AlaskanCamper
Anchorage, Alaska
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Joined: 02/27/2008
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Please forgive me, but I desperately need some advice. Previously we had a pop-up camper and finally upgraded to a Passport 190bh travel trailer. The pop-up winterization was simple but with out new travel trailer we are trying to decide what to do.
Which is the preferred method of winterization: wet or dry?
What adapter do we buy if we do dry?
Also our black tank never completely empties out is that normal or is something clogging it?
TIA
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ngreen
Neosho, MO
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Joined: 06/15/2002
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No NO NO - too early for winterizng ! Oh your from Alaska!
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AlaskanCamper
Anchorage, Alaska
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ngreen wrote:No NO NO - too early for winterizng ! Oh your from Alaska!
Yeah our whopping 3 months of "summer" are pretty much over.
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plumber1
evensville,tn.
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Joined: 01/06/2008
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My brother lives in Michigan and he always pumps the water lines full of antifreeze. No adapter needed as far as I know. Just pour a couple of gallons of antifreeze in your water tank, after having drained all the water of course. Turn your pump on and open your faucets one at a time until you get pure anti freeze. Pour some in your traps and holding tanks. I wouldn't be stingy with the antifreeze in Alaska.
Oh yes. drain your water heater and close the valves to it before you pump the lines full. Also if you have an outside shower, do the same as the other faucets.
Good luck
Steve
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kknowlton
Wisconsin Border Country, IL
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Joined: 05/27/2005
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Quote:Yeah our whopping 3 months of "summer" are pretty much over You guys get 3 months? Wow, that's more than Yellowstone gets.  (And about the same as we get.)
You'll get different opinions about which kind of winterizing is best. If you live where it gets REALLY cold (i.e. the interior) you may want to make sure to blow all your water lines dry, as well as put RV antifreeze in the drain traps and tanks (you don't need to fill the tanks). Don't forget to drain the water heater - even if you have a bypass kit, if you get those really cold days you may want to put some RV antifreeze in there too. (Make sure to use specific RV antifreeze, NOT the kind you put in your engine!!!!!) If you live closer to the coast and it's milder, you could just drain everything w/o blowing out the lines, and put in the RV antifreeze as mentioned above. Remember to open up the low point drains, not just drain out the freshwater tank. It may help if you can go for a ride with the lowpoint drains open, sort of bouncing the rest of the water out. If you have a newer camper with a HWH bypass, you don't have to pump antifreeze thru your water pump; the bypass system will have a short hose you can stick right into a bottle of the antifreeze and then pump it thru the system. Uses less antifreeze than putting it in the tank first & then pumping.
No clue about why your black tank isn't fully draining. If you're depending on the electronic monitors, they aren't really accurate, and a bit of TP stuck to the side of the tank may make it read partly full when it's not. It may help to drain the tanks with the wheels (on the opposite side) up on leveling blocks to make it drain downslope.
Another part of winterizing is to make sure the battery stays charged. We bring ours inside for the winter and keep it on a maintenance charger. If you leave yours on the camper, make sure to disconnect it, as the LP gas detector (if you have a newer camper) will drain it in no time, otherwise.
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Hornet28BHDS
Parker, PA
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Joined: 01/29/2007
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The sensors in your black tank aren't known to be very accurate, so I'm sure there is no problem there. I prefer to use antifreeze when winterizing. Good luck!
2006 Hornet 28BHDS-Bunk House, Dual Slides
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 HD
5.7L Hemi, Factory Towing Package
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Life is short, why not spend it in an RV!
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
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TnJ
New Hampshire
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Joined: 09/02/2007
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I've done both ways and have pretty much settled on dry (it's easier to get camping again). My only concern with dry is whether I got all of the water out of the pump or not. I have an air fitting to garden hose adapter that I put on the city water connection, turn the regulator on the compressor down to about 30psi and let her go, again opening each valve one at a time, then the low point drains. I usually run the pump briefly with the compressor on as well. Don't forget the toilet as well as the hot water heater as mentioned earlier. Then I use antifreeze in the traps and drains, trying to get it to the tank drain valves. Most RV Antifreeze is rated down to -50, although you can get a -100 grade as well. Both methods work well as long as you take your time to do it thoroughly.
T
Tom, Jenn, Sam
07 Ram, CTD
06 Jayco 29BHS
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Earl E
Klamath Falls, Oregon
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If you do a search on the internet itself--not this forum--you will find many great sites that go into detail. I use the the wet method--just don't trust blowing out lines. I drain the water tank and hot water tank; close the valve in the line to the hot water tank, put 3 gallons of antifreeze in the water tank, pump it through all the faucets, pour some in the toilet and traps and I'm done. Takes 15-20 minutes after the water tanks get drained.
Many trailers have a another valve you close and a line where you can pump the antifreeze directly into the system and not waste a bunch in the water tank. Even easier and faster.
2008 Keystone Springdale 252
2004 Chevy Silverado, 5.3 L V8
Prodigy brake control and Equal-i-zer
Retired and traveling all we can!
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AlaskanCamper
Anchorage, Alaska
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kknowlton wrote:You guys get 3 months? Wow, that's more than Yellowstone gets. (And about the same as we get.)
I use the term summer loosely. 3rd coldest summer here on record. Our average high temperature this summer was 60.9 degrees.
Anyway, thanks for all the help and suggestions everyone! Love the travel trailer but so different then our little pop-up.
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