Winter storage questions.

[codgerbill]

I recently prepared the coach for winter storage at the lot where I normally keep the coach.
I drained and flushed the black water tank and drained it. I operated the bypass valve on the water heater and then drained it. I also drained the grey and fresh water tanks. I blew out the water lines from the city water fitting using compressed air. I then put the pink stuff in the "P" traps.
I am wondering if I need toput the "pink stuff" in the system using the suction hose located by the bypass valve? I am also wondering if my water heater has an anode in it? I have checked the WIT bulliten on water heaters of my vintage coach and found no reference to an anode, I had not seen any reference on the water heater that would suggest an anode exists.I checked thw winnebago book on the coach and didnt notice any reference to an anode.
The storage lot where I store the coach is paved with asphalt. Would it be a good idea to put the wheels on wood planks or another material to insulate the tires from the asphalt? Would it be a good idea to cover the tires or would a good coat of armor all be sufficient? Would it be a good idea to put the jacks down to take some of the weight off of the tires during storage?
I am also contemplating comeing out to the coach maby once a month or so to start the coach and run it, maby driving it till the engine warms up. There is no electric service and that is why I thought running the engine every once in a while might help preserve the batteries.

[codgerbill]

I recently prepared the coach for winter storage at the lot where I normally keep the coach.
I drained and flushed the black water tank and drained it. I operated the bypass valve on the water heater and then drained it. I also drained the grey and fresh water tanks. I blew out the water lines from the city water fitting using compressed air. I then put the pink stuff in the "P" traps.
I am wondering if I need toput the "pink stuff" in the system using the suction hose located by the bypass valve? I am also wondering if my water heater has an anode in it? I have checked the WIT bulliten on water heaters of my vintage coach and found no reference to an anode, I had not seen any reference on the water heater that would suggest an anode exists.I checked thw winnebago book on the coach and didnt notice any reference to an anode.
The storage lot where I store the coach is paved with asphalt. Would it be a good idea to put the wheels on wood planks or another material to insulate the tires from the asphalt? Would it be a good idea to cover the tires or would a good coat of armor all be sufficient? Would it be a good idea to put the jacks down to take some of the weight off of the tires during storage?
I am also contemplating comeing out to the coach maby once a month or so to start the coach and run it, maby driving it till the engine warms up. There is no electric service and that is why I thought running the engine every once in a while might help preserve the batteries.

[moldmkr]

I will try and answer some of your questions.
1. The anode should have been on the plug when you drained your tank. That is where it was on our 5th wheel. Our MH does not have one.
2.I would put the tires on wood and also put down some plastic. I used some thin cutting board sheets that I bought at Dollar General.
3. If you are storing the MH outside I would cover them with wheel covers so the UV rays don't hurt the tires.
4. I would not use armorall because it has a petroleum base and that is also not good for your tires If you want to put something on them make sure it is not petroleum based. CW has a product but I don't know the name of it. The best thing to do is covering them to eliminate UV rays.
5. I have heard 2 different views on this. By lowering the jacks you would not create a flat spot on the tires. I believe this was more common on nylon cord based tires. I store ours inside and I put the jacks down. I think either way is OK.
6.If you leave you batteries in the MH you should start the engine and let the engine warm up completely once a month.
Good luck and hope this helps. I am sure some other people will chime in as well

[JC2]

This is in addition to what Moldmkr has stated:
1. If your WH is an Atwood, it does not require an anode rod. In most cases, the plug that you took out should be a nylon one.
2. The tires should have something underneath them. A good protectorant in addition to covers would be the 303 Spray which is available from Camping World. We also have the air pressure at the max when storing.
3. We lower our jacks to where they take some pressure off the tires. I will occasionally spray the shafts with this product sveral times a year.Jigaloo There was a previous post on using it. http://irv2.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=search&reqWords=jigaloo
3. We try and take our couch out for a 1hr or so drive monthly during the winter and also run the gennie under a slight load at the same time.
4. I would also recommend putting Stabil in the gas when you get ready to store and runn about 15 minutes to circulate.
5. Disregard all of the above and go South for the winter months.

[codgerbill]

Thanks for the replys. I do wish I could go to the warm places for the winter but reality bites. I do plan on starting and running the coach at least once a month but will pick a time in the winter when the salt on the road is not so prevelant. Thanks again for the reply's.

[FrontRangeRVer]

Make sure you winterize your small water line going to the icemaker! That would either included pink stuff or taking the line off the fitting in the outside fridge opening and blowing out the line.

Where I live (and you also), it is wise to use the pink stuff.

And I agree with the others...your Atwood water heater has no anode rod.

We don't drive ours from Oct to April....we cover ours with an ADCO cover with TyVek, and park with small pieces of plywood under the tires. You don't need to drive it anywhere during the Winter months if you don't want to, as I know all about the salt on the roads here and there.

We do excercise our generator once every 2 months under full load for two hours, and we use Stabil in the gas tank.

We cover our tires, and as JC2 does, we also put our jacks down to take somewhat of the load off the tires.

In your storage situation, I would removed the batteries and take them home to keep charged. We store ours on our property and have it plugged in (with a much better converter that came with the unit) so the coach batteries are being charged. The chassis battery is charged with a Battery Minder.

[Winter Texan]

All good advice.

When you lower the jacks to raise the motorhome for long storage, raise it just enough to take the bulge out of the tires' sidewalls.