Winterizing?

[JKConey]

I know I'm probably a bit early, but here in the NE our local camping
season is almost over for us. I have an 18' Coleman trailer that's
sitting on the driveway. Is it as simple as emptying all the tanks, and
opening up the faucets? What about the water heater pipes? How do I
drain them? My concern is with the 12v water pump. It will gurgle and
slurp for a time when the tank is emptied, which doesn't sound good for
the pump. Someone mentioned leaving a small heater on inside. If I leave
some water in the tanks, will this in itself keep things from freezing
in a moderately cold Oct-Dec, or is this a bad idea? Take your time, no
rush. Thanks!

--
JK Sinrod
www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com
www.facebook.com/MyConeyIslandMemories

[Pepperoni]

JKConey <TheConey...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:k40hka$1fg$1...@dont-email.me:

> I know I'm probably a bit early, but here in the NE our local
> camping
> season is almost over for us. I have an 18' Coleman trailer that's
> sitting on the driveway. Is it as simple as emptying all the tanks,
> and opening up the faucets? What about the water heater pipes? How do
> I drain them? My concern is with the 12v water pump. It will gurgle
> and slurp for a time when the tank is emptied, which doesn't sound
> good for the pump. Someone mentioned leaving a small heater on inside.
> If I leave some water in the tanks, will this in itself keep things
> from freezing in a moderately cold Oct-Dec, or is this a bad idea?
> Take your time, no rush. Thanks!
>

Lots of tutorials on youtube, check the sidebars for other related
vids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHqk6_hIVEs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgRVNPWmI94&feature=fvwrel


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkiToSzzuII&feature=related

[nothermark]

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 23:36:44 -0400, JKConey
<TheConey...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I know I'm probably a bit early, but here in the NE our local camping
>season is almost over for us. I have an 18' Coleman trailer that's
>sitting on the driveway. Is it as simple as emptying all the tanks, and
>opening up the faucets? What about the water heater pipes? How do I
>drain them? My concern is with the 12v water pump. It will gurgle and
>slurp for a time when the tank is emptied, which doesn't sound good for
>the pump. Someone mentioned leaving a small heater on inside. If I leave
>some water in the tanks, will this in itself keep things from freezing
>in a moderately cold Oct-Dec, or is this a bad idea? Take your time, no
>rush. Thanks!

heater can work. A much better idea is to get a couple of gallons of
food safe RV antifreeze from Walmart. The idea is to load the piping
and valves with antifreeze that will freeze but contracts a bit
instead of expanding and breaking the plumbing. How you add it is the
issue.

I think I found the manual for your trailer:

http://coleman-rv.com/media/documents/retail/ownersmanual2011.pdf

I would read it and check if it matches what you have or if another
one on the site does. Once you have a place to start come back with
questions.

One thing, after I replaced a cracked valve I got into the habit of
running a bit of antifreeze though both valves to the HW tank. After
the system is full just open and shut each valve with pressure on the
system. It will put a little antifreeze in the HW tank that I rinse
out in the spring. YMMV.

[Will Sill]

Tho the OP's feelings seem to have been offended by my candor, he could
also profit from actually reading the freaking manuals. He claims he
doesn't have any, but unless they have closed all the libraries on Long
Island he could certainly have found SOME reference that would explain
that when water pipes freeze, they are prone to burst. Or he could
consider this advice:

To winterize *most* rigs the right way:

DRAIN water tank & water heater

BYPASS water heater

CONNECT pump inlet via hose to jug of RV pink AF (use tee/valve)

PUMP AF into pipes 'til it comes outa faucets (and shower, toilet)

DUMP holding tanks

In very mild climates you can get away without winterizing at all.
Some get by using compressed air, a few by just draining. But
if you want to be fairly sure of NEVER having to fix split plumbing
parts, the above system is as easy and foolproof as we know about.

NOTE: When "un-winterizing", flush the pipes with water BEFORE
placing WH bypass valves back to normal.

PS: http://www.rverscorner.com is a good place for answers to most
newbie questions.

Will

[Frank Howell]

JKConey wrote:
> I know I'm probably a bit early, but here in the NE our local
> camping season is almost over for us. I have an 18' Coleman trailer
> that's sitting on the driveway. Is it as simple as emptying all the
> tanks, and opening up the faucets? What about the water heater pipes?
> How do I drain them? My concern is with the 12v water pump. It will
> gurgle and slurp for a time when the tank is emptied, which doesn't
> sound good for the pump. Someone mentioned leaving a small heater on
> inside. If I leave some water in the tanks, will this in itself keep
> things from freezing in a moderately cold Oct-Dec, or is this a bad
> idea? Take your time, no rush. Thanks!

We keep water in the fresh water tank, just in case we lose power as we are
on well water, so we keep a space heater inside the RV and we have never
drained the water system and put in the pink anti-freeze. Here in Oregon the
winters are mild in comparison to many areas, so other areas might need a
different solution.

--
Frank Howell

[bill horne]

Such as myownself here in GA - but I winterize a little bit. Just to
be on the safe side, I pour some antifreeze into my drains, because
some of that stuff is exposed under the TT. Then I run a
thermostat-controlled space heater to keep the floor-level temp at
about 40-45. Then I crack open the cabinet doors that have piping
somewhere behind them to let the heat in. I also open the drain on the
water heater tank - which may or may not be necessary, but it makes me
feel better.

However, this makes dewinterizing a real chore, because I have to
unplug the heater, close the cabinet doors, and close the water heater
drain. And lemme tell ya, you can work up a sweat doing all that here
in GA.

> Some get by using compressed air, a few by just draining. But
> if you want to be fairly sure of NEVER having to fix split plumbing
> parts, the above system is as easy and foolproof as we know about.
>
> NOTE: When "un-winterizing", flush the pipes with water BEFORE
> placing WH bypass valves back to normal.
>
> PS: http://www.rverscorner.com is a good place for answers to most
> newbie questions.
>
> Will
>

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.

[Hank]

Since I don't know exactly how your RV is plumbed, I will add this little tidbit...

Make sure your pump has had anti-freeeze ran thru it. Even if it means putting some in the tank.

On my RV, I have a valving system that lets the pump suck antifreeze from a jug. Yours may not.

The basics are that you either get all the water out of all the lines and tanks and pump, and/or make sure there is antifreeze in all lines, tanks and pumps. You can bypass the hot water tank if it has a bypass valve and only draining it will suffice.

If you decide to use antifreeze (which I suggest), make sure all faucets run pink with antifreeze.

Also, put some antifreeze in the p-traps.

Money saving tip... When you de-winterize it, save what antifreeze you can. You can use it the following year to dump in waste tanks.



Hank <~~~~ doesn't consider -20 degrees "moderately cold". :-)

[Ron]

"bill horne" wrote in message
news:50648339$0$45625$c3e8da3$aae7...@news.astraweb.com...

++++++++++
Bill,
You think you have it bad dewinterizing your rig. It usually takes us ten
days or so to dewinterize ours, but we aren't usually in a big hurry to get
home.
Ron
++++++++++

[Janet Wilder]

On 9/26/2012 10:36 PM, JKConey wrote:
> I know I'm probably a bit early, but here in the NE our local camping
> season is almost over for us. I have an 18' Coleman trailer that's
> sitting on the driveway. Is it as simple as emptying all the tanks, and
> opening up the faucets? What about the water heater pipes? How do I
> drain them? My concern is with the 12v water pump. It will gurgle and
> slurp for a time when the tank is emptied, which doesn't sound good for
> the pump. Someone mentioned leaving a small heater on inside. If I leave
> some water in the tanks, will this in itself keep things from freezing
> in a moderately cold Oct-Dec, or is this a bad idea? Take your time, no
> rush. Thanks!
>

Might I suggest you take the RV into a dealer and have them winterize
it. I think they use forced air to blow out the pipes and most ordinary
folks who are not into heavy maintenance don't have those blowers.

Do not leave water in the tanks over the winter unless you want a big
repair bill in the spring.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

[gregz]

On mine, adding another hose to the pump is too difficult. I could do the
same thing by draining the tank, then fill with antifreeze, then pump. On
mine, the fellow left antifreeze in the drained hot water tank. I'll assume
after he drained the hot tank, he closed the drain, and just turned on the
hot water valves until it filled those lines. No that will not work. Darn
it. I don't think I have a hot water bypass, but I do know there are valves
on in and out.

I never took the time to fully research the subject, because I did not
intend on doing it myself. I don't think all the water will come out of hot
tank by draining. I think I'll start researching.

Greg

[nothermark]

On Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:42:23 +0000 (UTC), gregz <ze...@comcast.net>
wrote:

If you turn off the water to your system and remove the drain plug
your Hot Water tank will drain. That is why the plug is there. You
can turn the water on for more flushing.

If you do not know what a tank bypass looks like it is usually a 3
valve system. Valves on the inlet and outlet of the tank and a pipe
with a valve in it connected between the two valves. To bypass close
the two to the tank and open the crossover.

[nothermark]

It takes a lot of air to adequately blow out water lines. Water tends
to hide in cracks and crevices like valve bodies. It is effective
for getting most of the water out in a hurry but I would still use
antifreeze. YMMV.

If the manual I found on line really is for his unit then there is no
available inlet for the pump. The instructions were for an external
pump to distribute antifreeze in the system. It would seem that a bit
of creative plumbing would make it easy to make the pump intake
accessible assuming one can get to the pump. That was way I
recommended he figure out what on line manual fit his situation and
proceed from there.

[Vito]

"nothermark" <nothe...@not.here> wrote

Antifreeze works if you get enough into the water heater, but it takes
mucho effort to get the water tasting OK next spring.

I found that a shop vac blows/sucks water out of the system quite
effectively without risking broken pipes from overpressure. Like others
said YMMV.

[Lone Haranguer]

We took a trip to Florida in Jan of 1983 with our first motor
home which we had winterized in the Fall.
Had freezing weather all the way to southern Mississippi before
we could drain and flush the system. I managed to save a couple
of gallons. Returning to MN after a couple of weeks I needed
more anti-freeze and couldn't find any. At that time anti-freeze
for the water system was rather new and cost nearly $4/gal.
Soooo, I bought cheap Rhine wine instead since in those days you
could find it for about $4.50/gal. Pumped that into the system
and it worked well. It got slushy at below zero temperatures but
didn't damage the plumbing which consisted of copper tubing.

Plus it really smelled good when I drained the system and it was
a lot easier to rinse the taste out of the pipes than the pink stuff.
LZ

[Hank]

On Friday, September 28, 2012 9:36:16 PM UTC-4, Lone Haranguer wrote:

>
> We took a trip to Florida in Jan of 1983 with our first motor
>
> home which we had winterized in the Fall.
>
> Had freezing weather all the way to southern Mississippi before
>
> we could drain and flush the system. I managed to save a couple
>
> of gallons. Returning to MN after a couple of weeks I needed
>
> more anti-freeze and couldn't find any. At that time anti-freeze
>
> for the water system was rather new and cost nearly $4/gal.
>
> Soooo, I bought cheap Rhine wine instead since in those days you
>
> could find it for about $4.50/gal. Pumped that into the system
>
> and it worked well. It got slushy at below zero temperatures but
>
> didn't damage the plumbing which consisted of copper tubing.
>
>
>
> Plus it really smelled good when I drained the system and it was
>
> a lot easier to rinse the taste out of the pipes than the pink stuff.
>
> LZ

ROFLMAO. You should be jailed for abuse of a cask. :-)

Hank

[Lone Haranguer]

The evidence is long gone.
LZ

[JKConey]

Hey many thanks for your effort. This is their 2011 generic manual
for all the trailers. After all the reading I've done here, I'm
convinced that to play it safe, this year in the NE, I'll find a repair
shop and pay to get it done. Thanks all for your suggestions! As usual
asking here, instead of googling, is always the way to go for a newbie
like me.

[nothermark]

On Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:20:44 -0400, JKConey

Ask them to explain what they will or did do. It's not all that hard
and you should at least have a clue what is going on.

The manual is about as good as one gets from those folks. I have
something similar in our new one. That is why I said to look and ask
after you had more information. I have seen 3 variations of adding
the antifreeze.

1. Old unit - hook a piece of vinyl hose to a hose barb that fit 1/2"
IPT thread fitting. drop hose in jug. set the valves to winterize
and turn on the pump while somebody watches the jug.

2. New unit - attach the hose fitting to a plugged riser tube from a
T in the piping between the pump and tank. Use the pump to circulate
antifreeze.

3. Seen described several places including your manual - attach
external pump to the inlet and use that to distribute the antifreeze.
Your instructions are a variant as they did not provide an attachment
point. OTOH it looks like a standard pipe fitting size. Places like
Home Depot or Lowes stock a variety of lengths and materials for
those. They are used for connecttif faucets to various pipe fittings.
If it's a standard pipe thread you can also get a hose barb that will
connect to it and use a length of clear vinyl tube.

[Janet Wilder]

On 9/29/2012 11:20 PM, JKConey wrote:

> Hey many thanks for your effort. This is their 2011 generic manual
> for all the trailers. After all the reading I've done here, I'm
> convinced that to play it safe, this year in the NE, I'll find a repair
> shop and pay to get it done.

You have made the best decision. Not everyone here is familiar with a
winter in the northeast. You've invested this much in the RV, protect
that investment and get a professional to winterize it.

[JKConey]

Can't I get this winterized without adding any antifreeze? I'd
rather avoid the flushing next spring if I can. When I bought it, it had
a sticker that said it was winterized. I assumed that meant "no water".

[Will Sill]

On 10/1/12 1:23 PM, JKConey AKA Sinrod wrote:

> Can't I get this winterized without adding any antifreeze? I'd
> rather avoid the flushing next spring if I can. When I bought it, it had
> a sticker that said it was winterized. I assumed that meant "no water".

Since you have pretty well ignored other advice, this is probably a
waste of keystrokes, but the BEST insurance against freezing involves
antifreeze.

Not to belabor the obvious, if you were somehow to get clever enough to
make sure there was no water in the rig, you would not have frozen pipes.

BTW, are you a school teacher?

Will

[Frank Howell]

I live in Salem OR, which has freezing nights during the winter. I don't use
antifreeze. I use a space heater. My black and gray tanks are empty. I do
keep the fresh water tank full as it is inside the RV. This will be my 7
year using this method. Winters in the Willamette Valley are considered mild
compared to most eastern and Midwest winters, so this method may be
inappropriate for those areas

--
Frank Howell

[Albert]

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:23:39 -0400, JKConey

Well, I guess I'm the put my two cents in. I have a 27'Holiday Rambler
Alumascape (2003) bought new. Every year since I bought it I've use
compressed air to winterize the rig. The only thing I use the pink
stuff for is the P traps (kitchen sink, shower, toilet and then at the
sink).

On the water system I start by bypassing the hot water heater and
pulling the plug and draining it. Then I connect an air hose (with an
adapter I made) to the city water hose connection and use about 40#of
pressure. I make sure that at least one faucet is open in the rig
usually the kitchen sink either hot or cold. After all the water is
blown out of the hot I switch to the cold. I repeat this procedure in
the vanity sink and shower. (I almost forgot about the outside sure,
same procedure.) I then go to the potty and pull the flush lever until
only air comes out. My holiday Rambler also has 2 drain line plugs
underneath the coach that runs the length of the coach which I also
removed the plugs until all water is out and replace them so to be
ready when the coach is put back in service. At this time I also
replace the drain plug on the hot water heater and put the hot water
heater back in service. The freshwater tank's drain valve is opened
and left open until the rig is put back in service in the springtime.

After draining all tanks, two graywater & Blackwater. I use 3 gallons
of pink stuff pouring them in the P traps of all the sinks and shower
making sure I pour enough to flush the P trap of water and also I try
to make sure that enough pink stuff gets to the drain valves on the
tanks. I pour enough to cover the potty flush valve to make sure no
unpleasant odors can get back into the rig.

Now, I have a large air compressor in my shop to do this and it works
for me. As far as our winters are concerned the lowest temperature
we've had here at the house since we moved here in 1990 was 16° below
zero but on average it is higher than that.

Hope this helps

[Max]

In the climate to which you're exposed I would *strongly* recommend
anti-freeze. Keep in mind that *RV* anti-freeze is non-toxic. It
doesn't require a lot of flushing. Just run the faucets until you have
clear water (the *RV* anti-freeze is pink). If you're concerned about it
running on the ground keep it in your holding tanks until you have a
chance to dump them.

[K Miller]

I'm with Max. Once you get the hang of it, winterizing with "The Pink Sutff"
shouldn't take you more than an hour and it gives you a chance to poke into
places you might not poke into very often and spot incipient issues
aforehand. Dewinterizing will take you even less time than winterizing. Plus
you might (I haven't but you might) even get the joy that "they" tell me
comes from having "done it yourself"...

[JKConey]

On 10/1/2012 5:41 PM, stan....@hotmail.com wrote:

>> On Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:20:44 -0400, JKConey <TheConey...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hey many thanks for your effort. This is their 2011 generic manual
>> for all the trailers. After all the reading I've done here, I'm
>> convinced that to play it safe, this year in the NE, I'll find a repair
>> shop and pay to get it done.

> You are incredibly naive!!
>
> Have you ever seen the abysmal array of high-school dropout dummwits that RV dealers hire to service
> your rig??: Their claim to fame: they were too dumb to get a job at MacDonald's flipping burgers!!??
>
> By your own admission, you figure they are even smarter than you??? If that's the case then by all
> means go ahead with having these kids service your rig, merely because you are even dumber than they
> are!?!?! Duh!
>
> JKConey: Get a life!!
>
> If you choose to be an RVer, then get with the program! Learn how to maintain and service your RV;
> because there is no one else out there competent enough to do it for you!!

Geez yet another pleasant fellow to add to the list!

[nothermark]

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:23:39 -0400, JKConey

I would not trust it. The problem is that water tends to accumulate
in the valves in "nooks and cranny's". When it freezes if it is
trapped in any way it will probably crack the valve. Depending on the
design pumps have a similar problem with the added issue of not
passing air well. In theory one can blow enough dry air through to
evaporate the water out of all those places. In practice it takes *a
lot of air*. A quick blow out with a compressor or suck out with the
vacuum gets most of the water but not all. Adding the antifreeze then
takes care of that.

In the spring you can drain the system and pump a tank of water
through it to get rid of the antifreeze residue. Use a bleach
solution at the same time to sterilize the system and help clear the
residue. There are instructions in the manual for sterilizing the
system. You do want to do that in the spring.

The good thing is that it's potable water coming out so you can dump
it on the lawn. I have been known to dump it through the gray water
tank and out as that is not all that big a deal. YMMV.

Worst case on the antifreeze is that you will get some flavoring in
the first or second tank of water. It is a food safe product you can
drink so showering and washing up are not an issue. A couple of jugs
of drinking water gets around using a tank or two. You may want that
anyway as water does vary around the country. Up here it is hard, in
the Adirondacks soft. I do not know what it is on Long Island but I
can tell you that just the hard/soft shift can have repercussions.
Some of the benefits of traveling. ;-)

[JKConey]

OK looks like you talked me back into doing it myself. I'm not
lazy, but I thought if I could pay a shop to blow out all the water that
would be a good deal. But now folks are telling me not to trust a
repair shop to do it right. I'll do it in November. Thanks again for all
the info!

[nothermark]

On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 11:03:40 -0700, "Frank Howell" <fpho...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

Where he lives the averages would support your method but the record
lows drop down to around 0-10 deg. I would call that chancy as he
does not have the option of winterizing it himself if he has a power
failure.

Looking at your weather data I'd have a couple of jugs of antifreeze
handy. YMMV, and probably does. :-))

I would go your route if we did a winter trip and were back before I
could guarantee frost free nights but I would also have a couple of
gallons of antifreeze on hand in case.

As I think of it I will be going your route in the spring as we want
to do an April trip south. With the electric water heater I can load
the system up a day or two early and have everything running when I am
ready to leave without hitting the propane. ;-) Might want to put in
a 30A outlet.

[Max]

Before I had a compressor I used a shop vac to blow out the lines. It
worked reasonably well. I have to believe that your trailer has a set-up
where the there's a few valves to:
1. Close the line from the fresh water tank to the pump and another
valve to *open* that will allow anti-freeze to be drawn into the system.
2. A valve to shut off water to the water heater. (so you can drain it
by removing the plug.) Be sure to open a hot water faucet to allow air
into the tank.
There should also be drain plugs to drain the fresh water tank and to
drain both the cold and hot water lines. (3 drain plugs)

[nothermark]

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:18:45 -0600, Albert <aml...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Not arguing, just curious. Roughly how long do you run your
compressor for each cblow out cycle?

I have a fitting I bought that screws into the city water hose
connection. I have used it to blow out the lines so I do not need to
worry about diluting the antifreeze.

I prefer knowing that the valves won't be freeze damaged. Crimping in
one new one under the couch convinced me. ;-) If that was not enough
I can imagine the worrying I would be putting up with from L. ;-) We
do go weeks at below freezing day and night.

[nothermark]

On Mon, 01 Oct 2012 22:22:42 -0400, JKConey

Good idea. The first time is the hardest as you will need to get
everything and figure it out. After that it is not a bad job. As
somebody pointed out, you also get to looking in places you probably
avoided. It might be worth making and keeping a check list the first
time. It is also might be worth making a ToDo list of things you
find. Probably not much this time but one never knows.


When you are doing it save yourself some grief. After the HW tank is
empty and the system is full of antifreeze open the two valves into
the HW tank for a moment and let some antifreeze flow through. The
problem is the cavitiy in the valves. When they are closed they store
some water when closed. That can freeze and crack the valve. It does
not take much to avoid the problem.

FWIW - in case you do not know. The anti freeze will freeze if it
gets cold enough. The issue is that water expands when it freezes.
Antifreeze contracts so it does not break pipes and valves. Just in
case you see a solid layer in the jug in the winter. ;-)

[Ron]

"JKConey" wrote in message news:k4d7l3$mp5$2...@dont-email.me...

+++++++++++++
JK,
Check around for RV service centers, there are probably some good ones in
your area. I have been using the same RV service center since 2001. They
don't sell RVs and don't have a big area of supplies for sale, they just
repair and maintain RVs and do an excellent job at it. They don't fix
things that aren't broke and they stand behind anything they fix. If you
want to add something to your RV and the owner thinks it is junk or totally
unneeded he will tell you even though it costs him a sale. This places was
recommended by a distant relative who had been using him for years. He has
one tech that has been with him for years and they have a vast knowledge of
RVs. I have to call at least two weeks in advance to get an appointment as
the owner doesn't want you to bring the rig in until they can start work on
it.
Ron
+++++++++++++

[Albert]

On 2 Oct 2012 06:27:01 -0500, nothermark <nothe...@not.here> wrote:

Snipped

>>Now, I have a large air compressor in my shop to do this and it works
>>for me. As far as our winters are concerned the lowest temperature
>>we've had here at the house since we moved here in 1990 was 16° below
>>zero but on average it is higher than that.
>>
>>Hope this helps
>
>Not arguing, just curious. Roughly how long do you run your
>compressor for each cblow out cycle?
>
>I have a fitting I bought that screws into the city water hose
>connection. I have used it to blow out the lines so I do not need to
>worry about diluting the antifreeze.
>
>I prefer knowing that the valves won't be freeze damaged. Crimping in
>one new one under the couch convinced me. ;-) If that was not enough
>I can imagine the worrying I would be putting up with from L. ;-) We
>do go weeks at below freezing day and night.

The air reservoir on the compressor is 35 gallons and at 40 pounds it
produces about 7 SCFM. It has a 2 HP motor driving a twin cylinder
compressor. The blowout takes less than 10 minutes. As far as the
valves freezing up, all valves on the RVs are plug valves not gate
valves and there is no chance of any water staying in the valves like
there is with a gate valve. If you get air flowing through the lines
there is no way to leave enough water to cause a freeze up and break
something what little water may be in the line (which I doubt) will
freeze but doesn't have the volume to expand and break something. It
would be more like frost ;-).

All the lines in RVs now are made with the type of plastic that will
expand rather than freeze and break. The valves and fittings (Ls,Ts
couplings) will freeze and break or at least expand the crimping rings
but you have to have water in them in order to for them to freeze.

[nothermark]

On Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:11:36 -0600, Albert <aml...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I have a 5 HP with a tank around that size.
Leftover from a boat venture. It almost runs an air sander. ;-)

I have two kinds of valves in the MH. There were a both plug valves
and ball vavles in both the old and new motorhomes.

The way I cracked a valve was I set up the bypass on the hot water
tank with water in the Iine. In the spring the valve body was cracked
when I loaded the water back in. Hindsight showed the valve body has
an hole for the water to pass through when in the open position. When
closed the hole had water trapped in it by the valve seals. Look at a
ball valve and you will see what I mean. That is why I harp about
opening the valves to let in some antifreeze.

If I blow out the lines I will be opening the closed valves for a
short time to blow out most of the trapped water. It is also probably
better to drain the HW tank before setting up the bypass.

Right now I am thnking about a quick blowout before I put in the
antifreeze and a longer one after the spring trip we are planning. I
still think I will use antifreeze over the coldest part of the winter.
It's easier to clear the stuff than to replace a valve in the cold.

I will have a better handle on things after I do the first
winterization on the new one. It is different enough that I have some
questions in my mind. ;-)

[JKConey]

I wish Ron. I live in an urban suburb of NYC and my closest full
service RV place is the Camping World in NJ that we bought it from, 100
miles and 3 hours away. They're not very accommodating, honest, or
cheap. One of the reasons I come here for advice.