How to Winterize your RV
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ย. 2022
- How to Winterize your RV. You know the time has come. Your RV needs to be stored for the winter. What's the best way to do that? in this episode Todd gives us his preferred method to winterizing an RV. Yes there are other ways to do it. Check it out.
No affiliate links
Camco winterization kit. a.co/d/0Q2m4nm
Learn how to maintain and repair your own RV visit rvtechcourse.com/
Learn how to make money as a mobile RV Technician or Inspector visit info.nrvta.com/contact-us/ today!
#nrvta #nationalrvtrainingacademy #toddstechtips #nrvia
![fellow fellow - Proud [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9uZF7BlUQPE/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video. The only thing I have to add to draining the hot water tank, I will loosely thread in a plug where the anode rod goes in to keep bugs or rodents out of the hot water tank over the winter
Love it! Thanks for putting this together!
Thank you for the great video. Very succinct and very helpful.
Excellent. Thanks!
Thank you for this video!
You are so welcome!
What a helpful video
Great video Todd! We just winterized our GD fiver and we use the air compressor to get as much residual water out of the lines we can from our last camp of the year and after all tanks were emptied at the campground. Then since we have a Nautilus water system, which makes things so much easier, we pump in the antifreeze. We also since we have a tankless water heater leave the drain plug out for precaution only even after draining the residual from the tankless water heater. I even pack R value insulation into the water heater area to assist in keeping it a bit more protected.
That's great.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy Are there any plans of ever rolling out your technician course in other parts of the United States?
This one is timely🙏
The Furrion Tankless hot water system requires you run the RV antifreeze through it as well. While it is not a difficult thing to do, it is very confusing at first. That might be a good thing to address as more and more RV's have the tankless water heaters.
Thanks Tuesday Todd!
Any time!
Yikes! I always forget the black tank flush. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
Easy way to treat the black tank flush is to connect the outside shower to the flush connection and run antifreeze through it
If you have it hooked up that way, it's a good way to get rid of the hot water from the water heater tank. Just use the hot water to flush the black tank.
Here is an amusing little anecdote for you: I have a small tiny house and I poured this RV antifreeze into the dishwasher and drains. I had 2 gallons, but I left one gallon sitting on the countertop as I did not need to use both gallons. For whatever the reason I had to get something out of the cabin and temperature was something like 25 below zero. I walked into the cabin and noticed the brand-new container of RV antifreeze was totally Frozen! Ha!! It's supposed to be good to 50 below zero and it was half that temperature and it was a solid rock. The bottom line is don't trust the label on this stuff.
That's actually normal. The difference is that the antifreeze doesn't expand when frozen and cause pipes to burst.
Thanks. I learned about this after writing as well.
Great video do I need by pass my fresh water tank when using the pump when filling the pink stuff up?
Thanks god bless
Great informative video. You mentioned for RV's with Nautilus system to just pump antifreeze thru plumbing (& tankless heater?) using the Nautilus "Winterize" setting on panel. In that setting I believe antifreeze bypasses the tankless heater. Would it not be advisable to have antifreeze go thru water heater as well? I have previously run air thru"City Water" panel setting, so would tankless heater be safe without antifreeze in it, or best to have antifreeze in it? Not sure which way to go here. Your thoughts?
As a builder if I was leaving a house with no heat for the winter I would just hook up a heavy duty industrial vacuum cleaner in basement… turn on the vacuum and let it run a few hours…and antifreeze in all the traps and toilets…Never had a problem
One other I think gets missed on just about every rig. The check valve on the city water hookup. When you are all said and done, turn off the pump, open up the cold water on any faucet for a second to relieve pressure, and then pull that little gasket out on the fresh water hookup with the screen, and press the button behind it until pink stuff starts flowing out.
nice.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy great tip! I was wondering how to get that section of hose back to the city water.
Any suggestions for people who camp through once a month or so through the winter? RV AF is great for long periods but to deal with it multiple times per year is expensive and time consuming. We live in Western NC and see freezing temps on and off from Late October through Feb. Thanks
You mentioned instructions for doing the black tank clean out but I can’t find it? Where was it?
I buy a couple cheap bottles of Vodka and put them in the fresh water tank, then come spring I use the pump and the Vodka pumps the pink antifreeze out and sanitizes the water lines.
Lol interesting
When pumping antifreeze through the lines, isn't it important to open the closest taps to the pump first and work your way to the far ones? Or does it matter?
How do I get antifreeze into the Black Tank Flush line?
I have a tankless water heater. Instant water heater. I put antifreeze in the water heater and do not by pass it.
I'm sure this video on winterizing is on point. I've followed his directions to the T and for some reason I don't see the pink stuff coming out. My pump is constantly running trying to push the antifreeze through. Once I open the valve on either the cold water or hot water side, there is only air coming out. No pinky Stuff. Newbie mistake or is it operators headspace? Help
Great video - thanks for including the method using the water pump.
My TT pump with a by-pass open hose on the inlet side of the pump. I am assuming this will be the suction side for the anti-freeze how ever the filter is on the water pump after the bypass..
Should I disconnect the filter and reconnect the "bypass" side ?
Thanks in advance.
I would disconnect the filter.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy Thank you
Todd, what did you connect that hose to?
You forgot to mention running the antifreeze through the Power-Fill for those who have the wet bay panel.
This is alot work.i bought my 1st rv n camped 4 months straight till even using water or bathroom. Of course they said itbwas wintetized but bathroom leaking water so ibdont even use tbe water or bathroom
What s the best way to winterize a travel trailer with a tankless water heater iwe have a 2023 27rb jayco white hawk ?
I've been told that when I store my travel trailer I should lower the front end as far as possible so that water and snow won't pool on the roof. What's your expert opinion?
When do you need to winterize your RV, in regard to air temperature? Thanks
I refuse to put that pink antifreeze in my water lines (I do put in in the drains). I blow mine out opening each faucet one at a time with the low point drains open. I disconnect the shower hose and outdoor shower hose. I also dump any water in the inside water filter. No issues in 7 years with temps as low as -2 degrees. Like Todd says, every RV model plumbing is different and your results may vary!
you suggested dump black tanks ,water would freeze an bust tank, but in another video if RV is going to be parked a long time you need to put half tank of water an pour unique treatment for bacteria control .thinking I will just leave them DRY,,LOL
I’ve been using air for years never had a problem.
A lot of people have without issue. There's nothing wrong with your method. Thanks for sharing.
We have a 42' safari, its the water pump isn't working we're trying to winterize it. It's not going to well!
Do I leave to drain valves open?
Thanks for the details, Todd! Any suggestion on the antifreeze formulation? I'm reading that Propylene Glycol based antifreeze is best, but I'm having a heck of a time finding one that's in-stock. Would I damage anything by using an Ethanol based formulation, or a blend?
We are wintering in Washington State and wanted to know if we are supposed to cover our ACs on top of the trailer, or do something on the inside? We have the Coleman Mach.
You can put some insulation into the intake of your AC's. that will help slow down the warm air from escaping.
Hey guys this is my first winter with a camper. I was wondering if it is ok to apply the antifreeze through the holding tank. just pour 2-3 gallons in and turn on pump? I have a travel trailer non wet system. Or is it not recommended because it'll likely require more wasted antifreeze? I could also do this then at the end use the holding tank drain plug to run the antifreeze back into a bucket for next year haha. Just wondering if this is actually not a good idea. Thanks!
Yes you can. Add at least 1 gallon more as there will be some still in the holding tank.
Bloopers 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
they really do make the videos fun.
So, I’ve seen videos with using a hand pump to pump the antifreeze into the city water outlet and thru the lines. Can this be done instead of connecting directly to the water pump? These two steps are confusing me
The hand pump and the water pump both serve the same purpose. however you can get the antifreeze fluid into your water lines is fine.
Hey Todd, should one leave their faucets dripping if they have a heated underbelly?
Or will leaving the cabinet doors open be sufficient?
So dripping faucet water goes into the gray tank. You can easily overfill the gray tank. No need to drip. Open the cabinets so the heat can get to the lines.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy thank you sir.
I'm looking forward to taking the course y'all offer after the Holidays. Thanks for all you do too help.
getting an rv motorhome next week. i think it might be easier to take this guy with me, first couple trips, i just have to run it by the wife
Air is the only way for me
Thanks for sharing.
My low point drain isn’t assessable without removing the cover from the underbelly. Manufacturer didn’t bother to cut a spot to expose them. Is it imperative that those lines be cleared?
That's sad that they didn't do that. If you ever need to get all the water out of your lines then you'll want them exposed under the underbelly. I would make a small cut to allow them to come through the underbelly and then you can use spray foam to seal up the hole.
Instead of doing the siphon method could I just pour antifreeze in the freshwater tank and run pump to get to all faucets?
You could but you will waste a few gallons
👍👍👍👍👍
After doing ALL the plumbing. I take the leftover pink stuff and pour about a cup down each drain for extra insurance. Where the p-traps are is next to impossible to replace.
Great tip
Is any of this stuff explained in the owner's manual that comes with the RV?
Since every RV is unique they usually have winterization steps included. look at the water bay systems manuals.
I’m leaving for the holiday and work for two weeks and temps will remain below freezing while I’m gone. I want to turn off city water as I have some small drip leaks in storage bay housing plumbing systems which I’ve been unable to stop, and they only drip with pressure of city water when on. I assume my hot h2o tank and other water lines stay full even with city water off? And, If so, I can safely leave propane and electric heater on? The storage bay with plumbing is insulated and I’ll leave furnace on set at 50 so warm air will still cycle through the bay preventing any freezing. I’d rather not winterize for two weeks away when I’ll be coming back to continue living in rig. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
That's a hard one. Winterizing is probably best option. Keeping the furnace on and electrical heat on can present some problems if there isn't anyone there to monitor. Even if you turn off the water there is still water in the lines. you can use the low point drains and empty as much water out of the lines. There's no real easy answer.
Do I need to worry about the city water connection on my TT? It is at the back of the TT and the after pump is up towards the front.
Yes. Last step is to open up the cold water on any faucet for like a second to relieve *some* pressure in the system, then go to your city water hookup, remove the black gasket with the screen on it with a small tool such as a flat head screw driver, and press the relief button behind it. You will see water come out, and then pink stuff. Make sure to bleed the line a bit as mentioned first or you could blow an o-ring. There shouldn't be much resistance when trying the press the relief button. If there is, open your faucet a little more for a half second or so.
that's a great idea Nicea. thanks for commenting.
Amazes me how many people don’t winterize my brother included! He says it’s under warranty. 😂
Should be done even if under warranty.
Its not covered under most warranty if caused by freeze damage...even i. The south lol.
Our water pump is not working!
Can we put pink in the fresh water tank to winterized it?
yes
I guess I got lucky, my house system only has a low point drain and no direct tank drain. I don't have a by-pass valve for the hot water tank but I didn't want to fill the hot water tank with antifreeze so I removed both lines from it after draining the tank and made a line to go from one to the other line.
From there I put about 5gal of antifreeze into the fresh water tank and ran the pump going from each faucet, shower, and toilet flush. the system would pressurize while I went from faucet to faucet.
Once I had solid pink water to all points I shut off the pump and opened the low point drain and ran the pump again until only drips came out of the drain pipe. My low point drain is after the pump so I don't have much choice on emptying the system other than to run the pump with the low point drain open, now your asking how did I get lucky?
I totally forgot about the city water hook up, well while I was pressurizing the house system to get antifreeze to everything else the city water hook up was leaking past the one-way valve in the fitting and there was antifreeze dripping down the side of my RV.
I tried to fix the leak a while back by just pushing on the valve from the outside and hoping it just needed to reseat, but it's an old RV and it didn't reseal;, I have a new city water fill unit on the side of my RV now but it felt good to know I got pink water coming out of every water outlet.
Wow. what a crazy experience. It's harder with those older RVs.
Is this how you would also winterize an Aliner LXE?
Do the Princess Craft is a smaller rv but it does come with a toilet and shower. So yes there is a holding tank that needs to be emptied (probably from the low point drain) now there is still water in the lines so this is where we use the food grade antifreeze. Easiest place is to find the water pump and use an adapter hose to connect the pump to the gallon of antifreeze and run it through the system.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy thank you for the quick response. Great videos very helpful.
My brother in law is a newbie and he unwittingly used auto antifreeze to winterize his RV! Obviously he needs to get it out. Has he ruined his system? What can he do?
let's ask Todd.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy You’re making a video on my question! Awesome! I’ll be watching!
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy thanks guys! When I sent you that question I sent it out far and wide to all the sources I could find. The most positive and reliable feedback I got was from a dealership RV Tech who has seen this before. He provided the following instructions (and by the way, my brother in law used 50/50 antifreeze so it was 50% diluted). The Tech’s instructions were:
1. Flush the 50/50 out of the system with water
2. Using Dawn dish detergent, add 1 cup of Dawn to 5 gallons of water and mix.
3. Run the Dawn into the system until foam comes out of all faucets and toilet.
4. Let stand for 30 minutes and repeat this process 5 times.
5. Flush the Dawn out of the system and winterize using RV antifreeze.
6. At the end of the season, flush the rv antifreeze out of the system and repeat step 2 thru 4.
According to the Tech, after this process glycol levels will be in the .005ppm range and we’ll within safety limits.
But I also agree about never drinking out of that system… ever!
Thanks again for the video!
Instead of the siphon method. Can I just pour antifreeze in the fresh water tank and run through the the system with the pump?
Black tank flush procedure?
I would say blow out with low air pressure.
If you don't have a black tank flush inlet here's the easiest process...1) empty black tank...2) fill up 5 gallon buckets, add whatever cleaner you like 3) pour down your toilet 4) take a quick drive to slosh the water around 5) empty black tank ------ no real rocket science to it ---- it's a real shitty job!
I think he was asking how to get pink stuff through black tank flush line.
You can use a manual hand pump screwed to the opening where the hose would attach and pump in the any-freeze that way. You could also just clear that line with air and leave it.
@@bradb712 Gotcha...missed that, thanks! lol but again, this isn't brain surgery...many people overthink this stuff!
What about on demand water heaters?
We just did this a few weeks ago. I put that in my reply to this tech tip episode.
Those usually require a procedure that is spelled out in your user manual. It's also different between brands of on demands.
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy High percentage of RV's have them now. I would have added it to the discussion. Missed a lot of people.
Basically add a gallon for the heater since it needs to be filled and not bypassed.
I agree. Pretend like it’s not there and let the fluid pass into it. First reply wasn’t Todd. This one is.
Although I could have sworn I went over that in the video, maybe it didn’t make the cut.
Todd
@@NationalRVTrainingAcademy Still love your show Todd.
Thanks
My wife is worried that the pink RV will leave a taste in the pipes? - Is that a thing to be concerned about?
No, just flush it good.
Nothing to worry about. A good flush and all is good.
No and it's a good thing to clean the fresh water tank and the lines when dewinterize
Just flush the lines. It'll be good. You can also sanitize your water lines before using next season.
How much Pink Stuff do you need to put in the gay and black water tanks?
If they’re empty, none.
I do a gallon in each of my "empty" holding tanks. Anti-freeze is cheap; repairs are expensive.
Remember your holding tanks are going to automatically get in them tanks you don't need much to keep it from freezing as long you empty these tanks before you winterize it will be fine
if you have a little in those tanks that should be fine. as long as your holding tanks are mostly empty. If they are empty then you will be fine without adding anything. either way.
Or just go somewhere warm!
that's why they are on wheels...