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Bobby F · 12-14-2019, 09:43 AM

Minnesota here. First day of winter is still a week away, and the temp tonight will be -12F. And it only gets colder from there.

All of my toys - RV's, boats, cabins - get blown out and anti-freezed without fail. Your lines may be open and the water able to move - but if two ends of a tube of water freeze first, the middle explodes.

tcg · 12-14-2019, 09:56 AM

I have a Class C, sometime in early November or late October I drain and blow out the lines in case something comes up and I don't get a chance to get the anti freeze in but still allows me to use it for some late fall camping without having to drain the anti freeze.

This year I did the same thing, drain the low water drains and the hot water tank. By pass the hot water tank and blow out the lines until nothing but air comes out.

Came back a few weeks later to put the anti freeze in and just for fun pulled the low point drains again. water came out.

Point is there may or may not have been enough water left in the lines to do some damage.

I'm in Michigan and I ain't taking any chances.

I've also never noticed any taste from the anti freeze.

But... to each his own.

ransil · 12-14-2019, 09:56 AM

I do both, blow then pump in 2 gallons.

Dont forget to put it in bypass and clise the drain and dump valves, guess who forhot all 3 this year.

1982 · 12-14-2019, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcg

This year I did the same thing, drain the low water drains and the hot water tank. By pass the hot water tank and blow out the lines until nothing but air comes out.

Came back a few weeks later to put the anti freeze in and just for fun pulled the low point drains again. water came out.

.

I've noticed the same thing, and this is why I think just blowing out the lines is chancy. Some water droplets adhere due to surface tension, and then evaporate into the lower humidity air you blew in. As temperature drops, they condense out and can end up at low-points. At least that is my theory.

kenwyatt · 12-14-2019, 11:45 AM

I have a Aquahot and live 100 miles north of Houston. Compared to some of the posters I have a mild climate and have had the coach for about 3 years. I stay plugged in all the time. If I think it is going to freeze I turn on the furnace and set the 3 ea

T-stats to 40 deg and put it on Diesel due to the high current on elec. Then turn on the 2 each 1000 watt baseboard heaters. Total of 16 amps max. The furnace side also has a heat exchanger in the wet bay that cycles on a fixed T-stat that cycles from about 38 to 45 deg. My wet bay seems to stay in the lower 40’s. I also check it frequently and am hoping if the power drops the furnace on diesel will be my saving grace. Realize it could go wrong but has worked so far down to lower 20’s a couple times

Bigd9 · 12-14-2019, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damion

I wish everyone would post what state they are from when recommending just using air to blow out lines? Northern Wisconsin we normally see -20 to -30 every year and have seen -60 yes that is Fahrenheit! I blow it out and then the pink stuff and blow it out once more! I haven't talked to anyone up north that just uses air.
How about our Canadian friends???

Most RV Antifreeze products I have seen down here in the Bluegrass State protect down to -50 degrees Fahrenheit. What are you using where it gets down to -60?

Bigd9 · 12-14-2019, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby F

Minnesota here. First day of winter is still a week away, and the temp tonight will be -12F. And it only gets colder from there.

All of my toys - RV's, boats, cabins - get blown out and anti-freezed without fail. Your lines may be open and the water able to move - but if two ends of a tube of water freeze first, the middle explodes.

I'm confused, if all of the water is blown out, could you please explain how it can explode?

tcg · 12-14-2019, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigd9

Most RV Antifreeze products I have seen down here in the Bluegrass State protect down to -50 degrees Fahrenheit. What are you using where it gets down to -60?

-100 is quite common and readily available here in Michigan at most marine stores, home stores, and Walmart.

Bigd9 · 12-14-2019, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcg

-100 is quite common and readily available here in Michigan at most marine stores, home stores, and Walmart.

Well son of a gun, I learned something new!

Bobby F · 12-14-2019, 05:14 PM

"I'm confused, if all of the water is blown out, could you please explain how it can explode?"

Hyperbole. Think "very slow explosion." But an explosion nonetheless.

Blowing out never seems to get every drop. Blow the system out, and come back in an hour, and you'll see some low curves with water in them.

I've even run air slowly through a system for an hour, in an attempt to dry it all out. Still had residue that could freeze.

(But my comment was mostly aimed at the comment above to the effect that a non-pressurized open piping system wouldn't burst just as your ice cube trays don't burst.)

Bigd9 · 12-14-2019, 06:16 PM

"Very Slow Explosion" I love it. I gotta remember that one so I can use it on my granddaughter. That will make her think!

geordi · 12-14-2019, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby F

"I'm confused, if all of the water is blown out, could you please explain how it can explode?"

Hyperbole. Think "very slow explosion." But an explosion nonetheless.

Blowing out never seems to get every drop. Blow the system out, and come back in an hour, and you'll see some low curves with water in them.

I've even run air slowly through a system for an hour, in an attempt to dry it all out. Still had residue that could freeze.

(But my comment was mostly aimed at the comment above to the effect that a non-pressurized open piping system wouldn't burst just as your ice cube trays don't burst.)

Ice dams (which is what it would be in your example) will not blow the middle of a tube if the ends freeze first - you know that ice can move right? That's what a glacier is. It is easier and requires less pressure to push the ice along the inside of the tube than it is to burst the sidewall of the pipe. As long as the pipe isn't 100% filled with water that becomes ice (so there is a considerable amount of air) even a few low points that freeze won't hurt anything, the ice will just grow laterally along the pipe.

This is how ice freezes anyway, it always freezes from the perimeter to the
center.

Bobby F · 12-14-2019, 07:03 PM

"Ice dams (which is what it would be in your example) will not blow the middle of a tube if the ends freeze first - you know that ice can move right?"

I'll defer to your greater experience.

I just wish, after sixty years of Minnesota winters and lots of plumbed toys, that my water lines had listened to you back then.

(Seriously, I've seen many instances in which a water column collected in a 5"-long section of a low curve of plastic tube and burst through right in the middle of that column after freezing. Most often it's near a fitting, which might be impeding the sliding of the ice that you speak of. But not always.)

dkoldman · 12-14-2019, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damion

I wish everyone would post what state they are from when recommending just using air to blow out lines? Northern Wisconsin we normally see -20 to -30 every year and have seen -60 yes that is Fahrenheit! I blow it out and then the pink stuff and blow it out once more! I haven't talked to anyone up north that just uses air.
How about our Canadian friends???

Are you suggesting the temperature can drop below 27 degrees?

Ah man get out here... How you gonna have a negative temperature anyway

So much for global warming

It is 53 degrees in Dallas Texas right now and my wife is wearing two sweaters and a blanket wanting me to start up the fire place