For northerners...do you winterize? What about holiday disney trips?

[Donna]

Just wondering for those northerners that drive their RVs down anywhere from now to spring...do you winterize and then de-winterize to go to the fort? We are getting our RV winterized next week and it just kills me that we can't/won't be using it til spring. I was thinking, i'd like to someday go down for the holidays but am afraid of freezing cold weather up here damaging the pipes/tanks either before or after the trip. As you can see, i'm a new RVer (class C), just checking to see what others have done. thanks!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

I am not an RVer, but my parents are. They usually winterize now and take it to FL in Jan or Feb, if it still cold when they return, they will winterize all over again. It all depends on the month that they return.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Winterizing takes me all of 10 minutes. We did our trailer around the end of Sept when the first hard frosts came. When we go down in December we will just put the drain plug back in the water heater and turn the bypass valve back to service. After the fun is over at WDW we drain everything and pump a couple gallons of RV anti-freeze in and we are set to go.
Once you have done it a few times its really a piece of cake.

Scott

 

[Donna]

Thanks! it seems so complicated but now sounds easy. We are having it done at our dealer the first time but I think this is something we will be able to do on our own once we get the hang of it. I told my DH if we lived in the south, this wouldn't be an issue!

 

[Boomer1]

We take our TT every Christmas and its always winterized before we leave, once we get somewhere south of Virginia we stop and dewinterize it. On way home we winterize before we leave Fort Wilderness. It takes about 10 minutes to winterize, I am sure your dealer would be glad to give a run through to show you how to do it if you ask. lol

 

[bianca]

We always winterized when frost hit and again when we returned from a trip (sometimes even multiple trips). Now, we store our RV in FL, so winterizing isn't necessary. That being said, I think the FL sun is worse for an RV than any potential problems from not winterizing an RV properly.

 

[Donna]

Another thing, is it ok to store with a full tank of gas? we have fuel perks that we can fill up for 1.00 a gallon and they'll expire before spring so we wanted to fill it up before storing it.
Do you guys cover your a/c unit, or any vents on the outside?

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Thanks! it seems so complicated but now sounds easy. We are having it done at our dealer the first time but I think this is something we will be able to do on our own once we get the hang of it. I told my DH if we lived in the south, this wouldn't be an issue!

PA is south for us ! everything is a matter of perspective

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Another thing, is it ok to store with a full tank of gas? we have fuel perks that we can fill up for 1.00 a gallon and they'll expire before spring so we wanted to fill it up before storing it.
Do you guys cover your a/c unit, or any vents on the outside?

I wouldnt store fuel for any period of time without something like "Stabil" in it.
Its available at Walmart and other places.

 

[Donna]

PA is south for us ! everything is a matter of perspective

LOL how true! pa IS south but it's not IN the south!

 

[striker3636]

My dh has made wooden boxes that he sets overtop the vents on the roof and secures them with bricks. For all vents on the sides he takes the covers off and sets a few layers of plastic (garbage bags or thicker drop cloths) and puts the covers back on. We winterize it, and if we take it to Fla during the winter we winterize it at FW before we leave. As others have said, it doesn't take long once you get the hang of it. We have to be careful going down from here as it is probably 10 hours before we get past the freezing temps. I load up everything that can be frozen in the camper before we go, but I have several totes full of bathroom items and foods/pop that can't be frozen. When we leave we put these into the back of the truck . Once we get to our first day overnight stop after 18hrs or so (in Georgia), I take a few minutes to unload all this into the camper so there is less to do once we get to FW.

Enjoy - FW is so much fun!

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

My dh has made wooden boxes that he sets overtop the vents on the roof and secures them with bricks. For all vents on the sides he takes the covers off and sets a few layers of plastic (garbage bags or thicker drop cloths) and puts the covers back on. We winterize it, and if we take it to Fla during the winter we winterize it at FW before we leave. As others have said, it doesn't take long once you get the hang of it. We have to be careful going down from here as it is probably 10 hours before we get past the freezing temps. I load up everything that can be frozen in the camper before we go, but I have several totes full of bathroom items and foods/pop that can't be frozen. When we leave we put these into the back of the truck . Once we get to our first day overnight stop after 18hrs or so (in Georgia), I take a few minutes to unload all this into the camper so there is less to do once we get to FW.

Enjoy - FW is so much fun!

Sounds about like our strategy for packing. We stop in Perry GA (just south of Macon)

Scott

 

[bradisgoofy]

We have a Class A diesel pusher and just winterized with the pink stuff this week. Until then I had a trouble light with a 100 watt bulb in the cabinet with the water pump and one in the cabinet with the water hookups, water filter and dump valves. I do this instead of running my furnace ( my Coach is a four season rig ) to save propane. Earlier in the month I used compressed air to clear out all the water lines just in case we wanted to go out one more time. I used a wet/dry vac to empty the traps. For you "do it yourself" people, don't forget the washing machine and ice maker ( if you have them ). We will be going to FW in late March '07 and will drain the pink stuff at our first over night stop in Nashville. When we come back in April, I'll clean the lines with air again and use my trouble lights until we're sure the freezing weather is over.