Winterizing question

[Rudyistaken]

Hey all, I just joined the Airstream club with a 2017 Flying Cloud 23d. I have owned many crappy trailers over the years so although new to the quality of airstreams I have dealt with many POS trailers over the years.
Winterizing is something I have always done with a compressor so I followed the same protocol.
Pump all the water out of the holding tank, opened the low point valves and the holding tank, blew compressed air tap by tap until no water came out and added some antifreeze to the drains. My only question is do you need to do anything physically to the pump? On my other crappy trailers I used to detach the inlet and the outlet of the pump however on this trailer it does not seem like any of the instructions out there state to do so. Thanks in advance.

[Daquenzer]

If you ONLY blow out the lines, you DO need to open the outlet on the pump and drain it Blowing out the lines will not get the water out of the pump. HOWEVER, if you pump anitfreeze through it is unnecessary. The antifreeze will push out or dilute the water enough so it won’t freeze. That’s what I do and have not had a problem. I live in Wisconsin. Not much colder than that Except ALBERTA!!! Might want to use the -100F stuff

One other thing is I take off the water filter that leads from the tank to the pump. Often water will reside there and it needs to be dabbed up a bit. No big deal. I’m a bit nerdy on that.

Also on the AS you only need to open the water valve underneath. That will drain the tank. Don’t need to pump the water out. What little water is left in the tank will not be a problem.

[Rudyistaken]

Appreciate the help!

[dbj216]

I blew out my plumbing on a renovation project. Then I removed all the copper plumbing lines. I was quite surprised how much water was still in the copper pipes. I don't think blow out is enough, especially the plastic toilet flush valve.

So bypass your water heater, drain your water heater, then pump RV antifreeze throughout the system, every faucet, both hot and cold.

There are as many recipes for winterizing your Airstream as there are for chili.

David

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Rudyistaken

Appreciate the help!

Lots of air….open all valves and low point drains…toilet valve..shower..black tank flush….out side water valve….

[Rudyistaken]

Originally Posted by dbj216

I blew out my plumbing on a renovation project. Then I removed all the copper plumbing lines. I was quite surprised how much water was still in the copper pipes. I don't think blow out is enough, especially the plastic toilet flush valve.

So bypass your water heater, drain your water heater, then pump RV antifreeze throughout the system, every faucet, both hot and cold.

There are as many recipes for winterizing your Airstream as there are for chili.

David

I would but cannot stand the smell of the antifreeze. Not sure why but I can smell it all season!

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Rudyistaken

Appreciate the help!

Lots of air….open all valves and low point drains…toilet valve..shower..

[fran&frank]

I drain, and blow out with air and remove the inlet and outlet to the pump so it completely drains. I only use antifreeze in the sink and shower drains.--Frank

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by fran&frank

I drain, and blow out with air and remove the inlet and outlet to the pump so it completely drains. I only use antifreeze in the sink and shower drains.--Frank

^1

The AS survived the Texas storm when the temp hit 3 degrees F here. No heat was on in the trailer.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by tjdonahoe

Lots of air….open all valves and low point drains…toilet valve..shower..black tank flush….out side water valve….

45psi constant, with at ALL outlets open one at a time for a total of 15-20min.
NEVER pressurize a closed system.

Bob
🇺🇸

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Rudyistaken

Hey all, I just joined the Airstream club with a 2017 Flying Cloud 23d. I have owned many crappy trailers over the years so although new to the quality of airstreams I have dealt with many POS trailers over the years.
Winterizing is something I have always done with a compressor so I followed the same protocol.
Pump all the water out of the holding tank, opened the low point valves and the holding tank, blew compressed air tap by tap until no water came out and added some antifreeze to the drains. My only question is do you need to do anything physically to the pump? On my other crappy trailers I used to detach the inlet and the outlet of the pump however on this trailer it does not seem like any of the instructions out there state to do so. Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Rudyistaken

I would but cannot stand the smell of the antifreeze. Not sure why but I can smell it all season!

One other thing that needs to be done, if your trailer has one, is to remove the water filter cartridge and insert the winterizing plug.
There is a good step by step winterizing instruction in your owner's manual on page 8-15, that is specific to your trailer.
https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...manual-149.pdf

My advice is to use antifreeze in all water lines for winterizing. I did mine yesterday! I've only had freezing issuse after I blew out the pipes and I did not get all of the water out.
(I have had to repair split pipes and a cracked pump head)

After years of smelling and tasting antifreeze after flushing the antifreeze in the spring, I read on this forum that it is necessary to open the low point drains during the flushing process because they retain a column of antifreeze if they are not emptied. This antifreeze bleeds slowly upward into the rest of the system all summer, if not flushed out. Now that I open the low point drains while flushing, there is no smell or taste of antifreeze at all.

[tjdonahoe]

Don’t forget the water filter under the sink, if you have one

[Rudyistaken]

Thanks for the help all!