Winterization gone wrong

[switters]

I winterized our 2025 Trade Wind using the air compressor method last season. I’d successfully done this for 3 seasons previously with our 2018 Flying Cloud. But this time was a disaster. I de-winterized today. After filling the fresh tank and turning on the water pump and heater, water started to leak out of the underbody (curbside front) in several places.

See this video: https://share.icloud.com/photos/034Z...A6362vxuU6dgbA

I’m towing it to the nearest Airstream dealer (2.5 hours away) tomorrow. Based on where it’s leaking, I suspect it may have been the water heater that froze or a pipe going into/out of that. That is the part that was unfamiliar compared to my Flying Cloud (because it’s a different system). What do you think? Can anything be determined by where the leaks are?

Bracing for an expensive and time consuming repair.

[nelsonh]

Kinda hard to tell the source since there is water dripping from multiple locations in your video - it looks like you're in the vicinity of the bathroom & water heater?


You should be able to confirm/rule out the water heater by opening the exterior access door to see what's going on in there. If the water heater itself, or an inlet/outlet water line at the water heater, is the culprit, it should be easy to see water actively leaking inside this compartment.

[switters]

I did have the exterior access door open when the water was leaking and didn't see any leaks in the three lines visible there. But it is the area right under the bathroom and water heater, so I suspect one or the other. I'm towing it to the dealer today, so I'll find out soon enough.

[Wazbro]

It could be the re-circulation line. I think I read something about flow of liquid needed to get it pumping to get the water out of it.

[Daquenzer]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Plumbing issues can be the worst. Where is the exterior shower located? One of the areas I easily forget is to blow out the exterior shower. One winter I think I forgot entirely. Thankfully I have heated indoor storage.

[switters]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

It could be the re-circulation line. I think I read something about flow of liquid needed to get it pumping to get the water out of it.

Can you say more about this? I don't understand what you mean by "flow of liquid needed to get it pumping to get the water out of it."

I'm still at a loss for what I did wrong. Had no problems winterizing our Flying Cloud with compressed error, and I am meticulous about it. Here are the steps I followed. Did I miss anything?

1. Level trailer front to back.
2. Open all faucets including outside shower.
3. Turn on water pump to expel remaining water from storage tank.
4. Drain water heater.
- Turn off water pump on monitor panel
- Disconnect power to water heater (put trailer in storage mode?)
- Shut off LP gas supply
- Open both hot and cold water faucets
- Remove hot water access panel, held in place by screws.
- Rotate the exterior valve knob clockwise one-quarter turn. (This is the circular, red portion of the pipe that extends through the access panel.)
- Rotate the interior in-line valve handle (directly behind the exterior valve) one-quarter turn counterclockwise; the handle should align with the water line.
5. Open three low-point drain valves.
6. While the water is draining from the system, open and flush the toilet-flushing valve. Operate the shower head while holding it down inside the tub and drain all water from the flexible hose.
7. Turn off water pump (after all water has been removed from storage tank).
Watch closely and turn the pump off when the tank runs dry. Pump damage can occur if the pump runs dry for more than a few minutes.
8. Turn the pump on until all the water is expelled. This water, about 1/2 cup, can be caught in a towel or rag.
9. Reconnect water pump outlet hose.
10. Raise and lower front jack until water ceases to drain
11. Close low-point drain valves and fresh water tank drain valve. Close all faucets (including outdoor shower) except one.
12. Apply 50 lbs. of air pressure to city water inlet.
- Open and close each faucet (including outdoor shower) one at a time, to both hot and cold positions, until only air comes out. Repeat this step several times.
- Open low-point drain valves until only air comes out.
- Close faucets and low-point drain valves.
13. Wait 10 minutes and perform steps 11-13 again (be sure to open low-point drain and fresh water drain valves before raising and lowering front jack).
14. Blow out black tank flush
15. Put one cup of non-toxic RV antifreeze in toilet, bathroom sink, shower, and kitchen sink drains. Leave two inches of RV antifreeze in the closed toilet to protect the valve.

[switters]

Originally Posted by Daquenzer

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Plumbing issues can be the worst. Where is the exterior shower located? One of the areas I easily forget is to blow out the exterior shower. One winter I think I forgot entirely. Thankfully I have heated indoor storage.

I'm jealous. I had this in Utah the year before we moved to Bend, OR. It was such a luxury not to have to worry about winterizing.

Here in Bend, there are very few indoor/heated storage facilities/units. And the ones that do exist have a 2+ year wait list.

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by switters

I'm jealous. I had this in Utah the year before we moved to Bend, OR. It was such a luxury not to have to worry about winterizing.

Here in Bend, there are very few indoor/heated storage facilities/units. And the ones that do exist have a 2+ year wait list.

I have a brother that lives in Bend and he had a Class A stored in heated storage. When I heard the price I about choked. When we built our house in 2021 I added a large attached garage with 3 large stalls. One stall is 14’ high with a 12x12 door. The other openings I can easily drive my pickup in with towing mirrors extended. Best thing I ever did. I have 50 AMP service and had it plumbed for dumping. My oldest son makes fun of me and says I have an attached house to a garage.

I could simply not winterize. I did put anti-freeze in. Glad I don’t do that anymore. But I still blow it out since we live in northern Wisconsin. It only takes one time and you kick yourself.

Trust your situation will be an easy fix.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by switters

Can you say more about this? I don't understand what you mean by "flow of liquid needed to get it pumping to get the water out of it."

Unfortunately not, I remember someone posting about needing to go through some extra steps to winterize his Trade Wind with the recirculating system, can't find it now.

[Bearstream01]

Did you notice the leak only when filling the fresh tank???? Im thinking it could be coming from the filler neck, running along the underbody and looking like its leaking from elsewhere.

[LNBright]

Last winter, I had a winterization snafu: likewise, when I began to dewinterize before our spring break trip, discovered water running out from under the bathroom area (on our 20FB, is beside the city water inlet). I suspected that a line behind there had popped loose or something. I ended up deciding to take it to the factory instead of the local shops here. They removed the shower, found the problem, fixed it, and had me on the road back home that afternoon. When I had done the prior winterization, I had sufficiently gotten the water out of the cold lines, but right at the shower at the mixing valve, hadn't turned the shower knob far enough over to the hot side to clear the line. They replaced the plastic bits in there with brass, and helped explain the tips further to ensure I don't do it again.

It wasn't a cheap fix, but I know it was done right.

Good luck with yours,

[GOUSC]

Maybe step 11? I recently started leaving the low point drains open. Possibly some residual water made its way down to the lowest points and froze at the valves?

[PaulBristol]

Originally Posted by switters

I winterized our 2025 Trade Wind using the air compressor method last season. I’d successfully done this for 3 seasons previously with our 2018 Flying Cloud. But this time was a disaster. I de-winterized today. After filling the fresh tank and turning on the water pump and heater, water started to leak out of the underbody (curbside front) in several places.

See this video: https://share.icloud.com/photos/034Z...A6362vxuU6dgbA

I’m towing it to the nearest Airstream dealer (2.5 hours away) tomorrow. Based on where it’s leaking, I suspect it may have been the water heater that froze or a pipe going into/out of that. That is the part that was unfamiliar compared to my Flying Cloud (because it’s a different system). What do you think? Can anything be determined by where the leaks are?

Bracing for an expensive and time consuming repair.

I had the exact same problem when I flushed my 2025 AS Trade Wind this spring. However, my unit was factory winterized using RV antifreeze.

We were traveling from Wisconsin to Texas in March. We stopped at Lake Catherine in Arkansas to flush out the lines. Everything worked perfectly.

The next camping stop was Monahan Texas. I turned the pump "ON" and water began poring out underneath. I turned the pump "OFF" and bought bottled water to continue the trip.

At a later stop, my wife turned the pump on again to flush the toilet. No water leaked out. We used the pump for the remainder of the trip with no further issues.

On return to Wisconsin I took the trailer to the Milwaukee AS dealer with a list of issues including the leaking. I expect the Trade Wind back any day now.

I do not know if he found anything. I expect it has to do with the recirculating water heater. There is a note in the manual to take the unit back to the dealer if an automatic winter protection valve does not reset and dumps water.

One step to add to your winterization check list:

Pull the water heater 12 volt fuse in the main fuse panel. Do this after everything is winterized. This will also disconnect the pump and tank sensors.

The recirculating water heater does its own thing to protect itself in freezing weather. It turns itself "ON" when temperature drops below 32 degrees F. This happens even when the remote control is set to "OFF". Only way to stop it from cooking the antifreeze is to pull the fuse.

You can stop it by shutting the main house power "OFF". However, if you turn the main back "ON" for any reason and the temperature is below freezing, the water heater will try to ignite itself.

[Forester2]

As I'm sure you are discovering, Airstreams and Girards winterizing and in use anti freeze instructions are lacking with this heater. I am not new to winterizing campers; both tanked and on demand. I went full route winterizing my 2024 FC: drained, blew lines and put in antifreeze. Four days into my trip this spring, hot water heater started spraying water and got progressively worse each day. And NO by pass, so for 2 weeks losing half my water. Also, half my antifreeze when I rewinterized on way home. And yes, at this point Girard and Airstream not honoring warranty.

[Forester2]

I thought in all fairness I should report that after numerous communications to Airstream and questions to the dealer, my warranty was honored. Faith is restored. This ocurred after I paid out of pocket so was a bit of a suprise.

[switters]

Originally Posted by Forester2

As I'm sure you are discovering, Airstreams and Girards winterizing and in use anti freeze instructions are lacking with this heater. I am not new to winterizing campers; both tanked and on demand. I went full route winterizing my 2024 FC: drained, blew lines and put in antifreeze. Four days into my trip this spring, hot water heater started spraying water and got progressively worse each day. And NO by pass, so for 2 weeks losing half my water. Also, half my antifreeze when I rewinterized on way home. And yes, at this point Girard and Airstream not honoring warranty.

Yes, I found the instructions to be sorely lacking for this Girard unit. As I mentioned earlier, I had no problem winterizing my Flying Cloud with the standard water heater. I don't know yet that the recirculating water heater was the issue (the dealer just started working on it today, so I should know by tomorrow latest), but I suspect it was.

What ended up being the problem with yours?

[switters]

Originally Posted by Bearstream01

Did you notice the leak only when filling the fresh tank???? Im thinking it could be coming from the filler neck, running along the underbody and looking like its leaking from elsewhere.

I didn't notice the leak until I turned on the water pump and/or water heater. (I turned them on pretty close to one another, so can't be sure which it was.)

[switters]

Originally Posted by GOUSC

Maybe step 11? I recently started leaving the low point drains open. Possibly some residual water made its way down to the lowest points and froze at the valves?

Thanks. I will leave the LP drains open in the future, though I tend to doubt that was the issue.

[Forester2]

Mine was not a winterization issue. Havent torn old one apart but believe it was a heatexchanger crack. The issue was with the anti freeze protection not working I believe. From all I have been told if: switch turned on heater, propane on and 12v on in camper then unit should fire up when it detects 35° water. Nothing has to be turned on at indoor user control panel I'm told but have been trying to comfirm on Lippert Customer Service line. Havent go through yet.

[switters]

So I just heard back from the dealer. He said the problem was freeze damage to the water heater. This is incredibly frustrating because I followed the instructions in the Airstream and Girard manuals exactly.

Here is the section of the manual with the instructions. I am 100% certain I followed these steps. I have a Google doc with everything written out (including this screenshot of the manual) and I had it open on my phone as I went through it.

Note: prior to following the steps below to drain the water heater, I had already:
1. Leveled the trailer
2. Turned on all faucets
3. Turned on the water pump to expel remaining water from storage tank

Where did I go wrong?