If you live in the northern US like we do, you understand the necessity of winterizing your RV at the end of the season. If you’ve never done it, there’s no need to be intimidated, it’s actually pretty easy. There’s really just two ways. I’ve done both and I’ll outline them here.
With our first RV, I used compressed air to clear all the water lines and then pour antifreeze in the traps and some in the black and gray wastewater tanks. This is definitely the easiest method. With our second RV, I attempted to use the same method, but I couldn’t get all the water out no matter how much air I put through the lines. So I had to use the method most dealers use and pump antifreeze into the water lines. This is a bit of a pain in the ass, but it’s better then having water freeze in one of the lines!
Step by step using compressed air:
- Drain the black and gray tanks. Easiest to do this at your last camping stop. We would also run extra water through the black tank to try to get it as clean as possible.
- Open the low point drain. This may be a couple of caps screwed on to water lines or a ball valve type mechanism you can turn to open the line. After all the water has drained, replace the caps or close the valves.
- Drain the water heater by removing the anode rod. Over the winter, I always leave the anode rod in the hole but not screwed in.
- Switch the valves on the water heater input and output lines. The cold input and the hot output should be closed to prevent any water/antifreeze from entering the heater. The crossover should be open to allow water/antifreeze to flow freely between the hot and cold lines.
- If you have a central water filter, remove the housing and dump any remaining water. I also remove the filter and store it elsewhere in case I need to fill the system with antifreeze. Reattach the filter housing.
- Clearing the lines
- Start with the highest water outlet point in your trailer. For me that’s the shower. Open the hot and cold and make sure all other faucets are closed
- Run the compressor to 50 PSI and then turn it off. Connect the compressor to the city water inlet. As soon as I connect to the inlet, the compressed air will blow out all the water. This usually takes about 30 seconds. Listen to the air coming out of the faucet. You should be able to tell from the sound whether you’ve successfully blown out all the water. If there’s any gurgling sound, there’s probably still some water in the line.
- Repeat this procedure for each faucet, working from the highest to the lowest. Don’t forget the toilet!
- After all the faucets and the toilet have been cleared, open the low point drain again, and use the compressor again to blow out any water that has drained down. Close the low point drain.
- Now that all the water should be out of the lines, the only thing left is the add antifreeze to the traps and tanks. I use about a gallon spread across the three tanks (galley, gray, and black). This should protect the traps from freezing since they’ll be full of antifreeze. It should also provide some protection from anything freezing that might have been left in the tanks.
Assuming you got all the water out, you’re done! If you heard any gurgling sounds when you were blowing out the lines, or you’re not sure if you got all the water out, then you’ll need to pump antifreeze into the water lines. If that’s the case, then you can skip the last step above. That will need to be done after the water lines are filled with antifreeze. Continue reading for the step by step procedure:
- The first thing you’ll need is some kind of pump and short hoses. I use a small drill powered pump I bought at Home Depot. It has male hose connections on both sides. For the hose into the city water inlet, I found a 6 ft hose at Home Depot with male on one end and female on the other. On the other side of the pump I use a hose with just one end, a female connector to attach to the pump.
- Connect the output hose from the pump to the city water inlet. Open the highest tap in the trailer.
- Submerge the other hose in a container of antifreeze and start the pump.
- Run the pump until the antifreeze comes out the tap. If you have a clear water filter housing, you can check to make sure the system has been filled with antifreeze.
- Once the system has been filled, pour some antifreeze down each of the drains to protect the traps from freezing in case there’s any water left in them.
- That’s it, you’re done!
If you had to fill the system with antifreeze, you’ll need to flush the system the first time out. And if you have a built in water filter, flush the system and then re-install the water filter.
Hopefully I’ve covered everything. If you think I’ve missed anything, let me know by using the contact form.
Happy trailering!!!