Winterizing in the South

[Jarnae]

We aren't deep South but in upper Arkansas where we may get 1 or 2 months of cold weather. Question is do we really need to fill the lines with antifreeze for those months? Couldn't we just drain the lines, leave the facets open and everything be okay or are their other reasons to fully winterize? Any suggestions for others that live in this region?

[Doug]

If you blow the lines out, you may be ok.
The difference between winterizing dry and adding anti-freeze is so small it would seem a poor choice not to take the extra step and protect your investment.
JMHO, Doug

[Flapper]

Why risk it? It only takes one good cold snap for the smaller lines in your RV to freeze. At least use a compressor to blow out the lines. Using RV anti-freeze is far, far cheaper than taking half your RV apart to get at the busted pipe. You may get away with it for a long time, but....

[Jarnae]

The problem is, I still want to go out this year when it's cold. I'm a little worried with the freeze warnings right now.. but I'm wondering if I can hold off until we get multiple days freeze etc.

[norty1]

It depends if you have power on the rig. Mine sits in my yard with power and we run a small heater on low inside. If it is going to be a hard freeze here, I will blow the lines out and put a little anti freeze in the traps/toilet.

We usually don't get this type temps until after Christmas, and we camp for 4-5 days at a local park until New Years day. My camper sits unused for about a month in January except for an occasional trip to Myrtle Beach.

Mid February, we are off to Florida for 3-4 weeks when our camping season starts back up,

[dalebra]

No question in my mind if you even have the slightest chance that the temp will be down to 32F overnight.
Putting RV antifreeze in is cheap and easy to do vs. repairing a broken fitting or line buried in your unit.

[troutslayer]

I blow the lines out and put RV antifreeze down the drain pipes and have never had any problems. HOWEVER, that's not to say that's what you should do

[hboy]

It's your rig, so do what you feel is best.

Personally, for $10 of pink stuff and 20 minutes of time you could save yourself a big pain if you bust a pipe.

Just opening low paint drains and faucets will not get the water out of p-traps under sink.

For me, I just don't know how cold is too cold for water in the RV plumbing to cause damage. Will a light freeze bust plumbing? Pry not. Will it take a hard freeze to bust? How hard of freeze is that?

I've taken an air compressor when cold camping to blow water out of the lines when nights dropped below freezing. It's just too easy of a task considering the risk for damage.

[norty1]

I agree, precaution is the watchword.

A few minutes of preparation is worth lots of time saved fixing a busted pipe or valve.

[Jagiven]

peace of mind says add some RV antifreeze. How cold does it get in your area and for how long? If your nightly lowers are in the mid to upper 20's and the day time highs are in the 40's I would say your probably fine with blowing out the lines.

Personally, I just do not want to deal with any issues in the spring, so I antifreeze. I have meet many fellow Minnesotans that only blow out their lines and say they have never had an issue. But as others have said, why risk it. Its not hard to do, and you certainly do not need the freeze protection we need, so if it is a little watered down, that should be ok too. Just remember the traps and outside shower.

[PlayersZ28]

I've only ever used air on my trailers. I open all the drains including the hidden ones and then blow air in the city fill while my wife opens and closes taps. I cycle thru the docking station valve settings while doing it. Then I dump enough pink down the drains to get some in the holding tanks. I don't like pink in my fresh water lines as it takes forever to clear it out.

[tortue71]

Is it that cold ? I mean it's not even cold enough here in Québec yet to do any damage.
My hose outside is not freezing overnight ! It takes at least a 23 for over 24h to do anything Bad.

Envoyé de mon SGH-M919V en utilisant Tapatalk

[Wrascal]

I may one day regret it but that is exactly what I do. I first disconnect the fresh water and drain the onboard water tank; then I open (and leave open) the already drained black and gray tanks, open (and again leave open) all the faucets (don't forget any outside ones), flush the toilet, and open all low points. I also briefly turn on the water pump to purge it of the last bit of water. But generally I just leave everything open until my next trip.

I don't have water to my freezer, nor do I have a clothes washer. If you have these items don't forget to drain them.

My reasoning (perhaps flawed) is that during a freeze condition any remaining water CAN easily expand without busting anything as it's not capped on either end.

[schrederman]

Living in north-central Texas, we have several cold snaps a year that can freeze pipes and fittings. But we camp a lot in winter so I have to winterize several times a year. Blow it out and add a little antifreeze to the traps and you'll be fine... as long as you don't forget to drain the pump, blow out the toilet and outside shower, and all the other little places water can collect. I did bust an outside shower once but it was -8 and I forgot... If you forget and you're adding antifreeze, those same places will still freeze. Not really fun but necessary.

[Big1]

So what about the water that's in your water heater, I would drain that to.

[Wrascal]

Originally Posted by Big1

So what about the water that's in your water heater, I would drain that to.

Once again, as its now open on both the input and output side I don't touch it. If concerned you can remove its plastic drain cap - just don't loose it.

[oldmanAZ]

I pull the plug and flush the water heater each fall when I winterize. Anyone else?

[schiguy]

Is it advisable to keep all of the faucets to the open position? I blew the lines out with are then ran the pink stuff through everything. Should I keep the faucets all "turned on"?

[abarkl]

Originally Posted by schiguy

Is it advisable to keep all of the faucets to the open position? I blew the lines out with are then ran the pink stuff through everything. Should I keep the faucets all "turned on"?

We have heard most owners leave the faucets open to prevent any additional moisture build up from being trapped and freezing.

[abarkl]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

I pull the plug and flush the water heater each fall when I winterize. Anyone else?

We flush the HWH on occasion to limit hard water build up, just as we do at home.

We thought you were in southern AZ. Do you winterize?
We have never winterized our motorhomes over many years and never a problem.
We actually give more consideration to summerizing our motorhomes by removing soft plastics and candles from overhead cabinets. We have had candles melted and other plastics "stuck" to things with cabinet temperatures reaching 130 F while in storage in the dead of summer.