New A122s owner, about to winterize 1st time

[Wyoslider19]

Howdy, I'm new here and new to owning a camper. We looked at a lot of trailer options and are really pleased with our new 2017 A122s so far.

Winter arrives this weekend and I'm needing a bit of guidance on one or two steps with winterizing. I'll have a friend who is an experienced RVr come help with the whole process, but I do wonder about a few things.
I have been reading posts on this forum and elsewhere about the process and understand the concepts, but have never done it before. Temps are pretty cold here in the winter and I don't want to screw this up. Camper will be stored outside.

1. Draining the water heater. My understanding is that this is on-demand water heater, but there is reference to it being 6 gal storage. I'm not sure where the 6 gal are stored and how to drain them. I'll pull the anode as part of the drying out process, does that drain the 6 gal storage as well?

2. RV antifreeze should not be in the water heater, I think. I have been unable to find a bypass of the water heater. Is there one?

3. We used city water recently, any suggestions on winterizing this plumbing? I'm assuming you can run some antifreeze into the city water port?

4. Is there a reason to NOT use a blow out approach vs antifreeze?

Thanks in advance for any contributions.

[Doc Wu]

Also have a new A122S and waiting to hear this discussion.

My thought is to drive south to warmer weather, but that may not always be practical...

[SeaDog]

Your rig has a 6 gal water heater and the no-demand refers to the water pump only.
pulling the anode will drain the water heater, I don't know if you have a bypass valve. I used air for years on my winne class A, in any case drain the potable water tank at the tank, you can hook low pressure air to the city water after opening all the faucets (leave open) and blow low pressure air (don't exceed about 30 psi) thru the system. finally crack open the fittings on the potable water pump and drain the water leave cracked open. All this assumes you don't have a antifreeze port to your potable water pump.

[SeaDog]

I forgot welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered

[backpacker3]

If you have a on board water filter, remove the filter before blowing out water in canister and then remove the canister and water in it. If you use RV antifreeze remove filter and leave canister in place after RV antifreeze is added. Be sure to use RV antifreeze only.
I blow out all the water in system and then add RV antifreeze, saves on antifreeze usage.

[sundancer330]

Originally Posted by Wyoslider19

1. Draining the water heater. My understanding is that this is on-demand water heater, but there is reference to it being 6 gal storage. I'm not sure where the 6 gal are stored and how to drain them. I'll pull the anode as part of the drying out process, does that drain the 6 gal storage as well?

You will have to drain the HWT from the outside, open the exterior cover and look for a plastic drain plug. First you need to bypass the HWT by using the valves that are on the backside of the HWT, access from inside the trailer.[/B][/B]

2. RV antifreeze should not be in the water heater, I think. I have been unable to find a bypass of the water heater. Is there one?

Once you bypass the HWT and drain water there is nothing else to do.

3. We used city water recently, any suggestions on winterizing this plumbing? I'm assuming you can run some antifreeze into the city water port?

City water hookup does not use the pump, pressure is from the water. Don't dump antifreeze in the fresh water tank. There is a process to introduce antifreeze into the water system. You will have to locate the water pump, you will see a 12 inch piece of hose with a valve near the bottom, and another valve toward the floor which goes to the fresh water tank. What you want to do is close the lower valve and open the other, stick to open ended hose into an antifreeze jug and this will suck it through the system by using the pump. All you have is the sink faucet, outside shower, and low point drains

4. Is there a reason to NOT use a blow out approach vs antifreeze?

I find it much easier to blow air through the lines, same steps as above but no antifreeze. I bought a fitting that screws in the city water fill to blow the air

Thanks in advance for any contributions.

11

[Wyoslider19]

Thank you, Seadog...for the info and the warm welcome.

[Wyoslider19]

Backpacker 3 and Sundancer330 - thanks for the additional information.

I was able to find the bypass valve for the HW heater - non-curbside under the seating in the dinette. And the H20 filter is removed.

Once I drain the HW heater tomorrow I think I'm ready for the antifreeze...a friend will come over the walk me through the steps. I think the pump is buried underneath the sink behind cabinetry/wood. Hoping I don't have to dismantle much to access the pump.

Thanks again.

[brydle604]

Originally Posted by sundancer330

11

I made the mistake of not empting the water filter, which I did not know existed after blowing out the water lines and removing the anode on the hot water heater last year.
The result was the filter housing cracked in half. I have repaired it by bypassing and I now use an inline filter at the city water inlet.
This is something to really be aware of.

[PenJoe]

Doesn't seem like that long ago that I was at post #3. Welcome to the forum. Super little camper! Looks like you already have very good advice. The one small point I will add is to make certain the threads on the water filter are totally dry. If there is moisture in the threads, it can crack the housing.

[Wyoslider19]

Thank you for the detailed answer.

I am not able to access the water pump. It is buried behind cabinetry under the sink. Is there an issue with putting antifreeze in the water storage tank, turning on the pump and running the faucet and shower?

[Wyoslider19]

Sundancer - Thank you for the detailed answer.

I am not able to access the water pump. It is buried behind cabinetry under the sink. Is there an issue with putting antifreeze in the water storage tank, turning on the pump and running the faucet and shower?