Winterize questions

[tommy24a]

This will be the first time i will be winterize my 2021 Hideout 29dfs. I have a blow out plug to install in my city water inlet and a compressor. Will blowing out the water lines and emptying the hot water heater be sufficient? or must i also add antifreeze? Also i have no idea where my pump is. i cant hear it run when i hit the switch. thanks in advance for any help.

[hondapro87]

I would also add antifreeze, don't forget about the outside shower and the toilet flush valve, and pour some antifreeze down each drain. Also drain the water heater ( and bypass it) if you are going to use antifreeze.

Be sure you have a regulator on your air line set to 40-50 psi.

[tommy24a]

thank you!

[dutchmensport]

There are many folks who use the compressed air blow method only and are very successful with this process. I've never taken notice if anyone who does the blow exclusively process lives in Canada or the Northern States in the US. The reason I state this is because, if you live in the Southern states and blow only, you can most assuredly get away with it. A few hours of below freezing weather and then it warms up again is far different than when temperatures get to zero and below, and stay there for days and days on end.

Regardless of how much you "blow" the lines, there are still particles of water droplets that will remain in the water lines. Now, considering the lines are virtually empty, a short term freeze probably won't even reach the lines inside the camper. But a long term hard freeze eventually will. I've forgotten the dogs water bowl sometimes, and with all the heat off and the trailer shut down, and the outside temperatures are 20 degrees or less long enough, that dog bowl will turn to solid ice inside the camper. Any residual water droplets do too.

Now, residual water droplets in a virtually empty water line have lots of room to expand and not hurt anything. But, the residual water drops that remain around your valves, your faucet valves, and any other valve, even the slightest amount of water vapor left in them will also freeze, expand and potentially damage the seal. Regardless of how hard you try, when using the compressed air only method, there is still always some water remaining in the lines. Mostly it doesn't hurt, but it only takes that one time for some unwelcome repairs will be needed in the Spring.

So, if you live in a "hard freeze" zone, I suggest you do not depend on the compressed air method only.

When I winterize, I pump the pink first. This replaces all the water. I then blow the pink out with the compressor. This keeps the pink stuff from tainting the water lines so much, but does replace all the water, 100%.

That's my suggestion. There are no right or wrong ways to do it, we all do it different for different reasons and we do it different depending upon where we live and how the camper is stored (or used) over the cold months.

[tommy24a]

thanks for the reply..well explained and looks like i will need to do the antifreeze method. not worth taking the chance. thanks again!

[notanlines]

As David (Dutch) explained, there are a number of correct ways to do this. But his way is as good as any I've heard. Keep in mind that the paltry $9.00 you're going to spend on three gallons of 'stuff' at Walmart will be chump change in the long run. You might even have half left over.

[tommy24a]

very true!

[spade117]

Originally Posted by tommy24a

This will be the first time i will be winterize my 2021 Hideout 29dfs. I have a blow out plug to install in my city water inlet and a compressor. Will blowing out the water lines and emptying the hot water heater be sufficient? or must i also add antifreeze? Also i have no idea where my pump is. i cant hear it run when i hit the switch. thanks in advance for any help.

Make sure you do not add the antifreeze to the hot water heater. There should be a bypass valve for that.

For the location of the water pump, it is usually close to where you put fresh water into the trailer. Most times it is hidden behind some wall that can be removed by loosening a couple of screws. There are quite a bit of other threads here asking about water pump locations and that is usually the case. Do a search and you can probably find yours the same way.

[tommy24a]

thanks..i knew where the HW heated bypass was because i had to un winterize it at the start of the season. I did end up finding the pump under the kitchen sink..a bitch to het at bit all winterized now. Thanks for the response!

[JDDilly]

I only use air to blow out my lines and only use antifreeze in the traps. I have been doing this for over 20 years and 5 different rigs without an issue.

[dutchmensport]

Yes! Remember the P-traps under the sink. I missed one year (some time ago) and come Spring it was cracked. It was an easy fix, but after that, I simply removed the P-traps now and dump them out in a bucket.

Over the course of the Winter, I will Winterize and un-Winterize 3 or 4 times as we seem to always take off from Indiana and head South for a week or two and then have to return to the frozen tundra! Removing the P-traps has become a customary practice now.

[turbojimmy]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

When I winterize, I pump the pink first. This replaces all the water. I then blow the pink out with the compressor. This keeps the pink stuff from tainting the water lines so much, but does replace all the water, 100%.

This is a great idea. I've been doing it backwards! (blow then pink stuff)

[terrythetech]

I didn't see mentioned is not to forget to blow the water out of the black tank flush valve and lines. Usually by your freshwater (city water) port. Blowing this out (if equipped) will prevent the one-way valve (mine under the bathroom sink). It can freeze as it holds water as well and you won't notice it until you use it the first time after a thaw.

[crowbar]

I've never used anti-freeze in any of my rvs over the years and I live on the "wet" coast of Canada. I simply blow out the lines every year. But I wouldn't recommend that to anybody because I just may be lucky and we could have a real cold one and I'll get stung.
By the way, Terry, thanks for that tip on blowing out the flush valve. I keep forgetting that one.

[German Shepherd Guy]

Me too. On the flush valve. Going out tomorrow and blow it out. I don't really use it so just don't think about it.

[Gunny Mike]

We live up North and we blow the lines. With three diffrent holding tanks I dump a gallon of antifreeze down each of the seperate drains for those tanks to ensure no ice buildup down when it ices up. We keep an extra gallon or two for a winter weekend getaway. We keep adding antifreeze to the black tank if we have to use it.

[Falcon67]

We also own a race trailer with a bath package. Pot, shower, water heater, a/c, no heat. Tagged as an RV. No floor insulation, pex lines. I blow out the lines, dump antifreeze in the drains and black tank - a gallon each at least. Then I add enough antifreeze to the fresh tank till it dribbles out the drain. Set the water heater on Winter and cover the pump with a heating pad.. That has work fine for the last 4 years, including a week Feb 2020 at near zero. Startup, I just partially fill/drain the fresh tank until it drains clean, run city water pressure into the system to get any air bubbles out.

[Marineman]

I started a thread in the "Repairs and Maintenance" section of this Forum on how to winterize your RV with compressed air. Super easy and I've done it for 14 years in the Northwest with no problems.

Here's the link to that page:

https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...ad.php?t=49173

[jxnbbl]

Just like don't forget the outdoor shower...don't forget the black tank flush! I just finished winterizing this afternoon. Three changes between my 273 bullet and the 330. - Two black tank flushes, the HW tank override has moved to the water/cable bay from under the bunks and they have the winterization valve feature in the bay too. I have to say this works great as I just use my 5 gal antifreeze/hose container that I use for my boat hook it to the winterization connector and pump away it sucks it right out of the container.

(I'm a blowout, then antifreeze guy).

[Cousin Gary]

So you blow air thru the winterize port?