Winter Storage at Campground...What to leave inside?

[Our20th]

We have been RVing for decades with a Class A from Florida during the summer. Now we are embarking on using a fifth wheel at a permanent location in New England. My question is what can be left inside the unit during the winter months without electricity in storage? The obvious concern is mold on fabrics and whatever else. Since we will be back in Florida to our stick built home for the winter I will have no access to the unit during the winter.
What do you suggest??

[SafariBen]

most important is to make sure the roof and windows leak as little as possible. Winterize the water systems obviously. Any batteries? Fully charge lead acid and disconnect the ground cable. Lithium should be somewhere around 80% and turned off at the BMS if that's possible. NO food unless it's in cans, some canned food will turn mushy if it freezes, not a huge deal. I would open all lower cabinets and remove anything chewable, put mouse traps baited with peanut butter on pieces of cardboard so the mice don't melt into the flooring.



Face the long side with windows to the south or south southwest if you can, there should be enough heat to keep the humidity down during the cold part of winter, spring would be the tougher time for humidity. What part of New England? I'd imagine there's quite a variability of the humidity.

[David 70]

When canned goods freeze, they will bust open as they have water in them. Remove all food no matter what it is in. Remove all items from the bathroom, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. Put plenty of cab fresh in, don't skimp on it. Leave all cupboard doors, drawers open, lift the bed up and prop it up. I've found that the mice don't like living where they are in the open and can be seen. You can set traps, but once they are used, they are no longer any good and the mouse will dye and decompose and then smell. It would be the lesser of the two evils. Look for any holes they could get inand close them up but those are really hard to all of them.

[Our20th]

Thanks for the advice. What about the batteries during the winter? Do I need to remove them and take them home with me to keep them charged?

[Persistent]

Mold is a serious problem in Florida. I am not saying mold is absent from New England, but issue is much less.

Most mold does not grow below 40 degrees F. However, temperatures will rise eventually. Leaks and spills can allow mold growth.

Good advice posted above.

Lead acid batteries must be fully charged for 14 to 18 hours.
Disconnect negative cable or use disconnect switch close to battery bank if present.

If you have a Magnum inverter/charger, pull the high capacity fuse to it before disconnecting the negative battery cable.

Flooded cell lead acid in good condition may last 6 months. AGM batteries may last 12 months.

Lithium batteries have a low temperature for storage specification. New England temperatures may get below that spec. Remove and store in more moderate temperatures.

Remove anything with water in it.

Winterize plumbing using blow out method or RV antifreeze method. All water must be out.

Food of any sort attracts rodents and other creatures. If they can smell it, they can get to it. Remove food to discourage them from taking up residence.

[brr1587]

Put a few bags of damprid or dry dry through the unit, they will absorb a lot of the moisture in the air

[OMMM4747]

1. Winterize your plumbing systems w/marine type anti-freeze. You can DIY or pay someone to do it
2. Inspect your roof. Patch/reseal cracked sealant w/Dicor self-leveling sealant to prevent water intrusion
3. Remove ALL food. We don't even leave the salt and pepper!
4. Remove liquids -- anything that can freeze and burst (canned food, spray bottles, spray cans, etc.)
5. If you're not familiar your rig will experience cold and warm during storage and that's when moisture develops. We get 2 buckets of DampRid -- one for the front and the other for the back -- and leave all cabinets, drawers, fridge and freezer open. DampRid buckets are good for 6 months
6. We also store our pillows, bedding and towels in vacuum-sealed storage bags

Cold WX will also do a number on your batteries if they're not kept charged. Would recommend removing them to warmer storage or take them w/you back to FL.

Good luck

[jimcumminsw]

Some great advice that has been posted above for storing your trailer in a campground in New England area.

Since I live in the Midwest and have always stored our trailers either in as storage yard or as of now in an RV resort. This has been my procedures for storing my 5er and past units.

1. Blow out the water lines and I also use RV anti-freeze in all water lines. I open up the low point drains plus the water tank draining them.

2. I bypass the water tank inlet so the tank will not fill up with anti-freeze.

3. Make sure to open and drain all holding tanks when empty close them.

4. Empty all food items from the trailer everything. Mice and other rodents will find them if you leave them in the trailer.

5. Any items to be stored in the trailer such as blankets and pillows are sealed in plastic bags and placed in overhead storage cabinets.

6. Tires are aired up to suggested air pressure on trailers placard. I also cover them with wheels covers along with 1" straps holding the covers in place. This will keep them in place during the winter months.

7.The slides are brought in along with the four stabilizers out of the 6 stabilizers, the two front ones are left down. All stabilizers are wiped down with silicon spray before they are stored up or left down.

8. My battery (or batteries) is brought home and put on a trickle charger over the winter months to maintain the proper voltage of the battery.

9. The last thing I do is to place moth balls in empty one-gallon jugs around the four corners of the trailer. These are tied up hanging in the air. The plastic jugs have air holes in them to allow the moth balls to be smelled by rodents. I also place glue taps in the under-basement storage compartments. I have never had a mouse being caught on a sticky pad, but it is cheap insurance. Never have had any mouse turds in any of my trailers either.

Good luck.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by Our20th

Thanks for the advice. What about the batteries during the winter? Do I need to remove them and take them home with me to keep them charged?

Different battery types have different storage requirements.

Lead Acid

Fully charge for 14 to 18 hours. Abused batteries may benefit from 24 hours. This removes all lead sulfate from the plates.

Fully recharge before battery terminal voltage drops below 12.4 volts. This keeps lead sulfate from building up and keeps them from freezing.

The RV may draw the batteries down below 12.4 volts in a few days or 3 weeks depending.

Disconnected they will last much longer. Disconnecting using a master switch near the entry door may allow the batteries to last 2 to 3 weeks.

Disconnecting the negative terminal at the battery will preserve flooded cell batteries for up to 6 months depending on the condition of the batteries. AGM batteries will last up to 12 months. (If you have a Magnum inverter/charger, disconnect the inverter positive cable first. Pull the high capacity fuse.)

North Dakota recorded a record -40 degrees F this week. This is pushing the limits of lead acid batteries freezing. If climate changes this much in New England, you should consider removing the batteries and storing in a sheltered place. As long as voltage stays above 12.4 volts they will not freeze at normal USA temperatures.

Lithium RV Batteries

Lithium RV Batteries have different requirements. See instructions for winter storage. Many designs have a low temperature limit for storage. My Battle Born lithium batteries have a lower storage limit of -14 degrees F.

My plan is to leave them in place and turn on the battery heat when temperature is forecast to be below -10 degrees F. I can use solar power and shore power to run the heaters. Solar is not reliable due to snow cover and cloudy days. You will not have that option and so must remove and store in a safe place.

[Triangle Drifter]

We have been doing longterm, 7 month plus, winter storage in a Mid Atlantic state for 17 years. We do everything imaginable to discourage critters from entering the trailer except for setting traps. Once dead it is going to stink to high hell and you will never get that smell out.

It is a thorough cleaning, empty out all perishables, Bag up or put everything else in containers, put dryer sheets and mothballs everywhere, do the usual winterising leaving all faucets and drains open, set off bug bombs before the door is closed for the last time and we say bye bye to the trailer until next May.

This whole process takes a couple of days.