Any concerns for Winterizing in Extreme Cold?

[jgbagley]

If I take all the steps to winterize by clearing all the lines/tanks of water and adding antifreeze to them, how concerned should I be if I am storing my trailer in a place which faces extreme cold at times (-20 to -30 degrees F)? Trying to weigh whether it is necessary to rent indoor storage which (as you can imagine) is not cheap.

[Fungus]

Water is least dense (biggest) at 32*F when it turns to ice. After that, water (ice at this point) begins to contract slightly, like a regular solid. So there’s no difference in damage between a trailer stored in 30*F for a week and one stored in -30*F. Both would be the same metaphorical and physical “leaky boat”.

The antifreeze is unnecessary but it might give you some peace of mind and mitigate poor line-blowing technique. Good sleep is often hard to come by; so if the antifreeze makes you feel better, go ahead.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by Fungus

Water is least dense (biggest) at 32*F when it turns to ice. After that, water (ice at this point) begins to contract slightly, like a regular solid. So there’s no difference in damage between a trailer stored in 30*F for a week and one stored in -30*F. Both would be the same metaphorical and physical “leaky boat”.



The antifreeze is unnecessary but it might give you some peace of mind and mitigate poor line-blowing technique. Good sleep is often hard to come by; so if the antifreeze makes you feel better, go ahead.

Further damage occurs with thaw and freeze cycles during typical weather patterns. One may be lucky on the first freeze but not so down the road, no pun intended.

[Acheron2010]

I've moved to Alberta, Canada, and this winter, stored my trailer in an unheated barn We had a few days at -40F. Drained everything, added RV anti-freeze to all lines and drains except HW heater. Just took it out of storage, everything worked fine, except an external 2-stage water filter I had stored - shattered like an egg. Except for the possibility of hail, would store outside with no issues.

[Wazbro]

I agree the extra cold should not be a problem. If you are really worried you could blow out the antifreeze from the lines and only have a tiny amount of antifreeze left in the lines. That way it would be belt(blow out), suspenders(antifreeze) and another belt(blow out antifreeze). This is actually what I would do for storage of a year or more (with cold and hot weather).