winterizing black flush system

Lee Pedrick · 10-12-2018, 06:44 AM

I have a Catalina 243 legacy. Looking for ideas to reliably winterize the black tank fitting and know for sure that the anti freeze got all the way to the tank. No problem doing the rest of the trailer. Just never had a black flush before.

strgrazr · 10-12-2018, 06:54 AM

Thanks , every good question, i need to know too. Is there left in the check valve for Blk flush??

Indymule · 10-12-2018, 07:00 AM

Some will say that there is no need to winterize the black flush since it is an open line and will allow for expansion of freezing water. In theory, there should not be water left in the line but it does happen if the line has a sag in it.
I had a hose hooked to the outside shower that I ran to the black tank flush then ran the antifreeze through the shower into the black flush until I heard it spray in the tank.

youroo · 10-12-2018, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indymule

Some will say that there is no need to winterize the black flush since it is an open line and will allow for expansion of freezing water. In theory, there should not be water left in the line but it does happen if the line has a sag in it.
I had a hose hooked to the outside shower that I ran to the black tank flush then ran the antifreeze through the shower into the black flush until I heard it spray in the tank.

Agree with this method 1oo%! Nozzle area on Some RVS will/can retain water,that can Freeze!

Youroo! !

TheWolfPaq82 · 10-12-2018, 07:15 AM

Just winterized the other night. When I was done with the pink stuff, I took my little air compressor and shot a couple blast into the hose connection. There's no check valve in the flush line and it's just blows any additional water into the tank.

TheWolfPaq82 · 10-12-2018, 07:18 AM

Did you purge the "City Water" connection ? There is a check valve in that connection that can hold water and freeze. I've replaced two on my brother-in-laws trailer. I always check with him now when he winterizes to make sure he purged it with pink stuff.

fella10 · 10-12-2018, 07:27 AM

blow it out with air, ... I don't/never have, used the anti freeze, ... we're able to camp several times during the winter, and using the anti freeze would require, flushing it out of the lines every time we want to use the trailer for a weekend and then redoing it when we get back home, ... much less trouble for me to hookup my air line, blow 20-30 lbs of air thru the whole system, plus the black tank flush line and the outside shower lines, until all water is removed, ...

"if there ain't no water in the lines, there ain't nothing there to freeze" ....

Shaun Happison · 10-12-2018, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indymule

Some will say that there is no need to winterize the black flush since it is an open line and will allow for expansion of freezing water. In theory, there should not be water left in the line but it does happen if the line has a sag in it.
I had a hose hooked to the outside shower that I ran to the black tank flush then ran the antifreeze through the shower into the black flush until I heard it spray in the tank.

Exactly what I do... Hook a hose from the outside faucet to the black tank flush.

jimmoore13 · 10-12-2018, 12:53 PM

I winterize my entire camper with compressed air. Compressed air will work well on a black tank flush as well. Any compressor will do the job on the black tank flush. And, for years, I got by (struggled) with a pancake compressor to winterize the RV. I had to wait patiently for the compressor to repressurize then I'd connect to the RV and give it a burst of air, then disconnect and wait. Now I have a 30 gallon, 175 PSI compressor, and it has an "endless" supply of air.

On all compressors, set the output PSI to about 40 PSI...same as your city water pressure regulator...to prevent blowing up your RV plumbing. At that output pressure with my "big" homeowner's compressor, I'm almost done winterizing the entire RV before the compressor comes on to refill the tank. I also do NOT have to switch my hot water heater to bypass, because, after I drain and re-plug the hot water heater, the huge amount of air from my compressor just fills and pressurizes that 6 gallon tank with ease. Easy as can be. The compressor has lots of other uses, including filling the RV tires to ANY pressure, so it was $350 well spent.

I DO put RV Antifreeze in my drain traps and down the toilet flush (and a tiny bit in the bowl), and in so doing, overflow past the traps/toilet enters the black and grey tanks and protects the dump valves and dump plumbing. I never "contaminate" my fresh-water supply with RV Antifreeze, so we can roll out on a moment's notice if we get a balmy weekend in mid-winter.

Aside from the hassle of having to open/setup my PUP to get the job done, it takes less than 30 minutes to do the whole job.

HAPP · 10-12-2018, 01:11 PM

Just blow it out with 30psi air

jimmoore13 · 10-12-2018, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fella10

blow it out with air, ... I don't/never have, used the anti freeze, ... we're able to camp several times during the winter, and using the anti freeze would require, flushing it out of the lines every time we want to use the trailer for a weekend and then redoing it when we get back home, ... much less trouble for me to hookup my air line, blow 20-30 lbs of air thru the whole system, plus the black tank flush line and the outside shower lines, until all water is removed, ...

"if there ain't no water in the lines, there ain't nothing there to freeze" ....

X-2...see my later diatribe.
If you can winterize a sprinkler system with air, you can winterize an RV with air.

markb422 · 10-13-2018, 07:59 AM

You can buy a hand pump that sucks from the bottle and has a male hose connector on the outlet. They are made for pumping anti freeze into the city water and fresh water tank. It takes about 10 pumps to empty a gallon bottle of anti freeze. You can also use it to pump pink into the black tank flush. Although I do not like to use anything that I connect to the water system to anything connected to the black tank. So I bought a second one to use for that. They are cheap but do the job. Makes winterizing quick and easy and all from the outside. Also easy cheap way to add fresh water to the tank if you are boon docking.

Teamfour · 10-13-2018, 08:13 AM

No need for a compressor to blow out lines. A good hand bicycle pump works fine. Been using one for years to blow out lines including the black tank flush.

russhd1997 · 10-15-2018, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markb422

You can buy a hand pump that sucks from the bottle and has a male hose connector on the outlet. They are made for pumping anti freeze into the city water and fresh water tank. It takes about 10 pumps to empty a gallon bottle of anti freeze. You can also use it to pump pink into the black tank flush. Although I do not like to use anything that I connect to the water system to anything connected to the black tank. So I bought a second one to use for that. They are cheap but do the job. Makes winterizing quick and easy and all from the outside. Also easy cheap way to add fresh water to the tank if you are boon docking.

I have one of those pumps and it works good for flushing the black tank flush and the city water connection. I also use the onboard pump to do the rest of the winterizing and to make sure that there isn't any water in the onboard pump.

Gerogesin · 10-15-2018, 06:20 AM

So it suggested we blow 30psi of air via adapter to the black water flush to make sure no water is in the black water flush system? I assume the black water waste valve needs to be open?

TheWolfPaq82 · 10-15-2018, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmoore13

X-2...see my later diatribe.
If you can winterize a sprinkler system with air, you can winterize an RV with air.

And every spring I listen to my friends, neighbors and co-workers talk about replacing heads, finding broken lines due to freezing during the winter.

cmysstailights · 10-15-2018, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

And every spring I listen to my friends, neighbors and co-workers talk about replacing heads, finding broken lines due to freezing during the winter.

Are they doing it with a pancake compressor? Biggest issue is air volume to pump recovery, I do it with a 60 gallon tank @ 50lbs pressure and have had no issues. (Watch cause i opened my mouth im gonna have 1 lol).

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**Iwritecode** · 10-15-2018, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerogesin

So it suggested we blow 30psi of air via adapter to the black water flush to make sure no water is in the black water flush system? I assume the black water waste valve needs to be open?

The valve doesn't really need to be open. You are just blowing air and maybe some misty water into the tank. I just did mine yesterday and just ran it for a few seconds.

It's possible that you have a short run of hose from the inlet to the tank, but the air should get most of it out.

TheWolfPaq82 · 10-15-2018, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmysstailights

Are they doing it with a pancake compressor? Biggest issue is air volume to pump recovery, I do it with a 60 gallon tank @ 50lbs pressure and have had no issues. (Watch cause i opened my mouth im gonna have 1 lol).

I know the neighbor has a 50 gal on wheels that he uses, had two heads broken this spring. Couldn't say what the others are using. I do know 2 have a company do it in the fall. So....did you knock on wood after saying that ? I always do...but it only helps sometimes.

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