Winterizing 3400RL - The first time

[Dean A Van Peursem]

Well I got caught off guard and hadn't winterized the 3400RL yet and the I noticed the forecast for this evening is 32 degrees. Asleep at the switch. This is the first time I have ever winterized an RV so was dependent on the Operators Manual which is not the most informative or very clear. POS to be honest. But.... of course I didn't have the airline to water connection adapter and only had a few minutes of daylight so I improvised under a bit of stress. Here is what I have done so far. Will probably try to find the air/water adpater tomorrow.

1.) Opened all faucets - Hot and Cold
2.) Opened the valves on the hot and cold water lines which are supposed to be at the lwoest point in the lines. - some drainage.
3.) Removed Anode in Water Heater and drained it. It was completely full. Opened the air valve so it would drain faster.
4.) Drained all three waste water tanks including black water. Then closed.
5.) Removed cap on fresh water tank and let it drain.
6.) Put at least a 1/2 gallon of RV anti-freeze in each drain, sinks (kitchen, bathroom, shower) and a gallon in the Black Tank.
7.) Poured a quart to maybe a half gallon of anti-freeze in capped fresh water tank.

Now I know these aren't all the steps included in the manual but it was getting dark. The only thing I may have missed in some water in the lines but they should have drained empty with the low drain valves and open faucets. Right?

We usually don't get this kind of cold weather this soon but our dreary winter weather of overcast skies and rain was suddenly replaced by clear skies so it's going to get cold tonight. We seldomly get freezing weather and 20 degrees is very unusual. I think the all time record low is 6 or 9 degrees or so.

So is there anything I missed that is significant? Do I need to do more tomorrow?

Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated. A Newbie here.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

I forgot to mention a critical item. When I drained the water heater I noticed quite a bit of water still in the water heater below the Anode fitting. So I siphoned about a quart or so of that remaining water out and using a flexible spout funnel I poured in about a quart of anti-freeze. Hopefully that will keep the remaining water in the water tank from freezing. Hope I haven't missed anything else.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Dean,

Seeing that you really need to have pink in the lines, you can turn the heat on to 45 and that will keep ya good for the night.

Next, if you are really only looking at 32 and only for a couple of hours, you should be ok without the heat, we have pulled off a few nights of 27, IF it only gets that cold about 5 AM and by 9 AM the temps are going back up, and never turned on the heat and no frozen/damaged lines. This gets spicy and riddled with angst, so you may not be comfy in this zone! We understand!

Seeing that you have drained most of the water out of the lines by opening the low points, any freezing that would occur at 32 would most likely be minimal. AGAIN, tho, if you are not comfy here, ya need to turn the heat on to 45 for the night till you can get pink in the lines.

Thought: If your black and gray and galley tanks only have a few gallons, in a 38 gallon capacity, even if they freeze you are not going to get damage. We used to winter camp and used the toilet, CAREFULLY, but used it, we probably had it about 1/2 full over the winter and we never had any trouble with breakage. That said, ya have to do what makes you comfy, and if you are nervous about a few gallons in the tanks, then you need to get it out of there.

Freeze is a scary word, but, SteveR has frozen up while living in his, at least part of the lines including the low points, I believe he said he never found any leaks from this freezing up.

Take a deep breath, figure out where your comfort zone is, and go turn on the heat if ya gotta, it will only be a few $$ in propane, worth your peace of mind, you will sleep better tonight if you do!

Cheers,

[Dean A Van Peursem]

The RV is in storage w/o power. Not sure I'm comfortable trying to heat it unattended. But a good suggestion. I'll have to think about this a bit and how all this would work with the slides in.

[indy roadrunner]

Dean, take the blue hose off the outside shower in the docking bay and put the small end down in a jug of pink antifreeze. Screw the hose fitting to the hole that says "winterizing system". Turn the pump on and then go turn on a faucet both hot and cold till it runs pink. Do this in the kitchen, bath, lavatory and toilet. Oh by the way - before that turn the waterheater bypass valve to bypass. You do not want the pink stuff in your hot water tank. I just did mine this afternoon and it took 4 gallons but I was generous in pouring some in the drains.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

Interesting. That is too easy. That is so easy I would think the manual would suggest that. :-) But you make a comment that scares me. "You do not want the pink stuff in your hot water tank" Per my second note above, I just deliberately did that to protect the remaining water in the Water Heater. My understanding of the water heater bypass was avoid having to protect 15 gallons of water in it. Now I might be a bit confused.

[JH Sechelt]

Don't forget to winterize the water line going to the City water hook up. Ours hooks up to the city water at the back corner of the trailer.

J&D

[Dean A Van Peursem]

On our late 2006 3400RL, the city water line comes in through the convenience center behind the door on the left side of the front garage. I assumed it would drain out when I opened the drain lines. Is that not correct? I'm not sure I would know how to winterize it. I guess connect a hose and pour some anti-freeze into it. I sure don't know how it is piped but must go direct to most everything except the fresh water tank which is blocked off with the valve. ???

[faeb and genb]

I just take the anode rod out of water heater & drain it, & that is all I do. Had several rigs & never a freeze-up.I use about a gal. & a half to winterize my rig Gene

[MAMalody]

quote:Originally posted by Dean A Van Peursem

Interesting. That is too easy. That is so easy I would think the manual would suggest that. :-) But you make a comment that scares me. "You do not want the pink stuff in your hot water tank" Per my second note above, I just deliberately did that to protect the remaining water in the Water Heater. My understanding of the water heater bypass was avoid having to protect 15 gallons of water in it. Now I might be a bit confused.

Don't worry about the anti-freeze in your hot water tank. They are only referring to the huge amount of anti-freeze it takes to fill the take. It is easier and cheaper to use a bypass and simply drain your hot water tank. If the anti-freeze won't hurt your water lines it won't hurt your hot water tank.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

A newbie question! If the winter flushing connection is inteneded to be used for blowing the lines clean with compressed air, why do they use a water hose fitting? Why not use a fitting we can blow air into? A small threaded cap fitting would faciltate that. Or is that too obvious? :-) I know, another laugh won't hurt you! :-)

[richfaa]

Indy roadrunner said how it is done..MAMalody cleared up the hot water tank issue..It would take 10 gallons of anti freeze to fill the hot water tank..thus the bypass. With your late 3400, like ours , winterizing is easy as per Indy roadrunner.The compressed air method works ok. We happen to have a compressor and have winterized in that manner but to me it is a hassle to drag out the compressor and blow the lines and not everyone has a compressor or has access to one...the pink stuff is not expensive, it is fast and easy. We also used 4 gallons..do not forget to open the faucets on the outside shower till pink stuff runs out.. We got a separate instruction sheet at a RV show on how to use the "docking station" and how to winterize using the docking station. It is good preventitive maint to pour some pink stuff in all the drains and a bit in all the grey and black tanks. We also lower the camper on a down front bubble so that any moisture ansd pink stuff will collect in the front of the tanks...We have not had a freezing problem ever and it gets sort of chilly here in Northern, Ohio.

[indy roadrunner]

Dean, don't make this more complicated than it is. Blowing out lines is not necessary according to my Certified RV repair guy at the Montana dealership. The Wintering Connenction is designed to attach the blue hose (supplied with your unit) and put other end in antifreeze. Turn pump on then turn faucets on till they run pink. Bingo job done. When I picked my unit from from the dealer for warranty repairs a couple of weeks ago, they were in the process of winterizing units on the yard. That is how the pros were doing it. They first pulled the anoid rod from water heater, took cap off fresh water tank and opened the two valves in the docking bay. They went inside and opened the faucets to let air in as the unit drained it's self. They they turned the bypass valve off to the water heater, plugged the blue hose to the winterize inlet and went to work. Soon as they had pink flowing in the faucets turned them off. Last job was to open the lower drain valves till pink was running through them.
They did not use air on anything. Maybe some of the older units needs to be blown out, I am not that familiar with them, all I know is what the dealer told me and I watched them as they done a couple, I even took notes believe it or not so I wouldn't forget the steps they took.
The reason you don't want antifreeze in the hot water heater is that it takes forever to flush it out. There is some corrision in the tank, or calcium deposits. The antifreeze gets in that stuff and does not come clean as a plastic tube might or plastic tank.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

I appreciate all the good suggestions you folks have offered. I slept better last night. Turns out I was one night ahead of the forecasted 32 degree low. What I find a bit amusing is how complex the Owners Manual makes this process. It apparently is a quite simple process. When I bring this back to normal I think I will try to flush the antifreeze out of the Hot water heater through the Anode hole. That might clear it out a little quicker. But didn't like that much untreated water in there.

Thanks again to everyone.

[Cat320]

You can use the blow out method or the pink stuff method, but there is no point in doing both.