Winterization / Furnace

[BoDawg226]

I have two questions:

1) Where is the furnace on the RV? We have a 2005 40 ft. Alpine. Not planning to use it this year but just curious about where it is. And if there is somewhere that we can get a book on the furnace?

2) We plan to store our RV for the winter - will most likely be stored for about six months. It will be stored in an unheated pole barn with a cement floor. We have already put antifreeze in the water lines, and holding tanks. What else do we need to do? We are worried a little about mice - I have been reading that peppermint oil keeps them away but not sure the oil would stay effective for as long as we are storing. Any suggestions? Also, we plan to leave the batteries connected to a trickle charger. Anything else we need to do for the batteries?

We are storing in someone else’s barn so will not have access to the unit often. Anything else we need to do?

[flywithcoop]

I store my MH outside at a Military base. Never had a problem with mice until a old worn out TT stored nearby was finally moved out. Ended up mice from the old TT crawled up the left rear corner of my MH made a nest and ate the wiring near the rear view camera! Now when I store the MH long term I place rat poison under the MH along the frame and any other flat spot that is out of the weather. Never found a dead mouse but haven't had a problem in several years. Knock on Wood.
In your case since you are in a barn place rat poison on the floor around your MH if the barn owner will let you. That should do the trick.

[Old Scout]

Do you have propane finance or hydro-hot???? Locations vary by model--if propane you should see the two-piece intake and exhaust ports on side of coach. How cold will it be in barn????--need to keep batteries topped off --charged and watered -- if applicable. Make sure anti-freeze got in all p-traps--including the washer/dry closet plumbing...whole house or kitchen sink water filters?????..refrigerator and ice maker....

[wa8yxm]

For the furnace go outside the RV. look for a panel, it will be Retangular and it will have a more or less "SQUARE" cut out with a circle like opening.. Likely held on with 4 screws. REMOVE screws and remove panel Oh, it may (Should) have another louvered opening as well

The square with round insert is exhaust the other fresh air in.

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

For the furnace go outside the RV. look for a panel, it will be Retangular and it will have a more or less "SQUARE" cut out with a circle like opening.. Likely held on with 4 screws. REMOVE screws and remove panel Oh, it may (Should) have another louvered opening as well



The square with round insert is exhaust the other fresh air in.

Lori, if your 2005 has a Hydro Hot, do not use the above instructions, let us know and we will give you coach specific instructions.

Also if you have an ice maker or through the door water, be sure to check those lines too.

[BoDawg226]

Hi Dave

Yes - our unit has the Hydro-Hot. I was just confused when I read the manual and it mentioned a propane furnace. So, I just use the thermostat to control the furnace? And make sure the Hydro Hot is on .

[RVPioneer]

Park the coach with wood or plastic pads under the tires. Some take the extra step of putting the coach on jacks to remove weight from the wheels entirely.

Rat poison can leave dead rodents in inaccessible areas which may become malodorous in spring. Use at your discretion. Irish Spring soap purportedly is an effective deterrent.

You can remove any under sink water filters and replace them with a short length of tubing with the same fittings in the unlikely event the system is pressurized without the filter in place.

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by BoDawg226

I have two questions:



1) Where is the furnace on the RV? We have a 2005 40 ft. Alpine. Not planning to use it this year but just curious about where it is. And if there is somewhere that we can get a book on the furnace?



2) We plan to store our RV for the winter - will most likely be stored for about six months. It will be stored in an unheated pole barn with a cement floor. We have already put antifreeze in the water lines, and holding tanks. What else do we need to do? We are worried a little about mice - I have been reading that peppermint oil keeps them away but not sure the oil would stay effective for as long as we are storing. Any suggestions? Also, we plan to leave the batteries connected to a trickle charger. Anything else we need to do for the batteries?



We are storing in someone else’s barn so will not have access to the unit often. Anything else we need to do?

Lori, with the Hydro Hot once you have antifreeze in all the lines you are good to go, be sure you have antifreeze running out the hot water faucets, if so there will be fluid in the Hydro Hot.

We also have the HH, so what I normally do is drain the fresh water tank then pump about 10 gallons of AF into it, then I run all the faucets until they run pink, not foam, but actual liquid, I bought a sump pump that I place in a Home Depot Homer bucket then attach it to my water hose fill the bucket with AF and pump it into the fresh water tank.

Remember , even if you don’t have one, the coach is plumbed for a washer and a dish washer so be sure to get those faucets also. If you have a residential refer you will need do the water/ice line. Also be sure you check the engine AF. In the spring I drain any excess AF from the fresh water tank and use it again next year. I went to Home Depot and bought one of the orange Homer buckets with a lid for this. This procedure gets AF fluid in the water pump as well as all the lines.

The boiler fluid in the Hydro Hot lines is an antifreeze so they are all set, as long as you have the proper boiler fluid in it.

In Michigan you can expect well below freezing temperatures so it is imperative you check all water in the coach. Remember you have distilled water (without AF) for your house batteries in the reservoir. Batteries on a trickle charger should be fine, but the water reservoir (and any battery fill hoses) will freeze, the hose itself will be able to take the expansion of freezing water, but not the plastic battery caps. I would also drain the windshield washer fluid, even though at full strength it should be fine, if you have added straight water to it you have diluted it, so I drain mine, bring what I drained out into the house to use in the spring when I wash the winter off the windshield.

There will be lots of folks telling us they can winterize their coach using less AF, I know it can be done with less, but the above process works, even if it is a little extra the first year. You have a lot of water lines in an Alpine, if one breaks it will be a lot more that the price of a couple of extra gallons of AF to repair!

Mice are a problem that can be real destructive. Do not leave ANY food products in the coach. Clean EVERYTHING real well, do not leave any spills. I place a baited rat station by the rear wheels and mouse traps all around the coach. Check for any openings under the chassis and seal them, mice can get into an opening as small as a 1/4”. And good luck, with mice you will need it.

You should exercise the generator for about an hour a month under at least 3/4 load. I normally run the heat pump for the hour.

[BoDawg226]

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

Lori, with the Hydro Hot once you have antifreeze in all the lines you are good to go, be sure you have antifreeze running out the hot water faucets, if so there will be fluid in the Hydro Hot.

We also have the HH, so what I normally do is drain the fresh water tank then pump about 10 gallons of AF into it, then I run all the faucets until they run pink, not foam, but actual liquid, I bought a sump pump that I place in a Home Depot Homer bucket then attach it to my water hose fill the bucket with AF and pump it into the fresh water tank.

Remember , even if you don’t have one, the coach is plumbed for a washer and a dish washer so be sure to get those faucets also. If you have a residential refer you will need do the water/ice line. Also be sure you check the engine AF. In the spring I drain any excess AF from the fresh water tank and use it again next year. I went to Home Depot and bought one of the orange Homer buckets with a lid for this. This procedure gets AF fluid in the water pump as well as all the lines.

The boiler fluid in the Hydro Hot lines is an antifreeze so they are all set, as long as you have the proper boiler fluid in it.

In Michigan you can expect well below freezing temperatures so it is imperative you check all water in the coach. Remember you have distilled water (without AF) for your house batteries in the reservoir. Batteries on a trickle charger should be fine, but the water reservoir (and any battery fill hoses) will freeze, the hose itself will be able to take the expansion of freezing water, but not the plastic battery caps. I would also drain the windshield washer fluid, even though at full strength it should be fine, if you have added straight water to it you have diluted it, so I drain mine, bring what I drained out into the house to use in the spring when I wash the winter off the windshield.

There will be lots of folks telling us they can winterize their coach using less AF, I know it can be done with less, but the above process works, even if it is a little extra the first year. You have a lot of water lines in an Alpine, if one breaks it will be a lot more that the price of a couple of extra gallons of AF to repair!

Mice are a problem that can be real destructive. Do not leave ANY food products in the coach. Clean EVERYTHING real well, do not leave any spills. I place a baited rat station by the rear wheels and mouse traps all around the coach. Check for any openings under the chassis and seal them, mice can get into an opening as small as a 1/4”. And good luck, with mice you will need it.

You should exercise the generator for about an hour a month under at least 3/4 load. I normally run the heat pump for the hour.

Dave - thanks for the message - that is very helpful. We have added antifreeze and the faucets all run pink but I’m still worried about the HH - maybe we will buy some more today and add it just to be safe. Do you need to make sure the hot water is running pink or is it enough to make sure th water coming from the hot spigot is pink?

Not to sound dumb - but I am - how do you do the refrigerator/ice maker lines?

Also, what if we can’t exercise the generator monthly? We are storing it in someone’s pole barn (he rents out space), but I’m not sure that we can get there every month especially since my husband is having surgery the first of November. Is there anything we can do for the generator if we can’t run it?

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by BoDawg226

Dave - thanks for the message - that is very helpful. We have added antifreeze and the faucets all run pink but I’m still worried about the HH - maybe we will buy some more today and add it just to be safe. Do you need to make sure the hot water is running pink or is it enough to make sure th water coming from the hot spigot is pink?



Not to sound dumb - but I am - how do you do the refrigerator/ice maker lines?



Also, what if we can’t exercise the generator monthly? We are storing it in someone’s pole barn (he rents out space), but I’m not sure that we can get there every month especially since my husband is having surgery the first of November. Is there anything we can do for the generator if we can’t run it?

Lori, I am not sure I understand

Do you need to make sure the hot water is running pink or is it enough to make sure the water coming from the hot spigot is pink?

You need to have pink fluid running from every faucet, both hot and cold sides, in the coach.

Not to sound dumb - but I am - how do you do the refrigerator/ice maker lines?

You are not dumb, just never done this before. The only way to be sure the ice maker is filled with AF is to make “pink ice cubes”. Of course they will never freeze, after almost it is AF, so you are really making “pink water” by running the ice maker several cycles. Just be sure you see pink liquid in the tray, not partially frozen ice cubes.

For the generator, the monthly rule is really a guide line, do it as close to monthly as possible.

I hope your husband’s surgery goes well.

[BoDawg226]

Originally Posted by DrDaveMA

Lori, I am not sure I understand

Do you need to make sure the hot water is running pink or is it enough to make sure the water coming from the hot spigot is pink?

You need to have pink fluid running from every faucet, both hot and cold sides, in the coach.

Not to sound dumb - but I am - how do you do the refrigerator/ice maker lines?

You are not dumb, just never done this before. The only way to be sure the ice maker is filled with AF is to make “pink ice cubes”. Of course they will never freeze, after almost it is AF, so you are really making “pink water” by running the ice maker several cycles. Just be sure you see pink liquid in the tray, not partially frozen ice cubes.

For the generator, the monthly rule is really a guide line, do it as close to monthly as possible.

I hope your husband’s surgery goes well.

Thanks again Dave - I will finish up getting the RV winterized today. I appreciate you helping me out as this whole RV experience is new to us! And it is a lot of worry!!