Winterizing the water system

[topcat7736]

Winterizing our Taos isn't too difficult. I just remove the hand pump water faucet and take it home with me! LOL

But, the TT is more of a problem. The dealer blew air through the system & put some antifreeze down the drains. Seems easy enough. BUT, the owners manual says not to exceed 20# of air pressure when doing the job. So, where do I find an air compressor that can be regulated down to the required 20#??? Most of the ones I've seen start at 70 & go up.

[chasd60]

Winterizing our Taos isn't too difficult. I just remove the hand pump water faucet and take it home with me! LOL
 
 But, the TT is more of a problem. The dealer blew air through the system & put some antifreeze down the drains. Seems easy enough. BUT, the owners manual says not to exceed 20# of air pressure when doing the job. So, where do I find an air compressor that can be regulated down to the required 20#??? Most of the ones I've seen start at 70 & go up.

If you plan to buy onethen most of them come with a regulator. You can always buy a air storage tank and add a regulator to it.
 
 My hybrid came with a wter tank bypass valve and a clear hose. I shut the water tank off and bypass the water heater then drop the clear hose into a gallon jug of RV antifreeze. Once I turn the pump on it will pull antifreeze from the jug and send it throughout the system without having to put any in the water tank.

[tlhdoc]

I use my little 12 volt air  pump to do the job.  I figure as long as I keep a faucet open I will not put too much pressure in the water lines.  I blow them out and then add antifreeze.  I am guessing you are not going to be adding antifreeze to the lines.

[topcat7736]

Once I turn the pump on it will pull antifreeze from the jug and send it throughout the system without having to put any in the water tank.

That's a problem for me. Our trailer has the same Shurflo pump used in the Coleman popups and, (according to the info on Tim's site), RV antifreeze is NOT to be pumped by them.

I am guessing you are not going to be adding antifreeze to the lines.

Correct. It's made it 4 years using the "dry" method & I don't see any reason to change. (Much cheaper too!) LOL

I guess that like Tracy said, with the faucets all open and the adapter thing on the water intake line, there isn't much of a possibility of doing any damage to anything. I was just hoping that somewhere there was a "lesser pressure" compressor to do it. Many places say how to do it but none say where to buy the compressor.

[tlhdoc]

I guess that like Tracy said, with the faucets all open and the adapter thing on the water intake line, there isn't much of a possibility of doing any damage to anything. I was just hoping that somewhere there was a "lesser pressure" compressor to do it. Many places say how to do it but none say where to buy the compressor.

Just to clarify what I do.  With all of the faucets open there isn't enough pressure to get the water out of the lines.  I open one faucet and when the water stops flowing I open a second faucet and then close the first one.  So one faucet is always open and when changing two are open.

[whitestar505]

tlhdoc,
 
   Going to try and do my own this year. Planned on only using the anitfreeze in the toilet only. By by-passing the hot water tank, I wonder just how much water is left in the tank? Of course that is after we drain it underneath the trailer.
 
 
QUOTE=tlhdoc]Just to clarify what I do. With all of the faucets open there isn't enough pressure to get the water out of the lines. I open one faucet and when the water stops flowing I open a second faucet and then close the first one. So one faucet is always open and when changing two are open. [/QUOTE]

[tlhdoc]

tlhdoc,
 
   Going to try and do my own this year. Planned on only using the anitfreeze in the toilet only. By by-passing the hot water tank, I wonder just how much water is left in the tank? Of course that is after we drain it underneath the trailer.
 
 

I take the anode rod out of my water heater in the fall and then replace it loosely.  I have never had any problems with my water heater.

[whitestar505]

Good Idea! Thanks for the tip. How is the camping going?

 
 
 

I take the anode rod out of my water heater in the fall and then replace it loosely. I have never had any problems with my water heater.

[topcat7736]

Our trailer has an Atwood water heater. I believe the Coleman's use one by Suburban.

Our Atwood doesn't have an anode rod to remove. The owners manual, from Atwood, says to bypass the water heater, remove the drain plug for the winter and not worry about any water left in the bottom of the tank as it will not have any effect on the tank if/when it freezes.

Their main concern is for the spring startup and pertained to removing any sediments from the tank before using it. Hopefully we won't have too many as we used an outside water filter to clean the water entering the trailer for most of the season.

[tlhdoc]

I would try and flush out any sediment now and not wait until spring, giving the gunk a chance to really harden.

[tlhdoc]

Good Idea! Thanks for the tip. How is the camping going?

Good thanks for asking.  I thought we were down to 3 trips, but now we are up to 4 more trips this year.