Winterizing question

[proskin]

Sad to say we have finished our camping for the season. We really enjoyed our new A-frame camper. I have a 12 DDST. Here is my winterizing question.

I completed all the major winterizing steps.
- I emptied and bypassed the hot water heater.
- Emptied the water holding tank.
- Filled it with 3 gallons of RV antifreeze.
- Ran the anti-freeze through the sink and outdoor shower
- Finished by opening the low-point drains under the sink for a few seconds.

MY QUESTION:
Looks like I still have a lot of anti-freeze left over in the freshwater holding tank. Do I leave it in there for the winter or do I drain it out as much as I can? I would think it wouldn't hurt either way but I figured I would ask.

Thanks for your help. This forum is awesome. Lots of great information, tips and tricks.

[wrvond]

If you are getting solid pink out of each and every faucet and shower sprayer, you are good to go. That's both hot and cold faucets and sprayers. Don't forget the outdoor shower if you have one.
Go ahead and drain the water tank. If you let it sit for any length of time, you'll likely stain the inside of the tank.
For the next time - rather than introducing antifreeze into the drinking water tank, check your water pump. In between the water tank and the pump there may be a valve with a plastic tube. This is where you introduce the pink stuff into your lines. Simply turn the valve and stick the tube into the antifreeze jug. Turn on the pump and go through the camper opening and closing valves. Start with the sink or shower closest to the pump and work your way to the one furthest away from the pump. Once you have solid pink coming out of all of them, you can turn off the pump, disconnect the bottle, and return the valve to it's normal position.
Finally, after draining your water heater, be sure to re-install the drain plug to prevent critters from setting up housekeeping inside the tank.
One last tip: get a small roll of Tyvek fabric from Lowe's or similar, cut squares slightly larger than the access covers on your water heater, refridgerator, etc. Open the access cover, then close it with the Tyvek sheet trapped between the cover and the edge of the hole. This will help keep wasps and spiders from getting into these areas while your camper is in lay-up.

[Triguy]

wrvond is right. Drain the AF from your fresh water tank. And, in the future, know that you do not need to put AF in the FW tank as there are better alternatives.

Here we have some threads that I want to point out to you that address winterizing as a whole. Pick and choose, of course, but should be helpful for you...

Winterizing - Forest River Forums

[proskin]

That was very helpful. I do have a question. Should the anti-freeze fill up the glass to the water filter under the sink? I don't see any way to avoid that.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by proskin

That was very helpful. I do have a question. Should the anti-freeze fill up the glass to the water filter under the sink? I don't see any way to avoid that.

Yes. Take the filter out and discard and fill the canister with the pink stuff.

[thehamguy1]

Be sure to leave some antifreeze in the sink's P-trap. And unless you've installed it yourself, your A frame doesn't have the valve near the water pump that wrvond speaks of. However, they're not expensive or hard to install. Several of us on the A frame threads have installed them. They do make winterizing easier and I find I need just under a gallon of AF for the whole job since I don't have to put any in the fresh water tank.

[rawlus]

With the pump bypass valve you'll use less than 1 gal of the pink stuff

[SurveyorWI]

How much is a water pump bypass for an aframe?

[thehamguy1]

This is what I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006JJ588
Except I got it at an RV parts store.

[rawlus]

Originally Posted by thehamguy1

This is what I got: Camco 36543 RV Pump Converter Winterizing Kit:Amazon:Automotive
Except I got it at an RV parts store.

X2

[SurveyorWI]

Thanks. It gets installed in the cabinet under the sink, right?? Does RV Antifreeze still fill the Water Filter?

[Triguy]

Karl,
This picture might help. You can see that the AF kit is installed between the FW tank and the water pump.

On my unit, the filter is between the water pump and the "plumbing fixtures" so it fills with AF.

[SurveyorWI]

The picture helped. Thanks

[thehamguy1]

Here's a shot I posted a quite a few months ago showing my pump bypass kit installed. It fit just fine between the small inline filter on the left and the right-angle elbow (grey color), both of which were part of the camper's original fittings. Once installed, the brass valve stays in the line. To winterize, you attach a small hose (comes with the kit) to the valve, turn the valve to the bypass position and turn on the water pump. The small hose gets stuck into the jug of antifreeze and the pump sucks it out and pushes it into the larger water filter canister, then out through the faucets. Be sure to set the water heater to the bypass position or you'll end up filling it with AF. The part of the water system that gets antifreeze with this system is small, that's why you'll need less than a gallon. The cost savings will pay for the pump in one season.

[SurveyorWI]

Thanks for sharing.

[Cyndilee]

I'm sure everyone has their own take on what to put inside the camper to keep the critters out. Here is one that I haven't found on here yet. Last year I used slices of Irish Spring bar soap in my son's toyhauler, and there was no indication of any critters at all. This winter, just to be safe, I will be using both Irish Spring soap and 100% peppermint oil soaked cottonballs. DON'T want any nasty critters making a home out of my new screen room that I will be leaving attached, and inside the camper as suggested by the installers!

[SurveyorWI]

Good tips. I've also heard using dryer sheets in every drawer and cubby hole, etc along with cut up flea collars. Plus washing everything done real good along with taking all your personal items out, etc.

[SurveyorWI]

Cheat sheet for winterizing aframes from a plumbing perspective

[Herk7769]

Just posted my 5th wheel winterizing procedure here:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post474510