Winterizing How to clear all the lines?

[Tireman9]

Just winterized the water lines in our Freelander 24QB. Used the adapter that fits on the intake side of the pump to suck antifreeze out of the jug and into the lines. Only took about 1-1/2 gal as I by-passed the hot water tank.

I am wondering about the line between the holding tank and the pump. How do I get antifreeze in that line?

Also the "city water" line. Does it have any low points or can I count on air to blow all the water out of that line?

[Skyliner]

The line will gravity drain back into the tank if you break the vacuum on the line by disconnecting it from the fuel pump.

[Scrapper]

To get AF in the city water hookup you need to remove the screen at the connection and push the stem on the check valve inside the connection while your pumping in the AF. Just be sure you stand to the side or you'll get a bath.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

To get AF in the city water hookup you need to remove the screen at the connection and push the stem on the check valve inside the connection while your pumping in the AF. Just be sure you stand to the side or you'll get a bath.

Don't do it under full pressure or you risk the chance of blowing the O-ring out of the valve. B.I.L. has done it several times, but luckily I found a way to reseat the O-ring when he's done it. I release some pressure until I can push stem with only a little effort. If you have two people, you can press the stem and hold it in while someone cycles the pump on/off a couple times.

[WFD]

Originally Posted by Skyliner

The line will gravity drain back into the tank if you break the vacuum on the line by disconnecting it from the fuel pump.

Hmmm...hopefully the water line is not connected to the fuel pump! I have never disconnected that line from my water pump and have never had an issue...have always been under the impression that line gravity feeds back to tank and self drains.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by WFD

Hmmm...hopefully the water line is not connected to the fuel pump! I have never disconnected that line from my water pump and have never had an issue...have always been under the impression that line gravity feeds back to tank and self drains.

... and typically it does... unless... the fresh tank is located HIGHER than the pump. Many models are built this way with the tank being under a bed or dinette and above the level of the pump.

[WFD]

Originally Posted by 5picker

... and typically it does... unless... the fresh tank is located HIGHER than the pump. Many models are built this way with the tank being under a bed or dinette and above the level of the pump.

OK...good point...never thought of that as we have never had a trailer with that type of configuration.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Just winterized the water lines in our Freelander 24QB. Used the adapter that fits on the intake side of the pump to suck antifreeze out of the jug and into the lines. Only took about 1-1/2 gal as I by-passed the hot water tank.

I am wondering about the line between the holding tank and the pump. How do I get antifreeze in that line?

Also the "city water" line. Does it have any low points or can I count on air to blow all the water out of that line?

Tireman9,

To answer your question about the line from the fresh tank to the pump....
As I said above, typically that line drains back to the fresh tank unless the fresh tank is located above the level of the pump.

Many folks run the pump 'dry' after draining the fresh tank to 'hopefully' eradicate all the water from the suction line, the suction/strainer on the pump and the pump itself.

You can disconnect the line from the pump/suction strainer and blow back through to clear the line into the fresh tank where it will ultimately come out the tank drain.

Remember that side of the system is open ended (meaning it does not trap water under pressure) so even if there is a little water in the line it shouldn't hurt as it has room to expand.

The pump and the suction/strainer on the other hand, are different as both have the ability to freeze and bust and I've seen plenty that have. So if your tank is higher than your pump, make sure after you've winterized, that no water trickles back down into the pump chamber or the suction strainer.

[Tireman9]

The pump appears to be bolted to the floor which is the level of the bottom of the freshwater tank.

You can see the attached picture FR couldn't be bothered to provide any clearance to allow me to get an air hose to the end of the water line when it is disconnected from the pump as the hose is squeezed under the drain pipe. Note the hose going up when it is behind the black drain pipe. Perfect location for water to collect in the water feed line. If they had allowed a few extra inches of water line I might have been able to pull it out so I could find an attachment to get an air line onto the hose end.


Thanks for the suggestions on the other line (city water line)

[jrowe0521]

i bought a brass fitting to screw into city fill. plug in air compressor. be sure to set at 30 psi. too much pressure will blow your water lines. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[amblt]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Just winterized the water lines in our Freelander 24QB. Used the adapter that fits on the intake side of the pump to suck antifreeze out of the jug and into the lines. Only took about 1-1/2 gal as I by-passed the hot water tank.

I am wondering about the line between the holding tank and the pump. How do I get antifreeze in that line?

Also the "city water" line. Does it have any low points or can I count on air to blow all the water out of that line?

For the City Water line, I use a small centrifugal pump driven by an electric drill, with its outlet connected via a standard hose end screwed into the inlet. This cancels removing the screen and pushing on the backflow prevention mechanism.

[Larry Cole]

All good ideas from the forum readers. As a precaution I also take the sediment bowl off the fresh water pump and empty it separately. Last year I ran the pump dry but there was still enough water in the strainer to freeze and crack. Took me hours in the spring to figure out why the pump was sucking air. Live and learn.

[Ethan]

I might be a bit anal. I always take the input side of the pump off which is the feed from the onboard tank and blow the line back into the tank. Likely its not necessary given the type of water lines but I feel better when the temp drops to minus values.


I always blow all the lines out before feeding in antifreeze. 25 PSI does it for me.


Just don't want any surprises coming spring

[The_Rhino]

TODAY my 3 boys helped me winterize... I'm a teacher & IMO this type of hands-on learning is as good as any STEM projects we do in school... They get to learn about the properties of water, what it does under pressure, how it flows to the lowest point, etc...

1) Before leaving last CG we flush & empty Gray & Black tanks. Freezing water/mix can damage the drain valve seals...
2) I also open the FW tank drain, low point drains, flip the hot water pressure release and open the faucets. This allows the FW tank & hot water tank to fully drain as we're going up & down hills...
3) At home I screw-on the brass pressure fitting to the City Water input, set the compressor to 30 PSI & have the kids cycle all of the faucets until mostly air is coming out. This saves RV Antifreeze - because there is little water in the system to dilute... Don't forget the shower, toilet, outdoor shower, etc. If you have an icemaker, follow the directions to winterize...
4) I open the HW tank drain just to check, but typically the air has already forced the HW tank to drain out of the HW low point drain...
5) Before adding RV antifreeze, I drain the small amount of water I just blew into the (previously empty) gray & black tanks into a black 5 gallon bucket used only for this purpose & dump it back in the woods... It's no more/worse than when the dog goes...
6) Our TT allows us to turn valves to bypass the HW tank & FW tank & pump RV antifreeze from a hose located by the pump...
7) One kid manages the pump switch, another the antifreeze bottles, and another the faucets. They take turns because we have (6) points to flush...
8) Since we blew out the system we get dark pink antifreeze right-away vs. a wasteful diluted mix...
9) We poor a little bit of antifreeze in each of the traps which forces diluted mix into the gray/black tanks. I drain the diluted mix (again) from the tanks & poor some more antifreeze into all of the traps. Our outdoor kitchen drains into the black tank, so it gets some too. Now the gray/black tanks have antifreeze touching the valves vs. water/mix. This way the seals won't get torn by freezing ice & leak in the spring...
10) The last thing I do is press the city-water input valve while its under pressure so some pink stuff flows back up the line & reduces the overall pressure still in the system...

With the kids helping we end-up using about 5 gallons but it's faster/cheaper than repairs in the spring... Some folks only have diluted mix in their gray/black tanks, it still freezes, and ruins the seals... We probably have about a gallon of pure antifreeze in black & gray tanks & the FW tank is totally empty - no pink stuff in it or the HW tank.

[HangDiver]

Reading all this makes me want to go winterize all over again....

[Vince and Charlette]

My question applies to all RVs: how do you fully drain the fresh water tank? The drain line on my GT goes in about an inch and a half above the bottom always leaving that much water in the tank.

[Wolverine 1945]

I thought most of us hooked a compressor to the city water hook up,,, and with 30 to 40 psi blew the sys dry ??? Guess I missed something ???

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Vince and Charlette

My question applies to all RVs: how do you fully drain the fresh water tank? The drain line on my GT goes in about an inch and a half above the bottom always leaving that much water in the tank.

I believe all you can do is run the pump until it stops pumping water,,, with the low point drains open,,, most important thing is make sure the lines are dry !!!
If not comfortable with water left in the tank you could add some Antifreeze !!!

[Vince and Charlette]

It still surprises me the fresh water tank drain goes in the side of the tank rather than in the bottom. Oh well.

[Granny K]

Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945

I believe all you can do is run the pump until it stops pumping water,,, with the low point drains open,,, most important thing is make sure the lines are dry !!!
If not comfortable with water left in the tank you could add some Antifreeze !!!

I found that driving with the fresh water drain valve open also allows more water to escape. I have been told that it is hard to rid the fresh tank of antifreeze, so best not to put any in.