De winterize ?

[Lemonhead78]

Sorry for the newb question. But here it is. We have a camping trip booked for the first weekend in April. The way this lousy weather has been it's still pretty cold in ny. I don't have the air gadget to pump water out of lines. Mine are filled with antifreeze. So my question is, what's the rule of thumb about my pipes freezing. Is it as simple as if it gets below 32 on any given night I'm screwed ? Will the lines freeze even if I put the heat on? Or lastly should I play it safe and leave the antifreeze in lines and dry camp 😞 any info you guys can give would be appreciated. Sorry for long paragraph

[Community Alumni]

A simple solution would be to just make the hose longer. It's pretty easy and cheap to do. Chances are that the suction hose is just cheap reinforced plastic hose. It should have some markings on it that tells you the ID (Inner Diameter). It'll probably be 1/2" or 5/8".

You'll need a new section of hose, a hose barb splicer, and a couple of hose clamps. You can find all of this at Home Depot or Lowe's. All of this is in the plumbing section. Both stores sell hose by the foot so you can buy exactly what you need and it usually comes out cheaper than the prepacked ones. Place one end of the splicer in the original hose and add a clamp. Place the new section of hose on the other end of the splicer and add a clamp. Now you have a hose as long as you need.

[fitznj]

The reason I don't want to add antifreeze back is because I had a hard time doing it the first time.

on the 3 TTs that I have had, winterizing the plumbing consists of:
1 open the low water drains,
2 open the faucets
3 drain the hot water tank
4 drain all the tanks

Never used anti-freeze. If I want to go for a quick winter week-end, i fill up the tanks, enjoy the week-end and the repeat steps 1-4 when I get home. Never had a burst pipe. The PEX piping that is used today does have a bit of flexibility (compared to the copper piping)

[_1nobby]

Lemonhead78 wrote:
. The hose I have to use where it gets sucked into the lines by the pump for some reason is way to short.

There is a REALLY easy solution to that problem.

[Lemonhead78]

You guys are the best I appreciate the responses. My camper has a shield underneath it to protect from dust /rocks while traveling. I don't know if theirs plumbing underneath it. I do know it has the low drain lines . So once I put it back into storage mode I have no trouble running a heater inside the coach. But wouldn't the outside lines be a problem or would I just have to drain them and than everything inside would be fine ? Basically I'm trying to say the plumbing is mainly inside right ?
The reason I don't want to add antifreeze back is because I had a hard time doing it the first time. The hose I have to use where it gets sucked into the lines by the pump for some reason is way to short. I had to dump he antifreeze into a cat litter bin and angle it while my wife stuck the hose in it. It was quite the production. The hose isint long enough to stick into the antifreeze botttle. It's a shame they made it so short . I wanna do that only was a year if possible lol

[rbpru]

When we camp in the winter, we just use the heated washhouse. Our toilet is just a night time pee pot so we do not have to trudge over to the washhouse in the cold and dark. We flush it with a pitcher of water.

We carry a seven gallon jug for water which is enough for a weekend of cooking and coffee. We heat water on the stove and only use the bathroom and kitchen sink sparingly

We can keep the TT in the fifties during a sunny day with just the electric heater. Usually we are out hiking or snowshoeing during the day.

The real issue is when we are back home. Since we have not used the water so it still has the anti-freeze. But we have added a few gallons to the gray tank and a bit to the black tank. So once we are home, I pour about a half gallon of anti-freeze in the bath and kitchen sinks to re-fill the "P" traps under the sinks. Then, maybe a half gallon down the toilet into the black tanks.

However, if we take a true winter break for a few weeks down south, we just have to re-anti-freeze water system.

There is nothing difficult about that, I open the low point valves and let the water drain out and reclose them. Then I use the water pump with the input connected to a hose stuck into the antifreeze jug and pump water through the facets until they run pink.

With our TT a sustained temp in the mid twenties will freeze up the pipes over night if we do not run the furnace. So we prefer to dry camp and use the electric space heater.

[Community Alumni]

A good rule of thumb is the lower the temperature the faster water will freeze. Water starts to freeze at 32F, but it takes hours of exposure at that temperature for the pipes to get to the point of bursting. If you're talking about an overnight dip into -32 or high 20's then you'll probably be fine. The heat inside of the trailer will keep internal pipes from freezing. As long as the temps aren't below freezing for long periods of time, external pipes should fair well.

A couple of months back we did 3 nights in -10F. The only real problem we ran into was that the regulator froze up one evening, but a hairdryer fixed that. The low points did freeze, but luckily none split open.

[mat60]

My new TT was winterized by the dealer before I took delivery in December. Being so I no they are not going to spend much time looking for leaks and since it doesn't cost much for antifreeze I could test most plumbing using the water pump. Found a leak in shower fixture and had no water pressure in sink because it had 4 screens in it. If it were me Id test your plumbing and de-winterize when you arrive. I would also have 3 gal of antifreeze with me.

[Terryallan]

Or you could do what we are planning to do IF it is real cold Easter Week. IF it is cold, We have decided to not hookup to water, and sewer, and just use the CG facilities.

[ford_truck_guy]

My first trip is the 2nd weekend in April, I think I will de-winterize the day before I leave..

I generally like to do it a week or 2 before my first trip, this allows me time to correct any POSSIBLE issues.. 1 year, many years ago I must have been distracted while winterizing and missed something... We found it during our first trip out..

With the weather here in the NE being bad this year, i'll wait !


I was going to end with " come on spring"... BUT Spring is here and we are forecast to get 18" of crappy, wet, heavy snow tomorrow... topped with a coating of ice...

" COME ON MAY ??? " :S 😞 :M

[SoundGuy]

Lemonhead78 wrote:
We have a camping trip booked for the first weekend in April. The way this lousy weather has been it's still pretty cold in ny.

JMO but I think you're a bit premature with your plans considering your location which apparently is about to be hit with yet more nasty weather. We've often camped the first week in April here in S Ontario but there's often still remnants of snow on the ground and still sub freezing temps so I just don't bother using the water system or tanks at all until average temps are consistently above freezing. A few degrees dip below 32F overnight for a few hours won't make any difference but prolonged cold will ... why bother when you can just avoid it? :@

[rrupert]

If you have heat on it shouldn't be a problem unless it gets cold and stays cold. As a precaution keep any cabinet doors cracked open if there is any plumbing passing through inside. We do that in the Fall before we are ready to winterize and haven't had a problem. Another thing to do is disconnect the city water supply and either drain the hose or put the hose on a warm area.

[valhalla360]

If you are in the camper with the furnace on, you are probably good down to the mid 20's (varies a little depending on where the heating ducts run and where your water system runs)

As long as you are going to re-winterize after the trip, no problem using the water system during the trip.

If you put it back in storage after the trip with water in it...it doesn't take much below freezing before the pipes freeze. You might sneak by if it touches 32F early in the morning for a few minutes but by the time you hit 28-30F for a couple hours, expect it freeze.

[fitznj]

I don't worry about pipes freezing unless the temps are going to be consistently below 25degF - assuming you're going to be occupying it. There is enough residual heat which will keep the pipes warm enough.

Camped many times in 3 different campers in 25-35 degF weather and never had a pipe problem. If you're worried, turn the pump off, open all the faucets and open the low-water drains. This should let all the water out of the pipes - problem solved !!! (YMMV)

You may find that the tank valves may freeze

[Tvov]

That's a tough one this spring. This March has been COLD - this morning it's 25F. In most years, I'd say no problem, dewinterize.... but you might want to wait until just before you go to check the weather. Safest bet is to "dry camp" as you say. I would think you could still use the toilet, just pour in water from jugs or buckets to flush it - as long as you have somewhere to dump the tanks.