Winterize without Antifreeze?

[KRas]

Can someone tell me what risks I’m going to take by only using air pressure to blowout my waterlines without using antifreeze? This is my first winter of ownership, I just retired and would like to minimize effort if I can talk my wife into going South for a trip.

[ScottBrownstein]

Well, the pump still has water in it and the drain traps will have water in them as does the toilet. Use compressed air from the city water connection and then pump 1 gallon of antifreeze through the winterizing pick up tube and let it run at each fixture until some of it goes into the traps. Don't forget the shower and the external water filter if there is one. Put a short bast of compressed air in the tank fill if you have one.

If you have a residential reefer, I run the compressed air into my coach and leave it pressurized overnight with the residential reefer icemaker running. Dumping all the water out of the water dispenser and filter. In the morning, turn off the air and remove the filter and bring it into a heated area.

[KMP44]

Really, your risks are you leave some water trapped someplace and break something, or you use too much air pressure and damage something. Controlling the air pressure is no big deal. So it really comes down to which way you are comfortable. I use anti-freeze and can be done in 20 minutes. Downside is you need to flush and drain, then sanitize to de-winterize. We don't use ours until well into spring, but in your case the compressed air could be a time saver. Just make sure you get all the low spots and things like the filter housing, pump strainer, etc...

[KRas]

Thanks for your responses to my question.
I should’ve looked in my manual, before I started this thread, but there are specific instructions for the FR3 to use compressed air and then add antifreeze to the gray and black tanks via the drains. The pump gets drained as part of the process and the traps will get taken care of with the antifreeze.

[arter368rlbhk]

My 2 cents is that i always follow the instructions that came with the rv. Now with that said my father has for 50 yrs and 6 different rvs just blown the lines out with compressed air and poured antifreeze down the traps without ever having an issue. I personally feel more comfortable blowing the water lines out and then pumping antifreeze through the lines.....FWIW

[WFD]

The antifreeze is pretty inexpensive, only takes a few min to do as opposed to not doing it, and have something split or crack, then you have to find it. Not worth the risk in my mind. The time and money spent fixing something that could have been prevented in the first place, can far exceed the cost and time to winterize it properly....you know as luck will have it, if a pipe bursts due to frost, it will be in the most inconvenient, toughest spot to reach...we spend thousands on these RV's...why cut corners on what may be one of the biggest maintenance issues?

[vjstangelo]

I have only used compressed air and never had any problems. If you use air rather than antifreeze you must make sure to first drain the fresh water tank from its low point drain, and drain the hot water tank. After that open each hot and cold valve one at a time, and don’t forget the outside and inside shower lines.

It is wise to add rv antifreeze to each trap, but FWIW I never do that and have never had a problem.

Also make sure to add below freezing washer fluid to the cab unit, and check the strength of your antifreeze using one of those floating ball gizmos available in any auto parts section or store.

[Carl17]

I do both air than antifreeze. The antifreeze helps keep seals soft.