Community Forums

kamu · 05-11-2014, 12:46 PM

Ok I de-winterized 2 days ago and guess what it's 34 degrees and snowing, expected high 40 deg, if lucky. Supposed to drop down to 28 degrees tonight...So what do you think, do I re-winterize or turn the heater on for a while today and drain any water in water lines I can? Maybe drag out my generator and compressor and blow out lines? Any thoughts....What a spring.

wa8yxm · 05-11-2014, 03:53 PM

Turn on the heater, put a light in the wet bay,, And soon as possible Re-winterze by my favorite method. The S method

Low toinght in the mid sixties here in Upstate SC lowlands.

S = SOUTH.

Cypressloser · 05-11-2014, 04:05 PM

Depends on the the kind of trailer you have.
Maybe turn on the hot water tank, water pump off and tabs open.

kamu · 05-11-2014, 07:25 PM

wa8yxm I think I agree with the S method as well....5 grandkids keep me here for now and normally it's a great place to be here for camping. It's downright nasty here today. Currently 34 degrees, winds 34 out of the north and snowing. Feel like I went through a time warp back to February. Needless to say, I went up to the camper where I store it, drained what little water I had in the storage tank, drained hot and cold, drained what little water I had in the water heater. The previous owner had left in the TT a small white fitting with an air hose connection on it. Thanks to reading forums here I knew it was for blowing out water lines (used antifreeze through the winter). Was initially going to put in antifreeze AGAIN so went to Walmart but no antifreeze to be found, so, went to Lowes bought a nice 12v compressor hooked the fitting I had to the city water supply and set it at 18 psi and purged water from all my faucets including outside shower. I did have a spare gallon of antifreeze left over at home and dumped that into the p-traps. Turned on the furnace while I was doing this stuff.
The Good:
1: I know now how to winterize using air pressure or antifreeze. Almost tossed that little fitting but didn't.
2: Can sleep tonight.
The Bad: Doing all that stuff in the nasty weather.
Just wanted to say I'm a newbie but all the information provided here has helped me immensely, thank you all for sharing your knowledge...

VTR · 05-11-2014, 08:33 PM

I did the same, de-winterized a while back, now Denver is caught in freezing temps, big bummer! I did however blow out the lines and added antifreeze to the traps. Hope it does the job, but I am starting to lean into the blow out lines camp. I have a 16 ft trailer, it's all pretty simple inside, we will see.

kamu · 05-11-2014, 10:59 PM

VTR, this cold snap came on pretty quick. It's 10:45 pm and 28 degrees out there right now so I expect it'll hit low 20's by morning. Not sure bu I think it's going to be cold enough, long enough to freeze lines so think it was a good move to blow them out. Tomorrow night it's supposed to be just as cold again. Being a newbie I debated last fall to winterize myself, considered having it done. Glad I did it, forced me to learn my system. I learned most of the winterizing procedures from posts by others on this website so to them I tip my hat. Good luck with yours. We don't want to start the season looking for popped lines. I'd rather have to fight a little cold draining lines than having to find where they broke and then fix them.
They say it's safe to put plants out in the garden after Mother's Day....Think I'll wait a day or two.

Skip426 · 05-11-2014, 11:12 PM

OK, I'm taking the names of those who messed up the weather and I'll forward all complaints.

JMHO: If the weather rodent had, told the truth , and said 16 more weeks of winter instead of 6, he wouldn't have survived the day.

wa8yxm · 05-12-2014, 04:54 AM

That is the thing about Grandkids.. I do not (Yet) have any, 1st due next month, IN SOUTHERN GA where it's even warmer

.

VTR · 05-12-2014, 07:14 PM

kuma, you must be in the area. I did the pink and installed a bypass kit too get it done. I did de-winterize perhaps to early, and read many of post about folks that do. However, I believe the blow out method is just a recommended alternative, this method is in my trailer manual too. I ended up taking the bypass fixture's off, except for the by-pass valve on the water pump. I want to keep the plumbing simple and this kit was overkill. I can easily unscrew the water heater tubing and fabricated a close on that end. The kit was a waste of money as far as I am concerned. Now the question, I did not empty the backwater holding tank, nor the grey, but that is what is holding the excess antifreeze when flushing. Am I in trouble? Stay tuned unless the thread goes dead. Also there is not much volume in either the black or grey.

kamu · 05-12-2014, 07:39 PM

I don't have long term experience to answer that but I had emptied my black tank the day before and I did empty my gray tank after I blew out the lines. I'm almost certain there would be no problem with having some water in the grey tank or some stuff in the black tank, would take a while to freeze all that and even if it did I would think there is plenty of room for expansion...Others may chime in on this....This afternoon was above freezing and tonight it will dip in the 20's but after that it's looking a lot better. I'm pretty sure we're ok.

Pexring · 05-13-2014, 12:02 AM

I never use the pink stuff except for in the drains. I just blow-out the lines and other things really well. Done it for many years in several campers (new and old) and never a problem and our winters in the Dakotas are brutally cold.

caissiel · 05-13-2014, 04:40 AM

Same for me in cold Canada. Use windshield washer in the drains.
Never bought the pink stuff in 21 years. Used it the first year and frost broke a fitting, so air ever since.
Now drive the unit south away from cold.
Last winter I had to store the unit for a month in LA and kept heat at 40F (lowest thermostats could be set) and used 2 tanks of propane with solar support for furnace. I filled all tanks for heat sinks in the basement, there can be lots of heat stored in 160 imperial gallons(1600 lbs) of water. And the black tank creates its own heat. Everything was well in the unit when we returned. Water only freezes at the surface as cold water rises to the top. And I don't believe in tank heat pads. Complete waste of good money.

kamu · 05-13-2014, 07:10 AM

Some good info as well cassiel...Thanks.

wingnut60 · 05-13-2014, 08:39 AM

VTR,
I don't think any volume in the tank itself will freeze if the temp only gets to low 20s--will probably not be there long enough. What might be a problem is the volume in the drain lines exposed outside the trailer, especially in the smaller grey water line.
If the temp goes above freezing each morning early enough, I don't see a problem.
Let us know how it works out.
Joe