Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Fleetwood Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Register FilesVendors Registry Blogs FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search Log in
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 06-23-2017, 12:34 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 1
Thumbs up Dewinterizing Excursion

I have an 08 excursion which is new to me. It was winterized when I got it, time for use. Can anybody tell me how to dewinterize it? I'm not sure about the refrigerator, washer and dryer, and hot water heater. I hope someone can help. Thanks
Grothm is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 06-23-2017, 04:14 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
JiminJersey's Avatar
 
Vintage RV Owners Club
Fleetwood Owners Club
Mid Atlantic Campers
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Salem, NJ
Posts: 337
Your exact process will depend somewhat on how the P/O winterized it. The most common method is as follows, more or less:

Drain Fresh, Grey, and Black Tanks
Drain Water Heater
Pour 10 +/- gallons of RV antifreeze in to Fresh tank
Turn Water Heater Bypass Valve to BYPASS
Run H + C faucets off water pump to pull antifreeze into lines, until it comes out the faucets.
Flush toilet until anti freeze comes out
Pour cup or two of antifreeze into each sink to fill P-trap
If there is an installed W&D, run wash cycle for 30 seconds or so to get antifreeze in to lines.
Remove the coach water filter element, and bypass the filter.

There may be other methods and steps, but this is basically the idea - you want to get antifreeze into all the lines leading from the fresh tank, and up to each faucet or toilet valve, and then into the P-trap below the sink. The small amount of 'fresh' that you might have left over in any of the lines should not be a problem.

To de-winterize, you need to drain any leftover A/F in the fresh tank out. Fill about 1/2 full or so, and run every line until the A/F is pretty much gone. This will also push the A/F out of the P-traps, but they're no big deal. Its the supply lines that you want cleaned out. Don't forget to add the new water filter element.

It may take a while to get the a/f smell out of the lines. Just keep running water thru them (you can use your city water connection if you want after a while, to save wear and tear on your pump. The check valve between the city connection and the water pump should be pretty close to both, so once you've run a couple of dozen gallons through with the pump, it shou ld be clean. If you want to you can also dump a couple of cups of bleach in the fresh tank along with 30 or 40 gallons and run each faucet until you smell the bleach, and then let the whole rig sit overnight. This will clean and disinfect as well. Don't forget to drain out most of that water too, or you'll have bleach for breakfast.

Lastly, un-bypass the water heater, and open the hot faucets, and let the hot tank fill. There are several good videos on YouTube on this process.

This is a lot of work. I did it a bunch of years in a row, and then last year I decided to try to 'dry' winterize process. Basically, you drain everything you can as usual, but rather than pumping A/F through the lines, you attach a special connector to your CITY water inlet that attaches to an air compressor line. Using about 40-50 PSI, you open each faucet in turn, and simply BLOW all the water out of the lines. Sinks, toilets, etc just open 'er up and stand back as the Old Faithful sprays out of the thing!

This method takes about 20 minutes, and the good part is, there's no de winterizing to worry about - just dump in some fresh water, some baking soda, and open the faucets. Once the air stops you should get pretty clean and fresh water out.

If this is all really confusing, your best bet is to look up the RV Geeks videos on YouTube - they're pretty good at covering everything.

EDIT - forgot about the fridge. IF you have the icemaker, and it was in use, you'll need to make a couple of dozen trays of ice to clean it out as well. There is also some sort of bypass mechanism for it, but I don't use ours, so I'm no help there. You may need to check the manual for your specific fridge.
__________________
Always remember, you're a unique individual - just like the other 7 billion people on the planet...
JiminJersey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 05:50 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Winemaker2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Western NY
Posts: 6,149
I never add pink AF to the fresh water tank to winterize as it makes the dewinterizing process more difficult.
I just drain the FW tank and use the winterizing hose & valve that lets me draw AF right out of the gal jug and pump thru the system.
If your rig doesn't have one any camper supply will have them. Its a 3 way valve that gets installed in the FW inlet to the pump. Comes w a short length of hose you attach to the 3rd port on the valve...turn the valve...stick the hose in the AF and start pumping.
Same story w water heater..
If no bypass present easy to install and you avoid a long flush to clear up the AF.
Always a good idea to sanitize w bleach solution during spring commissioning
__________________
Don & Marge
'13 Newmar Ventana 3433 - '14 CR-V TOAD
'03 Winnebago Adventurer 31Y - SOLD
Winemaker2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 08:57 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
JiminJersey's Avatar
 
Vintage RV Owners Club
Fleetwood Owners Club
Mid Atlantic Campers
Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Salem, NJ
Posts: 337
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winemaker2 View Post
I never add pink AF to the fresh water tank to winterize as it makes the dewinterizing process more difficult.
Exactly why I decided to go the air compressor route this time. It seems to have been just fine. I was a little worried about the toilet flush valve but I just held the flusher handle down a couple of extra seconds to make sure that we blew all the water out of it.
__________________
Always remember, you're a unique individual - just like the other 7 billion people on the planet...
JiminJersey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 09:16 AM   #5
Moderator Emeritus
 
Spk64's Avatar


 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 19,417
Keep in mind if you have a Hydronic heating system the hot water exchanger is coils. Air will not blow out all the water, it is recommended to use AF with these systems. I do use air to reduce the amount of antifreeze and blow it out to dewinterize.
__________________
Steve
2002 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095
Spk64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 10:11 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Winemaker2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Western NY
Posts: 6,149
Quote:
Originally Posted by JiminJersey View Post
Exactly why I decided to go the air compressor route this time. It seems to have been just fine. I was a little worried about the toilet flush valve but I just held the flusher handle down a couple of extra seconds to make sure that we blew all the water out of it.
I also use compressed air to blow out first...just never trusted it 100% to not put in AF.
I've also read but not confirmed greater tendency to grow stuff...mold moldew... in a damp system just blown out whereas w AF air is excluded and less chance to grow stuff.??? Can't say for sure if it's better.
__________________
Don & Marge
'13 Newmar Ventana 3433 - '14 CR-V TOAD
'03 Winnebago Adventurer 31Y - SOLD
Winemaker2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Fleetwood Excursion 35E :: 2016 Fleetwood Excursion 35E kyoung101 iRV2 Owners Registry 0 01-07-2017 02:59 PM
No water in Damon Outlaw after dewinterizing! willcare Damon 4 04-24-2011 02:02 PM
Newbie Questions on ice maker dewinterizing & Hydro-Hot on electric mode Mike & Michele MH-General Discussions & Problems 7 01-17-2008 11:21 AM
Dewinterizing? twinbubba Toy Haulers Discussion 7 04-05-2006 02:46 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:52 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.