Winter Use and Winterization

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by JohnLori

It got down to -26° here last winter and we didn't have any damage to the water system. So my routine might be excessive for your area, but most thorough :

1. empty fresh water tank (black and gray tanks are empty) Open low point drains, then close when flow stops
2. empty water heater
3. change valves on water heater by-pass
4. empty water drinking filter, reefer filter
5. blow air thru all faucets, incl. outside shower, reefer ice maker and door water. Open water heater line briefly while blowing.
6. change valve on water inlet line, blow out water fill and black tank flush
7. pump anti-freeze thru all faucets, hot and cold, and toilet
8. anti-freeze in drains, toilet, shower
9. washing machine (see special instructions)
10. open low point water drains
11. blow out lines again (removes most of the anti-freeze)
12. empty gray and black tanks, add antifreeze
13. empty battery fill tank
14. windshield washer fluid?

Splendide has special instructions for the washer, so check your owner's manual. It's more than cycling the water out.

Doing all of this had the added benefit of convincing my wife to go south this winter—Mesa here we come!

Nice list. Sounds excessive but very prudent. I will be following your guideline when I winterize the coach. Thankyou for the list.

[DrDaveMA]

Last year I did it a little differently. I bought a portable, submersible sump pump. I also bought 18 gallons of antifreeze (the pink stuff) and a "Homer" bucket. I placed the sump pump in the bucket and filled it with the AF. I pumped it into the fresh water tank until all 18 gallons were in the tank (that gets AF into the supply piping), I then open all the water valves until they ran pink (both hot and cold). Be careful if you have a refrigerator with water and/or an ice maker, the valves on the back of the refer never seem to get clear of water. Also make sure you do this for any "unused" water connection (like washer connections).

[Mr_D]

Using the water pump and the winterizing bypass system I can do our 41' DP with about 3 gallons of antifreeze.

[Philliec]

Yesterday I tried something a little different for. Y MH. I drained the black, gray and hot water heater as usual and switched the hot water bypass valve. I installed the water filter bypass tube and then blew air in all the lines till there was no more water even at the low point valves. I then pumped just 1 gallon of antifreeze into the system and then re-connected the air compressor. I then went to each outlet and made sure I had pink antifreeze flowing from both hot and cold. Finally did the traps and that was it. I am thinking that just blowing out the lines could leave some trapped water, but by blowing the antifreeze throughout should have at least displaced this trapped water for another level of protection.
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[4day]

We appreciate all the responses to my question. Since we live in an area that gets a lot of snow and winter cold, and we plan to use mh frequently, we decided to store mh in the sacramento area, and most trips will be to coastal California this winter. I did not relish the idea of winterizing a half dozen times this winter, fearing I might miss something once. I figure we can drive down to pick up mh, hook up and go. On the way back clean her up, park, and drive up the mountain. no need to winterize in sacramento. Thanks Bob.

[DrDaveMA]

4 day, glad to hear you have a solution. For anyone else that is considering blowing out the lines and you reside on a colder climate be aware that it only takes a small amount of water, like a table spoon, to cause a valve (like the one on your toilet or the refrigerator if you have water or ice in the door) to ruin your day. Blowing out the lines can be done but you have to be thorough.

[JohnLori]

While average winter low temps in Sacramento are in the 40° range, record lows are below freezing. If they get an extreme cold snap there you could always drive down from South Lake Tahoe, plug the motorhome in, and run the heater for a couple days. Another option — we left our motorhome in indoor un-heated storage in Rocklin two years ago, and the cost was pretty reasonable. No winterizing, no worries, and it doesn't get cold enough to freeze indoor storage.