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Old 03-18-2007, 08:21 AM   #1
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1972 27' Overlander
Belgrade , Montana
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De-winterizing

Well, the time is just about here to fire up the old AS and start camping again. This will be our first real use of the shiney bubble since we bought it just before winter. I winterized it myself and wonder what I should look for when we turn the water on the first time. Are there any common leak points I should watch for? If I did the winterization wrong, what is most likely to fail?
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:28 AM   #2
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1975 31' Sovereign
1980 31' Excella II
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snpotratz
Well, the time is just about here to fire up the old AS and start camping again. This will be our first real use of the shiney bubble since we bought it just before winter. I winterized it myself and wonder what I should look for when we turn the water on the first time. Are there any common leak points I should watch for? If I did the winterization wrong, what is most likely to fail?
Steve,
The pipes in the hardest place to reach Murphy's Law All you can do is bring the pressure up slowly and watch and listen for leaks, I have to do it every year and some years I win and there are no leaks and other years Murphy strikes and I get a leak. This is especially true of the older trailers with original plumbing in them.

Aaron
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:35 AM   #3
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Put a few gallons in your fresh tank. Flush all the air out of the lines and then leave the pump on with all the fixtures off. If you have any occult leaks, the pump will cycle to restore the lost pressure caused by the escaping water. If you go 30-40 min without the pump kicking in you are probally ok.
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Old 03-18-2007, 08:35 AM   #4
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De-winterizing my rig can be fun. Each fall I pump the lines full of the cheapest vodka I can get. In the spring I suppose one could drink it right out of the faucet, but I don't. Oh yeah, there's those folks that will say it will weaken all the pipe joints. Ten years and not a leak yet.
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Old 03-19-2007, 11:39 AM   #5
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1981 25' Excella II
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This will by my first time de-winterizing as well. I used compressed air on a low setting, also blowing out the hot water heater as best I could. Then I bypassed it, and pumped antifreeze through the system using the pump.
I'll be going back through the winterizing thread to try to not miss anything. I do have the original plumbing, so I'm hoping for the best. The old excella spent it's life in the dessert of NM before I brought her up here to the mountains, and it has been a very cold sub 0 winter. We have a huge summer planned for camping. I'm taking it down to Denver to have a rock guard installed on April the 12th, so I'll wait until then to de-winterize.
Wish me luck.

Wahoonc: Do you have any pics posted of your excella 2? I don't think I've ever seen a pic of another, and I'm not sure if there are any differences between the excella, and excella 2.

Charlie
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Old 03-19-2007, 12:21 PM   #6
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madison , Wisconsin
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Quote:
any common leak points I should watch for?
toilet hand sprayer.

been there, got sprayed by that! luckily they are inexpensive.

also another common failure is the moen faucet cartriges. i went through a number of them until i got my act together and used air and antifreeze.

john
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Old 03-19-2007, 12:37 PM   #7
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2004 25' Safari
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Pipes, tanks, etc. Mainly pipes though......
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Old 03-19-2007, 12:48 PM   #8
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1975 31' Sovereign
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pacerized

Wahoonc: Do you have any pics posted of your excella 2? I don't think I've ever seen a pic of another, and I'm not sure if there are any differences between the excella, and excella 2.

Charlie
Charlie,
I think there are a couple...try here these are pictures the PO took. I need to get mine updated I don't think there is much difference between an Excella and an Excella II other than possibly model years.

Aaron
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