Winterization Warning

[Teamgreen]

Hello;

New to Forums, first time post.

Wife and i purchased a brand new 2018 Forest River Grey Wolf 23MK.

When i went to winterize it I turned the pump on and copious amounts of water began coming out of of the hose . So much so i wondered where it was coming from. Turns out the potable water tank was full!

My wife and i are not boon dockers and we never touched the tank in any way.

Upon researching this forum we think we know what happened. The ball check valve was stuck open in the pump and allowed city water to fill the tank. Had I not intentionally tried to drain all water before adding antifreeze i would have started next season with a cracked potable water tank and would had have to replace it out of pocket.

Also , i checked for a drain underneath the trailer from the bottom of the tank and there is nothing there! The potable hose goes down underneath where the Black tank is and its covered with a black plastic cover and sealed up with lots of foam.

That said my warning is to check the potable water tank for water even if never used.

Maybe that's why the listed dry weight and my scale weight was off by 800 lbs
'
Thanks for the great site

Teamgreen

[asquared]

It is also possible the selling dealer filled the tank for you.

[UT_Grandpa]

If the check valve were stuck open letting city water fill the tank (common problem) eventually you would have water spilling from the fresh water filler neck.

I am a systems person and so I always work from the source to the destination. Drain the tank, blow the lines using the city water connection, run the pump until you hear it go up in RPM, watch for spitting water at all the faucets, toilet, outside shower, outside kitchen, etc. Bypass the water heater and then start the RV antifreeze through the whole system until pink comes from all the outlets. Don't forget to pull the anode rod or open the drain on the water heater.

Good post to remind fulltime park campers to check the tank or check something they never used. Thanks for the reminder.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by UT_Grandpa

If the check valve were stuck open letting city water fill the tank (common problem) eventually you would have water spilling from the fresh water filler neck.

I am a systems person and so I always work from the source to the destination. Drain the tank, blow the lines using the city water connection, run the pump until you hear it go up in RPM, watch for spitting water at all the faucets, toilet, outside shower, outside kitchen, etc. Bypass the water heater and then start the RV antifreeze through the whole system until pink comes from all the outlets. Don't forget to pull the anode rod or open the drain on the water heater.

Good post to remind fulltime park campers to check the tank or check something they never used. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks

[dbledan]

Good warning. This is why I always have my FW tank valve open if I am not using it. Last campout I saw a slow leak from it in the morning. I had to detach CW and put some water in the tank and charge the pump to get the valve to close fully.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by asquared

It is also possible the selling dealer filled the tank for you.

They did on mine....part of testing I presumed.

[Hugeez]

Welcome and congrats on your purchase.

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by dbledan

Good warning. This is why I always have my FW tank valve open if I am not using it. Last campout I saw a slow leak from it in the morning. I had to detach CW and put some water in the tank and charge the pump to get the valve to close fully.

I think of doing this but I am concerned about bugs getting in. Just do not want any plumbing issues.

[Garymo]

Originally Posted by UT_Grandpa

If the check valve were stuck open letting city water fill the tank (common problem) eventually you would have water spilling from the fresh water filler neck.

I am a systems person and so I always work from the source to the destination. Drain the tank, blow the lines using the city water connection, run the pump until you hear it go up in RPM, watch for spitting water at all the faucets, toilet, outside shower, outside kitchen, etc. Bypass the water heater and then start the RV antifreeze through the whole system until pink comes from all the outlets. Don't forget to pull the anode rod or open the drain on the water heater.

Good post to remind fulltime park campers to check the tank or check something they never used. Thanks for the reminder.

Can you please tell me what size of socket to use on the anode rod on the water heater? I need to remove it to drain it. I have a 2018 Salem Hemisphere 300BH

Thank you!

[benchmarks]

Originally Posted by Garymo

Can you please tell me what size of socket to use on the anode rod on the water heater? I need to remove it to drain it. I have a 2018 Salem Hemisphere 300BH

Thank you!

11/16

[dbledan]

1and 1/16.

[JayArras]

Originally Posted by dbledan

1and 1/16.

If you have a Suburban hot water tank.

[FRRVR]

Originally Posted by asquared

It is also possible the selling dealer filled the tank for you.

They did that on mine and never told me. Lucky I checked everything.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by Garymo

Can you please tell me what size of socket to use on the anode rod on the water heater? I need to remove it to drain it. I have a 2018 Salem Hemisphere 300BH

Thank you!

My Cherokee is 1 1/16" socket.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Garymo

Can you please tell me what size of socket to use on the anode rod on the water heater? I need to remove it to drain it. I have a 2018 Salem Hemisphere 300BH

Thank you!

Originally Posted by benchmarks

11/16

I think benchmarks left out the hyphen:

1-1/16"

[UT_Grandpa]

Mine is 1-1/16 for the anode rod on a Suburban heater.

[MillMitch]

My wife and I bought our first travel trailer about a month ago. We bought a 23MK. The dealer we bought from filled about half the holding tank (at least according to the control panel lights), presumably for the orientation/pickup as well as providing some weight to setup the WD hitch. we picked up the trailer on a THur at 1:00 and were in a local campsite by 5:00 for 2 nights. I also winterized the trailer while at the campground and had access to the dump station. low point drain valves were in front of the slide, and I had to knock some of the foam off in order to unscrew the cap. holding tank drain is between the tires towards the rear. Love the camper (our kids are grown and we don't have grandkids yet), and had a great 2 nights breaking in the camper before the temps dropped below freezing.
Mitch in MN