Winterizing without antifreeze

[Wireless Mike]

[QUOTE=SloPoke;911494]We have the Norcold Fridge... I posted

SloPoke, thanks for the writeup and responses in the followups..VERY helpful.

I saw a panel high up on exterior wall behind the refrig this last weekend when I went to check on the unit in storage. Now I know I have to open it up to take a look. I also have the same refrig. After finding & reading this thread, I had worried that I may have missed something and already had a problem when temps hit the upper 20s last week. However my air compressor was set as low as it goes to 35-40PSI and did cycle off so I know I have not already cracked any valve housings. I will have to address the refrig & double check the washer and let it cycle more than what I had done.

I recently purchased a 2016 Senica HJ & do have 2 Seneca questions:
1. I have a water filter in the water cabinet, with shutoff on both input & output, but there is no bypass path that I can see. I only noticed this when trying to drain the lines and get the water out of the filter housing. is the bypass hidden somewhere else?
I did not want to hookup to water just to test this.

2. When I turn on the water pump, it sounds like it is running continuously. Is that normal for a Seneca? I never hear that on my family's TT when we visit.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Wireless Mike

I recently purchased a 2016 Senica HJ & do have 2 Seneca questions:
1. I have a water filter in the water cabinet, with shutoff on both input & output, but there is no bypass path that I can see. I only noticed this when trying to drain the lines and get the water out of the filter housing. is the bypass hidden somewhere else?
I did not want to hookup to water just to test this.

2. When I turn on the water pump, it sounds like it is running continuously. Is that normal for a Seneca? I never hear that on my family's TT when we visit.

Q1: On our 2015, our water filter in the wet bay has the same valves you describe. When winterizing, I close both valves and open the filter canister and remove the filter cartridge - then open the valves... all before opening the low point drains (before blowing out the lines with air). We usually will replace the filter with a new one the next season - and always sanitize in the spring with the filter cartridge removed. After the water is all flushed out, then we will re-install the filter.

Q2 Our water pump will act like you describe in some situations where things are not right. Most often it is because of a loss of prime where an air pocket in the line to the pump gets stuck - often in the clear filter at the inlet of the pump. You also should have the water valves set to normal - so that the pump is drawing from the water tank and discharging into the house plumbing. purging all of the air from the plumbing helps this, make sure to bleed the Ice maker supply line as well as the Washer/Dryer supply lines.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by Bullitt6283

Sooo, I blow out my lines with air and I also use antifreeze.

It's not expensive and it's not hard to do.

Carry on....

.

Me too!!!

[JDug66]

I winterized in last November with air and antifreeze. I'm having second doubts on one thing. I can't remember if I did ONE thing in the correct order or not. My concern is that I don't remember if I removed the water contained within the hose from the fresh water to the water pump intake. I THINK I ran the pump long enough to suck all water out of the hose but now Im second guessing. I used a bypass hose to suck in antifreeze and obviously drained the fresh water tank. Would any water left in the tube drain back into the water tank by gravity or would a vacuum prevent it from draining out of the hose?

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by JDug66

I winterized in last November with air and antifreeze. I'm having second doubts on one thing. I can't remember if I did ONE thing in the correct order or not. My concern is that I don't remember if I removed the water contained within the hose from the fresh water to the water pump intake. I THINK I ran the pump long enough to suck all water out of the hose but now Im second guessing. I used a bypass hose to suck in antifreeze and obviously drained the fresh water tank. Would any water left in the tube drain back into the water tank by gravity or would a vacuum prevent it from draining out of the hose?

You should be fine, The only fitting I would expect on your TT would be at your command center, and it is not a low point where water will accumulate. The rest will be pex, or braided flex hose. Both can take a lot of abuse, from freezing.

[JDug66]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

You should be fine, The only fitting I would expect on your TT would be at your command center, and it is not a low point where water will accumulate. The rest will be pex, or braided flex hose. Both can take a lot of abuse, from freezing.

Thanks Jagiven, I'll sleep easier without the worry.

[Kim Gass]

Our water pump failed at time to winterize
The dealer put a new one in and winterized
but he snd we overlooked the line from the fresh water tank🤨
So off we go and when we get to warm weather nada. line frozen We tried to dewinterize
Took a couple of days for that line to thaw but all is fine. Nothing leaks.
To continue the bumble we did not rewinterize in Big Bend and for three days the high was 21
Our very basic box has no insulation underneath. We had the furnace on all the time and nothing froze up.
So there is a little wiggle room

[tazzman1961]

I have a 29qbh. If I never use the fresh water holding tank system and only use city water hookup can I just drain the pipes and blow out lines and put some antifreeze in my traps?
In my 1993 wilderness, that is all I ever did and never had issues in 15yrs that I owned it.
Thanks for feed back.

[JDug66]

Originally Posted by tazzman1961

I have a 29qbh. If I never use the fresh water holding tank system and only use city water hookup can I just drain the pipes and blow out lines and put some antifreeze in my traps?
In my 1993 wilderness, that is all I ever did and never had issues in 15yrs that I owned it.
Thanks for feed back.

Don't forget about draining your hot water tank and engaging the bypass before you start.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by tazzman1961

I have a 29qbh. If I never use the fresh water holding tank system and only use city water hookup can I just drain the pipes and blow out lines and put some antifreeze in my traps?
In my 1993 wilderness, that is all I ever did and never had issues in 15yrs that I owned it.
Thanks for feed back.

If you live in a climate like we do where it rarely gets below freezing, that should be fine. As mentioned, also drain the WH tank too. You might open your FW tank low-point drain as well to make sure there isn’t a bit of residual water in there.

[ultrarider]

I always use the -100 f blue protection. -50f does not protect well enough here in NE

http://www.starbrite.com/category/pg-antifreeze-2

[ultrarider]

The -50 f pink antifreeze will start to sludge at 12f. Find the antifreeze comparison protection info on line, then use what ever you want. For my peace of mind I’ll use the -100f formula. Just saying

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by tazzman1961

I have a 29qbh. If I never use the fresh water holding tank system and only use city water hookup can I just drain the pipes and blow out lines and put some antifreeze in my traps?
In my 1993 wilderness, that is all I ever did and never had issues in 15yrs that I owned it.
Thanks for feed back.

It's a hot topic, no pun intended. And I agree that, to me, it would depend on the outside low temps. Plenty of people do this, with great results.


I've seen the plumbing under mine and I don't trust air to flush enough of the water out. So it's $10 and the pink stuff for me and piece of mind.