How to winterize without "kit"

adVentureMan · 10-23-2012, 04:16 AM

Just bought a Cougar 327RES FW. It it has a hot water tank bypass, so I can empty the hot water tank during my winterizing process. However, there is no siphon kit attached to the water pump yet, so this winter I will have to winterize without it. My plan is to drain the FW's fresh water tank, plumbing and hot water tank. Then put a mix of RV antifreeze and water in the fresh water tank, turn on the water pump, and run each faucet, toilet, outside shower, etc until pink stuff comes out.

Question - any guess on the concentration of pink stuff I'd need? I store the FW in Memphis, where it's rare for the temp to go below 20° for long. I know the antifreeze folks say to not dilute it, but at $4 a gallon there's a limit......

Thanks.

rrohrer · 10-23-2012, 04:48 AM

you should only need 2-3 gallons. So I would not dilute. Their may be a few spots in the lines with residual water that was missed so I wouldn't risk it to save 12 dollars. water line replacement would be more costly and time consuming!

SAABDOCTOR · 10-23-2012, 05:15 AM

Hi you are not going to use that much 3 gal at best. so use it full strength! plus it keeps the seals lubed a bit too!

cathcartww · 10-23-2012, 05:44 AM

Rather than pouring the pink stuff into the fresh water tank, I would just disconnect the hose coming from the fresh water tank from the suction side of the pump, then install another short piece of hose (long enough to reach into the pink stuff bottle) to suck the antifreeze directly into the pump. That way you won't have to flush out the fresh water tank numerous times to get rid of the residual pink stuff.

SteveC7010 · 10-23-2012, 06:38 AM

Point #1: Listen to the voice of experienced RV owners and the antifreeze manufacturer. Do not dilute the antifreeze. Without knowing the exact specific gravity of the diluted mixture, you risk damaging the plumbing system even in the milder winters of Tennessee. One repair due to freeze damage negates any possible savings. It is just not worth it.

Point #2: The suction kits are very inexpensive, usually less than $20, even on Ebay. Using a suction kit will save at least a gallon over pouring the antifreeze into the fresh water tank. And that is an annual savings. And there is the ease of winterization factor, too.

Point #3: Pouring the antifreeze into the fresh water tank means a lot more time in the spring spent on flushing out the antifreeze from the tank. For some reason, what ever material is used for the fresh water tanks in RV's tends to pick up the antifreeze flavor or odor a little bit. It is an avoidable condition.

Bushman512000 · 10-23-2012, 06:58 AM

remember the out side shower if You have one drain the hand shower hose and add some pink to all pee traps..and pink is not as expencive as replacement of pipes so do not add water to save pink ...Bushman

allis15 · 10-23-2012, 09:32 AM

I would recommend just going ahead and installing the Pump Winterizing kit.

$12.99 for Camping World members.

Gary

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...rizer-kit/6279

msp2jxr · 10-23-2012, 09:36 AM

You can also buy a hand pump and pump the pink stuff in through the city water inlet. I have done this on several trailers and never had any issues. Money wise I would just put he buy pass in for the electric pump.

adVentureMan · 10-24-2012, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathcartww

Rather than pouring the pink stuff into the fresh water tank, I would just disconnect the hose coming from the fresh water tank from the suction side of the pump, then install another short piece of hose (long enough to reach into the pink stuff bottle) to suck the antifreeze directly into the pump. That way you won't have to flush out the fresh water tank numerous times to get rid of the residual pink stuff.

Yes, but as I said, I won't have time to do that this season. I'll attach some sort of a siphon kit to make the process easier next spring when I have the time. So this time I'll take the quick way out and just dump 3-4 gallons of the pink into the fresh water tank.

Heck, I'm retired and have so very little spare time anymore.....it's not like I was still working and had weekends off, etc.

Thanks for the replies. Glad to hear I ought to not need more than a few gallons of the pink stuff to winterize.

adVentureMan · 10-24-2012, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveC7010

Point #1: Listen to the voice of experienced RV owners and the antifreeze manufacturer. Do not dilute the antifreeze. Without knowing the exact specific gravity of the diluted mixture, you risk damaging the plumbing system even in the milder winters of Tennessee. One repair due to freeze damage negates any possible savings. It is just not worth it.

Point #2: The suction kits are very inexpensive, usually less than $20, even on Ebay. Using a suction kit will save at least a gallon over pouring the antifreeze into the fresh water tank. And that is an annual savings. And there is the ease of winterization factor, too.

Point #3: Pouring the antifreeze into the fresh water tank means a lot more time in the spring spent on flushing out the antifreeze from the tank. For some reason, what ever material is used for the fresh water tanks in RV's tends to pick up the antifreeze flavor or odor a little bit. It is an avoidable condition.

Good points. I do plan to add a siphon kit this spring when I have more time for such tasks. Our schedule this fall is very, very busy.

Ordinarily I wouldn't dilute, but I have in the past, but used the diluted pink stuff as a "drain trap top off" added to the toilet and drains during the one or two visits to the RV while it's in winter storage just to replace any that might evaporate or drip past the toilet seal. I've never used it to winterize, and I agree with everyone here on reflection; I won't bother to dilute it.

An interesting note: the RV antifreeze is plentiful here in north Florida, but last year I could find hardly any in TN. Odd.

adVentureMan · 10-24-2012, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allis15

I would recommend just going ahead and installing the Pump Winterizing kit.

$12.99 for Camping World members.

Gary

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...rizer-kit/6279

I may order it now. I got a Camping World membership when I bought my FW. No time to install it this year.

adVentureMan · 10-24-2012, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msp2jxr

You can also buy a hand pump and pump the pink stuff in through the city water inlet. I have done this on several trailers and never had any issues. Money wise I would just put he buy pass in for the electric pump.

Never thought of that approach. What sort of hand pump? On my previous FW, the 12 vdc water pump was near its ON/OFF switch inside the FW, so winterizing was quick and easy. In the Cougar 327RES, the water pump is accessible through the basement, so i'd have to keep going in/out side to change bottles, turning the switch off, checking for pink in the faucets, etc.

Heck, I might just stick with pouring what I think is enough pink stuff plus 25% into the fresh water tank, going inside, turning the pump on, then going from faucet/toiler/showers/etc to check for pink. Might be my easiest solution after all........

Bluewater · 10-24-2012, 07:11 AM

I found an easier way rather than going back and forth to the pump switch. Most all pumps are conneted by a male/female type slide wire terminal. Just turn it on once then at the pump just slide off and on one of the wire terminals when you want power. No running around and you are right by the pump anyway.

adVentureMan · 10-25-2012, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluewater

I found an easier way rather than going back and forth to the pump switch. Most all pumps are conneted by a male/female type slide wire terminal. Just turn it on once then at the pump just slide off and on one of the wire terminals when you want power. No running around and you are right by the pump anyway.

Heck, never thought of that!

Of course, I'd still need to go into the FW to open faucets, etc.

SkiSmuggs · 10-25-2012, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adVentureMan

An interesting note: the RV antifreeze is plentiful here in north Florida, but last year I could find hardly any in TN. Odd.

They are not used to indoor plumbing in Tennessee.

adVentureMan · 10-26-2012, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkiSmuggs

They are not used to indoor plumbing in Tennessee.

Hee hee, yep, that's right!

dave-g · 10-27-2012, 02:32 AM

I find a great a great way to save anti freeze is to blow the the line out with an air compressor 1st. I'm always amazed at how much water comes out. Then I pump the anti freeze through. That way when I see pink at the faucet I know I'm done.

PS- If you do not have time to winterize it- you are not going to have the time to repair all the busted pipes in the spring either.

Outbackmel · 10-27-2012, 05:06 AM

Works well and ensures little dilution of pink stuff by existing water. Be sure those outside kitchen faucets and shower head also have pink flow. This cuts down on amount of anti freeze needed.

SteveC7010 · 10-27-2012, 05:37 AM

Don't forget the drain traps. There are at least three of them in almost all of our rigs: shower/tub, kitchen sink, and bathroom sink.

If you pump antifreeze just until you see pink at the faucets, you run the risk of not getting enough antifreeze in the traps. There are a couple of different approaches to solving this:

1. Run the faucet for a bit until you think there's enough in the trap to do the job. (Easiest but not very accurate.)

2. Pour some antifreeze straight from the jug into the traps. (Still very easy, but again, not very accurate.)

The issue of how much pink to get into the traps could be problematic if you don't get enough in the trap to push out enough water to provide adequate expansion protection. So we need a better solution.

3. Get out the shop vac, and plug the hose into the exhaust port. Stick the other end of the hose in the drain and give it a good blast which will push 99% of the water out of the trap. Then pour a cup or two of pink into the trap. This will pretty much ensure that there is virtually no dilution of the antifreeze in the trap and still prevent any residual tank odor from backing up into the trailer.

On the subject of your holding tanks, you first want to dump and clean and drain them as much as possible before you start any winterizing. No matter how well you clean and drain them, you are bound to have some water left on the floor of the tank. As long as it remains on the floor of the tank, it can not damage anything if it does freeze and expand. But if that water gets up against the drain valve or the pipe leading to the drain valve, there may be enough to expand when it freezes in a confined area to break something.

To fix this, there are a couple of things you can do. Parking the trailer with the drain side slightly high (drive it up on a board or two when siting for the winter) will help a bunch to keep the water away from the pipes and valves. This may not always be possible, so pouring pink into the tanks via the drains and toilet raise the concentration of pink to provide at least non-expanding slush if it freezes.

Here is what I do... I blow out the traps first and then the piping. My tanks are already cleaned so I just drain them really well into a bucket which gets dumped into the septic tank. I have the winterizing kit on my pump so I just stick the hose in the gallon jug of antifreeze and pump it into the system. I let it run pink at each faucet in the shower sinks for a few seconds while filling the piping. Then I go back and run each faucet and the toilet for a few more seconds to get a bit of pink down into each tank. The winterizing kit never gets all the pink at the bottom of the jugs so when I am done pumping, I just take the jugs into the trailer and pour the remaining few ounces into the sinks and toilet. This ensures that any liquid that ends up against a drain valve has a high enough concentration of antifreeze to protect them. A bit of pink on valves also keeps the seals lubed across the winter.

It takes just two gallons of RV antifreeze to do the whole trailer with a bit left over to pour in the traps and toilet.

webslave · 10-27-2012, 12:55 PM

To save time and prevent the "running back and forth", I use a 5 gallon container (squat gas can, marked "Anti-Freeze ONLY"". Fill it with antifreeze, put the siphon hose in and go inside and start opening faucets and flushing the toilet. When I'm done I put the container away and top off the container when ever the anti-freeze goes on sale for use next year.

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