Winterization of my E-Pro 19FQ

kdot · 10-01-2019, 09:14 AM

I had my unit winterized by the dealer for the first time this weekend and learned a couple of things worth sharing. In addition to all the usual drains and flushes, they also drained my city water hook-up and black tank flush line. I have never done either of these before. The city water hook-up was drained by removing the cap, taking out the screen underneath, and pushing on the metal "button" in the middle. A fair amount of water squirted out. The black tank flush was cleared with a hand pump that drew the water out and squirted it on the ground.
I've done my own winterizing for years; this was the first time I had a dealer do it, They had a $55 drive-through deal that seemed too good to pass up. It definitely beat laying on the ground under the camper to get at drains, and removing the panel and squirming under the bed to get at the valves needed to isolate the water heater, and I learned a couple of things in addition.

5picker · 10-01-2019, 09:20 AM

Thanks for posting. It's a good reminder of two things many overlook when winterizing, although most later model instructions include both of those things.

The other often overlooked things are the outside shower/sink/washer lines (if equipped) and the residual water left in the pump & suction/strainer if you only blow out the lines.

At $55 I'll still do it. Factor in the cost of getting it to a dealer and the time spent to do so, I can spend $10 and 20 minutes of my time and be done.

To each their own.

The Evil Twin · 10-01-2019, 09:33 AM

55 bucks isn't bad to be honest. Sure a DIY is cheaper but for dealer price that aint bad.
FWIW, anywhere water can go is where I push AF- black tank flush, city hook up and from the FW tank line. Probably used more than I needed to but 7 gal of the juice was still cheap enough.

Hatchdog · 10-01-2019, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Evil Twin

55 bucks isn't bad to be honest. Sure a DIY is cheaper but for dealer price that aint bad.
FWIW, anywhere water can go is where I push AF- black tank flush, city hook up and from the FW tank line. Probably used more than I needed to but 7 gal of the juice was still cheap enough.

Question, how do you get AF into the city hookup and black flush inlets? Don’t both require pressure?

Side note, I’ve been winterizing my former trailer for years and never thought to blow out the black flush until reading about that on this site today. I guess I have been lucky as I haven’t had a problem to date. I sold it to my cousin and I’m going to his place today to help him winterize it. I will be sure to blow out the black flush as he will be storing it outside whereas I was able to always store it indoors in an unheated building. Thanks to this site for this bit of info!

kdot · 10-01-2019, 10:37 AM

Re. my post above. My impression is that they did not "blow out" the black tank flush line; they pumped it out. I suppose you could achieve the same thing, or better, if you pumped anti-freeze into that line.

kdot · 10-01-2019, 10:41 AM

I've seen dealers charge $60-65 for winterizing. $55 is a steal. As for time factored in to get it to the dealer and get the job one, the dealer is just 15 miles from my house and it only took them 20 minutes to do the job. My wife barely knew I was gone and I was back home again!

jwuertz · 10-01-2019, 11:08 AM

I just blow out the city water hookup and the black tank flush lines before pumping the RV anti freeze thru the lines. Blowing out the lines using the air compressor adapter seems to work since I have never had any problems.

kdot · 10-01-2019, 11:13 AM

I have blown out the city water line before and it did seem to work just fine, but lately I've not been blowing the lines out; I just pump anti-freeze through everything.

MilCop4523 · 10-01-2019, 12:52 PM

we have a Geopro 19Fd which I will be winterizing this month after the last weekend of camping. this weekend I am doing our 38 foot 5th wheel.
I always blow out the lines and then pump antifreeze.
the geopro will be different with the bypass so I'm interested in hearing if the dealership had to do anything different for that area.

I know that the fresh water tank should be drained and then the petcock between the pump and the tank underneath be shut off forcing the pump to draw through a tube and coupler I have made for this trailer.
as far as the city water line I have to remove the filter (full of water) empty it and replace it so I can blow out that section to the taps. (I suspect???)
I will remove the outside shower line and the inside shower line and place them in the tough tote we put items into for safe keeping. I'm not sure about the shower by pass though.

CGK · 10-01-2019, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatchdog

Question, how do you get AF into the city hookup and black flush inlets? Don’t both require pressure?

Side note, I’ve been winterizing my former trailer for years and never thought to blow out the black flush until reading about that on this site today. I guess I have been lucky as I haven’t had a problem to date. I sold it to my cousin and I’m going to his place today to help him winterize it. I will be sure to blow out the black flush as he will be storing it outside whereas I was able to always store it indoors in an unheated building. Thanks to this site for this bit of info!

I blow-out all the water lines, including the blackwater tank flush line, with a compressor set to maximum 45 lbs. psi. Then I use a hand pump (https://www.campingworld.com/plastic...-kit-4411.html) to pump the anti-freeze into the blackwater tank flush line (I use the demand pump and bypass valves to pump antifreeze into the rest of the coach).

kdot · 10-01-2019, 02:46 PM

Milcop, I assume the bypass you're referring to is the one that allows the shower to send water to the water tank. Nothing out of the ordinary was done to that line. Since it would seem that any water in there would drain into the water tank, and the water tank should be drained almost at the start, I would assume there was no reason to do anything special for it.

Larry-NC · 10-01-2019, 08:05 PM

Yes, the leaves are falling from the trees, but it is still 95 degrees here in North Carolina. I'm not even going to think about winterizing for another month.

The Evil Twin · 10-01-2019, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatchdog

Question, how do you get AF into the city hookup and black flush inlets? Don’t both require pressure?

Side note, I’ve been winterizing my former trailer for years and never thought to blow out the black flush until reading about that on this site today. I guess I have been lucky as I haven’t had a problem to date. I sold it to my cousin and I’m going to his place today to help him winterize it. I will be sure to blow out the black flush as he will be storing it outside whereas I was able to always store it indoors in an unheated building. Thanks to this site for this bit of info!

Yes, they do. You could either use a hand pump or a separate electric pump. Blowing them out with air is probably sufficient but I do not have the adapter for the air compressor.

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