Fresh Water tank and antifreeze

[YardDog]

I'll try to keep this as short as I can. I bought a 2015 Forest River Wildwood 27RBXL in August and this is my first rig. I bought the kit to hook to the pump to pull antifreeze from the jug to winterize for convenience and two gallons of RV antifreeze but hadn't installed it yet. A well intentioned friend stopped by to help me winterize. I got distracted with a phone call for a bit and when I returned I found him standing there with two empty jugs and a funnel. Yep you guessed it, he poured it all into the fresh water tank. I only use that tank for sinks, shower, and toilet. Tried to use the pump to get it out and got nothing but froth. Opened what I thought was the fresh water tank drain valve in front of the axles and not a drop came out. The low point drains are dry as well. How in the world can I get two gallons out of the fresh water tank? Maybe there is another valve I'm not finding? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sgtlm17]

This isn't too bad. Start putting fresh water in the fresh water tank with the FW holding tank drain open. Many FW holding tanks will leave a gallon or two of water in them that won't drain because of the drain location. Similarly, the pump can't pull the last few gallons in the FW tank. Continue flushing till you see no pink. In the spring make sure you sanitize FW tank.

[Mr. Dan]

Maybe the anti-freeze went into the water heater. Did the pump transfer the AF into the heater? Remove the plug/anode rod and see.


sgtlm17 has a possible explanation, too.

[YardDog]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

Maybe the anti-freeze went into the water heater. Did the pump transfer the AF into the heater? Remove the plug/anode rod and see.


sgtlm17 has a possible explanation, too.

Thankfully I had already switched everything to bypass and drained the tank, but that is something to keep in mind. Thank you, much appreciated.

[YardDog]

Originally Posted by sgtlm17

This isn't too bad. Start putting fresh water in the fresh water tank with the FW holding tank drain open. Many FW holding tanks will leave a gallon or two of water in them that won't drain because of the drain location. Similarly, the pump can't pull the last few gallons in the FW tank. Continue flushing till you see no pink. In the spring make sure you sanitize FW tank.

I did not know this. You would think a drain valve would drain all contents. Guess I'll just flush and drain for a while. Thank you for the info, much appreciated.

[LegacyFB38]

Maybe leave it as is for the winter and flush/sanitize in the Spring.

[Scrapper]

There was a thread earlier this week where someone put 6 gallons in his FW tank and all he got was froth from his faucets. He thought he needed the 6 gallons to protect the water heater.

Just so you know it will take 1, maybe 2 fill-ups of your FW tank to dilute the AF enough so you don't feel the stickiness AF leaves in the water.

[YardDog]

Originally Posted by LegacyFB38

Maybe leave it as is for the winter and flush/sanitize in the Spring.

I may just do that. After all, no one drinks from that tank.

[YardDog]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

There was a thread earlier this week where someone put 6 gallons in his FW tank and all he got was froth from his faucets. He thought he needed the 6 gallons to protect the water heater.

Just so you know it will take 1, maybe 2 fill-ups of your FW tank to dilute the AF enough so you don't feel the stickiness AF leaves in the water.

Another bit of knowledge, did not know residual antifreeze would be sticky. Great forum and great knowledge on this site.

[SailorSam20500]

I'd try leaning the trailer toward the FW drain. Drive it up onto boards on the side opposite the drain. You may need 6" of lean to get anything. Also run the tongue jack up or down if the drain is on the front or rear of your tank. Try catching the good stuff in a bottle...

To flush the FW tank. Put in a bunch of water in the tank and open the drain. Do it several times to water down the anti-freeze. Probably easier than running it all thru the trailer and into your waste tanks.

[Scrapper]

Take a good look at the tanks drain valve, you might be able to remove it so it flushes faster.

[Deanm]

Is there an option / method for dealing with winter temps ( I'm in Maryland ) if you want to do some camping through the winter?

[Reverse_snowbird]

You could keep the rig winterized and use bottled water for drinking and washing up and flushing. Shower in the campgrounds facilities.

You can drain the black water and grey water and pour antifreeze in the drains at the end of your camping trip. If you need more water in your tanks for flushing, you could run a water hose through the door or window to put water in the sink and toilet.

Not the best solution perhaps....

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

There was a thread earlier this week where someone put 6 gallons in his FW tank and all he got was froth from his faucets. He thought he needed the 6 gallons to protect the water heater.

Just so you know it will take 1, maybe 2 fill-ups of your FW tank to dilute the AF enough so you don't feel the stickiness AF leaves in the water.

When will people stop thinking and start reading?

[Vince and Charlette]

Originally Posted by Deanm

Is there an option / method for dealing with winter temps ( I'm in Maryland ) if you want to do some camping through the winter?

A lot depends on the type of camper you have. Some like mine have a heated basement...only if the furnace is on. I've camped four days at 20 degrees. Called FR and they said my model was good to zero degrees. Of course, you better have access to a lot of propane! If your water lines are in the basement and it's not heated, be careful. Even worse, when you're moving down the highways, heat is rapidly pulled out of the vehicle by the flow of air around the whole camper.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Deanm

Is there an option / method for dealing with winter temps ( I'm in Maryland ) if you want to do some camping through the winter?

Bottled water. Keep it in the shower in case it freezes and leaks.

Connect your sewer hose to sewer or blue boy and leave the gray water outlet open. This prevents water from freezing in the pipe or valve and cracking it.

We have never had a problem with using the toilet. Must be enough salt in our waste. We rinse the bowl after using with a tiny bit of water.

Larry

[amblt]

"A well intentioned friend"

Aren't they all?

My Grandmother told me "You have friends for, not despite, their faults". I've always tried to live by that and it seems to have worked so far.

Cheers

[D W]

Originally Posted by YardDog

I may just do that. After all, no one drinks from that tank.

The longer you leave it in there, the harder it will be to get it rinsed out. The Propylene Glycol seems to want to bond to the plastic polymers in the FW tank over time. Even though you may not drink out of it, the smell will still be there. Then there's sanitization. You will want to sanitize the tank and your water lines after the winter.

[RacerRalph]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Bottled water. Keep it in the shower in case it freezes and leaks.

Connect your sewer hose to sewer or blue boy and leave the gray water outlet open. This prevents water from freezing in the pipe or valve and cracking it.

We have never had a problem with using the toilet. Must be enough salt in our waste. We rinse the bowl after using with a tiny bit of water.

Larry

We flush in winter with pink stuff.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by RacerRalph

We flush in winter with pink stuff.

Only works if you put "pink stuff" in the fresh water tank.

Larry