Help w/ winterizing, please!

First topic message reminder :

Hello Everyone,

I'm a new (to me) Wildcat owner--2005 29RK--as well as a new 5vr owner. I "tried" to winterize today, but am having problems and would appreciate your advice.

Here's what I've done so far:

Drained FW and holding tanks (last week, actually)
Turned water heater bypass valve (it is now straight up and down)
Made sure all holding tanks were plugged
Poured 2 gallons RV antifreeze in FW tank
Turned on water pump (it is working)
Opened kitchen faucet, also tried bathroom faucet.

What happened--a little water, a little air, but no pink stuff, altho I think I'm getting the antifreeze odor. I'm also thinking my bypass valve was already in the correct position, and I turned if "off" and have filled my water heater with antifreeze....?

Thanks for your help! Love this forum.

Deanna

Deanna,

Thanks for the chuckle.... Lots of paper towels will help the spill. We've all done it before, so don't feel bad.

Did you get your filter wrench?

You should probably get the bypass for the filter too. That way, you can take the filter housing off and leave it off while winterizing.

I just did mine today and only used 1 & 1/4 gallons of anti freeze. I'm getting pretty good at it now.

Hope to have the filter bypass on by next year!

Another question: After running through the ONE gallon of antifreeze, pink water was coming out the kitchen faucet. However, I noticed that the water line splits into two about six feet past the pump. I'm guessing that is the bathroom/kitchen split. Is that right?

However, only 1 of the lines looks pink. Do you thing that's b/c only one gallon has been pumped? I'm not sure I believe this, b/c the one pink line has obviously gone clear to the kitchen.

Any ideas? Thanks!

You need to run each faucet in turn until you get the pink anti-freeze.

Kitchen cold
Kitchen hot
bath cold
bath hot
shower cold
shower hot
toilet
outside shower hot & cold (if you have one)

You bypassed the water heater; right?

Yes...bypassed water heater. M/b the only thing I did right the first time!

I thought opening each faucet might be the answer. Thanks for confirming...

Deanna

Deanna,

I think your split might be your outside shower, do you have one?

No outside shower. It was just b/c I didn't have the bathroom sink faucets open. Now all lines are pink, and I added a little also to the sink traps and the toilet.

Have I forgotten anything? It's funny that this several hours of work will only take a few minutes next year!

Thanks for your help!

And yes, I opened the shower faucets, too....

Deanna wrote:And yes, I opened the shower faucets, too....

You got it all. Good job.

What about the Low Point Drains

She was referred to this. Low point drains are in the procedure.

We got ours mostly winterized a few days ago. This morning, before taking the trailer in to the shop for repairs (from the blowout), we took her to a local campground and dumped the waste tanks, then Scruffy finished the winterizing procedure. The temps might get below freezing this week - with a slight possibility of snow.

Tater

Do you put any RV antifreeze in the toilet bowl itself when you winterize for the winter. I read some place that some do and some don't. Any suggestions? Getting ready to winterize my cat for the winter. This is a first for me. We have camped in a popup for 10 years.

I do, if nothing more than to keep the seal wet.

BobnPi wrote:I do, if nothing more than to keep the seal wet.

Same here.


Earl

Don't forget to winterize the outside shower if you have one.

I think Scruffy has forgotten the outside shower, but there wasn't any damage done. We never use it, anyway, but would hate to have water dripping out.

Scruffy noticed a guy in the campground with about 6 bottles of RV antifreeze. We figure he will winterize before heading back north, or maybe in a campground on his way home. We might have to do that when we take our Jan/Feb trip.

Tater

I was looking at my bypass kit and was thinking the threeway valve has a small opening for the water to pass thru. Do you notice any reduction in water flow? Guess I am getting too pickey.. Just wondering. The valve does reduce the opening quite alot..

I've never had a filter in my water filter housing and have filled the housing with anti-freeze each year since 2006. Never had a problem doing that. When we are on the road, the DW and I use filtered water from a pitcher/filter combo.

Also, the water filter wrench is available at both Lowes and Home Depot for alot cheaper than you'll pay at an RV dealer.

Another tip when using the water pump to push anti-freeze through the lines. Make sure at least one of the valves is open; usually the furthest one away from the pump which in the 29RLBS is the kitchen sink. If you don't crack the valve, the pump won't make a suction and pump the a-f through the lines.

When I winterize, I take the "in" water line off from the pump and have a 3 foot long hose that I put one end on the plastic elbow(that I just took the line off) and put the other end in the gallon of anti-freeze, turn the pump on and do everything that everyone else does. Also I read somewhere that suggested putting a gallon of windshield washer fluid in the black/gray tanks. Guess it's easier on the seals, won't freeze, and cleans the tank in the same process, cheaper than anti-freeze too. I never tried it though.

Thanks for the information.