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Old 12-11-2013, 01:27 PM   #1
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Question Unwinterizing in midwinter

Odd title I know. We are thinking about pulling our new Anthem out of storage in February and going south to Texas for a few weeks. South Padre Island. Here in Minnesota it's still below zero in February. Does anybody have any experience with doing this and what might we be in for. We have never tried this with our previous coaches because we were still working. Now we are retiring so we'll have the time. It's 7 hours to Kansas City before we can find a KOA open. We haven't even slept in this coach yet. Can the Aqua Hot and plumbing handle those temperatures? Should I be concerned about frozen plastic breaking or anything like that? I'll forget about the Palm trees and the sea breezes if it's going to damage the coach. Any pointers would be helpful.

Thx.
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Old 12-11-2013, 01:34 PM   #2
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As for de-winterizing, I can't help you as I have never winterized a coach. But I am sure someone else will chime in.

The Aquahot will take care of any temperatures you may encounter, even in Minnesota! That is what it is for. If you keep the coach warm enough for comfort, the pipes will be happy.
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Old 12-11-2013, 03:16 PM   #3
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I have experience!!! I've done it once already on our new coach and will do it again through out the winter. What I do is I currently have my aqua hot set to electric with the floor heat and basement heat since temps in upstate NY are in the teens or lower. The entire coach is winterized with antifreeze accept the aqua hot. Before I leave, I fill my fresh water tank, turn my valves and flush my pipes. I leave my fridge winterized, meaning, no ice, but I can live with that for my winter trips.

When I get home after my winter trips, I drain the water and winterize the coach again.
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Old 12-11-2013, 03:36 PM   #4
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Quote:
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I have experience!!! I've done it once already on our new coach and will do it again through out the winter. What I do is I currently have my aqua hot set to electric with the floor heat and basement heat since temps in upstate NY are in the teens or lower. The entire coach is winterized with antifreeze accept the aqua hot. Before I leave, I fill my fresh water tank, turn my valves and flush my pipes. I leave my fridge winterized, meaning, no ice, but I can live with that for my winter trips.

When I get home after my winter trips, I drain the water and winterize the coach again.

So you are not actually starting from totally frozen. You have your coach plugged in. I see. I don't have that luxury my coach is in a storage lot. I'm thinking I would have to have the Aqua Hot going on diesel for a couple of days just to warm it up enough to be able to ride in it. But would that warm up the basement enough to be able to un-winterize when I got to KC? Or would I have to plan to be at KC for several days until the whole coach thawed out enough to run water in the pipes? I'm trying to think this through to plan the trip right.

Thanks for the input.
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Old 12-11-2013, 03:45 PM   #5
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The process would be the similar. Yes, turn on your diesel aqua hot and your turn on your basement thermostat too. You will be ok the same day you turn on your aqua hot, just watch the temp rise and my by time you get it home to load, you will be good. I'm assuming that you load your gear and water from your home. Once you are under way, you can adjust heat to your liking. When you return home, start the winterization process again.
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Old 12-11-2013, 04:03 PM   #6
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I do this every winter. We winterize in November and after Christmas we take it out of storage and head for Florida. I leave all the water systems winterized until we hit North Carolina and we take water with us in plastic jugs until we can safely fill the tank. We use electric space heaters in the campground but I admit the journey down is a little cold as the dash heater can't really heat the coach. Don't head home until at least April!
(I know this is the Entegra forum but thought this was of general interest.)
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Old 12-11-2013, 06:16 PM   #7
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My confidence level is rising.
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Old 12-12-2013, 06:48 AM   #8
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One thing that has kept my worries down when traveling in cold weather is a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a couple of sensors in the basement. One is in the water compartment, the other on the hot water heater side. This allows us to monitor the plumbing temps while traveling and adjust the heat in the basement as necessary. I found a digital Thermometer that had 3 outdoor sensors, the third one we monitor the refrigerator.


Never had frozen pipes and we travel with water tanks full.
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Old 12-12-2013, 06:59 AM   #9
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Filling the tank with water can be a daunting task in the north? You would need to run the hose to an indoor spigot?

We do the plastic jug thing too. It avoids most of the cold weather hassles, and it's only a day or day and a half to warmer weather anyway.

Dash heat easily supplemented with coach heat.

Bottom line, go for it! Don't even give it a second thought...
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Old 12-12-2013, 07:07 AM   #10
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When we leave Michigan in the cold, I de-winterize the water system the first night out at a campground in Kentucky.
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Old 12-12-2013, 07:08 AM   #11
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I've done it several times. Five gallon jug of tap water lets you "flush" the toilet. Case of bottled water for drinking and tooth brushing. No problem with stuff going into black and grey tanks since they won't be full so if they freeze the ice will be able to expand without breaking anything.

Then, when you finally find warm weather, you can drain and flush at your leisure.
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Old 12-12-2013, 07:28 AM   #12
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I do what Algoma does. We leave from Michigan on Dec 27 for Texas. I have not been successful adding water at home in past years. I usually have to wait until Southern Ky for water.
I just hope it warms up a little so I can service the vehicle next week for the trip.
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Old 12-12-2013, 07:30 AM   #13
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Since it was last used in the summer will there be an issue with fuel gelling? I've never driven mine in the extremely cold weather either, but I keep reading about summer vs. winter blend of diesel fuel. Is this a real concern?

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Old 12-12-2013, 07:41 AM   #14
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Here is the line up for what ever you want to do.
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