Winterization - Where Did the Antifreeze Go?

[TNriverjet]

I've been reading for an hour or so and cannot find a similar problem being discussed, so I am posting a new thread here... This is a 2017 GD 308 BHTS that we bought used in September. We've camped several times on city water with only a minor leak at the water pump strainer which has been replaced and has been functioning.

It is our first winterization, but I watched several videos and overall understand the basics of what was to be done. Here is a short description of our steps

1. drained water heater
2. used air pressure through city water connection to blow out lines. Nautilus settings on "city water"
3. open low point drains and re capped when complete draining
4. attached suction hose to city water inlet and dropped in RV antifreeze jug and set Nautilus on "winterize"
5. turn on pump and start pressurizing system with RV a/f.
6. one by one open faucets, shower, toilet, etc.

Seemed to work, but with low pressure. The pump never stopped running and the toilet filled up with antifreeze. Towards the end we had trouble getting enough pressure to even finish drawing a/f up to the shower. It seemed like the pump was suctioning a/f well, but we could not determine where it was all going. We ended up using 3 gallons and feeling like we pretty much had pink at every fixture, but the whole lack of pressure thing is concerning.

My best guess: We lost prime at the pump at the end of one of the gallons and a low pressure situation allowed the toilet valve to remain open. It seems these valves need decent pressure to fully close (from other reading). This allowed the pump to keep pushing a/f up to the toilet and siphoning pressure away from getting a/f pushed to all other faucets, etc. It was weird though as some things still seemed to be under pressure. I actually opened the water heater drain plug to make sure we weren't pushing a/f into there and it was pressurized even though bypassed. Also, the last thing I did was checked again at the low point drain hoses and they seemed to also be under some pressure. This all while essentially no pressure up to the shower, bath sink, toilet, kitchen sink (indoor and outdoor).

I feel pretty confident there is a/f at all fixtures, but still the pressure situation is disconcerting. I'm also wondering if:
1. air pressure used to blow out water caused a check valve to malfunction
2. something in water line is lodged in toilet valve not allowing it to close (kind of secondary to the main issue here).

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[jh.xsnrg]

Just a thought, but in step 1, you said you drained the water heater. Did you also bypass it? If you didn't, anti-freeze was going into the hot water tank and the air above it was being compressed. This would cause the pump to not shut off as most of them are 6 gallon and it would continue to compress the air in it for a while. If you did bypass the hot water heater, then I am not sure what is happening. It should have been okay.

[TNriverjet]

I did bypass the hot water heater using the “winterize” settings for the Nautilus P1 valves. Admittedly I also considered the possibility that I had messed up or the valves were somehow allowing a/f into the water heater. I verified this was not the case by taking out the water heater drain plug again.

[jh.xsnrg]

One other thought, I just did my 2400 today, and it is a lot smaller, so has shorter hose runs, etc. I had blown it out with air completely before running the AF through it, and the pump ran for for about 2/3 of a gallon before it built enough pressure to shut off in just the lines with the water heater being completely bypassed. I noticed it also struggled a bit when some of the lines still had a lot of air in them. I am not as familiar with the nautilus system, but I thought there was still a bypass that was needed close to the hot water heater (nearly attached to it) even with the nautilus. If not, the lines going to the heater would not get flushed with antifreeze. That you were building pressure in the heater tank seems to indicate that it was not fully bypassed?

[Country Campers]

Tn
I have noticed the antifreeze takes a little longer for pressure build up. Also do you have a outside spray port? Mine is in the back of the camper and I opened it up first for blowing out lines as well as filling with anti freeze. It is the farthest away from pump.

Brian

[Cate&Rob]

TNriverjet - An interesting question . . .

My first thought was the water heater, but you checked that. Assuming that the antifreeze is not on the ground, it is in there somewhere. I would check each holding tank and the fresh water tank. Not that the antifreeze can do any damage by being there . . . just to answer the curiosity. The situation with the toilet filling by itself sounds suspicious . . . maybe something lodged in the valve as you suspect. You could put a gallon of antifreeze in the bowl. I would check the black tank first.

If the tanks are clean and empty, you can pull the gate valves into a pail, looking for the antifreeze if you don’t want to drain it on to the ground.

Rob

[TNriverjet]

Yes, I started with the sink in our outdoor kitchen which is the farthest fixture. My outdoor spray hose attaches right at the Nautilus panel. Again, the weird thing is it sucked in 3 gallons of a/f with no problems. The pump was running almost constantly and I couldn’t get any pressure to speak of at any of the fixtures. I’m wondering if I somehow overpressured the system when blowing out the lines and there is a check valve sticking open somewhere.

[Cate&Rob]

Yes, I started with the sink in our outdoor kitchen which is the farthest fixture. My outdoor spray hose attaches right at the Nautilus panel. Again, the weird thing is it sucked in 3 gallons of a/f with no problems. The pump was running almost constantly and I couldn’t get any pressure to speak of at any of the fixtures. I’m wondering if I somehow overpressured the system when blowing out the lines and there is a check valve sticking open somewhere.

The only check valves that I can think of are on the intake hose connection and (maybe) on the output from the water heater. The toilet valve is the thing that seemed to be “malfunctioning”. I still think that is a clue worth investigating. What air pressure did you use?

Rob

[TNriverjet]

Air pressure... unregulated/unknown except for the water pressure regulator on the inlet. I am parked/stored in a remote location. I used my portable air tank and a shrader valve adapter for the city water inlet. I "dosed" air into the lines in a "best guess" manner to prevent over pressure. I also had my best helper (wife) keeping a fixture open somewhere to always keep a release point open... I know this is not the best manner to use air, but it was all I had...

Once I get a chance to go back down to the camper location, I will begin the following diagnosis/clean/repair steps:

1. check the toilet valve and clean.
2. check wiring at pump to make sure it is operating at full power. (other reading reveals that these connections can loosen causing the pump to run, but very slow)
3. draw more a/f into system and check fixtures.

Any other steps you can recommend?

Thanks to all!

[powerscol]

Question - was the suction hose firmly attached to the Nautilus city water fitting. If it was loose you would be sucking a bit of air with the antifreeze. Would not take much to mess things up. Been there

Did the antifreeze coming out of the faucets have a lot of air in it. As for the toilet valve Ill bet a small piece of crap was holding the valve open after being blown out with air. If I remember correctly its not that big. Possibly look the unit up and see if there is a way to service it.

Hope this helps