How to winterize without antifreeze

[Sweetbriar]

Never had a problem with a low point drain and a compress air blow out but my winters being based in coastal mid Atlantic area are somewhat mild and moderated by the ocean.

I leave the system pressurized with 40 psi of air and at spring wake up if the system still has pressure I know piping is intact and leak free. If not the plan would be to pressurize the system with air and search out the problem.

[Hpozzuoli]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

Doesn't your ice maker have a by pass on it you use when winterizing?

That’s what I have heard, but I haven’t found/figured it out yet. This is my first winter with this coach.

[Hpozzuoli]

Originally Posted by EdInArk

We've actually heated ours more often than winterizing. We use an electric heater near the bath room and one near the kitchen. They're plugged into a Thermocube and plugged into outlets on different breakers. They've never tripped a breaker, but we ran two heaters -- just in case

This year is our first year with a TT, and it's on the smallish side so I think I'll just set the thermostat on about 45 and just accept that I'll have to top the propane tank off from time to time.

We often camp during the winter though. We'll hit temps below freezing for a few nights, then it'll be warm and beautiful for a few days. The first year we owned the little clas A I think we winterized it 3 or 4 times. I finally told my wife "I'm done with this."

Exactly my process this year except I don’t use the furnace. I have those oil filled heaters inside the coach and a bilge heater in the basement under my water tank close to the wet bay.

I am hoping to have enough free time this summer to build an rv garage. If so it will be heated!!!!

[Tugboat]

Who remembers before RV/Boat Antifreeze was common and your water system was made of copper pipes?

I would plow out the system with a bike pump then run cheep Gin through the system.

I was very happy when RV/Boat antifreeze became common and cheep.
Not just happy when I in the spring I started to use the unit. In boating it was called a splash party. 🥃

[Roy-c]

we go 1 step further when Winterizing.
1. Drain all tanks , drain & bypass water heater and run pump until dry.
2. Pump non tox through system and allow some to run into drains.
3. Blow out system with low pressure air ( 40psi ), saving the anti freeze back into jugs for reuse.
We are in New England and Prefer not to take any chances with freeze ups. I can get this all done in under 1/2 hr and if we go South just repeat the process on our way back. We have found that blowing out the bulk of the anti freeze seems to eliminate any odor left from that when the system is unwinterized as the amount left in the system is minimal and only in the low spots.

[EdInArk]

Originally Posted by pddgm

I do the opposite, I store mine in the summer and use it all winter. Did my first Class A with the pink stuff, absolutely hate the smell. Took us all summer to get the smell out and regardless of what anyone says, the crap taste bad....

I've had friends say they can taste it, but I honestly have never noticed a taste or smell. We had a class C without the pump bypass, and we just poured five or six gallons in the fresh water tank and pumped it through. When we put it back into service I drained the remainder of the tank back into the jugs and used it next time.

I did flush the system thoroughly before putting it into use -- drain the antifreeze, add several gallons of water, drain again, more water. Then pump through the piping for several minutes.

At home we're on a well with a rather extensive filtration system, and I do notice chlorine in campgrounds or hotels on city water, so I think i'd notice -- but maybe not. Or maybe the chlorine overrides the antifreeze. My wife drinks bottled water in the RV because the chlorinated city water is just too much for her.

Bottom line ... do what makes you happy.

[seand1109]

This topic has been around for a while and open to debate depending on where you live and type of RV.

My experience is with each of these; draining the system, antifreeze, leaving the heat on low with all cabinets open, and blowing the system out. Each one of these or combination of seems to work

When we lived in Alaska and was new to the RVing life I did the drain, blowout, and then anti freeze the system. We didn’t like the taste after the first year even with multiple system flushes. I then just blew the system out with my air compressor, using the leveling jacks to shift low points. Worked fine even in the harsh winter environments and yes we RVed even in the winters but dry camped (another learning experience). In 9 years there with two different RVs we never had a pipe leak or break.

We moved to Lower 48 and kept the same winterizing practice while living in areas where freezing is common. Now that we live in PNW near the coast and rarely experience harsh colds, I simply run the Aquahot system with the system temp set at 50 and check on it it when we get the rare cold snap. I also run a small heater set to the low side as well with all the cabinets open. YOU need to have a plan with AquaHot systems because if the core of the heater gets a cracked pipe it is very expensive to replace the unit, in fact if I ever have a problem with it I will convert to something else.

Lastly, we did experience a very cold snap while winter camping in Colorado. The camp site was located in a canyon that got very little sunlight and held the cold. We had a Jayco Seneca at that time and because it was a sudden cold front in the teens we froze up all the pipes… Yes we were using water at that time during winter camping and this was the only time it froze up because on the long constant low temps. I was worried about the pipes cracking but had no issues once we thawed.

The type of pipes used in modern RVs is a poly material that expands and contracts better than copper (copper is what is used in Aquahot coil system). It can still fracture but most failures will be at the joints not the pipes. Typically even house pipes exposed to cold (outside spigots for EX) survive low 30 and high 20 for overnight exposure, perhaps even days, but longer that a few days or lower temps will damage the exposed pipes. If you want to experiment, take a piece of similar pipe and fill it with water, seal it with caps and leave it out for the winter and check it during the cold and see for yourself.

So the short version is pick the system you want… but pick something based on RV and Location. Me, I am sticking with the one that works for our rig, Aquahot system on and heater running during sub freezing weather over the drain and antifreeze.

Hope this helps

[J Birder]

The article fails to mention that you will still need to add some antifreeze to the p-traps under all of the sinks and shower to keep them from freezing, and to the toilet bowl in order to keep the seals from drying out.


Joel

[CRV2]

I will add that when using air, be sure to have a large enough compressor (not the portable 12v models) and then blow the lines out at each valve and repeat, and repeat, and repeat until there is no mist of water coming out of any valve. Also, don't forget the exterior shower faucet and the low point drains and the water heater. I have never had any issues with doing it this way even when the temps were down to -10 this past February.

And not to forget as many have stated, add a bit of anti-freeze to all of the drains.

[96 Wideglide]

Originally Posted by EdInArk

I've had friends say they can taste it, but I honestly have never noticed a taste or smell.

Just winterized my water system with plumbers antifreeze yesterday.

Soon as I opened the door today I could smell it!

Really need AF in a hydronic heating system, unless you plan on leaving power on it every time temp is going to drop below freezing.

[EdInArk]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Just winterized my water system with plumbers antifreeze yesterday.

Soon as I opened the door today I could smell it!

Really need AF in a hydronic heating system, unless you plan on leaving power on it every time temp is going to drop below freezing.

It's when I've purged the antifreeze and flushed the system to put it back in use that I was talking about. I've never noticed an odor or taste after dewinterizing it thoroughly. But maybe that's just me.

I also suspect some products smell more strongly than others. We just buy the cheapest stuff that Walmart sells.