Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 12-17-2016, 12:56 PM   #1
Winnebago Watcher
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 3
De-winterizing tips and winter travel

Hi, I recently moved to Colorado from California so had to winterize my 2009 Winnebago Journey, 34 for the first time. I had it done at camping World and they used the RV anti-freeze method. In early January i plan on heading out south - east to Florida, but since it will still be below freezing in Colorado, I was wondering what other RVers have done to de-winterize. I figured first camping spot below freezing and do it at a campground? Any suggestions would be appreciated, as well as tips for the de-winterize process.

Thanks much, Tom T
Tom Turay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2016, 03:58 PM   #2
Winnebago Camper
 
garbonz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 23
Yes, the easiest way is to do what you said . Take a couple gallons of water to use the first day and hook up to park water when you get south. Remember to put the plug back in the water heater and turn the bypass valves and close the low point drains.
__________________
2005 Bigfoot 1500C8.2 Truck Camper; MANY mods, to many to list
2007 Chevy 2500 Duramax Std Bed Ext Cab
garbonz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-17-2016, 03:59 PM   #3
Winnebago Camper
 
garbonz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 23
Hope they winterized it well. Frickin coldddd today.
__________________
2005 Bigfoot 1500C8.2 Truck Camper; MANY mods, to many to list
2007 Chevy 2500 Duramax Std Bed Ext Cab
garbonz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-18-2016, 05:03 AM   #4
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 104
Don't forget internal water filters that should have been removed. I learned that quickly. If you forget the water filter or can't find it you do have a plug to replace it and a bypass valve. My first time with the internal filter under the bathroom sink I missed it when I winterized and boy was it split. Discovered it quickly when I dewinterized. I would put the hot water plug in before I leave and also align all valves properly then dewinterizing will be quick and easy.
cpoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-19-2016, 03:27 AM   #5
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 122
Just a note of caution.
After you ensure that all water filters are in place and your coach water system is intact, BE SURE you check the water pressure at the hook-up.

I use a water pressure gauge.
Also, it may be wise to use a pressure regulator or pressure reducer that are relatively inexpensive and available at most Walmart's or Camping stores.

Finally, I was fortunate to have picked up a water softener at a local yard sale. Didn't know much about them at the time, but after activating the tank and hooking it up in line with my water line, AND checking the hardness with a Test Strip, I was amazed at the difference in the water.

Water in Florida is very 'Hard' and will, over time, cause negative effects on the hot water tank and other areas of the RV water system. During a recent repair to my 10 gal hot water tank, I was able to 'flush out' a lot of the white scale build-up due to the effects of hard water...nice and clean, now.

Enjoy your camping. Florida is nice and warm during the winter.
__________________
2001 Winnebago Adventurer 32V, Ford F-53, V-10
2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, 4.7L V-8 QTII
U. S. Army Vet, In God We Trust
winnie32v is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2016, 06:07 AM   #6
Winnebago Camper
 
inlineskater's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: St Paul MN
Posts: 47
Do not put your water heater bypass switch back to normal until you have flushed out the entire water system. If you do, you will have antifreeze in your water tank for quite a while, especially if your have a 10 gal water heater. Once you have flushed the system and ran water thru all your faucets, they open the bypass switch to normal and let water run out of your water heater with the plug out for awhile to get any antifreeze left in the pipes to go thru. This will get any water left in the bottom of your water heater out also. You cannot get all the water out of your heater even when you take the drain plug out. A little freezes in the bottom and doesn't hurt anything. That water will be stale. So flush out the water heater for a little while so it stays fresh when you turn on the heat. If you have the electric heat element, never turn it on when your water heater is empty.
__________________
Marianne & Jerry
2016 Itasca Sunova 35G Honor Guard Fort Snelling Natl Cemetery, USS Decatur DDG-31 71-75
inlineskater is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2016, 07:11 AM   #7
Winnebago Camper
 
Statgeek's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 26
Hello Tom. Since this was your first time having the water system winterized, it's good having the "big picture" on what they likely did (or should have done) at CW.

WATER FILTERS:
First--they removed water filters. You likely have one whole-house filter in your water bay, and you probably have a second one inside your refrigerator if you have a residential refridge that makes ice. If they did not remove your fridge filter, it's now full of pink RV antifreeze and needs to be replace (you will never get the pink stuff completely out of it). If they did remove it, there is probably a plug in place of where the filter goes. Either way--you need a new filter for the fridge... but don't install it yet! You may have a third water filter under your kitchen sink, possibly an "RO" unit, but these are less common. You will need to replace the whole-house filter too, but not until you are absolutely certain that you have ALL of the pink RV antifreeze fluid flushed out of the system.

WASHER?
If you have a clothes washing machine, they probably used pink fluid in that too. Mine does not have any sort of filter, but it's worth noting that it should have pink fluid in all of the lines. I would make sure to run a couple of cycles (without clothes) to flush out all of the pink stuff.

HOT WATER TANK:
Usually people and businesses do NOT put the RV antifreeze fluid in hot water tanks because it is very difficult to get it all out. Instead, they remove a small nylon threaded plug at the bottom of the hot water tank to drain all of the water out of it. Typically they do NOT re-install this plug to allow any additional water to drain out. Find that plug... you will need it! Go ahead and install it back in the hot water tank, but DO NOT turn the valve that allows water to flow to your hot water tank yet. This valve may be in your water bay (typically), or may be by your hot water heater. You don't want to introduce any pink RV antifreeze into your hot water heater, so do not open this valve yet. ALSO--DO NOT turn on the hot water heater! It will be empty, and turning it on before it is full will burn it up or worse.

UNDERSTANDING WATER INPUTS:
Water gets into your lines in two, possibly three ways. First--from your fresh water tanks. You fill the tanks, they feed the water pump. Second--from the "city water" connection that you typically connect to campground water supply. You connect the hose, it feeds the water pump. THIRD--You may have a small hose that is somewhere in the water bay that was plumbed in there just for the sole purpose of introducing RV antifreeze into your water lines. If you have this, there will also be a valve to turn it on/off. This is a handy feature--it allows you to dip this small hose into a gallon of antifreeze, and then turn on your RV water pump, which will suck the fluid into your waterlines. This prevents you from having to fill up your fresh water tank with pink RV antifreeze. If you have this, it is also a handy way to introduce some fresh, clean water into your system to flush out the pink RV antifreeze. See my procedure below.

DE-WINTERIZE PROCEDURE:
I have only had to de-winterize once so far, but here's what I did, and will repeat in the Spring:

(1) Keep filter plug in the refrigerator in place.
(2) Unscrew the whole-house filter housing and dump out any pink RV antifreeze, then put it back in place WITHOUT a new filter... that comes later. (No need pumping that stuff through the pipes!)
(3) Screw the plug back into the hot water heater, but keep the valves in the "bypass" position so that no water will be introduced into the hot water tank yet. Verify that the hot water elec and gas switches are in the OFF position.
(4) Have 2 or 3 gallons of fresh, clean water in a bucket or in gallon jugs handy. I start to introduce fresh water into the RV through the winterization kit that I described above. I do this only so that ALL of my hoses are clear of RV antifreeze fluid. I insert the "sucking" hose into a bucket or gallon of water, then turn on my RV's water pump.
(5) I also connect a freshwater hose from the city intake to a clean water supply, like at a campground, but I don't turn this on just yet.
(6) Allow the pump to suck in some freshwater until it stops pumping, then turn on my water-bay hose to start draining pink fluid. I don't know if this stuff is environmentally safe, so I try to minimize contact with mother earth. While this faucet is draining, I will have to switch over my water supply to a second or possibly a third gallon.
(7) After a couple of gallons of fresh water have been pulled via the winterization hose, I consider that clean and close the valves... then turn on the city water. In other words, I switch over from feeding water to the RV from the winterization kit, to feeding it water from the city water inlet.
(8) One valve at a time, while on city water, I turn on each faucet until I see no more pink fluid. I turn on the cold side first, then the hot, and maybe back to cold again. Then I move to the next faucet.
(9) Don't forget your shower, and if you have a washing machine, run a rinse cycle or two. Flush the toilet a time or two if you want, but this is completely optional, since there's no way for that pink fluid to ever get into your drinking supply.
(10) Meanwhile... your drains are functioning properly and this pink fluid and water mixture is going into your black and gray tank. No sweat.
(11) WHEN I AM CONVINCED, that there is absolutely no pink antifreeze in my system, I will then turn the hot water valve from "bypass" to "normal operation." In my rig, this begins to fill up the hot water heater with fresh, clean water.
(12) Since the hot water heater was filled with air before water, I open up any hot water spigot to allow the air to escape, and the tank to fill. Then I move from one hot water faucet spigot to another to drain out air until I get a consistent water flow. At this point it is safe to turn on the hot water heater if you want to.
(13) Next I will PARTLY fill up my RV fresh water tank, turn off the city water, and proceed to draw water from the RV fresh water tank too. If they winterized properly, there should be no pink fluid in the tank itself, but sometimes there is still a wee bit in the hoses/valves. Flush that out too.
(14) With all of these steps, the pink stuff should be gone...
(15) This is a good time to sterilize your water lines using a weak bleach solution or a commercial RV water sterilizer product of your liking. Follow procedures per directions, or your google/youtube searches. There's lots of info on how to do this out there..

(16) FINALLY, when your water lines are clear and sterilized, insert a new whole-house water filter, and a refrigerator filter if you have one.

Even with all of these steps, somehow I think the water still tastes a little funky. Not bad, but just a little weird. I end up switching out the two filters in a month or two, which is way early and premature, but by then it seems to produce perfectly tasting water.

Also--16 steps sounds like a lot, but really, you can get through this in a leisure afternoon, sipping coffee or whatever beverage you enjoy during the process The water sterilization takes the longest because you should wait a while to allow the bleach or other solution to kill whatever germs are in the system. Different products require different wait times, but I typically allow the water to sit in the lines overnight for this. Since you'll be camping, that's not reasonable... maybe you can wait and do that step another time.

Good luck!! Sorry for the long post...
__________________
2013 Fleetwood Discovery 40G, Cummins ISL,Freightliner Chassis, Allison 3000.
2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Toad w/ Blue Ox Aventa tow bar and M&G Braking System
Statgeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2016, 08:12 AM   #8
tcg
Winnebago Watcher
 
tcg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 2
Here's what I did recently when we left for Florida right after Thanksgiving.

I wasn't sure our first stop would have a water hook up so I filled the tank before we left but did not turn the valve that allows the tank water to the pump. (I have a valve that allows for winterizing with antifreeze that sucks it in through a hose and the gallon jug)

I figured with all the sloshing about the tank was safe.

Right before I left I put a bucket under the low point drains and drained the antifreeze from the system and gave it a quick blow out with the compressor to get out as much antifreeze as I could.

I was pretty sure I'd be using the tank water to flush it out and wanted to use as little as possible. That was a good plan because the first place in Kentucky that was supposed to have water did not. They turned it of for the winter.

It took very little water to flush it out.

And I agree about the water heater don't turn off the bypass until you flush everything out.

One thing I learned about the water tank, and the manual confirms, is that about a quart will remain in the tank because of the drain placement. That made me nervous so I did not bypass it until I blew out the water. It was more like a half gallon that came out after it stopped draining.
tcg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2016, 08:44 AM   #9
Winnebago Owner
 
Gormleys's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: CO
Posts: 114
Unless you plan to run the furnace the entire time (except when re-fueling), I personally would not put water into the holding tank until south far enough to lower the risk of freezing. Instead just follow the directions above and use campground water via a hose. Remember to remove the hose at night and when not in use to keep it from freezing.

You didn't say how you were planning the trip to Florida? I would head south on I-25 then head east in southern New Mexico to get into warmer weather faster. You can angle it down US385 & US287 and pick up I-40 in Amarillo, which is a much prettier (but slower) drive, weather permitting. Or even continue on US287 further south as it is a pleasant drive and angles nicely.

Remember, enjoy your travel as that is the best part of the journey!
__________________
Colorado '15 Winnebago Forza 34T w/MKZ hybrid toad
Gormleys is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
travel, winter


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Winter travel - Fresh water tank as000ll Plumbing | Systems and Fixtures 6 12-17-2016 04:33 PM
Winter tips for travel and camping in a 2003 Journey RandyMWV Winnebago Class A Motorhomes 6 09-14-2014 06:48 AM
Heating during Winter travel win35p Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 35 12-28-2011 07:22 AM
Winter Travel & RON Stop Tips? Pubtym Campgrounds, Travel and Attractions 13 10-27-2006 04:02 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:36 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.