De-winterize and sanitizing fresh tank/lines.

[Eeziter]

Ok I am heading out of town with the basecamp for a week and I am getting ready to de-winterize. I used 50 PSI compressed air to winterize and I isolated the truma hot water tank and drained it. I am going to sanitize the lines, but I am wondering if I should open the hot water bypass and allow the sanitizing bleach water fill the truma hot water tank? I assume since I bypassed the tank I can still run water in both the hot and cold lines to the sink and shower, so my question is if its necessary or recommended to sanitize the truma tank as well? Anything else I need to worry about with de-winterizing? Thanks in advance.

[Bob Schrader]

Following. Had dealer winterize last fall when doing some repairs from debris damage on return from last trip of season.



I understand de-winterizing is basically doing the steps of winterizing in reverse, but since we didn't do the winterizing, not sure of the steps! Have watched some good videos on winterizing, so could go through and write down in reverse, but hoping to find a checklist of steps to de-winterize.

[Daquenzer]

Sanitizing the hot water tank to me is unnecessary. It heats to well above the temperature to clean out bacteria. Bacteria starts to die at 140 to 160 degrees.
poultry, whole or ground: 165°F (74°C)
whole cuts of meat (beef, pork, lamb, or veal): 145°F (64°C)
ground meats: 160°F (71°C)
fresh ham: 145°F (64°C)
fish: 145°F (64°C) or until meat is opaque
leftovers or casseroles: 165°F (74°C)

It also means you have to empty the hot water tank using the drain valve after it is filled with bleach water. It is more important to sanitize the fresh water tank and lines using bleach. Run some bleach water through the lines. Let the bleach sit in the tank over night. Even take it for a spin to slosh it around. Then I would empty the tank using the drain. Fill it again. Then run the water through the lines to clean out the lines from bleach. Then drain the tank. Might need to do this a few times to clear out the bleach.

[pamelajoy47]

From book ;

The Newbies Guide
to Airstreaming

The entire fresh water system should be sanitized and cleaned at least once a year. The procedure is easy and doesn’t require any specialized tools. Start by looking up your fresh water tank capacity in the Owner’s Manual, or check the “Boondocking” section of this book where you may have already written it down. Multiply the tank capacity by 0.13, and that’s how many ounces of household bleach you should use. Dilute that bleach in a gallon or so of water, and then dump it in the fresh water fill. Be careful not to splash any bleach/water mix on yourself or your clothes. Then finish filling the tank with water. Run each of the faucets (including the shower head) until you can smell bleach. If you have a water filtration system, check the Owner’s Manual before running the bleached water through it.
Let the water stand in the system 3-4 hours, or double the formula for a one-hour standing time. Drain using the drain petcock on the bottom of the fresh water tank (see Owner’s Manual for exact location) or by running the faucets, and refill with fresh water. If bleach taste or odor remains, rinse system with a solution of 1 quart of vinegar to 5 gallons of water. Some folks swear by Vitamin C tablets for this purpose. There are also commercial products to make the water taste better, which you can find in RV and camping stores. Flush the water out again, and refill with clean water.

[Lily&Me]

I had forgotten that Rich Luhr had written this book.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the reported dearth of information in owners manuals in recent years.

At $28 for a paperback version, and $10 even for Kindle, sales would be pretty lucrative if even half of Airstream owners bought one.

Maggie