Blowing out water lines for winterization

[Rodek]

I have a small oil less compressor that I can set to 30-40 PSI or so and am interested in blowing the water out of my 25RB water lines for winterizing. We don't get many below freezing nights in my area. I will however pour some antifreeze down each drain.

My questions are as follows:

I hook the air compressor up to the special blow out fitting and connect it to the fresh water connection on the outside of the Trailer. To blow out the lines do I turn on the sink and then blow air? After the sink, do I turn on the shower, bathroom sink, outside shower and toilet individually or have them all open at once to blow their lines out?

Finally, how to I take care of the water heater? I'm new to this and need some really entry level instruction.

I thank all for your input!

[Jagiven]

Blowiing out the lines is not to hard. There is no right or wrong way to do it as long as you get all the water out of the critical places.

I like to start by opening up my low point drains and all the faucets. This gets a lot of the water out of the system and not into my waste water tanks. I do this while I get my air compressor ready.

I also recommend running the water pump to purge any water out of that line. This is also a good time to remove the water pump inlet filter screen and clean it. Really the only way to get the water out of the filter screen housing.

If you have an onboard, inline water filter, might recommend removing the filter. When all done, open up the housing again and verify that it does not have a pool of water in the bottom of the housing.

I like to exercises all the valves once the system is gravity drained, I tend to do this while blowing air through the system. Water can site behind valves like the water heater bypass, and I like to make sure the valves are dry.

If you are not going to use antifreeze, you really do not have to bypass the water heater, but I recommend it. The HW tank acts like a big air compressor storage tank. If you have a small air compressor, a lot of effort goes to filling that tank with air. So I would bypass it after you make sure to exercise the valves to get any trapped water out.

Now it is just going from faucet to faucet to blow out the lines. I tend to do a quick blow out of the hot water lines first, then the cold water lines, just to get the balk out first. Then I tend to start go back and do all the hot water valves, then the cold water valves. I'm more of the belt and suspenders type, so I go through a few times.

Easy items to forget is the outside shower, and the toilet. Once I am happy, I tend to do a walk through, and think about the entire plumbing system, starting at the city water connection and think about where it has to go, just to verify I did not miss anything.

Little tip, between the city water connection and your air compressor fitting use a small 1/4 turn garden hose valve. Makes turning off the air flow really quick and easy, without having to disconnect the air line.

Good Luck!

[LuckyDuck]

Jagiven gives an excellent rundown — not much to add. When I’m done, I do a quick dump of the gray and black tanks just to get rid of what came out of the faucets and toilet. It’s probably not enough to worry about in such big tanks, but I’m a little obsessive. As Jagiven mentioned, a blowout plug with a gate valve on it makes life easier. I love this one I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Vibrant-Yard-...ag=googhydr-20
Good luck!

[Rodek]

Thank you! I really appreciate the time you folks have taken to help and educate me. It doesn't sound like it will be that difficult after all.

[Lmbrjk]

Another item that can get forgotten (I did) is the faucet in an outdoor kitchen if you have one. Good explanation above!!

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by Lmbrjk

Another item that can get forgotten (I did) is the faucet in an outdoor kitchen if you have one. Good explanation above!!

I'll add to that the outside shower! We never use ours and the first winter we had this trailer it was forgotten. Fortunately a replacement outdoor shower fixture was not too expensive.

[Mr G]

Is there a practical way to insulate the water lines so that they do not have to be winterized each year?

[TWP723]

Heating the area would be the only way. Otherwise, wrapped or not, they'll freeze.

[Rodek]

Just to clarify....Do you only turn on one fixture at a time when blowing the lines out? Hook up blow out plug to outside fresh water connection and then turn one fixture on while others are off and blow that fixture out, turn it off and go to the next until all are drained?

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by Rodek

Just to clarify....Do you only turn on one fixture at a time when blowing the lines out? Hook up blow out plug to outside fresh water connection and then turn one fixture on while others are off and blow that fixture out, turn it off and go to the next until all are drained?

My JAYCO manual says to “open all faucets in the RV” before hooking up the blowout plug and blowing out the lines.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Rodek

Just to clarify....Do you only turn on one fixture at a time when blowing the lines out? Hook up blow out plug to outside fresh water connection and then turn one fixture on while others are off and blow that fixture out, turn it off and go to the next until all are drained?

That's the way I do it with the outside shower being the last fixture blown out because it is usually the lowest fixture in the coach.

[Zenar]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

My JAYCO manual says to “open all faucets in the RV” before hooking up the blowout plug and blowing out the lines.

That's because most people use more air pressure than what the fittings are rated for. Also, when items are pressurized with air and teh fitting explode they become projectiles

[skids]

Originally Posted by Mr G

Is there a practical way to insulate the water lines so that they do not have to be winterized each year?

Only if you store your trailer in a heated garage, or more to southern climates.

[skids]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

My JAYCO manual says to “open all faucets in the RV” before hooking up the blowout plug and blowing out the lines.

Air velocity will help move water through low points in the lines. Opening one water valve at a time helps to achieve that velocity. (Make sure something is open to help prevent over pressure.)

[Pinnacle37rlws]

How do you set the valves to have air blow through the fixtures and residential refrigerator water dispenser?

[Snapchen]

Originally Posted by Rodek

I have a small oil less compressor that I can set to 30-40 PSI or so and am interested in blowing the water out of my 25RB water lines for winterizing. We don't get many below freezing nights in my area. I will however pour some antifreeze down each drain.

My questions are as follows:

I hook the air compressor up to the special blow out fitting and connect it to the fresh water connection on the outside of the Trailer. To blow out the lines do I turn on the sink and then blow air? After the sink, do I turn on the shower, bathroom sink, outside shower and toilet individually or have them all open at once to blow their lines out?

Finally, how to I take care of the water heater? I'm new to this and need some really entry level instruction.

I thank all for your input!

Start with the farthest opening or longest water line first. Open the faucet and let it drain until no water comes out, then close it and go to the next longest working back to the closest to the city water inlet. At 30 to 40 psi, your compressor won’t over-pressurize the lines, so you won’t need to turn it off between bleeding each line. Don’t forget the toilet flush valve and outside shower...often forgotten!
The water heaters usually have by-pass valves to isolate the heater from the water system. By-pass the water heater and go outside, open the heater access door and remove the plug to drain the water heater. I switch over to winterize and pump antifreeze through each faucet to ensure no water pools in them. Make sure you open low point drains before and after.

[CaptainVideo]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Blowiing out the lines is not to hard. There is no right or wrong way to do it as long as you get all the water out of the critical places....

Good Luck!

What a great step by step walk through.

I thought I needed a "serious compressor" and was happy to discover the tire inflator that is included with my battery charger does the trick beautifully. I just had to buy a cheap adaptor to connect the tire inflator tube to the city water intake.

The first time I did it, I had my wife monitor the pressure gauge and kept all the faucets closed until the pressure reached 40 psi. Then I'd open one faucet at a time. I realized I could just listen to the pump and could tell from the sound when there was an adequate pressure build up.

Just for extra insurance I did add antifreeze to the system.

[larrydp]

Do you drain the water heater also?

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by larrydp

Do you drain the water heater also?

Yep, when you open all the low point drains, and the faucets. The water heater will drain.

I have added drain valve modification my water heater drain plug, so it is open too. The instructions above will drain the water heater.

[NGaCamperz]

If you're more inclined to visual aids, Viair has a link to a good video for blowing out your lines. Of course it is about using their air comp and winterizing attachment.