Traveling when winterized?

[Cinders1]

We have a 2018 Class C. It's a Thor, Four Winds. We live in Western NY (south of Buffalo) and in mid December plan to drive it to Montana to spend the holidays with our daughter. The first week in January, we will be heading to the south west for the winter. So I need some guidance and advice.
1. We have to winterize it soon, as the night time temps will be dropping below freezing.
2. Do we winterize till December, un-winterize for the trip west and then RE-do it when we get there, for our stay?
3. Can we just winterize and drive it out there winterized and un-winterize when we leave there in early January to head south and west?

Haven't gone through the process and I'm sure it's not gonna be smooth at first..

What do you think??

[fltharleyman]

Always winterize before the temps get below freezing. You can travel with the unit winterized, you just wont be able to use the water or restroom. If you are going south, you can get into a campground and de-winterize and fill your tanks up when you are no longer in danger of freezing.
To winterize, my coach takes about 2 gallons of RV antifreeze, so I prepare to have this ready before I need it.

[Jim.B1]

We live north of you in Ontario and deal with winterizing and winter travels each year.
First off, you should fully winterize your "C" long before the freeze arrives.
You want all water lines and water pumps to be protected.
Determine if your unit is set up to provide heat to the areas around the fresh water, black, and grey tanks.
Your fresh water tank is probably under a dinette seat, so it will be kept at room temp.
The black and grey tanks will be under the RV and will only be kept from freezing if the RV is set up to provide heat to these tanks, we were fortunate that ours did receive heat.
Our previous RV was a Class C and we would take it to Florida every January.
We would fill our fresh water tank and use it for washing dishes, bathing and flushing the toilet.
I would pour a full jug of pink anti-freeze into each of the black and grey tanks to prevent freezing as they filled, and adding more as needed.
I would leave the water heater winterized with the bypass valve in the bypass position.
Once you get to your destination, or out of the freezing temps you can de-winterize.
When it comes time to head back home, winterize again.
Don't forget to release the pressure valve on the city water connection (behind the washer with the screen) as it will freeze.
Pink anti-freeze at Walmart is under $3.00/jug and it's cheap insurance against freezing.
If the temperatures are freezing, you may also consider travelling with your propane furnace on 24/7.
This will be our 8th year for winter travels in sub-freezing temps, and to date, no issues with either our previous "C", or current "A".
Good travels.

[nothermark]

I would leave the water system winterized until you are heading south. Here to Montana you will possibly hit some very cold weather and need to constantly keep the RV warm enough to avoid freezing water in the interior. I would check on possible dump stations and consider using the toilet but flush with windshield antifreeze. You will also need furnace heat if it gets very cold. That will mean propane. Once you head south think about when you will start hitting milder temperatures where you can find a campground open and expect to stay warm enough to flush the antifreeze and stay warm. At that point you will not have to constantly worry about freezing if anything goes wrong.

I'd also pack around 3 gallons of pink antifreeze and the tools you need to use on the way home or if you need it after you de winterize. Cheap and not that bulky but might be hard to get if there is a problem later.

[BFlinn181]

Winterizing isn't a great chore, you should learn how to do it in your driveway for future needs. You could travel with the RV winterized, people travel in cars all the time, stopping at rest stops and restaurants. It would be a shame to travel in an RV and not take advantage of the comforts you're paying for.

If you have an ice maker, I'd not restore water to that if you add water for travel. In Montana, do you plan to stay in the RV or not? If not, you could just add a few electric space heaters to keep it above freezing to eliminate the need to winterize again.

[nothermark]

Looks like ~2000 miles/30 hours. I would say 3-4 nights on the road then re winterizing in freezing temperatures for a few weeks in Montana. That is for a trip through some very cold parts of the country in a vehicle with the waste tanks exposed on the bottom. I might try one overnight in the unit but I would be seriously looking at longer days driving and motels at night for the run across. I suspect that getting down close to zero at night will not be pleasant in a unit like that even with a lot of added coldproofing. It's not going to be beyond doing but may not be really comfortable either unless the weather is cooperative. I'd probably do lunch, might do breakfast and would use other facilities for dinner and a warm bed and shower for at least a night or two.

[Jim.B1]

Last January, my wife and I left home for Florida in -20C / -4F temps.
Definitely the coldest day we've experienced in the last 7 years of winter travels.
It was 3 days before we got even close to anything above freezing.
By running the propane furnace while driving, it kept the coach temperature from getting down too low.
We also keep remote thermometers in the wet bay and utility bay, and the temperature never got below 3C / 38F, so the tanks did not freeze.
We were not sure if the furnace was ducted into the lower bays so we carried 4 jugs of fresh water rather than filling the fresh tank.
Fortunately, the bays were receiving heat, so this winter we won't be as concerned.
We have never found it necessary to stay in a motel, and find it easy to prepare meals in the RV.
I would agree with an earlier poster and test things out while in your driveway, but you should not have any issue.
It's an adventure, and if you don't enjoy it, then get a motel.

[phranc]

On our treks south in the winter , we would carry drinking/coffee water in jugs and flush with water or rv antifreeze . Then when we reached a suitable warmer campground , that would be the time to de winterize ,fill water tank , water heater and thaw out .

[ThePowells]

My coach and your are basically twin sons from different mothers....


Here is my post from a thread on the Class A forum with the exact same question,


Last winter we had 140+ straight hours below freezing with lows at or just below zero for three days. I did not blow out or clear our lines. The only antifreeze was in the tanks just as insurance for the gate valves.

All that was done....
Pulled in slide,
opened cabinet door near water heater,
1500 watt oil filled heater at hall opening set at 60 (lowest setting),
set coach furnace to lowest setting,
removed drawer under fridge to allow air circulation for lines under drawer including low point drains,
opened bathroom door and cabinet door under sink,
removed drawer closest to outside shower valves and removed that hose,
filled up water tank,
placed very heavy blanket over pass thru from cab to coach.

I used an infra red thermometer to check temps. Last morning (0630) of the really cold ones the spare tire wheel was -11, skin at door 5 above, wall inside (same place) 32, end of kitchen countertop 43, water lines under fridge about 40 as was lines under bathroom sink, and the connections to the outside shower were 32, but were above freezing the evening before. I bought a thermo-cube and light for the wet bay but their was not enough space to use it.


One thing I forgot from the above week, the fresh water tank under the bed stayed above 50.


Also in January of this year, we went to Indiana in the last week of January / first week of February with no problems. All of your plumbing with the exception of the black tanks and valves are inside of the insulated part of floor.


If you will scroll down through the different forums, their are multiple threads with the same question that you have and you may pick up something a little different from a few of those.
__________________

[nothermark]

The reason I would not dewinterize before leaving is a lot more about rewinterizing in the cold at the destination for a couple of nights of travel. If the OP is planning in living in the unit at his daughters I would rethink the problem. The first thing I would look at is the average temperatures for the location and time of year. It may well be low numbers out that way.

[Cooperhawk]

We usually leave Minnesota in mid Feb. for somewhere warmer. The first two or three days the temps are usually below freezing by quite a bit.

We carry water in gallon milk jugs and use it to flush the toilet and heat it to wash up and shave and the like. By using it sparingly the tanks are never very full when we get to warm temps.

We have an electric radiant heater that supplements our gas furnace and we sleep under enough blankets that we are quite comfortable. We eat out a lot, quite often at casinos.

We start back home before the chance of freezing is over, so we re-winterize half way home.

You do not want water in your lines if they might freeze. Once they freeze the pipes can be broken and the damage is done.

Remember to drain the water heater as well.