Compressor for Winterizing?

[gfior]

I would prefer to blow out water lines rather than suck in antifreeze. I figure that I could keep a lightweight (< 25# or so) compact compressor onboard and also use it to inflate tires etc. if necessary.

I looked at several recommended compressors, and almost ordered a Viair 88P until I realized that it only has a fixed hose to air up tires and no pressure regulator.

Some Amazon reviewers say that low CFM compressors with small tanks are not suitable for blowing out RV lines.

Does any of you have experience with this?

[Sirsea]

I have always used an air comp to blow out lines and added -30* windshield washer fluid to the p-traps when winterizing. Bought a Dewalt comp from HD and carry it in the back of the truck. Lots of people use comps from Harbor Freight/Northern Tool, <$100.

[Bluepill]

Just me, but I would never trust that compressed air will get all the water out of low spots. At 4 bucks a gallon, RV anti freeze is my cheap insurance.

[gfior]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

never trust that compressed air will get all the water out of low spots.

Has anyone experienced this problem in real life? For me it's more than saving a few bucks on antifreeze, it's also not having to deal with lines full of pink stuff on the next trip.

Greg

[trbomax]

Originally Posted by gfior

Has anyone experienced this problem in real life? For me it's more than saving a few bucks on antifreeze, it's also not having to deal with lines full of pink stuff on the next trip.

Greg

When I was in the marina bussiness we winterized about 400 boats a year.Most had water systems comparable to a large 2 bath 5w. We always pumped pink thru useing the onboard fw pump. Never had a freezer in 10 years. The pink will clear the lines in only 3 or 4 minutes if you use the onboard pump. If you pour it in the tank,you will never get it all out and the residual water in your "drained" tank will dilute it and make it unreliable. All the above said,we always checked anything we winterized with a spectrometer and tagged the boat acordingly.

[mark0224]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

Just me, but I would never trust that compressed air will get all the water out of low spots. At 4 bucks a gallon, RV anti freeze is my cheap insurance.

I agree using the compressor to get most of the water out prior to adding the pink stuff. For one the compressor hooked up to the city water inlet will not get water out of the pump also if there is a low spot in a line the air will flow over the water leaving a spot to freeze. Sink traps also can't get all water out and will break, toilet lines are another possible.
As to having it happen not in an RV but copper pipes in a camp had a low spot that air didn't clear, they froze and broke and made a mess plus a pain to repair.
$10 and a little convenience are a small price to pay to avoid a possible expensive repair.
Will stay with pink stuff.

[MiataHoarder]

This link will show you the fittings you can use to blow out your water lines

Amazon.com: rv water line blowout

Basically, you screw the fitting into your system - usually at the water heater drain plug or at the city water inlet. Make sure ALL your spigots are open inside ... then add compressed air. The water in your lines will flow and eventually "sputter" out of your faucets. There is so little residual water in your lines that even if it freezes, there will be expansion room for it and your lines should be OK. I don't think a small portable compressor will push sufficient air. It should have an air tank and allow a few minutes of air at around 20 PSI to push all the water out. Another workable solution would be get a portable air tank which you can fill at home or at a friendly compressor owners house. They're around 30 bucks and even cheaper used on Craigslist.

When doing this at first make sure your low point drains are closed. After using the compressed air, open the drains to allow low residual water puddles to flow out. Make sure to add RV antifreeze to each drain to prevent your P Traps from freezing and to add some to the black water tank, just in case.

I've never had a freeze using this process in 20 years during which we have had several weeks of sub 20 degree temps.

[EastlakeRoo]

i use a harbor freight compressor to blow out all the lines thru the city water connection, then once everything is blowing air I go under the trailer and open up the low point drains and fresh water valves to make sure those don't have any trapped water. After doing those steps I use the water pump inside the trailer to pump the pink stuff throughout the trailer. Haven't had an issue yet and don't want one....

PS. don't forget outside shower as well. can easily be overlooked if not used all that often.

[ColoradoRick]

I'm, also, with the pink-stuff crowd. Yes, it's a pain but not as big a pain if I have pipes or a water-pump that cracks. (And I have seen a couple of brass pipes crack from freezing water on my sprinkler system.)

I've always used the fresh water inlet for the compressor, have not tried the hot water heater drain, so will have to, also, try that this pre-winter.

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by gfior

I would prefer to blow out water lines rather than suck in antifreeze. I figure that I could keep a lightweight (< 25# or so) compact compressor onboard and also use it to inflate tires etc. if necessary.

I looked at several recommended compressors, and almost ordered a Viair 88P until I realized that it only has a fixed hose to air up tires and no pressure regulator.

Some Amazon reviewers say that low CFM compressors with small tanks are not suitable for blowing out RV lines.

Does any of you have experience with this?

I use this one. If you watch for it, you can catch it on sale for about $30.

It has a regulator and goes to 100 PSI which is way more than you'll need to blow out the lines.

I dump the pink stuff in after blowing out the lines. Takes maybe 15-20 minutes total.

[dieselguy]

I used to be with the "pink stuff" crowd, but switched over to solely compressed air 3 years ago. I have a 60 gal compressor in my garage that I usually use, but also have used my Rigid 3 gal compressor from HD. If you let the air run long enough you'll not have an issue with pockets of water and if you do have a bit in a line, the PEX lines are very forgiving. I do use the "pink stuff" for PTraps and what ever ends up in the tanks. Like said be sure you take care of the outside shower and black tank flush as well.

[KenHwy61]

Air for me as well. Pink antifreeze in the traps. Don't forget to drain the water heater. Never had a problem in 20 years of sub-zero Minnesota winters. Most any compressor will work. I have used several different over the years. Don't be afraid to let a little pressure build up in the lines by open and closing the faucets. Most water tubing is rated for fairly high pressure. If a line pops off or bursts at any thing less than 60-80psi you probably saved yourself from a future water leak. Better to find weak lines with air than water.

[doc73]

Been blowing the lines for ten years. Only time I ever had trouble was when I did not winterize soon enough. I did forget the outside shower one time.. That sucked. I use either pink stuff or washer fluid in the traps.

[oldgold]

We use compressed air. Keep compressor in the camper for misc uses. We camp mostly all winter in Georgia and I would burn up 30 gallons or more to keep rewinterizing all winter long.

I normally open each sink by itself and then all at once. Another thing I noticed if you raise and lower the trailer at the tongue jack more water will come out. So I do a round of blowing out the lines with the trailer level. Then do another round with the tongue as low as possible. All in all takes about 30 minutes.

Also remember not to put too much pressure on the lines. Need to make sure your not shooting 100psi on those lines. We keep our at about 50psi to blow the lines.

[F and E Damp]

I used that cheap Harbor Freight compressor, too. Drain the hot water heater first, then by-pass it. Drain the fresh-water tank also.

Feed about 20 psi air into the city water inlet and open all the faucets, including both the inside and outside showers until no more water comes out for 5 minutes or so. Disconnect the compressor, close all the faucets, then pour a couple of tablespoons-full of the pink stuff down each outlet that has a U-bend.

Admittedly, our overnight low temps rarely drop below 20F, so folks with -50 or more might have to be more careful.

Didn't have an issue in the four years we owned the rig.

[gfior]

Okay!

So after digesting all the advice received, and poring through hundreds of reviews and answered questions, I settled on a Bostitch CAP1512-OF compressor...which arrived today.

It meets my weight requirements at about 23#, has the highest CFM and pressure rating of all the compact compressors I've looked at, and seems well engineered and built. It's as compact as any of this class of compressors.

Most of the negative reviews cited out-of-the-box failure of the pressure limit switch, causing the tank to vent and refill in an endless cycle. I tested it right away and it seems to work perfectly. Since this was an Amazon Prime purchase, I was not too worried about a DOA condition.


Greg

[rockfordroo]

I use a small compressor as pictured in prior threads. It has a 2 gal tank. But I don't worry about the regulator. I pump it up to 110 lbs, where it shuts off. Then I let 'er rip. The pressure drops very quickly and with a faucet open, the pressure really never gets anywhere near what you already put in it with city water.

[Evereddie]

Compressed air also. First I open low point drains and fresh water tank. Then close one and hook my big shop vac to the other low point drain. Turn it on and open each faucet one by one and suck the water out. Switch low point drains and repeat. Open WH too. Figure sucking water downhill with gravity assist is a good start. Then I hook up the air compressor and blow out like others. Pink in drains and toilet only. Totally works.

One time we were in warmer southern climates and found out we were going to be driving back to freezing temps at home. Used shop vac only, and not my big one, and everything survived.

[67cudafb]

I use compressed air to clear lines and WH. Then put WH in bypass and pump in rv antifreeze. Also make sure to get pink stuff in my grey and black tanks even though just about empty. Always open drain on fresh water tank and drain low points before antifreeze. In north fla I could get by with clearing lines but why chance it