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Old 10-30-2009, 12:59 PM   #1
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Winterizing Motorhome

This will be my first year winterizing my motorhome I have a couple of questions. First a little information, we live in Minnesota so the temps and the weather will be cold. I have already added pink antifrezze to all water lines added the pink to drain traps and emptied all holding tanks, drain water heater, added fuel stablizer to gas and ran motorhome and gen
1. Better to cover or un-cover motorhome (I have cover never used it)
2. Do I continue to start motorhome and gen at least once a month
3. Lift tires off the ground or leave them down (I do not have auto leveling jack)
4. Leave house batteries in motorhome or remove
I have an option to store inside unheated building, I would not be able to start motorhome or gen while in storage, once it's in I will not have access till spring.
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Old 10-30-2009, 02:04 PM   #2
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Liteweight,

You've asked some good questions regarding the wintizing procedure. It seems that you've covered the most important areas already with the protection of your water lines via pink antifreeze.

Personally, regarding covering the rig, I prefer storing the rig under shelter if possible, even if unheated. One of the things that is rough on the rigs is the effect of melting and refreezing snow that accumulates on the rigs when stored uncovered. It seems the year I stored ours uncovered, snow would build up on the roof, then as the sun shined on the motorhome and it warmed up inside during the day, the snow would partially melt then refreeze which eventually covered the unit in a layer of ice. I had huge icycles hanging down the sides of the motorhome to the point where I couldn't open the door due to ice hanging off the roof in front of it. If you have the opportunity to store it under a shelter...by all means take advantage of it.

PS.....I moved your question from the travel trailer section to the motorhome section for mor input from other motorhome owners.
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Old 10-30-2009, 03:23 PM   #3
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Here are my opinions, FWIW:

1. Cover if at all possible. If you can store inside, that's ideal. Not only for the reasons Joe states, but also to keep UV rays off your rig. Nothing fades the finish & ages tires like the sun. We have an RV cover &, although it's a bear to wrestle on & off, it's been worth it. The coach looks as new as the day we got it.
2. Not necessary,& like you stated, you won't be able to if inside indoor storage. Once ours is under cover, we don't start it until we're ready to take the cover off in Spring. But if you do not take it to storage or cover it, when you do start it, be sure you take it out for some exercise & run the genny under load. Take it for a drive to get it up to operating temp. Just starting it & running briefly introduces water vapor into the exhaust & unless that tailpipe (& all that runs up to it) gets hot enough to evaporate that moisture, you're inviting rust.
3. Leave on the ground, with jacks down just until they touch to take some weight off the tires. That's what we do with ours & our tires never have gotten a flat spot from storing. DW make sure the exposed jack posts have a good coating of good grease (I don't know what it is, I just know it's red in color) on them to eliminate any rusting. Use a barrier between the tire and ground (i.e. boards).
4. You can do either. Many people remove the batteries & take them inside their basements/heated garages. We leave ours in as we have the coach hooked up to electric all storage season. If you have unsealed batteries & leave plugged in at home, check monthly to be sure the water levels stay above the contacts.

We also take the battery out of the smoke detector & leave the cover hanging down as a reminder to put a new battery in in the Spring. I've also read, if you take your coach batteries out, to unhook the propane leak detector because the fault alarm (i.e. low battery) will go off.

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Old 11-05-2009, 03:41 AM   #4
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I am also wondering about a cover.

If you use a motorhome cover, does wind movement of the cover wear off down the paint, especially at cormers and edges?

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Old 11-05-2009, 08:18 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tllapointe View Post
I am also wondering about a cover. If you use a motorhome cover, does wind movement of the cover wear off down the paint, especially at cormers and edges? Tom
It can. The instructions say to tighten the straps to cinch the cover snugly, but not too tightly. However, any looseness in the cover will allow the wind to get under it & cause wear.

Below shows roof edge rubs from our cover the 1st year we used one. The rubs were on both sides of the roof. Also, the next pic that shows a rip in the cover, that corresponds to a slight paint wear at that corner (again, on both sides at rear of coach). More pics can be found HERE from iRV2's Photos section.


What we learned from that 1st year, to turn the coach to face into the prevailing winds, have the cover tight against that front & any slack in the cover we have at the back is no longer caught by the wind & billowing out to cause rubbing.

All this said, I would still cover an rv for storage during the long winter months. Protection from the elements & longivity of paint win out over the hassles.

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