Winterize?

[Lfemat]

Hello I´s my first winter with my Airstream. I Live in Mexico city and around here temperatures in winter get´s just below the freezing point. We are planning on using it during this winter. The water tanks plumbing etc run any risk go getting damaged?
should I drain all the water or it can hold temperatures no lower than 23ºF ?

[overlander63]

If you had PEX (plastic) plumbing, I'd be tempted to say you could try it. With the copper you have it would never hold up to freezing. It was 28 here a couple of mornings, and the water in several trailers in the storage lot froze. If they had copper lines, the lines would have broken.

[Lfemat]

Thank you Terry, I do have PEX, and the water tank and waist tank run any risk of getting broken?

[masseyfarm]

My concern would be if the pump will stand up to a freeze. It does not have the flexibility of the pex.
Dave

Originally Posted by Lfemat

Thank you Terry, I do have PEX, and the water tank and waist tank run any risk of getting broken?

[dznf0g]

Is the unit in use or in storage? Any electric power available to it?

[Lfemat]

It´s in use during the weekends and stored during the week.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Lfemat

It´s in use during the weekends and stored during the week.

Electricity available at the storage location?

[handn]

I store my trailer for the winter in Tucson, Arizona.
I don't usually winterize it, even though light freezes are commonplace. No problem until last year when there was an unusual cold snap. One night the low was 17 and it did not get above freezing the entire next day. I moved the trailer into an r.v. park at about 5 p.m. The water lines were frozen and the pump wouldn't go on. I turned the furnace on leaving the water pump off. The trailer was thawed out by morning of the next day. Luckily there was no damage and I was able to winterize it.
I don't think it is necessary to winterize unless you expect a hard freeze, below 28f and a cold next day. These conditions are highly unusual in Mexico City.

[CrawfordGene]

If the are not full, there should be no problem with them. If full, the water expands 11% when it freezes and then there is a problem. It would be best if they are empty so there's no chance the seals would be damaged by freezing. If you can drain the water lines, though some may collect in low spots, that may help. Everyone says PEX is forgiving, though I don't know how forgiving.

If it goes no lower than around 28˚ F and is only below freezing for a few hours, it is unlikely ice will get hard enough to be a problem. Weather forecasts can be wrong however.

Best is to run the furnace if there is heat to the tanks. Open all doors that allow heat to get to the pipes and pump too. But a thermostat that goes no lower than 55 or 60˚ will use a lot of propane. Some recent model digital thermostats can go down to 40˚. I suppose a couple of lightbulbs under the trailer can't hurt either.

Or you can take a trip to Yucatán.

Gene

[Cracker]

Although not specifically related to Airstream problems, it's relative that the furnace in my camp malfunctioned this year at the beginning of the coldest three days we've had this winter. I had just checked the camp and all was well but----! Anyway, virtually all of the copper piping froze and either split at the elbows and fittings or midway on a long run. Fortunately, almost all of the piping is exposed on the interior walls of the camp and the entry valve from the pump was closed (i.e. - no significant water damage.) Nothing could be reasonably salvaged with a guarantee of future serviceability so the plumber is replacing all of the copper with Pex. He has had considerable experience with freeze damage here in Maine and says that he has never had a failure using Pex. He does not use the "quick connect" fittings. For the record, our temperatures were at or below zero for over 48 hours when the damage occured. Possible damage to the washing machine, dishwasher, water treatment system, filters, and the like can only be determined after the piping is restored. Unfortunately, I had just changed my deductible from $500 to $1000 last summer!!!

[valmog]

We live in Portland, Oregon and we haven't winterized ours either because we've been using it on the weekends so much. We have a small heater plugged in and if the weather calls for freezing temps we turn it on low and leave it running over night. We open the cupboard doors so the area where the pipes are warms up, too. We live in a pretty moderate climate so long cold snaps are uncommon.