Community Forums

wi410 · 09-20-2012, 10:45 AM

2003 monoco executive with Aqua Hot. About how many gallons of anti freeze are needed to winterize this water system? thanks in advance....

wa8yxm · 09-20-2012, 11:50 AM

Depends on which of the 3 winterizing methods you use

1: Wet method: Pink stuff in all the lines, Traps, Drains and toilets (I do not recommend)

2: Dry method: Blow out lines, several times pausing between blows (Description follows) Pink only in drains, traps and toilets (Much better)

3: S-Method (Best) (Strap snow blower to front of rig, drive south till someone looks at it, scratches their head and says "What the )@#@ is THAT thing for?" Park)

Sadly method 3 is not open to many of us.

When you blow, Open all valves, and blow till no more water comes out.

Then take a break, 5 minutes or so and blow again, and again, and again, and again. Like 5-10 times minimum.. Eventually you will get no more water when you blow yet again, that's when you close the valves, then dump the waste tanks, and add pink to drains and toilets.

Wet method: You have to flush all that gunk out come spring.

Dry method.. Well you still have to flush the pink out, but ... Well, Let's just say it is a WHOLE lot easier (you flush the toilet the first time, You drain the sink or shower the first time, you flush the pink).

I use the S method.. that's S.Carolina.

ernieh · 09-20-2012, 12:14 PM

wa8yxm,

How does one use your "much better" method to winterize a washer?

I personally blow everything out first and follow with the pink stuff per the directions supplied with my washer. The directions supplied with my residential refer specify to "blow only", no pink stuff.

Just saying, "much better" might not be the same for everyone.

glennb100 · 09-20-2012, 12:26 PM

If you have an Aqua-Hot system, you must use "the pink stuff". there is no way to assure all the water is removed from the water heater in the aqua hot, even with blowing it out. Flushing the water lines in the spring really isn't a big deal. The RV anti-freeze readily flushes out of the lines. You do need to run the washer through a cycle with no clothes in it to make sure all the pink is gone.

glennb100 · 09-20-2012, 12:30 PM

I forgot to mention, with our Camelot with Aqua hot, I use about three gallons of pink stuff to winterize. I don't put any into the fresh water holding tank because it would be very difficult to flush it all out. The small amount of water left in the tank after it's drained can freeze without harming the tank.

akadeadeye · 09-20-2012, 03:13 PM

I use the wet option as described above. I just cannot be sure that I am getting all the water out with blowing it plus I don't know how much air pressure the pipes can stand.

Last year was the first time I had to winterize and I used about 2 1/2 gallons.

We have a hydronic system for heat and hot water that uses propane (similar to an aqua hot) and I just blew it out after shutting the valve to get it off the loop to the rest of the water system. Someone told me it's not good to put antifreeze in the unit. I have no idea so I didn't put any in.

Don

Steve N Sal · 09-20-2012, 03:21 PM

I use less then a gallon. I only put the pink stuff in the drains, toilet and Washing machine. All the water lines get blown out and I leave all the faucets in the open position. Of course don't forget to close them in the spring before you water up or you'll have one heck of a mess.

Coma · 09-20-2012, 04:27 PM

Don't forget the washer/dryer! I use 7 gallons to do it all. Blow it out then pump it full, 2 gals in the tank to boot. I make pink cubes with fridge. I use an extra water pump to pump it in as I don't have a gravity fill. $5 a gal or $115/hr to fix the broken pipes. Pick one.

ahicks · 09-20-2012, 06:55 PM

I used to work on these things professionally - a long time ago. I would just like to warn that if you're blowing your system out that you be very mindfull of the toilet. The water valves are not very forgiving and do not like to be frozen up at all. We used to replace them frequently on coaches that were blown out. The blow, pause blow, then repeat plan is a good one - just keep the toilet in that cycle!

We have a fairly simple coach that's set up with a water heater bypass and a valve on the intake side of the pump that lets us select between pulling water from the water tank, or a hose long enough to reach the bottom of a 1 gallon jug of anti freeze. I can generally do the entire coach, including all the traps, on a gallon or less - in the span of about 5 minutes.

Regarding putting anti freeze in the water tank, I would never argue against that practice, but if you know you're on you're last trip for the season, open the drain valve after dumping the holding tanks - and leave it open for the drive home. You'll slosh most of the water out that way, and there will be no more need to add antifreeze to it. I leave my holding tank gate valves open for the same reason.... after rising well of course!

wi410 · 09-21-2012, 05:51 AM

thanks for the info and advise. Getting cool in WI, time to get my stuff together for the soon to be winter... thanks .. very helpful.

distaff · 09-21-2012, 08:25 PM

I used to use about 3 to 3 1/2 gallons, but I removed my water filters - it takes a lot of antifreeze to push the water out, and if you dump them, they hold a lot of fluid, so I now have them set up to put them on the external water supply.

Second, blow the lines first. Both this trick and removing the filters means you don't have to push out water, when the anti freeze shows up in the tap you can stop rather than run it for a while to get the water out.

If you are doing this look for the large jugs, so much easier to work with than the small ones.

BTW - you can get a cheap little screw in plug for the end of your hose with a vehicle tire stem on it at most RV places. Makes blowing them out very easy.

Coma · 09-22-2012, 06:00 AM

Just remembered this. I have friends who claim that Vodka is cheaper than pink stuff where they live!!!? So they winterize with cheap Vodka and then don't have to sanitize in the spring.

akadeadeye · 09-24-2012, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coma

Just remembered this. I have friends who claim that Vodka is cheaper than pink stuff where they live!!!? So they winterize with cheap Vodka and then don't have to sanitize in the spring.

Then in the Spring all they have to do is put a little Zing Zang in a glass and fill it with "water" from the tap, add a stalk of celery and repeat as many times as necessary until the water begins to taste different.

Coma · 09-24-2012, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akadeadeye

Then in the Spring all they have to do is put a little Zing Zang in a glass and fill it with "water" from the tap, add a stalk of celery and repeat as many times as necessary until the water begins to taste different.

That's a great idea! I should invite myself over for the dewinterizing party!!