Winterize Time

["007"]

For some of us its that time again.

This LINK should help, until its time to dewinterize.

[Dick & Pat]

Winterized ours yesterday...not exactly the year's highlight

Just glad it's only till after Christmas, then southbound to Florida for 4 months

[mythplaced]

I choose to "go dry" rather than add antifreeze (I prefer not to use chemicals, even in the black tank)....Do all the draining...use air to blow out the remains.....Sanitize in spring...

DId it Monday....what a huge chore...

[NLOVNIT]

We're headed to MI on Fri for a wk's vacation to view the Fall leaf colors. While at the store today getting last minute food stuffs to take, I picked up several gallons of the "pink stuff". The season sure went fast! I'll live vicariously through you snowbirds & other southern states posts & plan our next year's trips.. waiting for Spring to come.

Lori-

[RV Wizard]

The absolute best way to winterize a coach is to go south! A lot more fun too!

[Dick & Pat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Wizard The absolute best way to winterize a coach is to go south! A lot more fun too!

....That's our plan for next year

[mythplaced]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Wizard The absolute best way to winterize a coach is to go south! A lot more fun too!

Echo that.....

["007"]

Must not be to many left up north sure would be great to head south in case some have to winterize here is some help.

Time to Winterize

[csp]

I wish I could go South for the winter but I can not. I still plan on using the coach a few times during the winter. I would like to go South for a vacation or two. I would like to do the blow out method. I do not like the chemicals in the fresh water tanks and I do not want to have to do this multiple times during the winter spending $50 to $100 each time. Could I get some opinions on doing the blow out method. Good or bad thing to do? Does this get all of the water out? How do I get it out of the ice maker and the washer/dryer? I want to do the right thing. The other option is to leave the electric heat on low all winter. Does any one do this or is this a bad idea and would this keep the pipes from freezing? Remember this is my first coach so I am asking a lot of questions. Thank you in advance for the advice.
Chris

[69RoadRunner]

I did it last weekend. Definitely a sad day.

[NLOVNIT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by csp Could I get some opinions on doing the blow out method. Good or bad thing to do? Does this get all of the water out? How do I get it out of the ice maker and the washer/dryer? I want to do the right thing.

Chris,

Many members do only the blow out method & it works for them. IMO, blowing out the lines with an air compressor will get the majority of the water out (& we do it as a precursor to filling lines with antifreeze), but not all. Some, although very little, moisture can/will pool back & collect in low spots in the lines. And, blowing doesn't get the water out of the sinks/shower traps. I'm a bit paranoid about any water that could remain & freeze, so DH & I do the antifreeze thing. Doing it ourselves only costs us about 2 hours of our time & about 4 gallons of antifreeze (at $3 per gallon), as we have both an ice maker & a washer. Very cheap insurance & peace of mind for me.

Getting water out of the ice maker involves disconnecting the tube fill tube. You can get access to it from the fridge panel on the outside of your rv. We blow it out first, reconnect it & then run the antifreeze through it (just like any other line in the coach), then turn on the fridge & let it do it's thing to make ice - which comes out as pink slush. With the air compressor hooked up, we blow out the washer with short wash cycles (hot & cold), run it through a brief spin cycle, then run the antifreeze through with short wash cycles (hot & cold), just enough to see pink antifreeze pooling in the bottom of the drum, then run it through a brief spin cycle again to shoot the antifreeze into the exit line.

If you do do the antifreeze thing, don't forget to bypass your hot water tank or you'll end up using anywhere from 6-10 gallons more antifreeze than you need to. Also, if you have a whole rv water filter unit, take the filter out & put in an empty, capped water bottle in the cartridge to take up the space in it so you don't waste antifreeze filling that, now empty, cartridge.

As for leaving the electric heat on, if your electric heat is from a heat pump, those only work down to about 38-40 degrees. Below that, heat pumps won't pull enough heat out of the air to supply your rv to do any good. Plus, if it's like ours, the heat pump ducts are through the ceiling. Since water piping is through the floor & service/storage bays, the only way to get heat to those is to run your propane furnace (very expensive to do all winter) and put trouble lights (to generate heat) in bays.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Lori-

[historyljc]

Winterize? What's winterize? Is that watching it snow up "North", where ever that is, on TV while sitting here on a Florida beach, or nearby, with a light snack and adult beverage?

[TW]

Well, we got it DONE, until we go south in January for a week only (QS) or so ??? Next year is full retirement. My Co-Pilots last flight is sometime in March 10... we will travel a lot and hopefully never have to winterize again??????

TW

[Batman_777]

Paraphrase: Fleetwood does not recommend using small space heaters in cold weather since it will reduce the primary heater's use. In so doing, the primary heater's duct work will not add to the overall under-floor radiant thermo transfer warming effect to the plumbing. Fleetwood does not recommend non-winterized use in cold weather.