Well thought out info by thehamguy1!
Detailed posts like his take quite a bit of time to compose. I think thehamguy1'll agree, it's worth it if we can share helpful hints and tips to newbies and "old hands" as well! I'm always learning stuff from the folks here.
At our house, we like to go even "cheaper" yet. Gary winterizes our aframe by blowing it out and leaving it dry. The only antifreeze in our unit is about 1 gallon dumped in the cassette toilet
fresh water reserve and pumped through the toilet's water pump.
Below is similar to the way he has done it with every other camper we have owned. Although I may have things a little
out of order, this is the general idea, along with some visuals. Tweak it to your liking and if I've left out anything, please add it:
1: Begin by gravity draining most of the water out of the camper.
a) Be sure the water pump is OFF.
b) Open both of the sink and shower water faucets.
note: Open faucets releases the vacuum and allows water to drain.
c) Open the pit cock valve on the fresh water tank under the camper:
d) Release the pressure valve (blue item in the upper middle in pic) to relieve pressure, by flipping the lever toward you. You probably should stand back a bit.
e) Remove the anode rod (lower middle "bolt head" looking) from the hot water heater.
note: Gary made a notation inside the compartment: "1 1/16". I think that is the size wrench needed to remove the anode rod.
note: After draining hwh, leave the rod out for 3 or 4 days, so the tank dries a bit. Reinstall rod for winter to keep out critters.
f) When the water heater is drained,
turn off the shower faucet.
g) The black 3 levers, located on the lines running to and from the water heater, are the by passes.
g-1) Twist the black lever, on the (top) red line, so it
crosses it.
g-2) Twist the black lever, on the (bottom) blue line, so it
crosses it.
g-3) Twist the black lever, on the (side) red/blue line, so it
runs with it.
note: When a lever is turned the same direction as a gas or water line, it is on. When a lever is turned so it crosses the line, it is off. In the pic, our hwh by pass is not on.
g) Turn the water pump on.
h) Water will run out of the sink and out through the exterior drain. The faucet will sputter, so be ready to close the faucet a little to control it. When mostly air is coming out, turn off the sink faucet.
i) Turn off the water pump. This should complete the fresh water holding tank drain.
note: Any remaining water in the fresh water tank will theoretically have expansion room when it freezes.
j) Turn on the sink faucet again and also open the shower faucets. Open the red and blue (low point) drain lines, located under sink cabinet, by pulling up on the T stems as mentioned in thehamguy's directions.
note: These lines drain out under the camper behind the axel. Note the little white outlets:
k) Gary has installed a by pass for the water filter, so he doesn't have to worry with it. If your water filter is intact, you must carefully remove the filter housing (many put a tub or something under to catch spills), drain the filter cup and discard the paper filter. Maybe the blow out method will drain it, but it seems like that would take a while...
2: Now it's time for blowing out the lines.
a) Open the water heater bypass.
b)
Set the air compressor to about 35psi.
c) Attach blow out plug to city water inlet.
note: The blow out plug looks like this:
Blow-out Plug - Camco RV 36104 - Winterizing - Camping World
d) Connect the air compressor to the blow out plug. Blow air through the lines until air comes out of each opening. (water heater, sink, shower & low point drains)
note: To be sure the water is out of the lines, Gary closes the sink faucet to let pressure build up for a bit, then opens the faucet again. It will spurt out remains.
e) Towel dry up the exterior water heater compartment, sink etc.
hth,
Deb