Is putting antifreeze in the lines necessary?

[gowiththeflo]

I'm in a climate that gets down to 0 at night and up to about 32 in the day.

I just got some help with following the procedure outlined in my 86 345 MH guide for draining all water and putting antifreeze in the drains.

It wasn't a piece of cake as some modifications have been done to the rig since 86. But I think all is done. Batteries are out and stored.

Then there is a section entitled "additional winterizing" in the owner's manual. Since it has already cost me a bit to get this amount done, I'd like opinions on whether or not the next part has to be done too?

Please no wise a&& comments. I know it would be better to do it. I just have a lot on my plate right now with other repairs to the bricks and mortar dwelling.

BTW, blowing out the water was a pain. I just saw the thread on making an adapter. Wish I had seen that first.

[SteveH]

Where I live the trailer does fine with blowing the lines, adding antifreeze to the drains, and running a little A/C heater. However, we see maybe three or four freezes a year, rarely below 15 degrees, and even then only for a few hours.

With your weather, I would do all recommended winterizing.

[Wayne&Sam]

It gets just as cold here and I don't use antifreeze. I make sure I blow out the lines well with a compressor and haven't had a problem.

[tkowalyk]

I blow out the lines from the city water inlet (IMPORTANT -- set the ait to < 50 PSI) drain all the water and put a 1/2 gallon of anti freeze through the pump bypass. I also put about 4 cups of anti freeze in each drain.

[ArtStream]

Friends swear by cheap Vodka instead of Antifreeze.

Less toxicMOREFun....and repeat

[Aviator]

I live in Georgia, and I use anti-freeze. Last winter we were out camping for the first time with our trailer and we ran out of propane (the gauges in the trailer said we still had 3/4 of a tank). That night the temp dropped to 18f. It stayed at or below 32f for the next four days. The repair bill for our trailer plumbing damage was right at $1000. I now have one of the $1.25 adapters from Camping World to blow out the lines, but for peace of mind I also use ant-freeze.

[InsideOut]

IMO it's cheap insurance.

Our routine is...

Shari

[AirsDream]

MoHo may be different, but on my A/S trailer, I too blow out the lines using a little adapter I got at Camping World or somewhere. And I catch the water I blow out in plastic jugs, so it doesn't wind up in the tank(s). Then I put something over a gallon of antifreeze through the lines by hooking a hose to the suction side of the water pump, turn on pump, open valves and catch the outflow again - same reason. The important part is that I still get quite a bit of water coming out of each outlet before the antifreeze finally gets there! And I'm careful not to forget the sink spray hose and the shower head. Then I pour a couple of cups down each drain, a half galllon or so in each of the holding tanks (just in case there was a little water left in there after I drained them and to keep the drain seals from drying out), and finish off with a cup or two in the toilet bowl just to keep its seal moist.

So: my take - you are a test pilot ... you don't NEED to do anything more, so long as you're prepared for the possibility of damage. But also, it's possible that a MoHo drains better / differently from my trailer. I don't know enough to be certain on this, but you get to be the judge of the results come springtime.

It'd be swell if you decide not to do more, if you'd report in the spring whether it worked o.k. or not. Than others can learn from your experience. Good luck either way.

[dznf0g]

Many years ago, I just blew out the lines and put antifreeze in the drain traps...enough to dilute any remaining water in the gray and black tanks. This is fine for ensuring that lines won't burst, but one year, apparently a drop or two remained "hanging" in the plastic faucet cartridges. We had a really long and very cold snap and in the spring I had two faucets which wouldn't shut off completely. (dripped profusely) Upon disassembly, it was apparent they had frozen and cracked.

Ever since, I blow the lines and fill with antifreeze. Cheap insurance, IMHO.

[B4WEDI]

Originally Posted by gowiththeflo

Please no wise a&& comments.

Well, ya sure took the fun out of this thread !

We aren't that far south of you and for 6 bux and a little effort, I wouldn't take the chance not doing it knowing how I would feel in the Spring when I open things up and found a leak or two or three somewhere behind everything when I connected the H2O.....

If you don't have the time to do it now, how will you ever find the time to correct the boo-boo later ?

Good Luck with your decision !

T & K

[FreshAir]

In addition to blowing out the water lines and running 6 bucks worth of pink anti freeze I open and leave open any cabinet, closet and storage (interior) lockers that have water lines running through. It does stay cold in those closed off areas. A small heater just enough to take the chill off the coach interior on days that have hard freezes works for me.
Neil