Help with winterizing....

[love__goofy]

We plan on purchasing and taking ownership of our new class A at the end of November. We live in NC, so we could have a mild winter, maybe not. Our plans are to go south, hoping The Fort if I can secure a site at the end of Dec.

So I think we will be safe till then, in regards to temperatures.

Since my daughter is in a competitive sport, we will travel with her nearly every other weekend from mid Jan to mid April..typically heading south.

Is there a way to bypass winterizing every other weekend? What do people do in my predicament?

Thanks!

 

[John VN]

Garage the MH where temps don't go below freezing or do nothing unless/until the deep freeze is on.

 

[love__goofy]

Garage the MH where temps don't go below freezing or do nothing unless/until the deep freeze is on.

So when is it too cold? One night of dropping below 32?

 

[peg110]

So when is it too cold? One night of dropping below 32?

That is a "Depends" question. Where is/are the tanks, how full are they? Where is/are the pipes? Are they all inside or are some underneath the trailer? What is their exposure? Some RVs have sealed and heated undersides to minimize freezing issues, but this usually means they need to be hooked to power and or fuel (for the furnace).

If you are housed inside a garage, you have a bit of a buffer, if the garage is heated, you have a bit more of a buffer. Keeping the RV heated will help too. If temps just dip into freezing range and don't stay very long (less then an hour) you could be okay, or not. Again, it depends.

If you are worried about it, then you could blow the lines out instead of the Anti-freeze route. To me it's easier. I drain all my tanks (Fresh, Grey, Black and Hot water heater), then I put the plugs back in (to allow the air to pressurize the system) and hook up my compressor. I then go to each spigot (and toilet) to blow the water out, one valve at a time. I then round robin the sinks/tubs, and go back a second or more times until no water comes out. When all is done, I pull the drain plugs again and put a bit of anti-freeze in the drains. No need to worry about a little water in the grey or black tanks. There is enough room for expansion should it get to freezing.

I think that would be much easier then trying to put anti-freeze in the lines (personally) but it's entirely up to you.

 

[PaHunter]

Could be, depends on where your plumbing is run and how well it is protected. Most RV's now use PEX which will actually swell to many times it's size before breaking, but the connections are the weak link, they will fail. Brass connectors conduct cold more rapidly, plastic a bit less, but a water leak is costly. For single nights around freezing I would consider a space heater (oil filled type) so there was no openings. But just my thoughts, I blow my water lines out with an air compressor and that is how the unit spends the winter here in Northeast PA. The others will chime in as they get time.

 

[love__goofy]

Thank you so much for all the information. We will be buying a new RV, so hopefully it will use PEX. Can you tell me how much time it takes to blow out the lines?

I just contacted a garage storage facility for motor homes. Don't think it is heated, but know that will help some.

Thanks again!!

 

[PaHunter]

I do the same as Paul does, and it takes me about 30 minutes or so to complete.

 

[John VN]

Thank you so much for all the information. We will be buying a new RV, so hopefully it will use PEX. Can you tell me how much time it takes to blow out the lines?

I just contacted a garage storage facility for motor homes. Don't think it is heated, but know that will help some.

Thanks again!!

Soooo, inquiring minds want to know, WHAT RV?????? Actually more like nosy. Class A should be PEX and check to see if it already has blow-out fittings.

 

[love__goofy]

Soooo, inquiring minds want to know, WHAT RV?????? Actually more like nosy. Class A should be PEX and check to see if it already has blow-out fittings.

Forest River Georgetown 364TS

 

[love__goofy]

Forest River Georgetown 364TS[/QUOTE

Sorry, I am newbie in terms of the newer RVs. We had a class C for about 5 years, but it was nearly 15 years old when we sold it. What are blow-out fittings?

 

[John VN]

Forest River Georgetown 364TS

WAY COOL!!!!! We have a bath and a half, but your 2 full bath setup is fantastic, especially with bunks. Nice size holding tanks for gray/black also.

Blow out fittings are air chock attachments to connect air hose for blowing out the piping. Most likely not available as an option since it's not a big bus diesel pusher.

p.s.- go for the residential fridge

 

[peg110]

Also takes me about 30 minutes (to about an hour) to take care of the winterizing. I purchased a blow out plug with the quick connect as opposed to the blow out plug with the shrader valve. I prefer the Quick connect because I can just hook the hose from the compressor up and allow it to pressurize the system without having to hold the hose onto the blow out plug. Just be sure to keep the pressure below what the RV water system is rated for. I set my compressor to about 30-40 PSI and don't have any issues. I based my pressure on the fact that most RV water pressure regulators will reduce water pressure to below 50 PSI.

That's another import thing to have too. Make sure you have a pressure regulator, especially at the Fort. Long story short, our first trip to the fort with their more then excellent water pressure and me without a pressure regulator (never had a need for one before) and it didn't take long to realize the problem.