Freeze in OK and am I ready?

[donbranch73]

New to the RV thing and need to know if the following will suffice for the upcoming freeze.
My 2013 Springdale is on land 3 hours away. Before I left yesterday I made sure all tanks were empty (there was nothing in the black tank as we flushed it on Saturday before we pulled to our land:D. We have no electricity, water or septic where the trailer is sitting. I also opened the one low level drain under the fresh water tank. I opened the faucets in both the kitchen and bathroom.

Am I in big trouble here? :confused:

[Bluewater]

Any problems will probably show up in your water lines and pump because they were not winterized. Maybe hot water tank also.

[FullTimer]

I saw the forecast also. My biggest concern would be HW heater. It might take awhile to freeze, but once it does it's over for it. Hopefully by opening low point and faucets, it back drained the tank down.

[Festus2]

New to the RV thing and need to know if the following will suffice for the upcoming freeze.
My 2013 Springdale is on land 3 hours away. Before I left yesterday I made sure all tanks were empty (there was nothing in the black tank as we flushed it on Saturday before we pulled to our land:D. We have no electricity, water or septic where the trailer is sitting. I also opened the one low level drain under the fresh water tank. I opened the faucets in both the kitchen and bathroom.

Am I in big trouble here? :confused:

donbranch -
Well, you could be in trouble depending upon how low the temperatures drop and the length of the upcoming freeze. It sounds like you have not completely winterized your Springdale since you made no mention of draining the water lines, blowing them out with air or using RV antifreeze or draining the HW tank.

There are 2 low level drains - one for cold water and another, separate one for hot. The "drain" directly under and attached to the FW tank is probably the drain for that FW tank and not the water line itself.

The potential problem appears to be with the water that remains in HW tank and the water lines itself. Any check valves, the water pump itself, and toilet valves/flush mechanism may also be in danger of freezing and cracking.

The weather of course will be the determining factor. If you get several days of freezing temps (during both the day and night), you could be in trouble.

To be on the safe side and to protect your rig against possible frozen water lines , etc., you might want to consider driving to your RV and winterizing it before this cold front moves into and settles in that area.

A tough call for you to make.

[donbranch73]

Thanks for the info. My son lives about an hour away. Is there a picture of this hw tank and what needs to be drained. Have looked and have not been able to find one. In the instructions it says to remove the drain plug (or anode rod if equipped). Is the drain plug easily accessible and recognizable? I believe it's an Atwood HW heater.

[FullTimer]

Thanks for the info. My son lives about an hour away. Is there a picture of this hw tank and what needs to be drained. Have looked and have not been able to find one. In the instructions it says to remove the drain plug (or anode rod if equipped). Is the drain plug easily accessible and recognizable? I believe it's an Atwood HW heater.

I can;t help on the HW heater, but tell him to splash some antifreeze in the traps, tub and sinks.

[Festus2]

Thanks for the info. My son lives about an hour away. Is there a picture of this hw tank and what needs to be drained. Have looked and have not been able to find one. In the instructions it says to remove the drain plug (or anode rod if equipped). Is the drain plug easily accessible and recognizable? I believe it's an Atwood HW heater.

donbranch -
If you Google Atwood RV water heater then you will be able to find some photos and diagrams for it.
I believe that this heater has a 6-sided white nylon drain plug which is located on the exterior part of the tank. It is left of center and about 2/3 the way down from the top of the tank.

Because of the aluminum walls of the Atwood tank, it doesn't have an anode.

If you still have water in the tank, loosen the plug SLOWLY and stand back when you loosen it fully to avoid getting soaked by the water gushing out. You'll need a wrench or socket set to unloosen the plug.

[donbranch73]

Going to go ahead and make a quick trip up and back. Might as well get it winterized correctly. I'll let you know how it went. Thanks all for your help.

[Festus2]

Going to go ahead and make a quick trip up and back. Might as well get it winterized correctly. I'll let you know how it went. Thanks all for your help.

donbranch73 -
I know it's a long drive and 'pain' to have to make the 3 hour drive to attend to your RV. However, once you have completely winterized it, you will sleep better at nights knowing that it is done. Who knows? You could be in for yet another Polar Vortex. :eek: Let's hope not.

By taking care of this potential problem now, you could also be saving yourself $$$ by not having to repair/replace frozen pumps, tanks, valves and lines.

[FullTimer]

Snow almost here to Tulsa, and predicted -2 windchill tonight.

[denverpilot]

Make sure it's non-toxic RV antifreeze. Tell someone not used to winterizing an RV to use antifreeze they might go buy the green stuff. Need pink stuff.

[donbranch73]

Made it back from the Purcell area 30 minutes ago. Was able to completely drain the hot water tank thank goodness no ice yet. Was able to pump the pink stuff I bought at United RV in Fort Worth. Also purchased a hand pump to pump the pink stuff into the lines. The only issue I had was not being able to pump into the city water connection, wonder if was frozen already. I did force the antifreeze into the kitchen faucet until it started coming out of the tub faucet.
I think we're ok but will know for sure when I return in a couple weeks.

[denverpilot]

City water stoppage may have been a check valve.

This may help you see if you missed anything... Or for future reference... The only thing missing is that some newer trailers have a single bypass valve at the water heater now, and have a permanently installed bypass to suck antifreeze into the water pump without having to disconnect any lines, just turn another valve...

http://youtu.be/NkiToSzzuII

[Dave45039]

Hear is a link to video on how exactly to winterize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkiToSzzuII

Good luck to you!

[Kristi]

Made it back from the Purcell area 30 minutes ago. .

That's our neck o' the woods, sorry you had to make such a long drive, but I'm sure it was worth it if it saves you broken water lines or valves. Now if only it would get back up to 67F like it was Sunday...... ;)

[FullTimer]

Since this is an Oklahoma thread, I strongly suspect by Sunday/ Monday we will be experiencing a stout? freezing rain, ice storm. Something like the southern coast is experiencing now. There will be a brief slight warmup, before it hits. :(

So it's probably a good thing you went full bore on the winterizing.

[donbranch73]

City water stoppage may have been a check valve.

This may help you see if you missed anything... Or for future reference... The only thing missing is that some newer trailers have a single bypass valve at the water heater now, and have a permanently installed bypass to suck antifreeze into the water pump without having to disconnect any lines, just turn another valve...

http://youtu.be/NkiToSzzuII

I did find the HW heater bypass valve under the sink next to the HW tank but have not located the bypass for the pump. I believe it's up front under the bed but not sure. have not had a chance to look for it. Will find it when I go back in a few weeks. Any have an idea where it is located? Also, the owners manuals seem to be generic for the Keystone TT's. Are they any available that are specific to the model?

[Festus2]

Unfortunately, you'll have to make do with the generic Keystone manual as there are no model specific ones available.

You may or may not have a bypass kit installed on your water pump. As was mentioned earlier, some later models may have come with already there but some don't.

[denverpilot]

If it has one it's usually only a few inches from the pump itself. Our pump is hiding behind a carpeted panel aft of the 5er's pass through but finding the pump is the key to finding the bypass. They're supposedly good about putting it somewhere you would have a level spot to set a gallon jug of antifreeze within reach of the short hose so you can let the pump suck from it unattended as you wander around the RV running all the faucets and outdoor shower head if equipped.

[donbranch73]

Went back up last weekend and all was well. nothing frozen!! flushed out and used for the weekend. Winterized it again before I left. Hopefully this will be the last time as I'll be there for a couple weeks in late March.