A different method of winterizing

[richardcoxid]

Hey Guys and Gals!



Now that winter is approaching there have been/will be a number of posts about winterizing our RV’s. I have a different method of getting the water out of my ’98 HH II water lines.



One day I was thinking (that is dangerous sometimes I know!) about "blowing" the water out. All of the faucets are above the level of the city water connection. That means that-



A, You are blowing some of the water up hill against gravity.



B, If you don’t have an “oil less air compressor” there is the chance of contaminating the water lines with oily vapor from worn air compressor rings.



C, I don't have a "clip on" air hose chuck. This requires that my wife

has to hold the air chuck on the blow out fitting.



Why not VACUUM the water out and let gravity assist you? I have been

using this method for so many years now that I don't remember how long



A short piece of 5/8" auto heater hose will just slip over the ½" PEX

drain lines. A trip to my local hardware store provided the PVC fittings to fabricate an adapter to adapt the heater hose to my wet/dry shop vacuum hose.



1, Drain the HWH.



2, Replace the HWH drain plug, verify that the HWH inlet, outlet and

by-pass valves are open. That way you will be pulling a vacuum on

both the hot and cold water headers at the sane time.



3, Connect the shop vac. to one of the drain lines, open the drain

valve and turn on the vac.



4, Go through the RV (the big lead weight with the aerodynamics of

a barn door, LOL!) opening and closing each of the Hot and Cold water

valves at each of the faucets and the toilet. Run the water pump for

a short time to clear it of water.



5, Close that drain valve, shift the shop vac. to the other drain line.



6, Repeat steps #3 &4.



7, Don’t forget to put about a cup of RV anti-freeze in each of the “P” traps.



When finished I will have normally have about a half of gallon of water in the shop vac.



To facilitate the drying of the HWH I then remove the HWH drain plug.



After losing a water pump a few years ago (I still think that either the suction/discharge check valve was just stuck) I will pump about a cup of RV anti-freeze into the pump to protect it.



This may not be for everybody but it works for me.



Richard

 

[GeneA]

how about just draining the hwh close off the by-pass valve, disconnect the hose from the water tank to the pump and run about 1 1/2 or 2 gallons of wal mart rv anti freeze thru both hot water and cold water lines until the pink shows. a cup or so in each drain trap and you have it. Don't forget the external shower lines if you have one.

 

[rweis]

Move to central florida? EVERYBODY else is!



Bob Weis

 

[JERRYKAM]

Great idea using a wet/dry shop vac. I use my 5ver during the winter and don't particularly like using the antifreeze method. In fact I will be traveling from CO to MA in Nov.



The cost of the antifreeze is not much of an issue but flushing the lines of antifreeze each time I take it out is somewhat of a pain. Thus I have been using the blow down method. I have all the necessary fittings and the air compressor that makes the job quick and painless. I have installed quick disconnects for the water pump and surge tank as well as mounted them on a panel that allows easy removal for inside storage. This eliminates any possibility of water in the pump freezing. The only other steps are to drain the water heater tank, drop some rock salt in the drains and add a little water to the traps to allow a bit of salt water to drop into the holding tanks. Cheap but effective. The only downside to the blowdown method is the minor risk of oil contamination. Since our municipal water is pretty crappy we only use bottled water for drinking. Thus a wisp of dino oil getting into the system is of minor concern.



With all that said I still find the idea of using a shopvac a very good alternative.

 

[Schlickenmeyer]

What Gene said. I did mine in 5 minutes flat, and no mess.

 

[RJOL]

how about just draining the hwh close off the by-pass valve, disconnect the hose from the water tank to the pump and run about 1 1/2 or 2 gallons of wal mart rv anti freeze thru both hot water and cold water lines until the pink shows. a cup or so in each drain trap and you have it. Don't forget the external shower lines if you have one.

You can also put an add on valve on your water pump (available at places like Camping World) the you just adjust valves on, and pump the anti freeze into the line using a short piece of hose running from the new valve to the gallon jug of anti freeze.



The only part of your system that you will still have some water in is the line from your water tank to the pump and your city line coming into the trailer. I use both methods. I blow out the lines with air, then pump anti freeze into the lines.

 

[Trophy1]

Good Idea

Thanks for a better way to get the water out! Oo.