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Thread: Winterizing with air
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11-01-2021, 08:43 PM #11
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I am using anti-freeze to winterize my Reflection. Question: should I run anti-freeze through the water heater and leave the drain plug capped or should I empty the water heater an leave the plug out for the winter. Thanks!
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11-01-2021, 08:44 PM #12
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11-01-2021, 08:58 PM #13
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Can you explain your response?
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11-01-2021, 10:33 PM #14
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Leave the drain plug out and make sure the water heater supply is in the "bypass" mode before winterizing. This should be in the owners manual. You do not want (or need) anti-freeze in the water heater. If there is some anti-freeze in the water heater AND you turn it on, as I understand it, you will get burned plastic taste in the hot water system that is very hard to get rid of.
ChrisChris & Karen
Fort Collins, CO
2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023
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11-01-2021, 11:20 PM #15
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@Captcolour
Even though you're blowing out the water lines you should still use antifreeze and run it through the system. There are too many little spots where water can still reside and cause big headaches if it freezes and cracks a fitting...faucet cartridges and valves in the Nautilus system being the main culprits. Takes less than 2 gallons, less than $10 worth of antifreeze and less than an hour of your time to ensure you don't have a problem when you go to take the RV out in the dead of winter. Who's to say that it won't be 15° outside the day you start your winter trip. I head to Daytona in late January or early February but will still winterize everything in mid November after I return from South Carolina. I'll dewinterize on my way south on the 1st night in southern Virginia (weather permitting) and save the antifreeze in a jug for use in the traps and tanks on the trip back home in March. Cheap insurance for the piece of mind it gives me.Bill & Colleen ~ Schwenksville, Pa
2019 Reflection 337RLS
2006 GMC Sierra 3500 8.1L V-8
Firestone Ride-Rite Air Bags
Front Stabilizer Bar
Rear Anti Sway Bar
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11-02-2021, 06:04 AM #16
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11-02-2021, 07:35 AM #17
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In the most basic sense, you are correct (think open top bucket). A plumbing system is much more complicated with lots of little areas where water can get trapped, freeze and split fittings, pipes etc. Envision a u shaped pipe, the water will get trapped in the bottom of the u then start to freeze from the arms of the u, trapping the water in the bottom which then has nowhere to expand except through the sides of the pipe,
Last edited by Bungy; 11-02-2021 at 07:38 AM.
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11-02-2021, 08:02 AM #18
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Exactly... both of the locations I mentioned fall into that scenario. Sink faucet cartridges and valve bodies both can trap water. Especially with the Nautilus system in the GD RV's, some of the multi position valves have the smallest section of pipe between them. The way the piping is configured makes them vulnerable to freezing and splitting. The antifreeze actually also keeps valve seals from drying out and the water lines from building up and scale and crud... To each his own but I personally don't think it worth taking the chance. Last thing you want to do is start off on a mid winter trip and have to start scrambling for parts and making repairs several hundred miles from home.
Bill & Colleen ~ Schwenksville, Pa
2019 Reflection 337RLS
2006 GMC Sierra 3500 8.1L V-8
Firestone Ride-Rite Air Bags
Front Stabilizer Bar
Rear Anti Sway Bar
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11-02-2021, 10:50 AM #19
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I purchased a Viair portable compressor to blow out the lines and inflate the tires on the go. I have tried a couple of different pressure regulators, and none seem to work as they do in the YouTube videos. I get an initial burst of high pressure air, and then the pressure drops because there's not much resistance. I am terrified that the initial high pressure burst will damage my pipes. The first winter with our camper, all we did was blow out the lines. But I talked to an RV mechanic who strongly advised me to also add antifreeze. I live in SW Virginia.
Imagine XLS 21 BHE since June 2020
Toyota Tundra quad cab 2004
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11-02-2021, 11:37 AM #20
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If you have the regulator set correctly, the first blast of air will not be any higher than the regulator is set for. The pressure probably drops because there's no air tank supplying a regulated supply of air. Does the Viair have a reservoir, or just a pump? No reservoir means the air pressure supplied will be no higher than the air pressure from the pump.
Howard and Peggy
2019 Momentum 351M, and 2018 RAM Cummins dually 6-speed.
His: 1999 Honda Interceptor
Hers: 2013 Spyder ST-S
Morryde Safe-T-rail install issues
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