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Outdoors4me · 12-07-2016, 04:43 PM

Definitely turn off the water. We came home to a running toilet and a $500 water bill after 6 weeks away.

Air83 · 12-07-2016, 05:23 PM

All is good advice. We also have a program thru the police department that you fill out a on-line questionnaire and they will check on your house twice a day while you are gone. You fill out what cars/trucks will be in the driveway or garage, any pets home, what lights will be on at what times and emergency contact numbers. My neighbors testify they seen the police walking around and checking our doors and windows. It works... Let me tell you

I returned home a day early and backed the AS in the driveway and started unloading. The police arrived shortly there after. They asked me for my ID... I laughed and told them I just came home early. They laughed too and then said, really we need to see your ID. I really love the men/women in blue.

HiJoeSilver · 12-07-2016, 05:38 PM

Definitely turn the water off, recommend turning off the water heater too.. If you have a well with pressure tank simply trip the breaker to the pump. If you have city water close the main supply valve inside the house, then crack a faucet a tiny amount and leave it cracked a tiny bit.

DavidsonOverlander · 12-07-2016, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air83

All is good advice. We also have a program thru the police department that you fill out a on-line questionnaire and they will check on your house twice a day while you are gone. You fill out what cars/trucks will be in the driveway or garage, any pets home, what lights will be on at what times and emergency contact numbers. My neighbors testify they seen the police walking around and checking our doors and windows. It works... Let me tell you

I returned home a day early and backed the AS in the driveway and started unloading. The police arrived shortly there after. They asked me for my ID... I laughed and told them I just came home early. They laughed too and then said, really we need to see your ID. I really love the men/women in blue.

What a great service!

SSquared · 12-07-2016, 05:59 PM

When we leave in the winter, we turn the water off at the meter.

In the summer, we need to run the lawn sprinklers so we leave the water on at the meter. But we have a shutoff in the basement that cuts off everything inside the house. We also have shutoffs for the two outdoor hose bibs.

We turn the water heater completely off so there is no way the burner will run if the tank springs a leak and drains.

I rigged up a Raspberry Pi to read my water meter twice a day (before and after sprinklers) and email the reading to me so I can judge if the right thing is happening. Even better are some smart sprinkler controllers available now that connect to a dedicated flow meter so they can shut off the sprinklers if there is excess flow.

We also have a Honeywell WiFi thermostat, so we know if the HVAC is behaving.

We have two internet-connected cameras that detect movement and noise, in the interest of burglar detection. (The brand is SimpliCam; we are not fully satisfied).

Rich W · 12-07-2016, 06:40 PM

We were gone for 3 months this year. We turned off our water before leaving and when we returned all of the toilets were bone dry. There must have been some water in the trap because there was no smell in the house. Anyone encounter this problem and do you have a preventative?

Sbb · 12-07-2016, 06:45 PM

Leave perfect frozen popsicles in freezer. If you come home and they are mis-shapen, you know you lost power and food is no good.

SteveSueMac · 12-07-2016, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sbb

Leave perfect frozen popsicles in freezer. If you come home and they are mis-shapen, you know you lost power and food is no good.

Good one. Another one is to have a cup half filled with water frozen in to ice and put a coin on top of the ice. If the coin isn't on top, you lost power...

JCWDCW · 12-08-2016, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richw46

We were gone for 3 months this year. We turned off our water before leaving and when we returned all of the toilets were bone dry. There must have been some water in the trap because there was no smell in the house. Anyone encounter this problem and do you have a preventative?

Winter Texan trick!
Cover the toilet bowl with plastic (saran) wrap to prevent evaporation.
JCW

Minno · 12-08-2016, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCWDCW

Winter Texan trick!
Cover the toilet bowl with plastic (saran) wrap to prevent evaporation.
JCW

We do that in the trailer when we winterize. Keeps the antifreeze from evaporating out.

Kay

Rich W · 12-08-2016, 10:04 AM

We have several live D-Link wireless HD cameras around the house (live streaming), visible over the Internet by laptop or smart phone. The D-Link service is free if you buy the cameras, just go to their site and sign up. Their smart phone app will auto-discover the cameras and add them to your list.

I have a D-Link camera mounted on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. I can see the drapes moving from the heater vent, so I know the furnace is on. I also put up a big outdoor thermometer on the counter so I can see the temp in the room. The cameras have their own mini-SD card slot for recording, they can also deliver the videos to a PC on your home network. I think the cameras are about $100 each. Here's shots of my living room and garage. I'm painting so please excuse the mess.

I also have a 4 standard-def Z-Modo camera outdoor system that came with a 1TB hard drive (also streaming video). It can be seen and controlled over the Internet. You can add more cameras, up to 8, and it handles PTZ cameras too. That was about $250. These are wired so you need to be crawling and drilling. For Internet they need to have a wired connection to your router.

I've been talking to people when I was working, having them deliver stuff for the yard and watching them on camera, telling them where to set it. When we travel it's a great peace of mind too.

Rich W · 12-08-2016, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCWDCW

Winter Texan trick!
Cover the toilet bowl with plastic (saran) wrap to prevent evaporation.
JCW

Good idea, I'll do that the next time, just have to remember to remove it before the wife sits down.

I thought about it but didn't know if that would cause a problem with the vent pipe when the wind kicks up, but if it's not a problem with those Texas winds, it won't be a problem here.

Rich W · 12-08-2016, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minno

We do that in the trailer when we winterize. Keeps the antifreeze from evaporating out.

Kay

We used to put antifreeze in the AS bowl but many here have said that damages the rubber seal. When we did, the seal warped or dried out and water wouldn't stay in the bowl. Eventually it fixed itself so this year I took the suggestion of cleaning out the anti-freeze and any water from the bowl, then applying a coating of Oatey silicone grease to the seal.

JCWDCW · 12-09-2016, 07:50 AM

I doubt you would have trouble with losing antifreeze to evaporation if it is cold enough to need antifreeze in the first place.
Wind pushing down the vent pipe is pretty mild. It is usually just a pressure differential as wind blows over the roof. There are small waves of pressure that affect the air in the vent and the water in the toilet bowl simply moves up or down as the pressure in the vent varies.
I've always left just the residual of antifreeze in the bowl after flushing a cup or so of antifreeze into the black tank through the flush valve. My trailers have always been 20 plus years old with original toilet seals and I haven't worried about swelling. Silicone lube sounds like a plan however, since it stays on the rubber throughout the season.

So you know about those Texas winds!!!!!
JCW

Rich W · 12-10-2016, 11:27 AM

Sorry, we're confusing the house and AS toilets.

The house toilets early this year were nearly bone dry after we were on the road for 3 months. We get these winds coming up the valley and past the house, creating a vacuum in the vent pipe. On windy days, when we're home and see it happening, the water is bouncing pretty good in all the toilets. Since we're home, they get flushed occasionally. When we're on the road I think it's evaporating out. We have the lids closed but I think the Saran wrap idea might be the problem solver.

In the AS, the first year I winterized, I left some pink anti-freeze in the bowl to keep the rubber gasket from drying out. When we picked it up, the plastic disk was pink and all of the anti-freeze had drained out. When we traveled, for about a month, water wouldn't stay in the bowl, kept dropping down, not fast, but it did drain. Eventually, it fixed itself and it holds water again.

I read in the forum here that anti-freeze will damage the rubber gasket, that Oatey's Silicone was the best thing to use. I already had some so when I winterized this year, after putting some anti-freeze in the tank and cleaning up the disk and gasket, I applied a coat of the silicone and left the bowl dry.

I've been to Texas several times; Dallas, Plano, Lewisville, Sanger, Houston. I know all about the winds and summer humidity. Leaving the hotel at Clear Lake one morning, the sliding doors opened and I felt like I was going into some kind of super sauna. The lady behind the counter said "Honey, you have got to be from out of state. Nobody in this city is wearing a suit today."

Minno · 12-12-2016, 10:40 AM

We've never had the trailer toilet gasket malfunction due to antifreeze. We have had it dry out from evaporation out of the toilet bowl. Now we cover with saran wrap and no evaporation. And, yes, the antifreeze will dry out in the bowl eventually even when it's minus 10.
I've read about the silicone and am interested in hearing what your experience is. Hey, if there's a better way..........

Kay

Rich W · 12-13-2016, 08:06 AM

When we came back from Florida in February of 2015 I winterized it again and put it into storage. When the weather turned warm I picked it up and summer-ized it

The antifreeze in the bowl was gone, the disk was pink. I put about a pint of water in the bowl and inside of a day it was gone. We took it on a trip for a week and I had to add water for most of the trip, but towards the end it was holding it again.

I read in the forums here that antifreeze would attack the rubber gasket. Some said they use cooking oil, but others said that any petroleum based product will attack rubber. I think a few plumbers suggested using the silicone, which I already had. When I winterized in October I used that and left the bowl clean. We're going to be heading south soon, I'll let you know how it worked out.

Thomas31 · 12-13-2016, 10:48 AM

Just my two cents:
Should you really be advertising on the internet that you are going to be gone from your home for a month!
Thomas

Rich W · 12-14-2016, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas31

Just my two cents:
Should you really be advertising on the internet that you are going to be gone from your home for a month!
Thomas

Hi Thomas, here's a list of things that make me feel safe:

My address is not part of my public profile, here or anywhere online

When my AS is out front for 2 days and I'm putting stuff in it, most of my neighbors will yell out "going south, eh?", so no surprise there.

My Facebook friends/family post comments about our trips when we're on the road.

My 21 year old son and big dog stay at the house when we travel

I have 9 cameras inside and outside, recording to internal Mini SD and a central server. I can access any of the cameras live streaming or view any of the recordings remotely over my Internet connection; laptop or smart phone. (See my post #31 above.)

My neighbors on both sides watch the house. This past winter I saw footprints in the snow coming up the walk (using my front porch camera) and called my neighbor to check on things. (it was kids wanting to shovel the walk and driveway)

The neighbor behind us is a police captain, another police Sargent is across from him and a police Lieutenant is just down the block.

We have a very sweet, but "doesn't miss a thing" neighbor across from us, knows all of us, our routines, etc.

We left for a weekend, forgot to lock the front door
We left for a weekend and the garage door had hit something as we were leaving and reversed up. Nothing taken either time.

I feel pretty safe here, 20 years and the only thing that happened was my wife's Trek bike was taken from an open garage. Must have been kids, we found it 3 weeks later, blown tires and abandoned.

Once I pull that shiny AS up to the curb and start loading it up, people pretty much figure I'm leaving town, and they're here where I live, watching me. Saying I'm going to be gone in the forum isn't going to hurt me.