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obxfanatic · 03-19-2025, 01:29 PM

Looking for some advice. I live in NJ and want to de winterize the AS. We are done with the really cold weather but occasionally get lows around 30 degrees. When do you all decide to dewinterize the trailer?

BigAl · 03-19-2025, 02:26 PM

I am in Ontario Canada and never do it till April. Still had the occasional freeze but no damage.

Wazbro · 03-19-2025, 09:26 PM

I live in NJ to, I usually wait til April. You can still get enough of a freeze to damage an unheated trailer near the beginning of April. Not as much as in the past, close to 40 years ago there were 2 12" snow storms a week apart in April. They are forecasting a low of 32° this Saturday it would probably be fine to de-winterize now, I wouldn't yet unless the trailer is close by and you can put the heat on if there is a cold night.

**richard5933** · 03-19-2025, 10:00 PM

We've got the dewinterizing procedure down to about 30 minutes. This is separate from sanitizing the fresh water tank which takes a bit longer since the tank drains slowly.

I wait until we're getting ready for our first trip out, as there is no reason to do it earlier unless there's concern about a problem over the winter. Usually we do both a few days before our first trip.

Unless there is some specific need to do it now I'd wait at least a few more weeks.

obxfanatic · 03-20-2025, 06:34 AM

I think I will dewinterize in mid April. Sooner if the weather warms up.

nelsonh · 03-20-2025, 06:57 AM

I'm in western Iowa, where two days ago it was 70°. Yesterday we had a blizzard. Currently it's 21°. So, yeah... when to de-winterize is the million dollar question around here too!

ROBERT CROSS · 03-20-2025, 10:58 AM

A week before the first trip is confirmed.

Bob
🇺🇸

dotyducks · 03-24-2025, 04:25 AM

We are in NNJ and usually do it mid April. We are going out the weekend of the 11th so this year will do it first weekend in April.

Turkeybaster · 03-24-2025, 04:28 PM

Fellow Jersey-an. Like others have stated, I’ll do it a week before our first trip of the season (usually April).

ripple963 · 03-26-2025, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obxfanatic

Looking for some advice. I live in NJ and want to de winterize the AS. We are done with the really cold weather but occasionally get lows around 30 degrees. When do you all decide to dewinterize the trailer?

Does your unit have tank heaters built in?

Blazeman1 · 03-26-2025, 12:56 PM

If you have a macerator pump, pour some anti freeze in toilet and cycle pump till you see it when you dump, do this till the freeze danger has passed.

Dingo Girl · 03-27-2025, 06:59 AM

We are in Northern Colorado. We will de-winterize a few days before the first trip out in May. Make sure everything is good then run a small electric heater in the camper if it gets very cold before we leave.
Then we will winterize again when we get back mid May. We can still get some frosty temps into June.

SlowPokePete · 03-27-2025, 11:24 AM

I de-winterize when we arrive at our first campsite for the season.

It's not hard to do, and where we store our trailer we would have to pull it out and over to where there is a water supply.

Just not worth it when it's really no trouble to run the faucets when we first get to our campsite, although we have full hookups where we go. I could see how if one is using the on-board water tank, etc it would be far better to do this in advance.

SPP

nelsonh · 03-28-2025, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlowPokePete

I de-winterize when we arrive at our first campsite for the season.

It's not hard to do, and where we store our trailer we would have to pull it out and over to where there is a water supply.

Just not worth it when it's really no trouble to run the faucets when we first get to our campsite, although we have full hookups where we go. I could see how if one is using the on-board water tank, etc it would be far better to do this in advance.

SPP

Well I probably never would have thought of this [Newbie Alert!] and it strikes me as a completely viable option if full hookups are the case. Unfortunately our first outing this season is already booked at an electric-only site. However, I'll definitely keep this idea in mind for the future!

Wazbro · 03-28-2025, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nelsonh

Well I probably never would have thought of this [Newbie Alert!] and it strikes me as a completely viable option if full hookups are the case. Unfortunately our first outing this season is already booked at an electric-only site. However, I'll definitely keep this idea in mind for the future!

It also works well when heading south in the winter. Camping winterized for 1-3 nights until getting far enough south to not worry about freezing, then de-winterize.