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Old 09-23-2010, 12:10 PM   #21
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

I believe that what Reace was saying, is that if you drain out the lines, blowing is redundant. With my last trailer this was not the case, but with the low-point drain, it might not be necessary. When I winterize my trailer later next month, I am going to first drain throughout, then measure how much I can blow out as well to see if it is a significant amount.
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Old 09-23-2010, 01:43 PM   #22
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

That will be an interesting test, Jim. Please post your results. Here in the mid-South we seldom get temps below about 12 C and never below -20 C (10 F to -5 F). I only winterized with anti-freeze once to our old Casita, instead relying on air to blow out the system. The drawback, of course, its discovering you are using an ineffective system the hard way. Fortunately, it worked for me.

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Old 09-24-2010, 01:02 PM   #23
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Eric and others,

watch out for which model you got. It depends whether you can use the stabilizer jacks for lifting the trailer up or not. Only starting with some 2010 models (at least the 17' and 19'), more sturdy scissor jacks were installed which ARE stable enough to do so. But DON'T lift your trailer using the older version stabilizer jacks!!!
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Old 09-24-2010, 03:37 PM   #24
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

So, the new trailers have scissor jacks, nice.
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Old 09-24-2010, 03:46 PM   #25
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Quote:
Originally Posted by gharms
Eric and others,

watch out for which model you got. It depends whether you can use the stabilizer jacks for lifting the trailer up or not. Only starting with some 2010 models (at least the 17' and 19'), more sturdy scissor jacks were installed which ARE stable enough to do so. But DON'T lift your trailer using the older version stabilizer jacks!!!
Gerda you are absolutely correct. Yes - we got scissors jacks. I think that that may not be the case with most as I got the impression from Reace that we got lucky because his supplier shipped him the scissor models by mistake.
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Old 10-02-2010, 04:35 PM   #26
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

I was just working on winterizing. I did Reace's method 2 (no antifreeze) and then blew out with air pressure. I had Mary open each faucet one at time watch to see how much water came out. The most was at the toilet, but none of them showed more than some drops coming out with the pressure. So it would seem to be redundant. Even if there is a very small amount of water left in the line, as long as it has plenty of space to expand it should not cause problems correct? An exception would be the pump with water trapped in a confined space, but I ran it for at least 10 seconds as Reace recommended. In my normal over cautious mode, I may still put a small amount of antifreeze in the fresh water tank and let the pump suck it into itself.

On another note - for those of us with lots of calcium (hardness) in our water. There was quite a bit of white pasty matter in my hot water heater tank when I drained it - I am assuming it is calcium that has precipitated out. I decided to hook the hose to the city water and flushed out the tank until it was clear. I stuck my finger inside and the water pressure seems to have cleared it all out very well.
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Old 10-02-2010, 04:48 PM   #27
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

The pasty stuff is some compound (probably zinc oxide, but I'm not positive) of the zinc metal which makes up the anode in the water tank. It corrodes first (is sacrificial) and saves the tank itself from corroding. The gunk is not harmful, but should be cleaned out periodically. When the anode gets down to pencil-thin, its time to replace it. They are cheap to replace. Be sure to wrap the threads with Teflon tape before putting the anode back in. Without the tape, they can get VERY stuck in the tank.

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Old 10-02-2010, 05:22 PM   #28
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric T
I was just working on winterizing. I did Reace's method 2 (no antifreeze) and then blew out with air pressure. I had Mary open each faucet one at time watch to see how much water came out. The most was at the toilet, but none of them showed more than some drops coming out with the pressure. So it would seem to be redundant. Even if there is a very small amount of water left in the line, as long as it has plenty of space to expand it should not cause problems correct? An exception would be the pump with water trapped in a confined space, but I ran it for at least 10 seconds as Reace recommended. In my normal over cautious mode, I may still put a small amount of antifreeze in the fresh water tank and let the pump suck it into itself.

On another note - for those of us with lots of calcium (hardness) in our water. There was quite a bit of white pasty matter in my hot water heater tank when I drained it - I am assuming it is calcium that has precipitated out. I decided to hook the hose to the city water and flushed out the tank until it was clear. I stuck my finger inside and the water pressure seems to have cleared it all out very well.

Hi Eric

Don't put antifreeze into the fresh water tank, if
you want to run some into the pump disconnect
the line from the tank and put it into the antifreeze
jug or put one of these winterizing valves in.

Attached Thumbnails
DSCF0070.jpg   DSCF0069.jpg  
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Old 10-02-2010, 05:37 PM   #29
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Quote:
Originally Posted by Garand
The pasty stuff is some compound (probably zinc oxide, but I'm not positive) of the zinc metal which makes up the anode in the water tank. It corrodes first (is sacrificial) and saves the tank itself from corroding. The gunk is not harmful, but should be cleaned out periodically. When the anode gets down to pencil-thin, its time to replace it. They are cheap to replace. Be sure to wrap the threads with Teflon tape before putting the anode back in. Without the tape, they can get VERY stuck in the tank.

Dave
Thanks Dave - I was wondering about that since the anode shows some decay. That makes sense that it is a zinc compound. Yep - wrapped it well before I replaced it.
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Old 10-02-2010, 05:46 PM   #30
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Priestley
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric T
I was just working on winterizing. I did Reace's method 2 (no antifreeze) and then blew out with air pressure. I had Mary open each faucet one at time watch to see how much water came out. The most was at the toilet, but none of them showed more than some drops coming out with the pressure. So it would seem to be redundant. Even if there is a very small amount of water left in the line, as long as it has plenty of space to expand it should not cause problems correct? An exception would be the pump with water trapped in a confined space, but I ran it for at least 10 seconds as Reace recommended. In my normal over cautious mode, I may still put a small amount of antifreeze in the fresh water tank and let the pump suck it into itself.

On another note - for those of us with lots of calcium (hardness) in our water. There was quite a bit of white pasty matter in my hot water heater tank when I drained it - I am assuming it is calcium that has precipitated out. I decided to hook the hose to the city water and flushed out the tank until it was clear. I stuck my finger inside and the water pressure seems to have cleared it all out very well.

Hi Eric

Don't put antifreeze into the fresh water tank, if
you want to run some into the pump disconnect
the line from the tank and put it into the antifreeze
jug or put one of these winterizing valves in.

Doug - I am not sure I understand why to not put the antifreeze in the fresh water tank? I understand about keeping it out of the hot water heater due to problems it can cause there when heated. But I have not heard of or experienced any problems in cold water lines or tanks. I had planned to just put in enough to get it to fill the pump and then drain any remaining antifreeze out of the fresh tank, as I have done in the past with our previous trailers and RV. Is there something different that I don't know about with Escape's fresh water tanks?
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Old 10-02-2010, 11:17 PM   #31
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Hi Eric

I don't know about your tank but I would
have to put more then a jug in mine just
to get it to the level where the pump will
suck it up. Then there is the fun trying to
flush the remaining antifreeze out of the
tank.
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Old 10-03-2010, 07:07 AM   #32
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

"After all of the water has drained from your fresh water tank and your water heater, and you've bypassed the water heater, locate the antifreeze intake line and valve located on the intake side of your water pump. It may take some hunting to locate your pump, but it will generally be plumbed near the fresh water tank.

Turn this valve to stop the pump from drawing from the water tank and draw from the hose attached to the valve. Place the end of the hose into your open gallon jug of antifreeze and turn your pump on."

From here: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/winter.html

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Old 10-03-2010, 05:06 PM   #33
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

I wish I had one of those nifty valves for getting the antifreeze right into the pump, but I couldn't bring myself to cut into that pretty PEX tubing with those nice crimped on fittings yet this year. Had I thought of it beforehand I would have asked Reace if one could have been installed at the factory. Those would be a great option in my opinion.

So, as I sat and pondered (and worried about potential residual water trapped in the pump - of which there probably really was none....) I noticed that even with Reace's non-antifreeze method I was going to need to use a gallon in the various drains. With that in mind I decided to experiment.

I put about 2.5 gallons of antifreeze in the fresh water tank and used the jacks to tilt the Escape so that the liquid was all at the end/side with the tube to the pump and the drain valve. I closed off the water heater valves and turned on the pump. (Then I remembered to put the low point plug back in- dooh) I ran the toilet, bathroom, then the kitchen fixtures to get amounts somewhere in the neighborhood of what Reace specified for in the traps. I then drained the remaining antifreeze in the fresh water tank and pipes back into an antifreeze jugs. It looks like I would have used just about 1.5 gallons in the process (had I not wasted some with forgetting the low point plug). So now if we get some -20 F or colder days this winter I will be able to sleep and not imagine that rock hard ice destroying my pump. And yes I fully realize that it is in all likely hood totally paranoid redundancy - but it only really cost me an extra 1/2 gallon of antifreeze or so.
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Old 10-03-2010, 05:27 PM   #34
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Hey Eric it only takes a quick painless snip and the valve pops in with compression fittings.

The other thing I do is after I pump antifreeze throughout the lines, open the low point drain
and get rid of all the antifreeze out you can, this helps get rid of that taste the antifreeze leaves behind
in the pipes.

On another note a good thing to do is get the antifreeze out of the toilet bowl (as it contains alcohol that
will dry out the seal and cause leaking) and put in a bit of veggie of mineral oil, this will keep the
seal lubricated and stop any smell from coming back up.
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Old 10-03-2010, 05:38 PM   #35
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Priestley
Hey Eric it only takes a quick painless snip and the valve pops in with compression fittings.

The other thing I do is after I pump antifreeze throughout the lines, open the low point drain
and get rid of all the antifreeze out you can, this helps get rid of that taste the antifreeze leaves behind
in the pipes.

On another note a good thing to do is get the antifreeze out of the toilet bowl (as it contains alcohol that
will dry out the seal and cause leaking) and put in a bit of veggie of mineral oil, this will keep the
seal lubricated and stop any smell from coming back up.
Hey Doug - yah - I figured that it came with compression fitting, but is just looks so neat and tidy and new in there with those crimped on PEX fittings - probably I will be ready to start cutting when Blue is not feeling so brand new to me still.

Yep - did that with the low point drain too, with all the faucets open so it could drain. I do a bleach solution and then lots of fresh water flushing every spring and have never noticed any lingering antifreeze taste after that.

I did not know that the RV antifreeze has alcohol - I thought it was all propylene glycol and water. Thanks for that tip with the mineral oil.
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Old 10-03-2010, 06:07 PM   #36
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Hi: All...Another good spot for some mineral oil is around the drain spigot for the fresh water tank!!! It's very stiff to begin with and they do get fragile with age. Don't ask me how I know that. Alf
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Old 10-08-2010, 04:23 PM   #37
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

So, I finally did it. Winterized.
Last year, I drained everything and used my compressor to blow out the water lines. Les ( the Old Bag ) turned the taps and watched inside. She reported that not much happened. A few drops, as reported by others earlier in this thread.

But then, my back up plan was to use a small heater inside the Toad when temps really dropped.

This year I drained everything as before. I bypassed the water heater and ran the water pump for the ten seconds recommended. Dragging the compressor out to the trailer and finding all the fittings seemed too much like work. So did installing a hose to draw anti-freeze into the water pump. So, I bought a hand pump designed to draw from the anti-freeze bottle and push it through the city water inlet. ( that cost $35, but I'm sure you can get it cheaper ).

I was instantly surprised by how few pumps and how little anti-freeze it took to fill the lines. I opened the kitchen sink tap and placed a measuring cup under. After six or eight pumps I had two cups of anti-freeze in the cup - and dumped that down the sink for the p-trap. Then to the exterior shower, bathroom sink and finally the toilet. Biggest issue with the toilet was finding a way to hold it open so the fluid could enter. A plastic container for hand-wipes worked perfectly, holding it open just enough.

I only used one gallon of anti-freeze, although I plan to add a bit more to the traps. It really was easy.

So, tell me, what did I do wrong

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Old 10-08-2010, 05:57 PM   #38
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

Glenn - looks like you had about the same results I did. It takes almost no more antifreeze to run thru the lines than you need to fill the p-traps anyway. I just put it right in the freshwater tank, jacked up the passenger side, ran the pump and then drained out what was left back into antifreeze jugs.
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Old 10-08-2010, 08:15 PM   #39
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

We are headed out tomorrow for 3 nights, and I will likely winterize it after that. I will try blowing too, but expect it to be a redundant act. With the lines dry, there is no reason to use antifreeze in them though. Just a bit in the traps will do.
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Old 10-08-2010, 08:32 PM   #40
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Re: How To Winterize a Trailer

I considered all that, but, if it will ease my mind, it's worth it.

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