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elwray · 11-30-2022, 08:36 PM

Hi all,

In the beginning of the Fall we purchased a 2022 Sunseeker 3250 Class C motorhome. My family and I did a one-night trip about a month ago just to test everything out, and had a fantastic time!

We are apartment dwellers in Westchester County, NY, so we're storing the motorhome off-site at a storage/service center. Unfortunately, it's not exactly down the street so I can't "hang out" with the motorhome as much as I'd like between trips, which makes planning and learning about the operation a bit difficult.

We are first time owners, having only rented in the past, so I had the storage facility complete the winterization recently. We will be taking a trip to SC over Christmas, and I'm planning on dewinterizing once we're a bit south of here, and then winterizing again when I get back to NY. I wanted to post here to get some more experienced perspectives on what I think is the right process and that I'm going down the right road here...

Dewinterizing

I am basically not going to touch anything in the water system on the way down - we'll stop at rest stops along the way, or if my little kids just can't hold it (you know how they can be!) we'll flush with a bit of jugged water. I have enclosed tanks, plus there should be some antifreeze in the black tank already, so I don't think I need to be too concerned here.

Once we get to a campsite with hookups:

Fill freshwater tank, turn pump on
Put water heater plug back and close vent (might do this before the drive so I don't lose the plug!)
Open each cold water tap until clear, then repeat for hot water taps.
Return water heater bypass valves (3) to normal operation: open the inlet, open the outlet, close the "bridge" valve
Open hot water tap to ensure water heater is full

I notice that most people recommend sanitizing the potable water system after dewinterizing - is this due to something in the RV antifreeze, or merely because a once-yearly sanitization is good practice, and why not do it when you dewinterize?

Winterization

I plan on driving most of the way back north with water in the freshwater tank, since we'll have it warm/heated inside and we'd like to use it if needed (that is, unless you all tell me this is a bad idea!). Once I'm back in NY, I'll winterize. I am going to have the facility do a full winterization when they open, 2 days after we park it, just in case I missed anything. I'm hopeful that I'll do it well enough to at least avoid damage - basically, having them do this winterization might be redundant, but I look at it as paying for peace of mind for this first one!

Open hot and cold taps to relieve any pressure in system, then close
Dump gray/black tanks
Drain freshwater tank from valve in compartment behind/inside storage bay
Drain low-point water line drains. I'm not sure if there is one for each hot and for cold, or if it's just one for cold...?
Un-bypass (depass? repass? ) water heater: close inlet and outlet, open "bridge" valve
Remove water heater drain plug, open pressure relief valve
Turn water valve feed from freshwater tank to winterization hose, put winterization hose into RV antifreeze jug
Turn on water pump
Open cold water and hot water at every tap until pink, then close. Put a bit into shower and sink drains to fill P-traps

Hopefully this is mostly on the right track! I'm mostly concerned with the dewinterization, so we can enjoy our trip down south. The winterizing on the way back just has to keep things from breaking for 2 days until the professionals can get to it. It's kind of hard trying to plan this out with only my photos and YouTube videos for reference, and not being able to actually physically see my motorhome in the process!

Thank you so much for any insights you can share!

swduns · 12-01-2022, 02:34 AM

It sounds like to me you understand the requirements & process
It might take several gallons if rv antifreeze I would think
I assume you don’t have a washing machine or ice maker
I hope your trip goes well

elwray · 12-01-2022, 06:04 AM

Thanks so much! Looks like it's supposed to take just shy of 2 gallons, so I'll have 3 on hand to be safe. Correct - no ice maker, washer, or any of those cool things!

Persistent · 12-01-2022, 07:07 AM

I live in Wisconsin. Weather is similar to New York.

Most dump stations are closed north of St. Louis. Some stay open, but no longer have flush water. For this reason, you may wish to winterize before you get too far into freezing weather.

For emergencies, you may wish to carry 3 or more gallons of anti-freeze with you in case the trip is interrupted unexpectedly. Having it freeze up in a service center parking area is not a great experience.

RV anti-freeze does not work when diluted. Counting on RV anti-freeze to keep dump tank valves frost free is risky. In fact, RV anti-freeze does not actually stay liquid down to its rated temperature. It does keep the freezing liquid from expanding and bursting pipes and valves.

elwray · 12-01-2022, 07:32 AM

Thank you very much for the info - I didn't know that about the antifreeze! My parking facility has a private dump station on-site, but I will double check with them that they don't close it for the season. That would definitely force me to revise some of my plans. Thanks again!

camp chef · 12-06-2022, 05:22 PM

I had to remove the screen on the inlet which has some sort of check valve in it to draw antifreeze from the jug on my leprecaun, used a cheap hose I cut with a hose washer, when switched to "winterize", make sure the valve is closed at the water tank.

elwray · 12-06-2022, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camp chef

I had to remove the screen on the inlet which has some sort of check valve in it to draw antifreeze from the jug on my leprecaun, used a cheap hose I cut with a hose washer, when switched to "winterize", make sure the valve is closed at the water tank.

Oddly enough I was JUST reading about winterizing the city water inlet! Apparently on this MH some water can get caught in that line, that won't necessarily drain down.

Do you just gravity feed into the city water connection from the antifreeze jug? Do you have to manually push open the check valve to let that antifreeze in?

I was planning on sort of doing that in the "other direction" - getting the system mostly filled with antifreeze, and getting a bit of pressure in by turning the pump on for a bit. Then pushing that check valve to let some antifreeze work its way up and out that port.