Dewinterizing Roo

[Rhumblefish]

Deano asked me for a dewinterizing list to use on his Roo 235S. I put the below together. Let me know if you see any flaws, or want to add/delete/change any steps, and I'll submit it to the board.

As you'll notice, I really focussed on the water system, and glossed over the rest. Do you think we need to add other elements or expand that discussion?

Anyway, take a look and let me know, this is a first pass at an extensive list.

[Rhumblefish]

Dewinterizing

The biggest aspect to dewinterizing is the plumbing system, and if you winterized with antifreeze or not. I like to sanitize my tanks for the start of the season as well (including the hot water heater).

Status of TT water system for winter storage should be:

1. Low point drains are capped (if antifreeze is in system), opened/uncapped (if system is dry)
2. Water filter is NOT in place in its container (leave out for now)
3. Water system is full of antifreeze (if you used antifreeze) or empty (if you blew lines out)
4. Hot water heater is (1) bypassed and (2) empty (leave alone for now). TPR valve may be open (close it).
5. Anode rod/cap is not in hot water heater (leave out for now)
6. Black, gray and fresh tanks are all empty (drain if not)
7. Water pump MAY BE set to draw from antifreeze fill-port (if equipped with this bypass, turn to draw from fresh water tank)
8. Outside shower hose/head may be removed (re-attach if so).

First, let’s purge the system:

1. IF YOU USED ANTIFREEZE, first decide if you want to try and capture the antifreeze that is in the water system or not.

a. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THE ANTIFREEZE, place empty jugs at the low point drains, open the low point drains (unscrew the cap or open the valve), and have a helper open ALL the water taps (hot and cold). Have your helper turn the sink water selector from cold to hot. This will yield the most antifreeze being drained into your awaiting empty jugs. Close low point drains.

i. You can also do this step if you want to discard your antifreeze, just collect at low point drain and discard. Then introduce water to an empty system. Some people like to do it this way: your choice, but you’ll have to rinse the lines anyway)

b. IF YOU WANT TO DISCARD THE ANTIFREEZE (RV antifreeze is non-toxic and will degrade, you can actually discard it safely, just not onto the ground or into groundwater), then we’ll introduce water to the system, force out the antifreeze, and drain it all into our gray tank (assuming the tank is currently empty). Hook the RV up to city water, OR add fresh water to the tank and use/energize the water pump. Open all of the faucets (hot and cold) at every water station and run fresh water through the system until it flows well clear at every station (run plenty of water, don’t skimp).

i. I like to start at the furthest station away from the water pump, run that clear, and then work my way back to the pump (for new 235s’, that’s water at outside kitchen (if equipped), kitchen sink, commode-bathroom sink-shower-showermiser, and outside shower)
ii. Flush the toilet as well, so antifreeze in that line is purged, too.
iii. You’ll need to open the low point valves again to clear out any tails of antifreeze that remain in the system.
iv. Check clear filter container (if equipped), no antifreeze should be in this container.
v. I know this seems excessive, my goal is NO antifreeze (or any old water) in my system at all, anywhere.

c. Close all valves/drains/cap ends.

System is empty of antifreeze, time to put in “use mode” and sanitize.

2. If you used water to flush your system, turn water/pressure off (turn off pump or turn off city water), opening a faucet will drop pressure.

3. Replace/reinstall water filter in container, if equipped.

a. New filter every season. These are generally good for a LOT of use (up to 10,000 gallons?) but a filter is inexpensive and a filter out of water, aging and or molding, is one less thing to worry about.
b. I like to keep a soda bottle, capped and filled with bleachwater, in my water filter container to displace antifreeze. Remove if appropriate.

i. I’ve found you can contain the entire filter canister with a trash bag, which conveniently keeps spills from happening.

c. Make sure filter is installed and seated properly, replace/reinstall empty water filter container. Use cannister wrench to tighten appropriately (don’t leave loose). Don’t worry if container is empty, we’ll get the air out.

4. If you want, you can give the water heater a good rinsing now to get any sediment or bits of anode rod out of it. Sometimes I fill the water heater, then drain it, then hit it with this Camco rinser attachment (Amazon link). works pretty well. Rinse until no sediment remains in the tank. This is hard to ascertain, you have to look into the anode hole, an endoscope can help (amazon link, but certainly isn't necessary).

5. Inspect and install the sacrificial anode in hot water heater.

a. If it’s down to its last 25% or less, you might elect to replace. Your call.
b. Replace with the appropriate anode/material that works for your water.

i. Clean threads if necessary.
ii. Use thread tape.
iii. Tighten to spec.

c. Make sure TPR valve (at top of hot water heater) is closed/seated.

6. Turn hot water heater bypass valves to “use” mode.

a. The current crop of Roo’s use the TWO-valve system

i. when bypassed, the valve handles are INLINE with the water lines
ii. when in USE mode, the valve handles are turned 90° and pointing at the hot water heater. Do this now.

b. Older Roo’s use the THREE-valve system (plumbed like an H)

i. When bypassed, the two valves closest to the hot water heater are closed (handles turned perpendicular to the piping), and the center valve is opened (handle turned in line with the piping) .
ii. When in USE mode, this is reversed: the two valves closest to the hot water heater are opened (handles turned in line with the piping), and the center valve is closed (handle turned to be perpendicular to the piping). Do this now.

We’re ready to sanitize!
7. Use diluted BLEACH (NOT bleach with cleanser, or anything with any “fresh scent” – just bleach. The diluted bleach you can buy at any big box store, home depot/lowes/tractor supply/Menards/the grocery/etc.

a. Calculate how much bleach you’ll need using a ratio of ¼ cup of bleach for every 16 gallons of fresh water capacity. You need not be exact, but don’t stray too far from this ratio (I use 15 to keep the math easy and yield a very slightly stronger mix).

i. My Roo has a 54 gallon fresh water tank and a six gallon hot water heater. That’s 60 gallons of water I’ll need to treat.

1. 60gal / 16gal = 3.75
2. At a rate of .25cup:16gal, 60gal will require (3.75) .25 cups of bleach, or 0.9375 cups (near as makes no difference to 1 cup) of bleach
3. Easier math for ME: at a rate of .25cup:15 gallons, 60gal will require (4) .25 cups of bleach, 1 cup on the nose

b. You can add the (right amount of) bleach to your tank, or put it in a filler hose.

i. If you add it to your tank, mix it with water (1/2 gal or so) such that you’re not exposing any of your system to the straight bleach. Add this bleach water to the filler port for the fresh water tank
ii. If you put the bleach in a filler hose, this is a great time to add bleach to your drinking water hose and get that nice and sanitized, too. Add proper amount of bleach straight to hose (using a funnel, or pour carefully), add hose filler end (if you use one), connect filler hose to water supply and fill tank completely. Bleach will mix in the tank.
iii. Let tank fill most all of the way (to get bleach to proper ratio).

8. Once all four lights are lit on your tank fill level, you can start introducing bleachwater to the system.

a. Turn on water pump.
b. Open hot water tap at kitchen to run bleach water through system, filling hot water heater with bleachwater mix.
c. When you smell bleach to kitchen tap with the hot water open, switch to cold water. Let water run till you smell bleach again. Close kitchen tap.
d. Now work your way back towards the water pump, opening each water supply till you smell bleach from hot and cold source at each location.
e. Don’t forget toilet and outside shower. These are part of your water system and would benefit from treatment, as well.
f. If you feel like being excessive, you can also get your low point drains, too. Remember to turn OFF the water pump to open/uncap your drains.
g. Let this mixture run from each tap for a while, there’s no harm in it, it’s going into your gray tank (minus anything form the outdoor shower and the low point drains) .
h. Once you’ve got bleachwater in every part of your water system, one to the next step.

9. Wait.

a. Let the bleachwater solution sit in the rig for 12-24 hours.
b. Stronger solutions don’t need as much time as weaker ones, but so long as you’re between 12 and 24 hours, you should be fine.
c. This is a great time to do other things (inspect the roof, slide(s), open the tent ends, etc. Treat your seals, inspect all openings and caulking, test the electrical systems, etc).

10. Drain and flush the system/tanks.

a. Run the fresh tank (with your bleach solution) completely dry and/or dump it if you can catch the bleach solution and dispose of it properly, and empty your gray tanks.

i. Don’t dump bleachwater on the ground/soil, or add to small septic systems, the bleach kills helpful bacteria.
ii. Down a city drain is best.

b. Refill the fresh water tank with potable water and REPEAT this process, only no bleach this time.
c. Run water to each water outlet until you no longer smell bleach.
d. You might need a couple of fills of the tank to get all the bleach/bleach smell out. A trace amount is fine.

11. Your water system should be ready to camp

a. If you do black or gray tank treatments, you can do that at this time
b. I’m a bio-geo man, myself, happy disciple of TR Bowlin.

Now it’s time to look over the rest of the rig: interior, exterior, tires/hubs/lug nuts (remember your spare, too!), make sure everything is fresh, lubed and prepped, filled to spec and ready to go. Test all systems that you might not have used (eg, TPMS, electrical, propane, etc) and address anything that needs attention.

Happy camping!

[Griggs_Rooster]

I always use city water AND the water pump (one at a time). When you wintertize, you are using the water pump to draw antifreeze into the system. If you only use city water to dewinterize, there will be antifreeze that remains in the water pump.

[Rhumblefish]

Originally Posted by Griggs_Rooster

If you only use city water to dewinterize, there will be antifreeze that remains in the water pump.

yep. That’s why it’s important to sanitize the fresh tank and the rest of your water system as the second part of the process. only trace of antifreeze left would be btw the antifreeze port and the valve.

[tas32253]

Excellent post on dewinterization - thank you! So how often should I disinfect/ bleach my water lines / tanks / system. Once a year? More often? Every camping trip?
Dumping the bleach fresh water can be a bit inconvenient if I am not camping and no dump stations are nearby so I don’t want to do it more often than necessary. I will grin and bear it if I should be sanitizing my system throughout the camping season. Thoughts?

[Rhumblefish]

Once a year at the start of the season is plenty, though if you’re using a lot of untreated well water (or - worse - notice a funky smell when using your onboard water), you might increase your frequency.

I like clean, sweet tanks, so am happy to do this at the start of each season, and empty my system between camping trips.

Granted, this is just my approach/for me… Your mileage may vary.

[Chuck_S]

Just dump the sanitizing solution on your lawn, it won't hurt anything. Nor will RV antifreeze.

-- Chuck