Winterize Isata 3 New owner

mlyamkaw · 11-19-2016, 12:27 PM

Hello,
Wondering if someone could share a shortcut for winterizing the Isata 3 water system? It's been a few years since I have had an RV. I used to be able to take my intake hose off and insert that into the antifreeze bottle, to avoid putting antifreeze into my water tank.
When reading my manual, looks like they recommend just putting the antifreeze into the tank and running the fluid from there. Or using compressed air to blowout, which the local RV shop told me not to do...
Also, could not find anything in the manual talking about the black water valve in the rear cabinet. Does that need to be in a different position?

We just returned from 4 weeks on the road with a new unit. Just beat the bad weather, and in a hurry to winterize it now. A few minor issues. Two exterior cabinets leak, pretty bad. Haven't found out where yet, and didn't have time to deal with that. Also, the shower leaked bad. We were able to get that tightened up on the road, but the access was very difficult under the shower. Had to ask my wife to crawl in and do that, I was having a tough time fitting in that small space.
Thanks for any advice!

Delco Bobby · 11-20-2016, 12:35 AM

Do you have a water control valve? If so you can put it on "winterize" to add siphon antifreeze into your RV. On my REV the arrow should be pointing to the right. The photo shows it in the normal position.

I used the air compressor for the first time today. Very easy. My user manual says we can do that. I believe it is a generic dynamax user manual. More knowledgable members can correct me if I am wrong.

mlyamkaw · 11-20-2016, 11:31 AM

Thanks Delco Bobby. I have that valve and was hoping someone could tell me it would work like that. I'll give it a try today.
The manual was pretty much useless. I asked the dealer when I bought the unit, and they told me to check YouTube. LOL. It seems every unit is different.

Delco Bobby · 11-20-2016, 11:41 AM

My valve can be difficult to turn. Just needs more effort than a normal valve.

I labeled the settings because the molded in ones are hsrd to read. I will try to send photo later.

Delco Bobby · 11-20-2016, 01:58 PM

Too cold and windy to get a good photo.

based on the face of a clock:

12 is the normal setting. takes water from the FW tank to your faucets, etc.
3 is winterize/ sanitize/ antifreeze setting
6 is the city water setting, when hooked up to an outside source of water.
9 is to fill the fresh water tank.

mlyamkaw · 11-20-2016, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delco Bobby

Too cold and windy to get a good photo.

based on the face of a clock:

12 is the normal setting. takes water from the FW tank to your faucets, etc.
3 is winterize/ sanitize/ antifreeze setting
6 is the city water setting, when hooked up to an outside source of water.
9 is to fill the fresh water tank.

That is the same as mine. I tried the winterize setting, but it didn't take any antifreeze in from the bucket when I turned the pump on and opened the external shower valve. So I just used a hand pump to pump it in that I bought at an RV store just in case. That worked.

Thanks for your responses.

Delco Bobby · 11-20-2016, 02:41 PM

I didn't add antifreeze other than to the traps and the toilet.

Now I am concerned that there may be water in my water pump.

I did drain the tanks and lines and then blew the residual water out with compressed air. I don't know if that took care of the water pump.

I am hoping that one of the factory guys can advise me.

**bclemens** · 11-20-2016, 03:15 PM

Antifreeze never hurts if you're concerned about any left over water.

Delco Bobby · 11-20-2016, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

Antifreeze never hurts if you're concerned about any left over water.

Thanks. I need to get this paranoia out of my life.

mlyamkaw · 11-20-2016, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

Antifreeze never hurts if you're concerned about any left over water.

I found this Anderson document in my manual, but couldn't figure out what to do with it.
I ended up pumping anti freeze from a bucket through the city outlet with the Anderson valve on winterize. The RV pump wouldn't suck the coolant through, so I used a hand pump. It took my wife opening up the faucets inside while I pumped outside.

Delco Bobby · 11-22-2016, 05:50 PM

Seeing the forecast temperature was going into the twenties tonight desperation led to a quick solution for adding antifreeze to the pump. I had planned to get a gizmo at Walmart but they didn't have it in the store. I made my own from an old clothes washer hose and a quick connect hose end. I did rinse out both before using.

I also learned to close the low point drain valves before starting.

It helped that the REV has a nice light in the outside shower compartment.

The Anderson valve was set to winterize and when I turned on the pump with the outside shower valves open it sucked up the antifreeze in seconds.

The only problem is that the dog is not talking to me because she saw me getting in and out of the RV a number of times today and she wasn't invited.

mlyamkaw · 11-22-2016, 07:22 PM

Good that yours worked. I tried the exact method with mine, and the pump wouldn't pull in the coolant.

Don't know what if anything I did wrong, or what is different?

Delco Bobby · 11-22-2016, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlyamkaw

Good that yours worked. I tried the exact method with mine, and the pump wouldn't pull in the coolant.

Don't know what if anything I did wrong, or what is different?

I saw where others had difficulty. One guy mentioned that holding the container higher helped. That is why I had it on the table rather than on the ground.

It started sucking just after I turned the pump on. A few seconds later I saw the antifreeze coming out of the low point drains. Closed them and it came out the outside shower.

It might take longer if using a smaller diameter hose.

FOURWHL · 11-23-2016, 12:56 PM

At least you didnt pump 2 gal of anti freeze onto the driveway before realizing they were open

Delco Bobby · 11-23-2016, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

At least you didnt pump 2 gal of anti freeze onto the driveway before realizing they were open

Yeah, I must've been a bit more alert than usual.

I like that graphic, where did you get it?

FOURWHL · 11-24-2016, 09:40 AM

There's a button for the smileys that opens another window with even more of them

Delco Bobby · 11-25-2016, 02:49 PM

After reading some post in another thread I decided to add more antifreeze so that all my lines are full. Some of the posters stated that there was water remaining after using the compressed air method. Possibly in low spots.

As I was pushing the more antifreeze through I noticed that some water came out first. Very little but it was lurking in there.

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