Dewinterizing

[HappilyE]

I'm going today to pick up a winterized trailer and want to dewinterize it before buying. The current owners know nothing it was an inheritance. I am fairly Savvy with RVs but not this one and would like any tips on process to do this right. Express light.

[dutchmensport]

De-winterizing is very simple. Hook up a garden hose to the camper, turn on the water spigot, and then inside the camper and turn on each faucet, shower, toilet, hot water then cold water. Run the water until you see no more "pink" stuff. Once the water is clear, you are done.

You will want to do this before taking the water heater out of by-pass mode. Once the lines are clear, then turn the water heater by-pass off, and fill the water heater. You may want to flush the water heater once by filling it first, opening the drain on the outside, let it drain out, and fill it again.

Absolutely do not turn the water heater "on" until it is completely filled with water. If it's empty and you turn on the electric, you will burn out the heating element within 3 seconds. If you turn on the gas, it won't hurt anything (for a while), but the metal on the tank will get extremely hot and can damage it. So, make sure there is water in the water heater before turning it on.

To fill the water heater, take it out of by-pass and turn on your outside garden hose. Now open a hot water faucet. It will start spitting air as the the tank is filling with water. Once water starts streaming smoothly with no more air spitting, the water heater is full. Now, do the same with all the hot water faucets in the camper to get all the air out of the all the lines.

Once everything quits spitting air, your water heater is good to turn on.

[HappilyE]

Many many thanks. Happy trails

[CBears]

I always include a sterilization in my de-winterization routine. I think that would be a good idea for you also especially since it is coming from someone else so you don't know what the inside of the tanks have been subjected to.

[JRTJH]

Just a word of caution.....

If you don't know who or how the trailer was winterized, before pressurizing any of the water system, I'd check for caps on the low point drains, make sure the faucets were not disconnected under the sinks, make sure the toilet is connected to the water supply and that all those "cone type connections" are tight and not leaking. Also, some people, rather than pouring antifreeze down the drains will remove the P traps. If that was done, then turning on the water faucet may flood the sink cabinets.....

Typically, those things are not left loose, but your first time dewinterizing, you're dealing with an unknown person doing the job and possibly even the previous owner, knowing that he was selling the trailer this year, may have taken short cuts that he normally would not have done.....

So, be cautious and make sure things are "put back together" before hooking up a garden hose !!!!!

[ProRoad]

Great post, thanks for this info! It actually tells me what probably happened when I had a water line, 3 way valve break, it emptied the tank and probably cooked the various heating elements. Also, the Ignition control igniter module was laying in standing water.

As always, knowing the basics is a great way to start troubleshooting.