Here in Canada, it is a must, that you winterize your rig. Unless you live on the West Coast of British Columbia then there, you may be able to get away with not doing it. Here in Calgary it is essential that we winterize our rig. With Temperatures in the dead of winter reaching -36c at times but averaging around -25c the need to protect pipes and plumbing systems is a necessary requirement of regular maintenance. In order to winterize a typical Class C RV I will use ours as an example and try to show the steps I go through when winterizing.   

First off I get three 9.5 liter jugs of -50 non-toxic plumbing anti-freeze. The -50 is important as that is the burst temperature of this anti-freeze. As it gets cold the anitfreeze will gell up but not freeze thereby protecting pipes from rupture. I typically buy this at Home Depot for around $10 a jug. I have considered using a better anti-freeze, one with higher glycol counts; but the cost is pretty expensive at $32 per 4 liters. I may in the future buy a couple of jugs just for the water lines.

Next I use a Marine winterization kit which i purchased off of Amazon for $83.55. It comes with a 6′ hose, fittings, and a 20 liter jug.

 

I also use a hand pump for pumping anti-freeze through my Sani-Tee black water tank flush system. this one cost $27.65 on Amazon.

Out of all of the fittings that come with the marine winterization kit you only need to use this one. the small non-swivel valve cut off fitting.

You will also need an adapter or bushing to connect the reservoir water hose to the fresh water bypass valve. This is the one I got at Home Depot in their plumbing department.

Now screw the non-swivel fitting into the cap of the reservoir jug. 

And screw the bushing into the female end of the hose, ensuring that it is tightly screwed in and makes contact with the rubber washer inside. 

Now put all of this a side and we will come back to it later.

Here’s the first fun thing to do in winterizing, draining your hot water tank. First, open a hot water tap to relive the pressure in the hot water lines. Next open the access panel for your water heater. Identify the high pressure relief valve Usually at the top of the tank. Open it by flipping the valve handle up. Next remove the drain plug or anode if your tank has one. Careful the water will come rushing out once you remove the plug. Allow the tank to fully drain.

Now it’s time to find the fresh water tank drain and your low point water line drains. Mine are in my tool compartment, on the let side behind the generator compartment. 

As you can see there is not much room to wiggle in and open the drains.

Now once i squeeze in to the compartment i open the fresh water tank drain valve and my low point water line drains. This removes most of the water from your system. Once the water has drained you can close the low point drains. I usually leave the fresh water tank drain open through the winter.

At this point i now go and turn on my hot water tank by-pass valve. By doing so when you pump in antifreeze you will not fill the hot water tank. This will save you 6 gal or 22.7 liters of antifreeze. Also it allows the compressed air to build up in the water lines instead of flowing into the hot water tank. Next it’s time to turn on the water pump and the kitchen faucet. This allows any remaining water in the conector pipe between the fresh water tank and the water pump to be pumped out. It also helps to pump out any remaining water in the lines. I open all other taps in the rig including the outside shower and let them run until no more water comes out and the pump runs dry.

After pumping out the water. I now flip my fresh water tank by-pass valve. This is a little valve that I picked up at Canadian tire, but you can also get it on Amazon. this valve allows you to directly pump antifreeze into the water system using your water pump, without having to put antifreeze in your freshwater tank. It installs between the water pump and the fresh water tank. The kit costs $22.75 or just the valve costs $15.97 on Amazon. Overall it is easy to install, and took me about 30min to gently maneuver it into place, and tighten all the connectors with out stripping them.

Next I attach a brass blow plug to my fresh water intake or City water intake located in my wet bay.

Now, I connect my air hose from my compressor and pressurize the water lines. Be careful here! My compressor allows me to control the out flow pressure so that it does not get too high and burst the water lines. You should never go above 55 psi. Once the lines are pressurized go and turn on every tap in the RV one at a time. I usually start with my outdoor shower, and then go to the kitchen sink, followed by the bathroom. Don’t forget to turn on both hot and cold water and don’t forget the toilet and shower. Keep each tap on until no more water comes out. You will have to open and close the taps to allow air pressure to build up after each blow. You will have to do this for each tap several times in order to get all the water out. If your rig has a water filter attached, don’t forget to drain the water from the filter and its lines and  dry or dispose of the filter.

One very important and often forgotten valve is the hot water heater bypass valve. it also needs to be blown with compressed air to ensure there is no water left in the valve or its connecting hoses. To clear this valve of water, put the valve in bypass mode. Allow air pressure to build up in the water lines, then open the valve to the flow position. This will decompress the water lines into the valve and blow any water in the valve and connecting hoses into the hot water tank. You may have to do this a couple of times.

Now with all remaining water having been blown from the water lines it’s time to pump some antifreeze. So if the water has been blown out why use antifreeze? Well there is the possibility that all water has not been forced out of the water lines using compressed air. For this reason, it is better to be safe than sorry, and pump antifreeze through the water lines. So first things first. Connect your water line from the reservoir jug to the fresh water tank bypass valve. Place your reservoir jug high up above the level of the bypass valve. Here I used a step ladder. This is to make it easier for the water pump to prime itself with antifreeze. 

Now turn on the water pump and open the valve on the reservoir jug. the antifreeze should flow into the hose and though the pump and into the water lines. once the pump stops you should see pink through all of the lines.

With the water pump primed and the lines filled with antifreeze; now go around to all of your faucets and turn them on.  Run both the hot and cold lines until they run pink. Here i started with the outside shower.

Followed by the kitchen sink

Then the bathroom sink

Followed by the shower

Now here is where i deviate. Before i flush the toilet pink, i first put down a full jug of antifreeze into the black holding tank. This helps to ensure that any water left in the tank from my final dump and flush of the season wont freeze in a deep freeze.  It also helps to lubricate and protect seals and dump valves. It is really important that before you do this, that you get as much of the water out of the holding tank as you can. Dump on level ground so the water drains out properly. If there is to much water in the tank, it will dilute the antifreeze and in a deep freeze will fail to protect your holding tank and freeze.

Now i flush the toilet pink. Don’t forget the spray wand. Leave a little antifreeze in the bowl, just enough to cover the seal on the bottom of the bowl. This will help to keep it from drying out over the winter.   

Finally I put the remaining antifreeze evenly down all three drains in the RV, the kitchen, Bathroom, and shower. 

I hope this showed the basics for winterizing a Class C RV and how to use some ingenious equipment to make the job of winterizing a little more easier. Check out our winterization checklists to help you remember what else needs to be done before the great freeze. 

 

Happy Trials

the Glampurs