Winterizing

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Troutboy

For those that use pink only, even in the fresh water system, how do you specifically flush the system out to get that taste out?

Hook up to city water and CG sewer, open gray water valve, and rinse rinse rinse . . . thereby wasting hundreds of gallons of precious water!

Or -- if permitted at the location, let the grey water run into a garden or lawn area, as we do at home.

Peter

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by TravlinMan

This is how I winterize.
. . .

Good one!

But if you leave soon, you are going to be passing through some areas or high mountain passes with pretty cold weather IMO.

We got caught in a cold snap and blizzard in Abilene Texas, were forced to winterize on the road, and -- a week later -- discovered a broken elbow behind the water heater in our old 25' AS -- in the middle of the night when I had to "wade" to the head across a very wet rug.



It became a good lesson in taking an Airstream apart while on vacation, and was aided greatly by a fantastic hardware store in San Diego which opened at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. Fortunately they had the right NPT tap for the back of the water heater, where I had to carefully chisel out the remains of the old plastic elbow.

Being camped on the beach did not hurt . . .

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by Troutboy

For those that use pink only, even in the fresh water system, how do you specifically flush the system out to get that taste out?

For drinking and cooking we use bottled water.

[TravlinMan]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Good one!

But if you leave soon, you are going to be passing through some areas or high mountain passes with pretty cold weather IMO.

We got caught in a cold snap and blizzard in Abilene Texas, were forced to winterize on the road, and -- a week later -- discovered a broken elbow behind the water heater in our old 25' AS -- in the middle of the night when I had to "wade" to the head across a very wet rug.



It became a good lesson in taking an Airstream apart while on vacation, and was aided greatly by a fantastic hardware store in San Diego which opened at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. Fortunately they had the right NPT tap for the back of the water heater, where I had to carefully chisel out the remains of the old plastic elbow.

Being camped on the beach did not hurt . . .

I agree with ya. I gotta be in Southern California by November for some holiday stuff with my son, I am stopping by Jackson Center.

But I really need my runnin water and shower. I don't drink it but I need it for dishes and washing. So I'm gonna keep my eye on the weather, try my best to avoid freezin weather and, if all else fails, a bunch of nasty pink stuff will have to do. I got caught in a real nasty blizzard in Dallas one March, but keepin the furnace on and the cupboards open kept mynplumning ok in my Casita. But I ain't been in freezin in the airstream. I do everything I can to avoid weather below 40 but I realize sometimes I can't avoid it. Heck I've seen freezin even in death valley.

[OTRA15]

Not sure of your layout, but the shower valves (x2) seem to be especially vulnerable, as interior heat cannot get to them. If they are on the windward side during a overnight freeze, they will go first IMO, and are a real pain to repair.

We just got a Viair 450 for that reason, for on-the-road winterization:

https://www.amazon.com/Viair-Automat...ords=viair+450

12-volt and highly recommended here on many threads:

https://www.google.com/search?q=viai...=airforums.com

Safe travels.

Peter

[OTRA15]

PS -- plenty of volume and 100% duty cycle, so in an emergency, you could even keep a leaky tire inflated by stopping every so often if needed.

[TravlinMan]

Thanks, Peter. Ive used a viair for decades to air my tires up after I air down on gravel roads and it is a great product. Hopefully I won't need to use it to winterize. I will ask the factory about it when I am there on Monday! But if I gotta drive quickly to California to avoid winterizin, I'll do it. I could probly be there before mid October if I went 'quick' (TravlinMan quick... not Moosetags quick ha!)

We shall see....

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by TravlinMan

. . .
I could probly be there before mid October if I went 'quick' (TravlinMan quick... not Moosetags quick ha!)
. . .

Ha indeed!

Drove from NYC to San Diego in 60 hours once. Two of us taking turns sleeping in the van's bed. Slept for 24 hours in a motel upon arrival.

Not recommended!

Have a great trip, hope JC works out, their work seems to be recommended.

Cheers,

Peter

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Rfriebele

My AS is new, this will be my 1st winter with it, I live in NC so temps rarely go below 20F. Question, if I've never used my fresh water tank & pump, only city water, do I still need to drain and/or winterize the pump?

If you live in central NC your trailer will be exposed to lower than 20F. And, it gets worse toward the mountains. We regularly get down into the single digits, occasionally below 0F. The trailer has to withstand the worse case, not the average.
These are some record lows measured at PTI Airport (from climatespy.com)
The top 5 coldest days on record are:
21 Jan 1985 -8.1°F
26 Dec 1985 -6°F
18 Jan 1977 -2°F
20 Jan 1994 -0.9°F
18 Feb 1958 0°F

I use to blow the lines, but it took to much time.
I installed the pump kit and now use RV antifreeze.

When it's time to remove the antifreeze I open the low point drain and the faucets and let gravity do its thing. Then to flush out the residual, I connect the fresh water to a hose bib and let it run through the fixtures in the trailer for a half hour or so, with the gray water valve open.

[Rfriebele]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

If you live in central NC your trailer will be exposed to lower than 20F. And, it gets worse toward the mountains. We regularly get down into the single digits, occasionally below 0F. The trailer has to withstand the worse case, not the average.
These are some record lows measured at PTI Airport (from climatespy.com)
The top 5 coldest days on record are:
21 Jan 1985-8.1°F
26 Dec 1985-6°F
18 Jan 1977-2°F
20 Jan 1994-0.9°F
18 Feb 19580°F

I use to blow the lines, but it took to much time.
I installed the pump kit and now use RV antifreeze.

When it's time to remove the antifreeze I open the low point drain and the faucets and let gravity do its thing. Then to flush out the residual, I connect the fresh water to a hose bib and let it run through the fixtures in the trailer for a half hour or so, with the gray water valve open.

Thanks for the info...for whatever reason, maybe cause I was a chemist, I can't get comfy with putting antifreeze in my water lines. I've even thought about making my own. I know what's sold is supposed to be "food grade" but I've had experience with where & how they manufacture these things. I'll likely try a combo of blowing the lines, antifreezing the drains & tanks.

[ajwbarnard]

Has anyone winterized the 2018 Classic? With the new Alde system for hot water would the process be different? I am going to dealer to have it done, but I am not sure I trust they know what they are doing?

[featherbedder]

IMO do not put anti freeze in fresh water tank or water heater only in ptraps [sinks lavatorys shower or tub] some down toilet I made tee and valve connected to water pump that stays in place, then pump some thru lines after blowing out lines. Now no more winterizing just drain tanks. Built heated bldg. in 1991 for all toys, back in lock doors forget until spring. Before always winterized as described before anti freeze then after never had a freeze up in 54 yrs. of AS and couple sob before.

[TCwheels]

Drain. Blow. Pink in traps. Never again will I put pink in fresh water, took a season to get all residual out of tank, lines, pump, and accumulator.

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by Troutboy

For those that use pink only, even in the fresh water system, how do you specifically flush the system out to get that taste out?

Run the water systems a long time. It may still be in the system for the first few camping trips, during which time we drink bottled water. It might be from the CG taps, or purchased water.

We had a friend who didn't winterize properly, with predictable damage and results, so we'd rather be safe than sorry.Winterizing sometimes happens on the road, so we generally pay a RV service guy to do it. But I think we're in the minority among the do-it-yourselfers.

[A W Warn]

If taste is lingering after flushing, something is not being done correctly.

Some people forget to re-open the low point drains after filling them with antifreeze. The pipe that dead ends at the low point drain valve will retain antifreeze if the valve is not opened during the flushing process. The taste of antifreeze can linger for a long time if this is the case.

The water filter should be removed and plugged prior to filling the water lines with antifreeze. Then reinstalled after flushing is complete.

I do not use antifreeze in the fresh water tank, just open the drain and leave it open all winter.

When it's time to de-winterize, I usually flush the water lines and water heater tank with all valves open for about half an hour. Also fill the fresh water tank, sanitize with bleach, and run that full tank out. Then fill with fresh water and empty again.

After that the taste and smell antifreeze and or bleach is gone.

[2012FB]

Travel out and back to CO several times each year in the winter. 4 gallons of pink in a 5 gallon soft can. I leave the winterize valve in the winter position year round as I have never put water in the fresh water tank. It takes less than 5 minutes to completely winterize the trailer (RV550 so no hot water heater drain) and I have in 25 years never had a issue. I cant see lugging an air compressor around to do blow outs. It does not take much water to push the pink out. Never had a taste issue.

[FishByFly]

I carried a compressor for a couple of seasons until it struck me that almost all gas stations have air. With a gauge and a valve to control the PSI, I can blow out water the lines on the road. Swing into a Walmart and pick up RV antifreeze and pump into the system...while in the parking lot. Process takes me about 30 mins in that I double check all drain points, all fixtures and fittings. I now travel not worrying about winterizing on the road if the weather turns unexpectedly.

[2012FB]

Originally Posted by 2012fb

travel out and back to co several times each year in the winter. 4 gallons of pink in a 5 gallon soft can. I leave the winterize valve in the winter position year round as i have never put water in the fresh water tank. It takes less than 5 minutes to completely winterize the trailer (rv550 so no hot water heater drain) and i have in 25 years never had a issue. I cant see lugging an air compressor around to do blow outs. It does not take much water to push the pink out. Never had a taste issue.

Just did mine yesterday.

[Too tall]

Check my math. Appreciate if the experienced folks can check me.

The (small yellow) arrow is pointing to where I should install my Camco Winterizing Kit (Basically a valve and vinyl tube) The arrow is pointing where I think is the inlet side of the water pump and ahead of the filter, yes?

I'm a giant man so this is going to happen once and only once!!!

WP1A by on Flickr

[pcskier]

Originally Posted by Too tall

The (small yellow) arrow is pointing to where I should install my Camco Winterizing Kit (Basically a valve and vinyl tube) The arrow is pointing where I think is the inlet side of the water pump and ahead of the filter, yes?

Correct. Just make sure the valve is installed in the correct direction. Handle pointing out towards you when in bypass mode, pointing toward the inlet when in normal service mode.