ANOTHER WINTERIZING QUESTION - Montana Owners Club

kbr278 · 10-24-2005, 03:42 PM

I HAVE WINTERIZED THE MONTANA PER MANUAL WITH ANTIFREEZE BY PUTTING IT IN THE FRESH WATER TANK AND PUMPING THRU THE LINES. THAT WENT FINE WITH KNOW PROBLEMS. MY QUESTION IS: DO YOU HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE CITY WATER COONNECTION OR THE BLACK TANK FLUSH? SEEMS THERE SHOULD STILL BE WATER IN THE CITY CONNECTION TO WHERE IT CONNECTS TO THE SYSTEM. NOTHING IN THE MANUAL ABOUT THIS. JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I DID IT RIGHT. WINTER IS COMING FAST. THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE.

William H. Collier · 10-24-2005, 04:16 PM

Kevin,
I cant believe that your manual said to put anti-freeze in the fresh water tank. That is not the way to do it. If you do a search there are a couple of posts that explain in detail how to winterize, drain your water heater, release the pressure on your city water line ect. If you cant find it post back and someone will get it for you.
Bill

Charlie · 10-24-2005, 07:04 PM

If you are concerned about these two connections there is an adapter that screws into these connections that allows you to connect an air hose. I would set the regulator to not higher than 40# on your air compessor and make sure that a faucet is open on the city water side before purging the line.

BillyRay · 10-25-2005, 01:44 AM

1st, there is a bypass valve located by your pump that you will want to pump your antifreeze through . if you already did it through the fresh water tank that's ok...it will do the same. there is a bipass valve by your hot water heater so you don't pump 10 gals into it. turn the the bipass valve then disconnect the rod from your hot water heater to drain it ( otherwise it will split your tank) as far as the city water connection remove the screen from inside and before you go any further make sure there is no pressure on the lines and your pump is SHUT OFF!!! then you will see a white plastic check valve. slightly depress it. YOU WILL GET WET so be careful! if there is pressure on this, it will blow the check valve right out ( this is a bad thing....)there will be water that will come out....if you already winterized it then pink stuff will come out.

joe2speed · 10-25-2005, 01:17 PM

Make sure you blow out the water in the black tank flush. You would not believe how much water is in the flush system. You will hear the water coming out of the flush system into the tank. Pumping anti-freeze though the system does not purge the black tank flush. I also blow out the city water line before winterizing.

Mac · 10-26-2005, 02:12 AM

Bill,

My new 2955 manual also said to winterize by putting antifreeze in the fresh water tank. I agree with you that's just silly! Didn't make any sense to me so I searched until I had it all figured out. Took me longer to do this trailer than my old one but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.

mac

GordonR · 10-26-2005, 08:01 AM

Whoa! I just realized I got very lucky last year. I did do the city water connection when I winterized but never even thought about the black water flush. No problems this season, but it was pure luck! Thanks for the reminder joe2speed.
Gordon

cmp-shooter · 10-26-2005, 10:14 AM

WOOPS I better do the black tank flush....

sreigle · 10-26-2005, 01:56 PM

I don't know why the manual says to put antifreeze in the freshwater tank since these units have the setup to pump antifreeze right from the bottle. However, on our older fifthwheels without that option putting antifreeze in the tank and turning on the pump to get water through the lines was how we did it. So it shouldn't hurt to have antifreeze in the tank. It is nontoxic. But I don't think it's necessary.

The city water fill valve can freeze and pop the o-ring out of it's groove. It can be a real pain to get back in place (very inaccessible) or can require replacing the entire valve assembly. Been there on both.

I only know two ways to rid the valve of water. One is to remove the screen from the outside and push the little white button. Stand back, that water is under pressure. Put the screen back on and you're done.

The other is to remove the hose from the valve assembly from inside. On our model it's accessible from the water pump compartment.

I never did anything with the black tank flush on either of our Montanas when we stored them for the winter. I don't know if it has an o-ring in a one-way valve or not. The city water inlet has the one-way valve to keep water from exiting through that port when using the water pump. There wouldn't be any pressure to push anything out of the black water connection so there may not be a valve there. Does anyone know for sure?

Roman4 · 10-26-2005, 02:10 PM

Will blowing compressed air (at 40 psi) through a fitting attached to the city water fill point displace the water in that one-way valve, or do I still need to pop the valve off to drain it?

HPRUM2000 · 10-26-2005, 03:47 PM

Roman 4 That,s how I winterize I made up a adapter that Ihook up to the air hose on compressor and hook it to hose with pressure regulator to fresh water connection.Hold tiolet handle open with something so you don,t blow out gasket in water valve .Had to replace valve this summer read some where you should open it or this might happen.Go around open each faucet and out side shower, drain hot water heater run antifreeze into lines and drains.Have had no problems in 3yrs.
hprum 2000
02 29.55rl onan3600gen 03f350fx4cc ps

sreigle · 10-28-2005, 03:33 PM

Harmon, if you are using the air adaptor at the city water inlet then that should take care of it.

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