Another informative and detailed video Ross! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Your videos are by far the best, most detailed and clearly explained I’ve seen. Great job bud!
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Possibly, everything is up in the air now. We were supposed to head to Wyoming and the Dakotas but we’ve now canceled that due to fuel prices. We’re now looking to do something in the east but not sure exactly what that will be.
Love the fact that you show these processes being done. I just got done watching another channel and all the guy does is talk in front of the camera. Never any demos. Talking and stupid laugh tracks. Not much of a “training” channel in my humble opinion, and not anywhere near the detail of your videos. Keep up the great work Ross!
Very thorough and descriptive video Ross. I'm going to guess that most new RVers aren't aware of not using sanitizer in the water heater. The formulas are quite useful too. Well done sir. Giddy up.
Great tips Ross, thank you for the great content. I have 2 tips that I can share with you and your audience. Tip 1- I place a glass mason jar where my pump is located and I place the end of the hose in the mason jar to avoid any spillage, if it does, it will spill out in the mason jar. Tip 2- I place a insect sticky pad behind the fridge panel to catch any insects and I always catch some and I change it out twice per year. I will definitely purchase some T-9 and grease everything up.
You must have been a teacher in a past life. I love your no filler approach to teaching, you just give clear and precise instructions. I just bought my rig and you have really given me the confidence to know I can do this by myself. I've made all my checklists through your video's. Can' t thank you enough and hope to you all down the road. Damn I'm starting to sound like a stalker, lol.
Just bought my first RV (used) from a widow who had the 5th wheel winterized 3 years ago after her husband passed. I’m planning on using the RV for the first time next month (Aug ‘24) and this video is going to be playing while I de-winterize for the first time.
Great video!!! Very informative for beginners (just like all the rest of your videos). My wife and I bought our first RV last summer and all the prep work has just scared me. Thanks to all your videos my fears have diminished, a little. I have watched this video repeatedly during my de-winterization of my RV and everything went good. Going on our first trip next week. Thank you
While I winterize and dewinterize all the time, I’ve never sanitized, the lines so I probably need to work on that one… been on my to do list for a while lol
What a life saver you are. We have the exact same rig. Super helpful. Easy to understand! Only thing I can think to add is in the other dewinterize video once I got all the antifreeze and filled up the tank I went ahead and turned the water heater to summer mode. Then I found this one. Normally I’d just fast forward to the sanitizing but for whatever reason I watched the whole thing. Thankfully so I knew to turn the by pass valves back to winterized mode during sanitizing Maybe put an alert on the other video with the steps that if planning on sanitizing leave valves in winter mode? Not a huge deal… just a thought. Thanks so much! Saved me 120$ from having to pay someone to do it! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Take care Stay well!
Great video, one item I do also is the filter screen on the suction of the water pump sometimes gets particles that have been released from the fresh water tank, I remove the cap and clean the screen after sanitizing so it doesn't get clogged.
Thank you for all of the great tips. Took our new trailer out this weekend and had a great time. We have cold weather coming in but I’m much more confident thanks to you….Winterizing/dewinterizing.
Thank You!! I love the way you explain and show demos it is very informative. I'm new in RVing this year and your videos are helping me a lot. Thanks again and have a great Camping season!
Great video. Love your beautiful rig! I horse camp with a simple truck camper but it costs about $230/year between winterizing and de-winterizing so I'm going to heed your video and give it a go before heading to Zion for a few days of horse camping. Noticed an earlier comment: "Giddy up".
I installed my Carmtek Lock, but my door was about 1/8 to 1/4 to thin. Carmtek was thinking because they included a foam gasket. With the gasket installed the lock was perfect. Also has to trim door lower so screws would line up. Lock works great. Thanks for your video, letting others know about the gasket would help, the direction don’t say what the gasket is for or when to us it.
Thanks for the info Michael. I appreciate the heads up and helping everyone out. I used the gasket right out of the box and assumed everyone would but glad you mentioned it.
As always, you do a great job Ross on your video demos, or should I say RV Educational Videos. I used your video to help make my dewinterizing checklist. Dewinterizing my RV today since it looks like temps will now stay above freezing here in PA. First 2022 RV trip in a few weeks! Thanks again!!!
Great video Ross!! Now we have an On-Demand water heater. A video on how to winterize/de-winterize with on-demand would be awesome. As well as a video on how to fill the fresh water tank from a pick-up bladder bag using the pump on the RV for those who do a bit of boondocking. Thanks for all your videos. We learn so much from you and are enjoying our new '23 Imagine 2670mk. Cheers!
Love the explanation and the why behind it. Our system is a bit different than a lot of these videos on TH-cam so understanding why each step is performed let me go through the owners manual and follow along just fine with each step Trying to dewinter an RV from the dealer that 'forgot' to do it. They also 'forgot' our demo and sale appointment after calling 4 times but that's another issue entirely.
thank you, glad it helped... and thanks for noticing, its hard to be all-inclusive in these videos so I try to explain what to do instead of just showing it.
Great video. I wish I had seen this a year ago after I bought my first travel trailer, I didn’t realize I should always keep water in the black tank. I’m hoping I will find a video in your library about sanitizing the hydrant at the campsite. Thanks again!
Hi Ross, I'm new to RVing and finally bought my first RV. We (my wife and I) have learned a lot from your videos. Just finished watching dewinterize and Sanitize. My next Video will be to winterize an RV. My quesion to you is: I live in Pensacola, Florida and I have rarely seen it done to freezing tempertures. Do I need to winterize my RV? Also how do people go camping in the winter months.
if it doesnt get below freezing for more than a 1-3 days in a row, you probably dont need to winterize. winter camping is a whole other subject. not something i ever do or ever will do. rv's have wheels, drive them to a warm climate during the winter 😉
Great video! We don’t have a black tank flush that would have been helpful. We use the Camco swivel stick to really clean the black tank at the beginning of each season. My wife calls it the Turd Grinder.
Excellent video... suggest doing the exact same video, but insert instructions for those of us who have tankless water heaters... not sure how to handle that piece of equipment with the sanitizing steps and how to avoid damage and how to turn the Nautilus Control Panel knobs.... sure don't want to mess up the tankless water heater... so I am confused as to what to do... thx Again, great video and some awesome extra tips for starting out the new season with our RV.
Thank you Gerald, I don’t have a tankless water heater so I can’t make a video on that. I don’t have much experience with them, but I recommend checking the owners manual for that specific tankless water heater that you have to see if it’s safe to run a sanitizing solution through it. If it’s not, the process should be the same and you’ll just have to bypass it like a normal water heater. I hope that helps.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thanks for the reply... I understand... was hoping that you might know. The GD Reflection Owner Manual is not helpful at all... does an OK job at winterizing, but horrible on de-winterizing. Thx again for the reply!
1st time RV owner - thank you so much for your videos. I followed your winterizing video, and now I am taking notes on how to de-winterize. Who is the beautiful lady Kelly whom this video is in memory of? We are born the same year. May she RIP.
Thanks so much for taking the time to do these detailed videos. I missed what year and model camper you're demoing on. I'm picking up a 2022 2600RB in 3 weeks and am trying to learn as much as I can about the camper before we pick it up. Just ordered the low point drain valves. They look fantastic.
For tankless water heaters, if you use a bleach-free product like Clear2O Tank Fresh to sanitize the water tank and system, it is safe to let it run through the water heater.
Hi Ross great video... !! I have an inline water filter, and not sure how sanitizing impacts the filter. Also, as part of dewinterizing, I always check my batteries , i.e connections and distilled water as I run a solar system all winter, which sometimes drains my 6 volt batteries. I'll be checking your other videos.
i would remove all filters before running any type of sanitizing solution or antifreeze through them, whether its bleach, vinegar, etc... no need to run anything through a filter. remove the filters when winterizing, they can hold onto water and freeze up.
This unit doesn't take up a lot of room under my kitchen sink. I love that I have instant hot water when ever I want! Has enough capacity for my dishwasher also.
Are you doing the de-winterization at home before the first trip of the season? If so, where are you dumping all the tanks when sanitizing the system or do you recommend performing this at the first CG? I appreciate the detail in each of your videos, they are super helpful
I do it at home. I usually empty the antifreeze into a bucket and put in my septic tank… it’s food grade so it’s not going to hurt anything. The bleach solution is so diluted that dumping into the ground is perfectly fine as long as no children or pets will be in that area immediately after. Dewinterizing is something a lot of people will do on their first trip too.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS first of all thank you for the response, all your videos are super helpful. And just to double check I have this correct, fill fresh tank completely full x3. Once with sanitizing solution and then 1-2x fresh water for a total of roughly 170 gallons. Then draining out the majority of this into the yard? Are you emptying black and gray into a bucket and then dumping down the toilet in the house?
correct, and yes into the yard. highly diluted bleach, like in this video, is actually used in food production to sanitize, so it is fine at this dilution rate.
actually, what i said was uncsented chlorine bleach, free of perfumes. Don’t use bleach that has added fragrances. You can still smell pure chlorine bleach if it doesn’t have an added perfume.
yes, and doing that depends on your panel... you might need an external pump to get the solution into the lines since city water is normally getting its water from the city pressure. drill pumps like these work great: amzn.to/4f3g1A7
Hi Ross, thank you for all the information in your videos. They have been very helpful over the years. My question is, I have been looking for a video or info on "summerizing" my rv. There's a ton of winter/dewinterizing videos but haven't seen anything about summerizing. My wife and I retired and are bringing the rv to Florida for the winter. We will be leaving it there in the hot and humid summer months. Any suggestions? Thanks!
good question... I havent really created anything yet that deals specifically with really hot weather. I'm sure there are some videos on it if you search, but you will still need to do, in my opinion, everything that is here: th-cam.com/video/9VMN0o9GLxg/w-d-xo.html Sorry I couldnt help more than whats in this video at this time.
Hi Ross ,your 🇨🇦fan Big Ben, excellent video ,made me think about what I do ,I also use air blow gun (low press.-high volume) to blow out water heater burner ass. ,go on roof remove A/C cover blow our condenser from back side,also furnace inlet and outlet and run furnace till up to temp,to check and make sure it works..checking tires good idea ,jacking each one up to ck bearings to determine if need to repack ck brake settings...🤔🏁👍or 👎 your 🇨🇦 friends R &J D.🐴🙂
Question. How do you fill the hot water heater if you have no access to city water connection and can only fill fresh tank??? Will the water heater fill up when the water pump is turned on?
Great video. How critical do you think it is to keep it in the lines for 4-8 hours. We dewinterizw on our first trip so this takes out the water usage for the first nights.
Actually replaced it Scott. The top cap blew apart, no shut off for only this line in the house, so I had to turn all water off… capped then jb welded the top on for a couple days until the new one arrived.
I’d like your recommendation on something if you dint mind. In our rig (Momentum 31G), our after waste tank is a shared gray water/waste tank. The kitchen and garage bathroom sinks drain to it, as well as the garage toilet. Should we sanitize the lines to those sinks as well? I’m assuming that bleach will kill the enzymes in the waste tank…
In a situation like this, I would put sanitizing higher on the list than going through 1 or 2 waste tanks that dont break down the solids as well. Eventually the bleach will work its way out of the tanks and your back to normal. Hope that helps, but end of day its a judgment call. You can also just fill and dump that waste tank after sanitizing. I think you'll be fine.
Yet again, an amazing video. One question, thoughts on the bleach solution going through an under sink filter and water fill faucet? I have a 1/4 turn valve I can turn off so it doesn’t go through, just not sure if I should or not.
great question Josh... unless its just a metal screen video like the ones I show in the video, i would probably bypass them too. Something I will update in the video description. Thanks for the heads up my friend.
I don't recognize most of these switches and drains. Is this just in newer trailers? I just got a 2004 and previously had older trailers. I don't remember any of it being so complicated. 😢
I've watched your video and a couple of others about de-winterizing. Some recommend filling the fresh water tank and flushing and some recommend using the city water connection and flushing. Seems your method would be best since it uses the RV pump. My question has to do with the hot water tank.Our new RV had a bad valve on the hot water tank and when I added glycol it went into the hot water tank. Those valves are now replaced, so when I de-winterize, should I go ahead and run water through the tank and out of the plug before doing anything else?
yes, I would fill and dump that water heater 10 times or more. theres a small amount that never drains out of the bottom of the heater tank, so youre going to need to keep diluting it to the point its almost gone. when you continuously drain it, open the drain valve and the low point drains together to get as much out as possible.
Ross, after you have removed the stale water by first turning on the fresh water lever, then turning on the city water lever (and opening one faucet), do I turn the lever back to 'fresh water" before draining the antifreeze hose in a bucket of water? Or doesn't it matter. Thank you very much and I love your videos. I keep telling my friends about your site.
VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE...im just able to start getting caught up on comments. anyway, you dont need to switch back when draining. hope that helps.
Ross, question. In sanitizing, you suggest not introducing sanitizing solution, including bleach, to the water heater. My grand design manual, page 87, shows the docking station valves with the water heater bypass selector in the normal and not bypass position. I am making notes and wonder if I should amend that to putting the valve in the bypass position during sanitization. Thanks for the videos.
You are thinking correctly, bypass your water heater if you are using bleach in your sanitizing solution. bleach, even highly diluted, should not come into contact with the metal tank in your water heater.
You mention to always keep water in the black tank(obv not during winterizing). How much? Our black tank is 30 gallons. And should it be flushed as part of dewinterizing first, to avoid killing the the bio catalyst? Also, the sanitizer and antifreeze will be going into the Gray Tank. It doesn't seem like it will fill it, by the dewinterizing alone. But should it be flushed?
Keep about 3 gallons (10%). I empty all tanks when winterizing.. Remember the black tank is a tank, not a septic system. Just add your black tank treatment in upon dewinterizing. Last, you shouldn’t come even close to filling your tanks by pushing antifreeze out and adding sanitizer. Just keep an eye on it. Watch this video, I think it will help: th-cam.com/video/mmrrOb4sOb8/w-d-xo.html
Hi Ross; newbie question … When you switch from using the internal tank to city water, do you still use the water pump or is it only used for the fresh water tank ?
Hi. I am new to trailer life. I have a trailer at a seasonal campground. The fresh water tank is never used, only the city water line. Do I still need to sanitize the system? Thanks.
Thanks for producing great videos!! I just bought 2016 R-Pod RP 171. Where is the best place to get a owners manual? Thanks in advance !!! Joe from Cumberland RI 02864
Question, my motorhome has a tankless water heater, is it ok to run the antifreeze through it as your running fresh water through the system? Thank you
So if you can't put even diluted bleach in the black tank, how do people with the second tank in toy haulers that is grey and black sanitize the lines for the second bathroom and washer?
In a situation like that you just might have to… I would rinse your black tank good before adding in your tank treatment. Not the end of the world, I mention it so you can avoid it. Doesn’t look like you can in that case.
thats fine, and while its minimal, its a waste of bleach. personally, i would just run water through to get the antifreeze out first. let it run and get everything out, then add the bleach solution.
I am going to sanitize a buddy’s motorhome fresh system and they have an on-demand water heater so I assume there is no bypass there given there is no tank. Right?
Josh, you should be good to run it through even though there might actually still be a bypass. just check manufacturer website and see what they do and don’t recommend for sanitizing solutions. Different models say different things.
Ross quick question. The RV I bought has only one bi-pass valve at the water heater, on the cold side. I'm converting it to a three way bi-pass valve today. But it looks like the person before me ran antifreeze through the water heater, since there was not valve on it. How would I clean that out before I run the sanitized solution through it?
If you’re at a full hook up, connect to city water, open your gray tank drains so they empty immediately into the sewer, and turn your shower hot water on. Let it run for a while (30 mins). This will draw out and recycle the water in the water heater. After that drain the water heater. That should get most of it out.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS So after I add the three way bi-pass valves, do the sanitized solution by passing the water heater. Then when I'm at the campground with full hook ups do what you said?
Hi Ross, I have a question... when it came to the sanitizing of the system, you said not to run the solution through the toilet but how do you prevent that from happening if your fresh water tank has the solution? Doesn't flushing the toilet let some of that bleach water go into the black tank? In the video I saw the toilet being flushed as the black tank treatment was poured into the toilet. Does that particular water not contain the sanitizing solution or does the black tank treatment negate or cancel out the bleach? Yes sir, newbie here...😊
Hi@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS, yes sir, that makes perfect sense! And I have to say along with the other folks on here... THANK YOU so much for all of these incredibly wonderful and educational videos.
Winnebago thoughtfully omitted the gravity feed, fresh water fill, from my motorhome. So the only way to get water into the tank is under pressure thru the city water fill inlet. They suggested using a drill-mounted pump to force water in from the bucket but that takes a verrrrry long time. So I bought a device on Amazon that is designed to mix chemicals or soap into a garden hose. It features a dangle hose (somewhat like the anti-freeze incoming line in your coach) and an adjustable flow knob to mix fluid from a bucket into the hose that brings water from the city to the inlet on my coach. I am hoping that will allow me to follow your instructions on getting the 4 gallons of bleach mix in the bucket into my fresh water tank. It may have an anti-back flow preventer in it, but since it came with no instructions I plan to put a back flow preventer on the hose ahead of the device to be safe. The one I got is a Valley Industries PK-85400003 Up Stream Chemical Injector-High Pressure, 3500 PSI, 8.0GPM, Brass. Cost was $20.68 at Amazon. I picked it over many similar offerings because it came with garden hose fittings in and out. Thanks for your clear video. It is a big help for an 80-year-old who hasn't taken his rig out for three years.
Thanks John, I agree with you and think that it stinks When companies remove the gravity feed. It makes no sense. Grand Design is starting to do that as well, I’m guessing because they were recently bought out by Winnebago.
More: I just read a review on the Injector I just recommended that said water pressure alone wasn't enough to operate it. It is apparently designed to work with a high pressure pump that would not be safe on an RV. I'd delete that part of my comment if I knew how to edit it.
A tankless water heater is essentially 1 plumbing line that zig zags back and forth above a burner. So you can just treat that as a regular plumbing line and run antifreeze through it.
Another informative and detailed video Ross! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Your videos are by far the best, most detailed and clearly explained I’ve seen. Great job bud!
Thanks Matt, you coming up in the PA area at all this summer?
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Possibly, everything is up in the air now. We were supposed to head to Wyoming and the Dakotas but we’ve now canceled that due to fuel prices. We’re now looking to do something in the east but not sure exactly what that will be.
Love the fact that you show these processes being done. I just got done watching another channel and all the guy does is talk in front of the camera. Never any demos. Talking and stupid laugh tracks. Not much of a “training” channel in my humble opinion, and not anywhere near the detail of your videos. Keep up the great work Ross!
Thanks Tim, we definitely put a lot of time into these videos, and happy that they are helping.
I’ve been doing this for 25 years and still learned several new things from this video. This is the best RV channel and videos on TH-cam! Thanks!
thanks for the nice comment my friend, glad to help.
You’re level of detail is unprecedented man. Never thought about flushing the entry lines but will be doing that now.
glad it helped!
Very thorough and descriptive video Ross.
I'm going to guess that most new RVers aren't aware of not using sanitizer in the water heater. The formulas are quite useful too. Well done sir.
Giddy up.
thanks bud, appreciate your support as always.
Great tips Ross, thank you for the great content. I have 2 tips that I can share with you and your audience. Tip 1- I place a glass mason jar where my pump is located and I place the end of the hose in the mason jar to avoid any spillage, if it does, it will spill out in the mason jar. Tip 2- I place a insect sticky pad behind the fridge panel to catch any insects and I always catch some and I change it out twice per year. I will definitely purchase some T-9 and grease everything up.
Thanks for adding… great tips Paul. I’m stealing them!
Thank you for this video! Just bought our first RV last summer and preparing for my first dewinterization in a couple weeks! This is very helpful 👏🙏
Glad it was helpful!
You must have been a teacher in a past life. I love your no filler approach to teaching, you just give clear and precise instructions. I just bought my rig and you have really given me the confidence to know I can do this by myself. I've made all my checklists through your video's. Can' t thank you enough and hope to you all down the road. Damn I'm starting to sound like a stalker, lol.
Happy to help!
Just bought my first RV (used) from a widow who had the 5th wheel winterized 3 years ago after her husband passed. I’m planning on using the RV for the first time next month (Aug ‘24) and this video is going to be playing while I de-winterize for the first time.
let me know if you have any questions.
I really always enjoy the way you breakdown things you cover in a clear, detailed and concise manner. Very informative. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Great video!!! Very informative for beginners (just like all the rest of your videos). My wife and I bought our first RV last summer and all the prep work has just scared me. Thanks to all your videos my fears have diminished, a little. I have watched this video repeatedly during my de-winterization of my RV and everything went good. Going on our first trip next week. Thank you
Glad it was helpful, and thanks for the comment Chad.
While I winterize and dewinterize all the time, I’ve never sanitized, the lines so I probably need to work on that one… been on my to do list for a while lol
Hey Barr, I’m with you. So much to do so little time.
Best RV how to , tips and tricks on TH-cam!
Thanks my man, appreciate it!
Since you asked, I’ll restock the kitchen with non-perishables at this time. Great video!
I watch your winterizing and de winterizing videos every season since we got our trailer a few years ago. Big fan and great work!
Thank you very much and I'm glad they help!
@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS can we use pure vinegar in it instead of bleach?
That intro is EPIC! Very cool! So sorry for your loss.
Thanks for posting the dewinterizing tips, it's just about that time of year.
So very sorry for your loss.
Thanks Jim, I appreciate that.
What a life saver you are. We have the exact same rig. Super helpful. Easy to understand! Only thing I can think to add is in the other dewinterize video once I got all the antifreeze and filled up the tank I went ahead and turned the water heater to summer mode. Then I found this one. Normally I’d just fast forward to the sanitizing but for whatever reason I watched the whole thing. Thankfully so I knew to turn the by pass valves back to winterized mode during sanitizing Maybe put an alert on the other video with the steps that if planning on sanitizing leave valves in winter mode? Not a huge deal… just a thought.
Thanks so much! Saved me 120$ from having to pay someone to do it! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Take care
Stay well!
Thank you!
Best RV tutorials on youtube. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks Pauly!
Great video, one item I do also is the filter screen on the suction of the water pump sometimes gets particles that have been released from the fresh water tank, I remove the cap and clean the screen after sanitizing so it doesn't get clogged.
great tip, thanks for sharing Bryan!
Absolutely love your tips and keep them coming.
thanks Fred, thats the plan!
Thank you for all of the great tips. Took our new trailer out this weekend and had a great time. We have cold weather coming in but I’m much more confident thanks to you….Winterizing/dewinterizing.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank You!! I love the way you explain and show demos it is very informative. I'm new in RVing this year and your videos are helping me a lot. Thanks again and have a great Camping season!
Awesome! Thank you!
Great instructions. Found a leak (fresh gravity fill port ) using the flashlight - almost skipped this step - glad I didn’t! Thanks for the help!
Glad you got it figured out!
Great video. Love your beautiful rig! I horse camp with a simple truck camper but it costs about $230/year between winterizing and de-winterizing so I'm going to heed your video and give it a go before heading to Zion for a few days of horse camping. Noticed an earlier comment: "Giddy up".
It’s easy, you’ll be fine!
I installed my Carmtek Lock, but my door was about 1/8 to 1/4 to thin. Carmtek was thinking because they included a foam gasket. With the gasket installed the lock was perfect. Also has to trim door lower so screws would line up. Lock works great. Thanks for your video, letting others know about the gasket would help, the direction don’t say what the gasket is for or when to us it.
Thanks for the info Michael. I appreciate the heads up and helping everyone out. I used the gasket right out of the box and assumed everyone would but glad you mentioned it.
As spring 2024 approaches I enjoyed your video. Very well done. I feel I’m very good at doing this but training is very important. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for all the info. We are picking up our RV at the end of April and we are getting excited for the camping season.
Thanks for always watching and commenting Warren. Wish you a great camping season buddy!
As always, you do a great job Ross on your video demos, or should I say RV Educational Videos. I used your video to help make my dewinterizing checklist. Dewinterizing my RV today since it looks like temps will now stay above freezing here in PA. First 2022 RV trip in a few weeks! Thanks again!!!
Anytime bud. Safe travels this year. I’m not out until June.
Great video Ross!! Now we have an On-Demand water heater. A video on how to winterize/de-winterize with on-demand would be awesome. As well as a video on how to fill the fresh water tank from a pick-up bladder bag using the pump on the RV for those who do a bit of boondocking. Thanks for all your videos. We learn so much from you and are enjoying our new '23 Imagine 2670mk. Cheers!
Thanks Joe, I’ll see what I can do.
Thanks for the details. I'm a rookie so my confidence is good after watching this. You talk fast so I have to use pause a lot so I can take notes😃
Glad to help Greg
Sorry for your loss.
I appreciate that Warren, thank you.
Hope this is OK but who was Kelly ?
@@diverm2371 She was my cousin. She passed unexpectedly from Loey Dietz sydrome. Thanks for asking.
Thanks Ross, love the intro music. Very sorry about your loss.
Thank you Linda.
Thank you, been watching your vids twice a year for years now
Thank you so much, and glad to help!
Wow is this thorough! Saving for next weekend!
Love the explanation and the why behind it. Our system is a bit different than a lot of these videos on TH-cam so understanding why each step is performed let me go through the owners manual and follow along just fine with each step
Trying to dewinter an RV from the dealer that 'forgot' to do it. They also 'forgot' our demo and sale appointment after calling 4 times but that's another issue entirely.
thank you, glad it helped... and thanks for noticing, its hard to be all-inclusive in these videos so I try to explain what to do instead of just showing it.
Great video. I wish I had seen this a year ago after I bought my first travel trailer, I didn’t realize I should always keep water in the black tank.
I’m hoping I will find a video in your library about sanitizing the hydrant at the campsite.
Thanks again!
glad to help!
You make the best RV videos - thank you so much!
glad you find them helpful
EXCELLENT video! subscribed!
Hi Ross, I'm new to RVing and finally bought my first RV. We (my wife and I) have learned a lot from your videos. Just finished watching dewinterize and Sanitize. My next Video will be to winterize an RV. My quesion to you is: I live in Pensacola, Florida and I have rarely seen it done to freezing tempertures. Do I need to winterize my RV? Also how do people go camping in the winter months.
if it doesnt get below freezing for more than a 1-3 days in a row, you probably dont need to winterize. winter camping is a whole other subject. not something i ever do or ever will do. rv's have wheels, drive them to a warm climate during the winter 😉
Thank you for this video. It was a lot of help for first time RVer.
Glad to help!
Thanks again! Always relevant. I wish you a good season and a lot of news adventures
Thanks Lucie
Great videos, thank you so much for the tips! Have been camping for years but still learned a few things!
Glad it was helpful Heather!
Great tips Ross I do things very similar to my travel trailer as well
thanks Corey
Great video! We don’t have a black tank flush that would have been helpful. We use the Camco swivel stick to really clean the black tank at the beginning of each season. My wife calls it the Turd Grinder.
🤣🤣🤣
thx for the detailed video. just found you on youtube and will watch your other videos. thx again and stay safe
Welcome aboard!
Excellent video... suggest doing the exact same video, but insert instructions for those of us who have tankless water heaters... not sure how to handle that piece of equipment with the sanitizing steps and how to avoid damage and how to turn the Nautilus Control Panel knobs.... sure don't want to mess up the tankless water heater... so I am confused as to what to do... thx Again, great video and some awesome extra tips for starting out the new season with our RV.
Thank you Gerald, I don’t have a tankless water heater so I can’t make a video on that. I don’t have much experience with them, but I recommend checking the owners manual for that specific tankless water heater that you have to see if it’s safe to run a sanitizing solution through it. If it’s not, the process should be the same and you’ll just have to bypass it like a normal water heater. I hope that helps.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thanks for the reply... I understand... was hoping that you might know. The GD Reflection Owner Manual is not helpful at all... does an OK job at winterizing, but horrible on de-winterizing. Thx again for the reply!
Good information, and good job on the editing of the video. See you on the road 👍
thanks guys, safe travels
1st time RV owner - thank you so much for your videos. I followed your winterizing video, and now I am taking notes on how to de-winterize. Who is the beautiful lady Kelly whom this video is in memory of? We are born the same year. May she RIP.
Kelly was my cousin. She passed away unexpectedly from Loeys-Dietz Syndrome. Thank you for the kind comment.
Thanks for sharing your expertise with us all.
you're welcome!
Most epic intro ever
Thank you!
Thanks so much for taking the time to do these detailed videos. I missed what year and model camper you're demoing on. I'm picking up a 2022 2600RB in 3 weeks and am trying to learn as much as I can about the camper before we pick it up. Just ordered the low point drain valves. They look fantastic.
2018 2150RB, not much difference in layout as yours.
For tankless water heaters, if you use a bleach-free product like Clear2O Tank Fresh to sanitize the water tank and system, it is safe to let it run through the water heater.
thanks for sharing!
Hi Ross great video... !! I have an inline water filter, and not sure how sanitizing impacts the filter. Also, as part of dewinterizing, I always check my batteries , i.e connections and distilled water as I run a solar system all winter, which sometimes drains my 6 volt batteries. I'll be checking your other videos.
i would remove all filters before running any type of sanitizing solution or antifreeze through them, whether its bleach, vinegar, etc... no need to run anything through a filter. remove the filters when winterizing, they can hold onto water and freeze up.
Great Video. Easy to listen too!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This unit doesn't take up a lot of room under my kitchen sink. I love that I have instant hot water when ever I want! Has enough capacity for my dishwasher also.
thanks for watching
How do i refill the water heater tank after I winterize my rig
you leave it empty over the winter.
Are you doing the de-winterization at home before the first trip of the season? If so, where are you dumping all the tanks when sanitizing the system or do you recommend performing this at the first CG?
I appreciate the detail in each of your videos, they are super helpful
I do it at home. I usually empty the antifreeze into a bucket and put in my septic tank… it’s food grade so it’s not going to hurt anything. The bleach solution is so diluted that dumping into the ground is perfectly fine as long as no children or pets will be in that area immediately after. Dewinterizing is something a lot of people will do on their first trip too.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS first of all thank you for the response, all your videos are super helpful. And just to double check I have this correct, fill fresh tank completely full x3. Once with sanitizing solution and then 1-2x fresh water for a total of roughly 170 gallons. Then draining out the majority of this into the yard? Are you emptying black and gray into a bucket and then dumping down the toilet in the house?
correct, and yes into the yard. highly diluted bleach, like in this video, is actually used in food production to sanitize, so it is fine at this dilution rate.
Thanks Ross, great walk thru.
Anytime!
Did he say use unscented bleach but then says run the bleach until you smell it???
actually, what i said was uncsented chlorine bleach, free of perfumes. Don’t use bleach that has added fragrances. You can still smell pure chlorine bleach if it doesn’t have an added perfume.
What do you recommend to give the black tank a quick clean since we shouldn’t put bleach in?
Great question, dawn dish soap and water. Fill it up, let it sit overnight or even for a couple days. Rinse and repeat
There are A LOT of dewinterizing videos out there, but this is the by far one of the best. Glad I stopped on your video - Thanks
Thanks Jerry, glad it was helpful.
Great tips and details. Question: should I also sanitize the city water line? Thank you!
yes, and doing that depends on your panel... you might need an external pump to get the solution into the lines since city water is normally getting its water from the city pressure. drill pumps like these work great: amzn.to/4f3g1A7
Hi Ross, thank you for all the information in your videos. They have been very helpful over the years. My question is, I have been looking for a video or info on "summerizing" my rv. There's a ton of winter/dewinterizing videos but haven't seen anything about summerizing. My wife and I retired and are bringing the rv to Florida for the winter. We will be leaving it there in the hot and humid summer months. Any suggestions? Thanks!
good question... I havent really created anything yet that deals specifically with really hot weather. I'm sure there are some videos on it if you search, but you will still need to do, in my opinion, everything that is here: th-cam.com/video/9VMN0o9GLxg/w-d-xo.html Sorry I couldnt help more than whats in this video at this time.
Hi Ross ,your 🇨🇦fan Big Ben, excellent video ,made me think about what I do ,I also use air blow gun (low press.-high volume) to blow out water heater burner ass. ,go on roof remove A/C cover blow our condenser from back side,also furnace inlet and outlet and run furnace till up to temp,to check and make sure it works..checking tires good idea ,jacking each one up to ck bearings to determine if need to repack ck brake settings...🤔🏁👍or 👎 your 🇨🇦 friends R &J D.🐴🙂
great tips, thanks again Randy!
Question. How do you fill the hot water heater if you have no access to city water connection and can only fill fresh tank???
Will the water heater fill up when the water pump is turned on?
correct, once you turn on the water pump, cold water plumbing sends water into the water heater.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thank you for a quick response. I appreciate your videos, very informative.
Great video. How critical do you think it is to keep it in the lines for 4-8 hours. We dewinterizw on our first trip so this takes out the water usage for the first nights.
thats pretty important, it needs some time to kill any germs.
Great Video....do you happen to have a water heater de-scaling video also?
Clay, not yet but coming this summer... hang tight my friend.
Great video! Do you have videos geared toward using your travel trailer during the winter?
unfortunately not at this time.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS no problem. If you ever do, I'll be eager to watch!
Thank you, glad to have you here!!
Thanks for sharing just subscribed!!
Thanks guys, appreciate that!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
About 3:45 the house hose bibb twists when you are using the valve; may need to tie it down .
Actually replaced it Scott. The top cap blew apart, no shut off for only this line in the house, so I had to turn all water off… capped then jb welded the top on for a couple days until the new one arrived.
I’d like your recommendation on something if you dint mind. In our rig (Momentum 31G), our after waste tank is a shared gray water/waste tank. The kitchen and garage bathroom sinks drain to it, as well as the garage toilet. Should we sanitize the lines to those sinks as well? I’m assuming that bleach will kill the enzymes in the waste tank…
In a situation like this, I would put sanitizing higher on the list than going through 1 or 2 waste tanks that dont break down the solids as well. Eventually the bleach will work its way out of the tanks and your back to normal. Hope that helps, but end of day its a judgment call. You can also just fill and dump that waste tank after sanitizing. I think you'll be fine.
Yet again, an amazing video. One question, thoughts on the bleach solution going through an under sink filter and water fill faucet? I have a 1/4 turn valve I can turn off so it doesn’t go through, just not sure if I should or not.
great question Josh... unless its just a metal screen video like the ones I show in the video, i would probably bypass them too. Something I will update in the video description. Thanks for the heads up my friend.
I don't recognize most of these switches and drains. Is this just in newer trailers? I just got a 2004 and previously had older trailers. I don't remember any of it being so complicated. 😢
i dont have much experience at all with 2004 models, but yes they can be different from one to another.
I've watched your video and a couple of others about de-winterizing. Some recommend filling the fresh water tank and flushing and some recommend using the city water connection and flushing. Seems your method would be best since it uses the RV pump. My question has to do with the hot water tank.Our new RV had a bad valve on the hot water tank and when I added glycol it went into the hot water tank. Those valves are now replaced, so when I de-winterize, should I go ahead and run water through the tank and out of the plug before doing anything else?
yes, I would fill and dump that water heater 10 times or more. theres a small amount that never drains out of the bottom of the heater tank, so youre going to need to keep diluting it to the point its almost gone. when you continuously drain it, open the drain valve and the low point drains together to get as much out as possible.
Ross, after you have removed the stale water by first turning on the fresh water lever, then turning on the city water lever (and opening one faucet), do I turn the lever back to 'fresh water" before draining the antifreeze hose in a bucket of water? Or doesn't it matter. Thank you very much and I love your videos. I keep telling my friends about your site.
VERY SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE...im just able to start getting caught up on comments. anyway, you dont need to switch back when draining. hope that helps.
Great video thanks
Thanks for always watching bud.
Ross, question. In sanitizing, you suggest not introducing sanitizing solution, including bleach, to the water heater. My grand design manual, page 87, shows the docking station valves with the water heater bypass selector in the normal and not bypass position. I am making notes and wonder if I should amend that to putting the valve in the bypass position during sanitization. Thanks for the videos.
You are thinking correctly, bypass your water heater if you are using bleach in your sanitizing solution. bleach, even highly diluted, should not come into contact with the metal tank in your water heater.
You mention to always keep water in the black tank(obv not during winterizing). How much? Our black tank is 30 gallons. And should it be flushed as part of dewinterizing first, to avoid killing the the bio catalyst? Also, the sanitizer and antifreeze will be going into the Gray Tank. It doesn't seem like it will fill it, by the dewinterizing alone. But should it be flushed?
Keep about 3 gallons (10%). I empty all tanks when winterizing.. Remember the black tank is a tank, not a septic system. Just add your black tank treatment in upon dewinterizing. Last, you shouldn’t come even close to filling your tanks by pushing antifreeze out and adding sanitizer. Just keep an eye on it. Watch this video, I think it will help: th-cam.com/video/mmrrOb4sOb8/w-d-xo.html
best instructor, had to sub, thnx. . . :>/
Thanks for the sub and nice comment!
Hi Ross; newbie question …
When you switch from using the internal tank to city water, do you still use the water pump or is it only used for the fresh water tank ?
the pump is only for the tank... city water is pressurized so you wont need a pump.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELSty very much
you bet
Hi. I am new to trailer life. I have a trailer at a seasonal campground. The fresh water tank is never used, only the city water line. Do I still need to sanitize the system? Thanks.
i would, youre not just sanitizing the tank, you're also doing the lines and fixtures.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thank you. I will give that go.
I meant to say.. how do refill the water back in the spring time
once you connect water it will fill up automatically after you switch the bypass valves back
Thanks for producing great videos!!
I just bought 2016 R-Pod RP 171.
Where is the best place to get a owners manual?
Thanks in advance !!!
Joe from Cumberland RI 02864
Try the website actually, they might have a resource page.
Question, my motorhome has a tankless water heater, is it ok to run the antifreeze through it as your running fresh water through the system? Thank you
Yep, there should be antifreeze already in there from winterizing. Just push it out with water.
So if you can't put even diluted bleach in the black tank, how do people with the second tank in toy haulers that is grey and black sanitize the lines for the second bathroom and washer?
In a situation like that you just might have to… I would rinse your black tank good before adding in your tank treatment. Not the end of the world, I mention it so you can avoid it. Doesn’t look like you can in that case.
Heard you can use hydrogen peroxide to sanitize fresh water tank. Have you this is ok to do?
I’ve never done it but have also heard it can be used.
Is it really necessary to fill the water tank?, would it be Effective to just fill it 50% full?
why only fill it 50%? you would only be sanitizing half the tank.
I'm in the process of flushing out my water system. Is it a good idea to de winterize my water system and push out the anti freeze with bleach water?
thats fine, and while its minimal, its a waste of bleach. personally, i would just run water through to get the antifreeze out first. let it run and get everything out, then add the bleach solution.
I am going to sanitize a buddy’s motorhome fresh system and they have an on-demand water heater so I assume there is no bypass there given there is no tank. Right?
Josh, you should be good to run it through even though there might actually still be a bypass. just check manufacturer website and see what they do and don’t recommend for sanitizing solutions. Different models say different things.
How do i refill water back in heater tank when it's spring time
once you connect water it will fill up automatically after you switch the bypass valves back
We always check under the trailer for signs of animals too.
Great tip!!
Thanks!
Thank you for the donation!!!
Ross quick question. The RV I bought has only one bi-pass valve at the water heater, on the cold side. I'm converting it to a three way bi-pass valve today. But it looks like the person before me ran antifreeze through the water heater, since there was not valve on it. How would I clean that out before I run the sanitized solution through it?
If you’re at a full hook up, connect to city water, open your gray tank drains so they empty immediately into the sewer, and turn your shower hot water on. Let it run for a while (30 mins). This will draw out and recycle the water in the water heater. After that drain the water heater. That should get most of it out.
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS So after I add the three way bi-pass valves, do the sanitized solution by passing the water heater. Then when I'm at the campground with full hook ups do what you said?
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Does the water heater need to be on? Or heated?
Nope
@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS Thanks! Got it all cleaned out and triple bi-pass valves installed! Thanks for all your help! Happy trails.
Hi Ross, I have a question... when it came to the sanitizing of the system, you said not to run the solution through the toilet but how do you prevent that from happening if your fresh water tank has the solution? Doesn't flushing the toilet let some of that bleach water go into the black tank? In the video I saw the toilet being flushed as the black tank treatment was poured into the toilet. Does that particular water not contain the sanitizing solution or does the black tank treatment negate or cancel out the bleach?
Yes sir, newbie here...😊
That was just a visual reference. Dont flush the toilet at all until you remove the sanitizing solution. Make sense?
Hi@@RVTIPSANDTRAVELS, yes sir, that makes perfect sense! And I have to say along with the other folks on here... THANK YOU so much for all of these incredibly wonderful and educational videos.
Happy to help! Thank you Tracey
Is the fresh water tank drain different than the two low point drains?
Yes, low point drains will empty the pressurized plumbing system inside the rv, not the fresh tank.
Winnebago thoughtfully omitted the gravity feed, fresh water fill, from my motorhome. So the only way to get water into the tank is under pressure thru the city water fill inlet. They suggested using a drill-mounted pump to force water in from the bucket but that takes a verrrrry long time. So I bought a device on Amazon that is designed to mix chemicals or soap into a garden hose. It features a dangle hose (somewhat like the anti-freeze incoming line in your coach) and an adjustable flow knob to mix fluid from a bucket into the hose that brings water from the city to the inlet on my coach. I am hoping that will allow me to follow your instructions on getting the 4 gallons of bleach mix in the bucket into my fresh water tank. It may have an anti-back flow preventer in it, but since it came with no instructions I plan to put a back flow preventer on the hose ahead of the device to be safe. The one I got is a Valley Industries PK-85400003 Up Stream Chemical Injector-High Pressure, 3500 PSI, 8.0GPM, Brass. Cost was $20.68 at Amazon. I picked it over many similar offerings because it came with garden hose fittings in and out. Thanks for your clear video. It is a big help for an 80-year-old who hasn't taken his rig out for three years.
Thanks John, I agree with you and think that it stinks When companies remove the gravity feed. It makes no sense. Grand Design is starting to do that as well, I’m guessing because they were recently bought out by Winnebago.
More: I just read a review on the Injector I just recommended that said water pressure alone wasn't enough to operate it. It is apparently designed to work with a high pressure pump that would not be safe on an RV. I'd delete that part of my comment if I knew how to edit it.
Do you have a writing version of dewinterizing ?
Working on that Chad.
What about tankless water heater?
A tankless water heater is essentially 1 plumbing line that zig zags back and forth above a burner. So you can just treat that as a regular plumbing line and run antifreeze through it.
Perfect! Your content is so on point and want to thank you for helping all of us RV’ers! Your channel is my go-to channel.