Getting ready for the freeze-Winterize

[toastie]

Originally Posted by john hd

three!



john

Great job john hd.........really helps

[wheel interested]

We are in Michigan and it will get well below freezing and some subzero temperatures perhaps. We have winterized the plumbing and taken out whatever may freeze, but my question is about the wall mount LCD monitors. We have removed it but I am wondering if that is a necessary step in winterizing. Who has, who hasn't? We do not plan to keep the Airstream heated and it sits outside exposed to the weather.

Also anyone have any special tips to quickly warm up a cold mattress? We have a heated mattress pad and that is fine for where it covers but at the head of the bed---BRRRR! Hubby thought making vents for the underbed storage would help warm things up. I am thinking to pop it open until that space warms up.

Anyone have ways they keep toasty when it's cold as heck camping time?

[Boondocker]

I think I saw a suggestion for putting rock salt in the black tank for winter camping to prevent freezing. Has anyone here tried that? How much did you use and how did it work. I wonder if it wouldnt damage seals and whatnot....

[STREAMTEAM]

John, Thanks for the picture of the air adaptor.....This was our first winterizing job and thought I had her all drained....Used the air and got another gallon at least.

[Sierrapapa]

Gee, this is a wonderful step by step, and when I "anti-freeze" my system I am going to follow these steps... in the meantime temps are getting down to the low 30's here now, but I am still using the trailer off and on. Am I safe to just drain the tanks, waterheater and blow the system with compressed air. My situation is going to be where I will have it stored under cover but still open enough it could freeze but I will be wanting to pull it out and head up to Yellowstone a couple of more times. I am hoping to be able to have the system drained, only fill it with water (and sewage) after it is in place at the boondocking site and the furnace is running, then do a quick drain and blow out for the drive home. Am I being realistic? I don't mind doing the full step by step as outlined here, I just don't want to do it 3 times.

[Sky]

My 2007 has a flushing system built into the black tank,and I am wondering if it traps water? Should I send some antifreeze through it to be safe? This will be my first winterization, wish me luck

Thanks

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by Sky

My 2007 has a flushing system built into the black tank,and I am wondering if it traps water?

Good idea! Will it ever end. I'm not sure of the exact layout but I don't think the path is very lengthy. I think this could readily be blown out and shouldn't require antifreeze. You won't have to open the black tank wastegate -- air will vent out the roof vent.

I use a Camco hose threaded adapter (I don't see it at Camping World... Check a local RV dealer or trailer section at a farm fleet store?) and a rubber tipped air compressor nozzle to do my winterizing (see picture). It's a little inconvenient because I need a 2nd person to hold the nozzle to the adapter -- not bad since I only do this once a year.

[CrawfordGene]

After we blew out the system, I removed the filter. There was no part to screw into the hole and seal it. If you keep the special faucet for the filtered water closed, no antifreeze will come out of the open filter connection where the filter screws in when you pressurize the system.

What was really strange was there was a 3v watch type battery taped to the filter. There is a wire—looks to be about 20 to 24 gauge—behind there going upward to where the faucets and spigot is mounted. I was cold and tired and didn't bother to check that out.

Gene

[2airishuman]

the kitchen faucet filter?

moen right?

the battery (on mine) is for the faucet head, it has a sensor that informs us when it's time for a new filter.

there's a little booklet in the owner's packet on setup, the light color codes and so on...

cheers
2air'

[thecatsandi]

You will soon find out the black tank flush will become useless. Mine did after 6 months. I use a flush king and be done with it. If you are worried about it put some RV antifreeze in it.

[CrawfordGene]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

the kitchen faucet filter?

moen right?

the battery (on mine) is for the faucet head, it has a sensor that informs us when it's time for a new filter.

there's a little booklet in the owner's packet on setup, the light color codes and so on...

cheers
2air'

Yes and yes. I'll look up the booklet (so many booklets).

Gene

[CrawfordGene]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

I think I saw a suggestion for putting rock salt in the black tank for winter camping to prevent freezing. Has anyone here tried that? How much did you use and how did it work. I wonder if it wouldnt damage seals and whatnot....

Rodney, I recall reading suggestions to use rock salt in a pinch and warnings about it's corrosiveness. It's rarely used to melt ice on sidewalks and driveways anymore because it destroys concrete over time. There are gentler salts available for that (and they might work in the tank). I'm sure it would be very bad for the seals. A/S warns not to let sewage freeze in the tank in the manual in capital letters, so they must mean it. So I guess salt in an emergency and flush quick.

My tanks are heated so unless I run out of propane I'm ok. Insulating and heating the tanks might be a good further project for your restoration and that trip to Alaska. I'm sure you wanted another project. I don't know how effective antifreeze added to the black and grey water tanks would be.

Gene

[Sky]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

You will soon find out the black tank flush will become useless. Mine did after 6 months. I use a flush king and be done with it. If you are worried about it put some RV antifreeze in it.

Hi Michelle,

Just curious why you say that? Between my 'Sewer Solution' and the built-in flush, I get very good results. I even made a Y hose to feed water to the built-in flush and 'Sewer Solution' so I don't need to move the hose back and forth. I'm not real sure how a 'Flush King' works, but my 'Sewer Solution' allows me to send water back up into the tank from the drain pipe. I get better results using the built in flush then I do with the 'Sewer Solution' flush.

I love talking about this sh**.

Just wondered what your thought were.

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by Sky

...Just curious why you say that?...

i agree with cats on this and here's why.

the factory btf supplies a VERY small amt of water and the sieved head has little tiny holes that get plugged easily.

so it goes from slow to slower, to reallyreallyfriggentakeanapslow after a few months.

there is also some sort of 'back flow' regulator thing that leaks or fails and is a PIA to replace.

and repair/service of the main btf fitting and plumbing is a HUGE access issue, like a ship in a bottle repair.

since the btf is so slow it takes forEVER to back fill a 35 gallon tank.

the flushking otoh, back fills a 35 gallon tank in 3-5 minutes with reasonable water pressure.

so we can back fill n drain 3-5 cycles in about the same time the btf back fills ONCE.

your s-solution is a fine macerator but takes muchmuch longer to drain a tank than a standard size slinky.

i've never really needed the 'uphill' or '100 foot' features it provides, either.

i'm not sure what the back fill rate is on the s-solution,

but you would still need to use the macerator function with each 'dump' (even if it's 99% water) and that would add significantly to tank cleaning times.

we can 'clean' the black tank really really well in 20 minutes, and i only do this every few weeks during usage.

while there are folks that have slinky leaks or drips,

i've found buying the best/thickest slinky and fittings, means NO leaks and at least 3 years of duty life (no replacements needed yet)

cheers
2air'