounce” dryer sheets in everything in the past. Not sure if they actually work to deter the varmints or if I’ve just been lucky. I’ve heard that it’s only the Bounce brand that works. Any thoughts?
Thanks

A Jayco Tech suggested the bounce sheets to us, in the drawers, cabinets, under bed, etc. We have never had a mice issue with those. I'll try the Irish Spring thing this year too, doubt it can hurt anything.

[ultrarider]

Yup- good advise!

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by ultrarider

I’m a first time winterizer to, and I just did mine yesterday. Was very simple. I live in the northeast, so I went with the Winter Safe -100 degree formula. I have a 16XRB. The manual is pretty straight forward. I did my grey & black water last weekend. Just drain, refill, flush, using the power flush port on the side, and a valterra 90 deg. Elbow with hose port , to flush as well. I did the black tank about 5 complete fills, and drain. I watch through to toilet, and level sensor lights, to tell when full. My sensors actually read correctly again!
For water lines-
Make sure trailer is pretty level.
Drain fresh water tank & hot water tank. Put hot water tank drain plug back in after draining.
Open low point drains, to drain water lines.
Open all faucets to allow the lines to gravity drain.
Put hot water tank cold in & hot out valves to Bypass. Don’t want 6 gal of antifreeze filling up the tank!
Set the water pump inlet/ suction valve located on the inlet/ clear tygon hose to tygon hose position. ( in line with tygon hose)
Close all drains & faucets.
Open 1st gallon of antifreeze insert tygon hose,.
Turn on water pump. Watching antifreeze being drawn into to tygon pump. Run until it’s stops. Max pressure reached.
Start at closest faucet, open slowly, and allow the pump to pump until water/air is purged, and antifreeze is a rich color. In my case Blue.
Do hot/ and cold faucets from closest to the pump to furthest from the pump, making sure your antifreeze supply is full, as not to suck air.
Don’t forget toilet& outside shower!
Just run antifreeze through, until all faucets flow with rich antifreeze,and no air or water.
Pour a cup or so down each drain for the traps.
That’s it!
Mine took 3 gallons, but the 1st gallon I ran through to remove as much water/air as possible.

put some in the toilet bowl also. you want to keep the seal covered.

[ultrarider]

Okay thanks! I’ll go make sure of that right now
Thank you!

[BertaB]

Also remember to take out your fire extinguishers for the winter. Advise a firefighter told me. The fluctuations in temperature are not good for the extinguisher. Good idea I think!

[Bob The Camper]

We have the X20e, little brother of the 23rb. Some additional items I have done:
I store the mattresses out and not tied tight to the canvas.
I have a heater that I run.

https://www.amazon.com/Caframo-Limit...755630&sr=8-35

Keeps some residual heat and cerculaes the air.
I keep the fridge door ajar (wedge and bungee) the bathroom door slightly open and all the cupboard doors open a crack. This keeps the heat going to all compartments. Even in subzero, the temp in the trailer is around 12-15C at the coldest. Keeps moisture out.
This is in addition to many of the other suggestions of purging waterlines, antifreeze, etc.
Best of luck!

[kluza2786]

Depending on what part of the country you are in, you might be able to just use an air compressor (set at a maximum of 40 PSI) to blow all of the water out of your lines followed by RV antifreeze in all of the drains. I've done that the last 2 years and haven't had any issues. Of course, southern Indiana winters can be fairly mild compared to northeast, etc. If you decide to do that, make sure that you're using an oil-free compressor and the regulator set for no more than 40 PSI. Even if you decide to go ahead with the full anti-freeze treatment, if you blow out your lines first, you won't have to deal with diluted AF from the water in the lines. Also, don't forget to put some AF in your black and gray water tanks - don't want to freeze the dump valves.

[ultrarider]

It can get pretty cold here in the N.E. Is why I went with the -100 degree free protection antifreeze. The popular “ Pink” - -50 or so antifreeze states it will start to gel at temperatures as high as 17 degrees. The -50 degree statement is the temp it will freeze solid. I did not like that.
The -100 Winter Safe formula doesn’t even start to gel until well into the minus temps, and doesn’t freeze solid until -100. May be overkill on my part. But that’s just me. I’m anal.

[Docsouce]

2x on the -100 degree antifreeze. I've have been using it to winterize the potable water system on my boat for years. Yes it is more expensive but if there is any water left in the lines, any dilution that takes place the still leaves plenty of freeze protection. I have spent a lot money on my RV and a few dollars more for my peace of mind is ok. This is of course just my opinion. I get my -100 degree Boat/RV antifreeze at a marine dealer. I also live in the Northeast.