Need to winterize but how?

[olygene]

Normally I spend winters in AZ so have not needed to winterize the RV. This year I will be spending the winter in Washington State (on the west side) and the temperature will only fall occasionally into the high teens. I will have the Lexi 255GTS RV parked unused during this time.

My question is: Do I need to run RV antifreeze thru the water lines and traps or can I merely blow the lines using 40psi air compressor and not add any antifreeze? If I should add antifreeze, do I need to remove the charcoal cartridge located in the water filter under the bed or can I leave the cartridge in place--I am unsure of what the antifreeze will do to the cartridge? I would especially appreciate any input from other west coasters who do not have the deep freeze experienced in other parts of our great country. When I lived in Colorado, I would not hesitate to add antifreeze but the temperature was way below zero for weeks/months at a time.

[Herk7769]

There is an article on winterizing in the FAQ section of the forum and if you search on winterizing in the green search (leave FRF checked) box below the main header you will get several (hundred) generic threads on this topic (and some for the Lexington specifically).

[olygene]

Thanks Herk. Lots of suggestions that will help.

[F and E Damp]

Gene:

We're in NW Washington and this is our procedure. It doesn't use very much RV antifreeze ("pink stuff"):

1: Drain the potable tank

2: Drain the water heater and set the valve(s) to bypass. Leave the pressure relief valve open.

3: Attach the adapter (tire valve o/d to garden hose male) to the city water fill port.

4: Attach the air compressor hose to the tire valve above, with compressor tank at full pressure and outlet regulator at about 30 psi. Open the compressor outlet valve.

5: Go listen whether any air is escaping from the water heater pressure relief valve. If it is, you got the bypass set wrong. In three seasons, I can never remember which way the valve handle on our rig should be.

6: Go around the MH opening faucets, including bathroom shower and the outside shower if you have one. After all the faucets are blowing air, operate the toilet flush a few times to clear its line.

7: When everything is blowing air, shut off the compressor, disconnect and remove the adapter. Replace the cap on the city water inlet. Put the compressor away.

8: Take a bottle of "pink stuff" and pour about a cupful into each sink and shower drain.

9: This is optional - close all the faucets. Some folk leave them open, but it gets a bit messy if you forget and hook up city water in the spring!

10: You're done - grab a beer and relax.

We don't have a built-in filter on our water system - we use the in-line blue cylindrical ones - but I would take the filter cartridge out and put the bowl back on. I'll be doing this tomorrow, so if I find anything wrong with the procedure, I'll post a correction. It's a year since I last did it, and memory isn't what it once was.

[coupevillefish]

We followed Frank's process with our prior TT. Our dealer for tne GT preferred filling the lines with the antifreeze and gave us a hose to hook to the in-side of the pump.

So the process is generally the same:
1. Isolate and drain tne hot water tank (remove the anoid rod).
2. Remove the filter.
3. Drain the fresh water tank.
4. Drain all lines through the low-point drain.
5. Disconnect the input line to the pump and hook up the syphon hose.
6. Run each facet until it runs punk.
7. Have a diet Dr Pepper.

Ours takes about 1 1/2 gallons of antifreeze.

I am still considering which process to actuallu use.

[dougpatz]

Finally have our Lexington winterized, and we use antifreeze throughout. The biggest problem was reaching the by-pass valves! Ours were located in the bathroom, inside the left side of the vanity. If a simple access door was placed under the sink, you could easily reach the two valves "impossible for normal-sized hands" to reach, and winterizing would be a breeze. Why do manufacturers not consider this? We WILL cut a door there before spring to open things back up!