Air or antifreeze to winterize?

[JohnnyP]

What is best? I cannot even get to water pump without removing the stove or possibly the outside kitchen. 2010 cougar 26bhs. Am I missing an easy access to pump or should I just use air. 1st timer asking for help.

[JDDilly]

I have only used air. We used antifreeze a couple times and hated the taste and smell for half the next season.

[dwall]

I guess it depends on where you are. I am in South Georgia so all I do is drain and blow out the lines. I do pour a little antifreeze in the drains for the p trap. Not sure it’s needed but I would rather be safe than sorry.

[sourdough]

I'm like dwall, I only drain, blowout and antifreeze in the P traps here in W TX. Don't know if that would work in Indiana. Are you sure the water pump is that "hidden"? I've never had to remove a stove to get to one but guess there's a first time.

[GMcKenzie]

I'm in Canada so I blow and antifreeze. But my pump is pretty easy to get to.

[Northofu1]

Just antifreeze. Took one jug.

[Terry W.]

Well I'm in the foothills of South Carolina I personally do both. I have on all my past units but guess I been lucky with access to water pump and water heater. Just my personal preference.

[ehidle]

Originally Posted by Terry W.

Well I'm in the foothills of South Carolina I personally do both. I have on all my past units but guess I been lucky with access to water pump and water heater. Just my personal preference.

I'm glad I saw this.. I'm in Seneca and have been arguing with myself about what to do to winterize my 30RKD when the time comes. I do have easy access to the bypass valves and the water pump drain so I am thinking I can just blow out and antifreeze the traps like others have said here.

[tech740]

I am in the middle of Michigan and I do both. Mine takes almost 3 gallons.

[DocP]

I do both air and antifreeze, just for my personal peace of mind. Northeastern Ohio gets pretty cold in the winter. I ended up wasting an extra gallon of antifreeze last week - I forgot to close the outside shower valves before I went inside and turned the water pump on to draw the pink stuff. It sucked up the whole gallon and winterized the ground outside! It happens.

[ChuckS]

I do both methods myself... of course drain water heater and bypass... also if you use the black tank built in flush make sure you blow that out with sir otherwise if water stays trapped in plastic anti siphon valve it will crack if it freezes and you will have a flood first time you use it next year..

I like to run RV anti freeze thru mine after blowing out because I want to make sure the water that might remain in the water pump is dispersed with anti freeze.. I also run a bit into both gray tanks and black tanks and leave a little in toilet bowel to keep toilet seal lubed...

If you have residential fridge with ice maker be sure to disconnect water line to it and drain and do reset on ice maker with air blowing thru city connection.

Resetting ice maker a few times forces it to cycle and open solenoid valve on water line to ice maker to displace any water in the ice maker solenoid valve and internal lines

[Black Bark]

Question on the black tank flush and blowing it out. Do you need to open the drain first or can you put 30psi or less thru without opening?

[flybouy]

Haven't hears of a fw pump that requires removing the stove but I guess anything is possible. Take a good look around, often there's a wood panel that can be removed to access the pump and this screws can hide in the dark.

I think it gets pretty cold in Indiana. I use air and antifreeze. Antifreeze is cheap, new fresh water pumps and plumbing isn't.

[Gegrad]

I drain all the lines and WH, flip the bypass for it, manually pump antifreeze into the black tank flush, then pour the remaining 4.5 gallons in my FW tank and pump it through until deep pink. 5 gallons of antifreeze is $12; that's worth it to protect everything; have never had a problem in 5 years. Plus it takes less than 30 minutes to fully winterize it (I am young so I move fast, lol).

[wiredgeorge]

Doesn't matter what any of you do unless you live up in the frozen north. The issue is the location of the water pump. Maybe someone with a mid-decade 26BHS could pop in and tell him how to get to his water pump. It WILL be behind a panel that is held on by a couple screws. Mine is easy to get to as the water fill inlet is right above it where the pump is under a kitchen cabinet that is where the missus stores pots and pans. The panel is held by two screws but this info won't help the OP. Come 26BHS owners... step up and help this guy!

[dljs1941]

Living in the Northeast, I blowout and add antifreeze as part of my winterizing process. Better safe than sorry. However Keystone engineer must have had a bad weekend when he decided to put the pump access behind a panel in the front storage compartment. I guess if your flexible, then not a problem... I also leave my WH in bypass mode at put a sticky note in my camper to remind me (don't want ANY antifreeze getting in there).

[NH_Bulldog]

On the current model, the pump is in the bedside cabinet on the slide side of the camper. I can’t say that is where it was in the 2010 model, but either way there is access panel no matter where it is located.

I live in NH and have lived in Northern New England all my life. Our method of winterizing is to drain and bypass the water heater, blow out all of the lines with air, and then pump in antifreeze (takes about 2 gallons on mine including traps and toilet). My pump has an access panel under the front bed, but it’s easier to get to through the panel face on the bedside base cabinet. Then........I put a bucket under the low point drains and blow out the lines again with air and recapture most of the antifreeze for next year. I know the stuff is cheap, but it just makes it easier to de-winterize in the spring.

[notanlines]

I see where you’re coming from, Bulldog, but your “ and recapture most of the antifreeze for next year. ” is not a practice I would recommend. You are saving diluted product, you are saving less than $5.00 total. This is the mark of a man taking long steps to save $40 shoes and splitting $60 trousers. Families have thousands invested in the RV, nothing to be gained by this practice.

[NH_Bulldog]

If you blow the air out of the lines first, antifreeze isn’t even really necessary. We use the antifreeze on the odd chance some water remains in the system. Any potential dilution is negligible at best.

I am not doing it to save money, it’s just a method I have used for decades on my RV’s and at our seasonal camp deep in the North Woods. In aggregate, it costs me no more than a few extra minutes on the winterizing end, but saves me at least an hour and tons of water on the de-winterizing end. We are on well water and we have no eco-friendly way to drain and flush and dispose of used antifreeze “non-toxic” or not. As others have done, I simply shared a method I use and that has worked for me since the 1990’s without a single damaged plumbing line, fitting or appliance.

[ChuckS]

We use both air and anti freeze... blow out all lines and low points with HWH in bypass.. the water heater gets washed out and new anode rod installed

I like to follow up with antifreeze in the lines because..
.. water pump will still have some residual water in it and the antifreeze displaces water plus keeps seals wet and lubed
.. we pour a bit down the sinks and leave some in the toilet bowl to keep its seal lubed
.. each gray and black tank gets a little anti freeze down it to keep gate valves lubed

Also if you have fridge with ice maker you will need to drain its water line and then run air thru system and reset ice maker a few times so water solenoid valve will open and purge remaining water out of ice maker mechanism.

Don’t forget to blow air thru back tank flush receptacle is you use that...some water will remain 8n the anti siphon valve and it will freeze and crack