Cold climate and winter storage

[Alx]

Hi all,
My wife and I are new to Rv'ing this year, we live in cold northern alberta and our motorhome is being stored outside for the winter months. My question is; how often should the vehicle be started over the winter months?

[Jdsengl]

Don't run the engine at all. The stress of real cold start is hardest on engine. Check a/f make sure it's good, charge batteries and sit it out if not using in winter.

[Jim_HiTek]

After a service and full charge, remember to disconnect your batteries. Even when the 'Salesmans' switches are off, there are still parasitic loads that draw them down.

[OneRVer]

I asked the same question at my CAT shop, they said no need to run in the winter months. But the generator is a different story. The generator should be ran at least once every two months and under a load for around two hours. This is to keep the Armature dry. I use an old power hungry space heater that I plug in while running to give the generator a good work out.

[dennis45]

Our plan was to be in a place where winterizing was not an issue.
However, Best Laid Plans sometimes come apart and we find oursleves having to prepare our rig for winter storage.
After having battery problems a couple years back, I finally found a storage yard that will provide a 15A service for a nominal fee so I can plug in and keep the batteries charged along with my 3 Mouse Speakers.
Starting & running any equipment during the winter should be avoided since it will certainly shorten its life. As for the generator, in this part of the world (Alberta) the climate is very dry and moisture is not an issue. Starting and stopping will do more harm than good. In my opinion,

[Dwight]

Jdseng & Alx
It really helps with information if you would go into the USER CP and enter your signature to automatically show at the end of your post for a question or comment.

If you have a gasoline engine on your aux generator I would add Sea Foam to the gas tank and be sure it mixes by driving and run your generator under load with portable electric heaters or hair dryers for at least 1/2 hour to get the Sea Foam mixture thru the generator.

If you leave the motor home plugged into 120 volts you need a SMART 120v to 12v converter to keep from ruining your battery's.

I drain the fresh water tank but don't add RV Antifreeze to the tank because it leaves a taste. Use a by-pass hose to put RV antifreeze directly into the water pump to winterize the water system and then drain the water heater last. Hopefully you have done all this over a month ago.
Welcome to RVing and enjoying your beautiful country.
Dwight