gray/black tanks after winterizing

[travelinman]

Guys, what do you do with your gray and black water tanks after winterizing? Do you completely drain or do you leave some water in each with antifreeze, or just put some antifreeze in each? Would a quart be enough to protect the seals?

[LCBoyer]

It's been a long time since I had to winterize, but I used to drain them, flush and leave them open. It's a good idea to lube the valves and pull cables

[Canyonlight]

With all of our RVs, after first draining the black and grey tanks and then winterizing, some small quantity of RV pink antifreeze and water pushed out of the lines gets into the black and grey tanks, of course. We then drain the tanks again and close the gate valves along with putting on the cap. I think a couple times on previous RVs I forgot to close the gate valves/install the cap over the winter but there were no problems. We store our RV indoors during the fall/winter/spring so that helps mitigate critter and/or other issues.

If you think about the gate valves dimensions you would have to add a few inches of RV pink antifreeze (thus several gallons to address all tanks) to completely cover all the seal surface. Yes, some lessor quantity of RV pink antifreeze added and then moving the RV enough may cover the seal/valve area but the majority of the seal/valve surface area would be exposed and dry out after sometime.

LC--where/how do you lubricate the valves and cables ?

Dan

[LCBoyer]

With all of our RVs, after first draining the black and grey tanks and then winterizing, some small quantity of RV pink antifreeze and water pushed out of the lines gets into the black and grey tanks, of course. We then drain the tanks again and close the gate valves along with putting on the cap. I think a couple times on previous RVs I forgot to close the gate valves/install the cap over the winter but there were no problems. We store our RV indoors during the fall/winter/spring so that helps mitigate critter and/or other issues.

If you think about the gate valves dimensions you would have to add a few inches of RV pink antifreeze (thus several gallons to address all tanks) to completely cover all the seal surface. Yes, some lessor quantity of RV pink antifreeze added and then moving the RV enough may cover the seal/valve area but the majority of the seal/valve surface area would be exposed and dry out after sometime.

LC--where/how do you lubricate the valves and cables ?

Dan

Dan, I use spray silicon to lubebricate the pull cables. I use Thetford valve lube to lube the valves. Empty and flush thanks. Close valves, add valve lube. I pull handles out as far ad the will pull. Spray a liberal amount of silicon spray, work handles in out and repeat

[Bamaman]

I just leave my 2 gray water tank valves open all the time.

And I leave about a gallon of water and some black water tank deodorizer in my black water tank.