I didn't "winterize" - what's going to happen?

[Kalashnikov]

We live near Austin TX, it seldom gets very cold around here. Typically we'll get a couple nights of frost but not enough to freeze or break anything. I've always just let our Airstream sit outside and it's been fine.



But now we're in some historic cold snap, we've had a few days of low 30's during the day and mid 20'd overnight. Today and tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 20's during the day and in the 10's overnight.


I keep about 25% water in the fresh tank. Will that freeze? Will my other pipes freeze? And if they do - will anything break?


Anything I should do? I suppose I could go over and fire up the furnace and also the water heater.



Thanks in advance. This cold spell is supposed to last about another week.

[tbrowne]

Yes, I would expect it to freeze and that will most likely create damage. If the water heater has water in it then I expect you'll need a replacement for that. Water lines and connections might also burst as the ice expands inside them. It's easy to winterize a trailer so why take the chance that you'll be OK?

[CBWELL]

Open all the drains, drain the HWT, drain the fresh water tank. Blow out your lines and put the pink stuff in all of your sink and shower traps. Make sure you blow out your toilet and hand wand as well. Winterize!! Better to be safe than sorry!! Current temperature here is 34 BELOW ZERO, with a wind chill of 42 BELOW ZERO Compared to us you are in a HEAT WAVE!!

[AnnaBelle33]

Definitely winterize. The 45 mins you spend doing what CB just wrote will save you 45 days of not having your trailer while it sits in shop getting repaired. At the minimum, open all the low water drains under your rig, the water heater drain and open every water valve you have. Don’t forget outside shower and spend the $2 on the pink stuff. Blowing out the lines is a must but at least do the basic things to protect yourself. There is a great Airstream dealer in DFW - give them a call, they will help you. Doing nothing is not an option if you don’t want damage.

[BayouBiker]

If you have heat in the trailer and keep the inside temperature 5 degrees more than the 6 hour average difference between freezing and actual, you will have no issue. If you can't ensure you do that then take the other suggested steps.

The tanks will take 2 days of 24 hour mean temperature below freezing to freeze solid with not heat. The pipes will freeze in 2 hours with no heat.

[GetawA-S]

I’m with the others. Freeze damage takes time - the water needs to release a lot of heat as it changes to ice. Get off your computer and head over to take care of your silver baby! It sounds like you have a pretty good idea what to do, so open those lines, let the water out, take a gentle heat source to loosen up anything else you can! The pink stuff will tame the freezing tendencies of the water you can’t easily remove. Good luck!

[Kalashnikov]

Thanks everyone! No idea what "pink stuff" is or how to blow out lines.
But I'll head out there today and run the heater and water heater for a while with the propane.
I don't live in the AS, it's just in a storage lot. I'll take a generator and hair dryer with me in case the drain valves are frozen shut.

[azflycaster]

Pink stuff is RV antifreeze. You can get it at Walmart or any big box store. You need to put some down each drain to prevent the water in the traps from freezing.

Do not use automotive antifreeze. It is toxic

Your owners manual should have a procedure for winterizing your trailer.

[BayouBiker]

Pink stuff is food grade antifreeze in the RV section of Walmart. Try to get the stuff containing propylene glycol. Try to avoid ethanol, as it makes some off tastes for a while. but in a pinch get what you can if you go that route. Don't use automotive antifreeze, it is toxic (ethylene glycol) causes kidney failure and blindness.

oops too slow, sorry for the repeat.

[AnnaBelle33]

This is what I get - the “pink” stuff.

[kittmaster]

Nothing like asking after the fact....ice will damage some obvious things and probably some other things you wouldn't expect. Hopefully the damage if any is minimal.

[InsideOut]

If you didn’t winterize around here...it’s too late. -15 last night. Brr! Not much snow - just cold!

Shari

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov

Thanks everyone! No idea what "pink stuff" is or how to blow out lines.
But I'll head out there today and run the heater and water heater for a while with the propane.
I don't live in the AS, it's just in a storage lot. I'll take a generator and hair dryer with me in case the drain valves are frozen shut.

"Pink stuff" is RV/ travel trailer waterline ( Sinks/ shower/ fresh water tank/ etc ) Antifreeze.Buy it in many retail stores by gallon.
It's not auto radiator antifreeze.Don't use it in your car.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The "big ticket" item is the hot water heater. If you are not going to blow it out with a compressor ( = what all the manuals say to do ), it will take several gallons of "pink stuff" to protect it.

Since the tank is insulated and protected a bit, there are pipes and valves that are more likely to freeze first.

How long does it take for things to freeze and burst? It can happen overnight if the wind is blowing and it's from the "wrong" direction. Indeed 20's at night / 30's during the day can create freeze damage. "Never gets above freezing for days" *will* create freeze damage, regardless of wind.

If it will be below freezing for a couple days, it really does not matter how cold it gets. Frozen is frozen. You can get the same damage at 28 degrees as at -28.

Fun !!

Bob

[Anders79]

You may be OK, would be best if you winterize immediately, but if not - put some RV antifreeze in all the drains / toilet. Putting heaters in and opening all door and cupboards will help. If you do that, you can usually survive at least a few days of constant below freezing. The temperature in the teens does not sound good.
Water pump may be the only thing to go or everything may be fine or ...- nothing is constant when it comes to freezing water problems.

[mimiandrews]

While you're at Walmart, see if they have an inexpensive air compressor. I bought one there a couple of years ago for around $40, and it has served me well. Get an air line connector and a male water hose connector and fit them on opposite ends of a short piece of hose. Connect the water hose end to your fresh water inlet and the other end to the air compressor. Put about 40 psi of air into the water system, then go inside the trailer and open each faucet, one at a time, and let the air blow all the water out of that section of line. Then go to the next one, etc. Don't forget the toilet flush valve and any hand sprayer you may have. Drain your water heater, if you have the tank type. Drain you fresh water and gray and black holding tanks. Empty can't do freeze damage.

The idea here is to replace all the water in the system with air. That's a good deal of protection in itself. Then pump the RV pink antifreeze into the system. If you don't have a winterizing valve installed just ahead of your water pump, you may have to pour antifreeze (pink so it's not poison) into your fresh water tank and let the water pump pick it up from there. That method takes more antifreeze, but it will work.

Good luck, and I hope you haven't waited too late. This is a nasty cold snap we're having.

[Tarcoola]

We live just outside Austin and had minor freeze damage a few years ago - water filter under sink, shower head and the water heater drain nut leaked ice. We were fortunate, and our AS was in storage. Couple of days ago we emptied the water heater, the water pump, dumped RV antifreeze down all the sisinks and shower, blew out all the water lines. We were surprised how much water came out of the pipes - probably a good gallon or two.

I'd definitely try to minimize the damage - there will be issues. Heat the AS if possible, unscrew the water heater drain plug (if it hasn't burst), turn on all faucets to release pressure from ice expansion, remove the water filter under the sink and replace with a shunt tube (I think that's what they call it), pour antifreeze down the sinks and shower. Try draining the freshwater tank, but that could be difficult if the drainage valves and contents have already frozen. A lot of this may be too late, but its going to get 10-20 degrees colder and may prevent further damage.

Call your local AS shop and book in for repairs - there's probaby going to be a few in the line ...

Hope this helps ... Good Luck.

[smmckean]

Drain all of the water ASAP, leave the faucets open, Pink RV antifreeze in all drains minimum of 2 cups per drain. Consider an electric Space heater with thermostat set to 45-50. Then set back and enjoy the falling snow. Texas (the entire state is under a Winter Storm Alert.

[DutchB]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov

Thanks everyone! No idea what "pink stuff" is or how to blow out lines.
But I'll head out there today and run the heater and water heater for a while with the propane.
I don't live in the AS, it's just in a storage lot. I'll take a generator and hair dryer with me in case the drain valves are frozen shut.

We are in Austin. It has not been above freezing for 48 hours and it was in the 20's.

You are going to find everything frozen already. I think you should run the furnace. Have a space heater and power? Add that and see if you can warm up the inside enough that water runs from the faucets. Get all the water out of the lines that you can. Open the drain underneath for the tank. Drain the hot water heater. If you can get pink stuff and the water pump is not frozen use see if you can cirulate it.

But don't take a big risk on these roads. It is icy. Better to repair the AS than have a wreck.

[Fungus]

I’m near Austin, too. This year is my first time to winterize the AS so I don’t know if this will prevent freezing this week.

From my “Airstream Storage” checklist section labeled “Water and sewer”

-Level trailer side to side and front to back
-Disconnect city water
-Drain fresh water tank by opening the plastic valve between streetside wheels and the “low point” metal valves. Leave the valves open.
-Drain the water heater by removing the plug and opening the pressure relief valve. This will take a while.
-Blow 45 psi compressed air into the city water inlet and open each faucet. May have to do it in bursts because the air tank is likely too small.
+Kitchen
+Lavatory
+Toilet
+Shower
+Outdoor shower
+Hot water tank
-Close water heater bypass valve located behind lowest cabinet in bedroom
-Drain black water tank
-Drain grey water tank
-Put RV antifreeze in
+Toilet
+Kitchen trap
+Lavatory trap
+Shower trap
-Put small amount of vegetable oil in closed toilet to control odor

I have a couple of air compressors but I use the compressor with the larger tank for this procedure, and I still have to wait for the tank to pressurize every so often.

I don’t have any recommendations for how to handle a late winterizing.