Winterize Dry Tanks, Lines?

[Joe1969]

It rarely if ever freezes where I am, frost conditions but actual freezing is close to never. I store my RV with all the lines and tanks drained dry. In this situation, do tanks and lines still need to be winterized with antifreeze? I am reading that RV pipes generally start to freeze around 20 degrees, that’s a never where I am.

[Lee]

Hi,

I am in Olympia WA and we do see some freezing weather.

I do as you stated by first draining all tanks (FWT, both Greys, and the black, also the HWT) then using 45psi of compressed air to blow out all of the lines.

I then pour some pink stuff down each drain and a little in the toilet bowl to keep the seal wet.

I have never had a freeze damage problem.

The way I understand it, the Pex is very freeze tolerant. The weak spot is the plastic fittings used with the Pex in our RV's. They will crack when frozen water is in them.

Finally, don't forget to blow out the black tank rinse line.

[chuckster57]

I’m just down the highway in Modesto, haven’t had any issues in the 20+ yrs I’ve had my fivers parked in the backyard.

[JRTJH]

I'd guess that what you're doing will provide adequate protection from "most" of that frost, but seldom freezing temps... It's the "one time it does freeze" that'll get you when you are least prepared...

If the "effort vs reward" is suitable for you, then you'll probably be OK... Unless it gets extremely cold. If you ask anyone from Texas about their preparations for storage 2 years ago, they'd likely tell you that "Things were OK, until they weren't"....

As long as you can react to an unexpected cold snap, you'll be fine...

One thing I would recommend, regardless of any change in your procedures, would be to turn on all the faucets after draining the system. That way, there's no closed space for ice to expand inside the faucet stems. Faucets that are turned off tend to crack more often than faucets that are left turned on....

[chuckster57]

Back in like 2014 we had a week of 17* at night warming to 40 during the day. My trailer was in the backyard, ready to go camping. I finally got worried at day 4 and undid the low point drains, opened faucets and went about my business.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Back in like 2014 we had a week of 17* at night warming to 40 during the day. My trailer was in the backyard, ready to go camping. I finally got worried at day 4 and undid the low point drains, opened faucets and went about my business.

I did the same in Louisiana for 20+ years, then one year it got "cold enough to set a new record" and the next day, water was dripping out of the bottom of our Holiday Rambler.... Where we live now, it's not even a question about whether to "drain the low point drains, then blow the lines with compressed air, then put antifreeze in all the lines.... It's been a "warmer than normal winter" so far, we've only gone down to -7F.

Having a "week of 17F low temps" is a "heat wave for us in January/February" LOL

[cougar23]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by cougar23

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Yep, another way to express that statement is:

Two gallons of RV antifreeze is $6.

10 PEX elbows, 2 PEX Tee's, a bag of crimp rings, a crimping tool, a tubing cutter, a new kitchen faucet and a toilet inlet valve will cost around $150, plus 4 or 5 hours of "knuckle busting, on your knees, cussing" to replace the freeze damage makes for a guaranteed "spend the $6 for antifreeze next fall !!!

Then there's always the solution of spending $500 in diesel fuel to tow to Florida for the winter.....

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Yep, another way to express that statement is:

Two gallons of RV antifreeze is $6.

10 PEX elbows, 2 PEX Tee's, a bag of crimp rings, a crimping tool, a tubing cutter, a new kitchen faucet and a toilet inlet valve will cost around $150, plus 4 or 5 hours of "knuckle busting, on your knees, cussing" to replace the freeze damage makes for a guaranteed "spend the $6 for antifreeze next fall !!!

Then there's always the solution of spending $500 in diesel fuel to tow to Florida for the winter.....

^^^^And there is the ultimate solution!! Balmy, bright sunshine, short sleeve weather. You don't know whether to take a nap, go fishing, shelling, bike riding or.....just thinking about it tired me out, guess I'll go for the nap!

[dutchmensport]

When you say, "empty" do you mean you have blown your lines out or just simply opened the low point drain and let them drain out.

If all you did was open the low point drains, then you still have water in those lines. Once the cold penetrates through any outside structure, then through the structure of your camper and then finally penetrates the pipes in your camper, water will freeze when it reaches less than 32 degrees. The "delay" between the outside temperature and temperature of the water in the lines all depends upon how long each layer of insulation can retain heat before it reaches the same outside temperature and passes on the cold.

However, if you blow out your lines, any residual water left in the lines will be so miniscule, that even if it does freeze, there is plenty of room for those water droplets and specks of water to expand without hurting anything.

As long as there is room for the water, when turning to ice, to expand without breaking anything, that is how much water you can have remaining in the lines. So, blowing the lines with compressed air is a good way to do it.

You can purchase adapters that attach to your garden hose, fresh water, inlet on your camper. There are a couple available. Those that work like the air stim on your tires and those that act like air compressor hose connections. The first requires holding the air hose on the valve stem. The second connects like an air compressor hose connection and you don't have to hold it in place.

If you blew the lines, you have very, very little to be concerned about. If you just drained the low point, you still are not good to go if temps drop too low for too long.

Click here

or This one without the turn off valve

and

This one

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

...
If you blew the lines, you have very, very little to be concerned about. If you just drained the low point, you still are not good to go if temps drop too low for too long.

Click here

or This one without the turn off valve

and

This one

Just one thing to add...i still would put some RV antifreeze down each drain to cover trap/accumulated water between there and the tank.

[jconforti]

Originally Posted by Lee

Hi,

I am in Olympia WA and we do see some freezing weather.

I do as you stated by first draining all tanks (FWT, both Greys, and the black, also the HWT) then using 45psi of compressed air to blow out all of the lines.

I then pour some pink stuff down each drain and a little in the toilet bowl to keep the seal wet.

I have never had a freeze damage problem.

The way I understand it, the Pex is very freeze tolerant. The weak spot is the plastic fittings used with the Pex in our RV's. They will crack when frozen water is in them.

Finally, don't forget to blow out the black tank rinse line.

^^^^ This is exactly what I do. ^^^^

I also drop the stainer cup from the water pump and drain the water heater. I do not want the chemical in my water lines. I know polypropylene glycol is non-toxic, but I still do not want it.

Pex is burst resestant down to -10 degF.

[captainbillyw69]

Originally Posted by Joe1969

It rarely if ever freezes where I am, frost conditions but actual freezing is close to never. I store my RV with all the lines and tanks drained dry. In this situation, do tanks and lines still need to be winterized with antifreeze? I am reading that RV pipes generally start to freeze around 20 degrees, that’s a never where I am.

I do the same. The coldest temperatures we have had in the last 50 years were 12°F. We have had our trailer since 2006 and no tank or line problems due to freezing, actually no problems at all

[Mikelff]

Blow out lines, put 1/2 gal pink stuff In grey and black tanks and down all p traps. A little in toilet bowl to keep seal wet. Drain hot water heater. I leave faucets open, low point drains and fresh water tank drains open. Run water pump a few seconds to get as much water out of pump as possible. Never any issues here in North Texas where we get ice storms and freezing weather. Good to go.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by jconforti

^^^^ This is exactly what I do. ^^^^

I also drop the stainer cup from the water pump and drain the water heater. I do not want the chemical in my water lines. I know polypropylene glycol is non-toxic, but I still do not want it.

Pex is burst resestant down to -10 degF.

Yes, the PEX tubing isn't the issue though.... It's those "lowest bid poly-styrene fittings (elbows and Tees) that will split in a "new york minute" if water freezes in them .... And that seems to only happen (if your luck is like mine) in the belly of the trailer, somewhere buried behind the hardest part to work around, and usually found on the worst day of getting the trailer de-winterized and ready for that first spring trip.....