Winterizing a travel trailer

[Gary H NC]

Just got my new Coachman 28 footer home from the dealer in NY.
I have been reading the owners manual and it does not say much about winterizing.
I figure some of you guys own RVs and may have some tips.
I drained the freshwater tank,took the plug out of the water heater and drained it and drained the gray and black water tanks.
This is a brand new unit and it had water in the system from them doing the demo for me.
How much of the pink antifreeze do i need and where to put it?
I was wondering about the sink traps and water pump.
Can i use that pink stuff in the freshwater tank and run the pump to get it through the lines?
Thanks guys!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Gary, find your water pump and with it being new, should have a hose hooked to it(pump) with a on/off valve that you would use to winterize it with.
Be a clear hose attached close to the pump.
Check to see if the hot water heater has a by-pass system on it and turn the 2 water lines off and the by-pass line on.
Open the hot water valves on all your places, kitchen, shower, bathroom, outside shower, stick hose in gallon of anti-freeze, turn pump on till pink comes out all spigots.
Turn pump off, shut hot water spigots off, turn cold water ones on and do it again, plus flush the toilet till you see pink running out it.
You have it done plus you got some in the traps also.
Now take a rag/paper towel and wipe the pink stuff out of the sink/s/shower etc cause it will stain if left untouched.
Your done.
Takes about 3 gallon to do it right.
Anymore ?s, just ask.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Thanks SBN, I will investigate the pump location.I do know the manual says it does have the heater bypass.
The bottom of the camper has a skin over the frame.It has a clear plastic drain line near the back that drains the freshwater tank.There is two more of those same size lines with plastic caps near the gray water drain.
Too bad the manual tells nothing about what is what.
I would hate to have to take it to a dealer for something this simple.
I have not noticed any access panels for the pump.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Turn the pump on Gary and you will find it. Will be close to the fresh water tank.
Also look on outside of trailer for a sticker that says low water drain or something like that.
You will or should see 2 lines hanging down.
Inside the camper at that point will be the 2 lines that I speak of.
They will/should have a valve on them, push down/pull up type that you will need to open to drain all the water out of the camper.
That is the lowest part of the camper and all the lines will empty there.
On mine, the pump is under the sink.
Have to take out bottom drawer to see it.
Just look, you will find it.
Look at you Hot water heater inside your camper.
You will/should see, if it has the bypass, the hot and cold lines plus the by-pass line.
There will be valves on these.
When open, the valves will be inline with the lines.
When closed they will be turned across the lines.
Close the hot and cold water ones and open the by-pass one to winterize.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Thanks SBN, I can hear the pump,its under the bed behind a panel.Its right behind the hot water heater.I will have to take a few screws out to get to it.
I did find another small book in all the paper work that says to open all 3 drains under camper,run the pump to drain.Pour 2 gallons of anti freeze into freshwater tank and run the pump until pink comes out of faucets.It does say to bypass water heater.You were dead on! I need to drain the water heater again then turn the bypass valve.
I'll pick up some anti freeze this evening and give all this a try.
I have my back surgery next week so i got to get this done.I'll let you know how the winterizing goes.Thanks again buddy!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Take that panel off and see if you see another clear line hooked to the pump.
It will have a valve to be able to cut it off and on.
Stick that line in your jug of pink stuff, turn valve on and turn pump on.
I just do not like the idea of putting the pink stuff in the fresh water tank plus you will have to use a lot more of it to get the pump to pick it up.

"If" your's does not have this, get one to put on it before next winter.
They sell them at the RV place or online.
Camping World.com is a good resource for RV things.
Makes everything a lot easier and done in about 5 minutes.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

This is the kit and it's about 35 bucks at camping world.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Gary, Spinner has given you some good instructions here. When we first got ours, we wanted to winterize it, but really couldn't make heads or tails out of the manual. So we went to the dealer to ask him what the "Factory Approved" method was so we did not void any warranty. We are glad we did ... at no charge he walked us through the winterization process, and we understood why we could not make sense out of the manual - because it was for a standard system and we had an "automated winterizing system." One that stores the pink antifreeze and recovers it. Works real slick and takes about 5 minutes to complete the entire process.

That said, you might want to check with your dealer to see what THEY recommend for winterizing - especially if there is warranty on the RV.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Good info,Thanks!
I did not get time to look at it today but will get on it tomorrow.
The idea of dumping antifreeze in the freshwater tank is kind of strange.
I'll remove that panel and check it out.A call to the dealer is a good idea.
It does have the factory warranty and i bought an extended 7 year warranty.
The book is kind of confusing,saying to dump 2 gallons in the fresh tank..

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Most of the time when they have a hot water heater by-pass sytem on them, they will have the winterization kit also.
I say most, not always though.

 

[newbie4life]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

I winterized my folks new travel trailer this past weekend... Brand new Outback 31RLS -- very nice camper, but the winterization method is crappy. Take out screws to get to the pump -- disconnect the fresh water line from the tank, find a hose to screw on to the pump, and stick the end in the anti-freeze.

That WILL change in the spring. I'm gonna run pex and a couple of shut-offs to make it easier to winterize. My 2001 is a breeze to winterize, but this one was an absolute pain in the butt.

 

[Fish n Geer]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Good info,Thanks!
I did not get time to look at it today but will get on it tomorrow.
The idea of dumping antifreeze in the freshwater tank is kind of strange.
I'll remove that panel and check it out.A call to the dealer is a good idea.
It does have the factory warranty and i bought an extended 7 year warranty.
The book is kind of confusing,saying to dump 2 gallons in the fresh tank..

Thats how it said to do mine.Thats what i did.As far as the hot water heater i opened all the hot faucets until it was just blowing air.then turned on all others one at a time until the pink came out shut them off.This is my first time as well,although it isnt new its a 2001 Rockwood Roo,we bought this past april.A old timer told me about using mothballs in it to detour mice and such.Well man it smells strong in there! Put them in the closets cupboards etc.Hope i did everything right?Did everything on the list in the book.Someone mentioned to put tires on a board to keep them directly off the ground,did that,removed the battery,covered her up.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Well,Pulled that panel off and it does have the heater bypass but no hose for winterizing.What a confusing mess of water lines!
I guess this year i'll do it as the manual says but will be adding a winterizing kit before next year.Its a pain to get to under the bed.
I did bypass the heater tank and drained it.
I have to call the dealer back Monday about paperwork so i'll see if i can get the service department on the phone to see how they do it.
They had about 15 of this same model on the lot so i'm sure they could walk me through the steps on the phone.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Gary, did you find the water pump?
That is where the hose would be, not at the HWH.
At HWH, you will see 2 straight lines and one crossover line that goes between the other 2.
Close the valves on the 2 lines and open the valve on the crossover/bypass line.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Thanks Spinner,Just finished it.The pump is mounted behind the water heater with access under the bed.I pulled the suction side hose off the pump and made a hose to stick in the anti freeze jugs.Oped each faucet one at a time,cold then hot side until they run pink.Flushed the toilet several times and its full of pink fluid.It only took about 1 and 1/2 gallons.I poured the rest down the sink drains to fill the traps.I hope its good to go now.
I will be getting that winterizing kit for sure by next year.
I did call the dealer and he said that pouring it in the freshwater tank would take at least 8 gallons for the pump to pick it up.He instructed me to do it the way i did until i get the kit.
Now i got the boat and jet flea to get done this weekend before i have surgery Wed.
Thanks for the help!!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Thats how it said to do mine.Thats what i did.As far as the hot water heater i opened all the hot faucets until it was just blowing air.then turned on all others one at a time until the pink came out shut them off.This is my first time as well,although it isnt new its a 2001 Rockwood Roo,we bought this past april.A old timer told me about using mothballs in it to detour mice and such.Well man it smells strong in there! Put them in the closets cupboards etc.Hope i did everything right?Did everything on the list in the book.Someone mentioned to put tires on a board to keep them directly off the ground,did that,removed the battery,covered her up.

Make sure you take the drain plug out of the hot water heater to get any leftover water out.Mine would blow air also but when i took the drain plug out it still had water in it!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Glad you got it done.
Make sure you get plenty in the traps.
They are plastic and they won't take much to crack.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Yep,sure did! poured a bunch in the drains.
Just finished the jet flea,got the boat to go.
The dang boat battery was dead? Gotta get it charged to run the Stabil thru then fog it.
The more toys the more work!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Ain't it the truth?

 

[Fish n Geer]

Re: Winterizing a travel trailer

Make sure you take the drain plug out of the hot water heater to get any leftover water out.Mine would blow air also but when i took the drain plug out it still had water in it!

Will do Gary! Thanks for the info.We almost got a coachman 26ft it was nice but for actual room this one had more.How do you like yours?We feel like big shots compared to tenting all those years.Started out looking at pop ups.Then I came across the hybrids.Which im sure you know is a pop up travel trailer combo.Anyway thanks for the heads up.