# Pink Stuff For The 25rss



## FraTra (Aug 21, 2006)

Just got it back from the dealer after 4 1/2 weeks and didn't have a chance to winterize it yet.
I never winterized my pop ups in Georgia but we have been having some unusually cold weather early this year. 29 last night and colder tonight. I left the furnace on last night and the wife picked up some pink stuff today while I was at work but she said I told her 3 gals.







Don't remember that. I put all in tank except a few cups for the traps. Turned on the pump and and all I could get was some sputtering. I did get some pink to come out but not much everywhere. I got a lot of clear too don't know were that come from because the fresh water tank drain had been open and some pink dumped on the driveway







! It came that way cause I never use the fresh water tank. But I have some questions since I apparently don't know what I'm doing.

Am I OK?









How many gallons of antifreeze for the fresh water tank?

The pics I saw the pink stuff in the lines was dark but this was very light and when it came out of the faucets it was very light pink just a little color to it. It Didn't even look pink in the lines. Is this normal?

I could not tell which position of the by-pass on the HW heater did what. Mine has a line coming from the floor to the top of the tank and another line at the bottom going to the bottom of the tank and there is a line connecting them making kind of an I shape. The by-pass lever is at the base of the connecting line. The line either points up toward the top of the tank or left pointing toward the bottom line. Which is in by-pass position?
============== top line
|
|
| connecting line
|
|
-O by-pass valve
| 
============== bottom line


----------



## Bill H (Nov 25, 2006)

The answer to your bypass question is "The other position than you had it all summer while using hot water".... I can't tell you on that model. 2nd, did u drain the hot water heater? if so and you got antifreeze coming out of the drain plug, then it's in the wrong position.

as for you not getting antifreeze through the system, you may not be pitched right for the liquid to be sucked into the line from the tank. I don't pour it in the tank. I let the pump suck it from the bottle through another hose that I connect.

ALSO.... if you don't want to screw with your pump, they make a hand pump that you connect to your sink faucet, and pump it through the system that way.......

If you like I can post a pic on how I connected the pump to the bottle....

BTW.... I only used 2 gal for mine.......


----------



## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

What a lot of us did was to buy a winterizing kit which is a by-pass valve you put on the pump between the pump and the fresh water tank line it comes with a hose to siphon from the pink bottles
I can do mine with 1 to 1 1/2 bottles I don't put any in the fresh water tank
The by-pass is the opposite from with it is right now
As for the color depends on what brand of winterizing solution you get
Don't forget if you have the out shower or sink to run it through there also

Don


----------



## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

FraTra,

First off, it sounds like you never really got the fresh water tank empty. Just pulling the plug on the bottom is not enough. If the tank is not leveled correctly, you can end up with nothing coming out of the drain plug, but still have several gallons of water in the tank. This explains why you were getting alot of clear - or very pale pink - stuff in the lines. The anti-freeze is diluted by the water that was in the tank now.

Secondly, it sound like - again because the tank is not level - the water pickup line for the pump is also above, or right at, the fluid level in the tank. As such it is sucking a lot of air, and not much fluid.

As far as how much anti-freeze to have in the tank, the simple answer is none. If all the water is out of the tank, there is nothing to freeze, and so it is not needed. Of course, as you have found, you will never get all the water out, so a little will anti-freeze is not a bad idea. But in any case, the tank is big, and freezing water is not likely to expand enough to damage the tank anyway. The anti-freeze is really for the water lines, as they are much more restrictive, and a poket of water freezing in the wrong place could expand enough to do damage (burst a pipe or fitting).

The by-pass valve: Water flows through the valve in the direction the handle is pointing. If the handle is pointing to the line that goes into the water heater, so will the water. If the handle is in-line with the hose between the two water heater lines (in and out), the water will flow through it and by-pass the water heater.

As to your current situation... I'm not sure how effective this type of anti-freeze is when heavily diluted, but I would probably drain it all out, and start over. Make sure you really get the fresh water tank empty. You can use the tongue jack to tip the tank fore and aft to aid in this. If the trailer is not level side to side, you need to get it that way. Then start over, and if you are sucking air, again, you can tilt the trailer to make sure the pickup is getting what it should. AN even better solution is to get a winterizing kit that allows you to suck the anti-freeze straight out of the jug, and keep it out of the fresh water tank altogether!

Hope this helps!

Happy Trails,
Doug


----------



## FraTra (Aug 21, 2006)

Thanks guys,

I did drain the HW tank, the fresh water tank, and ran the pump for a few seconds and turned the faucets on to completely drain the lines as much as possible. Then I closed everything and added the anti-freeze.

Just before taking it in for repairs I had found the bypass valve so I would be ready when I winterized. Unfortunantly I can't be certain what position I left it in 4 1/2 weeks ago.







That's why I ask about the by-pass but was hoping I wouldn't have to own up to why.

As for the kit for the pump, I will have one for next time but I needed to do this ASAP cause it's going to be in the low 20s tonight and didn't have much time.

Yes any pics would be helpful, thanks.


----------



## Bill H (Nov 25, 2006)

FraTra said:


> Yes any pics would be helpful, thanks.


Give me 15......


----------



## Bill H (Nov 25, 2006)

How do you attach a pic?? I can't find it anywhere....... Fra.... PM me your email addy... I'll email you the pic.... UNLESS some one can tell me how to add this pic w/o going to an external server?


----------



## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

ok ok. what is this pink stuff you all talk about?







Where do you get it?







Do i realy need it? Its not going to freeze here tonight but will at some point i'm sure. If it does it will only be down below freezing for about 2-4 hours max. I have drained all of the water from the tanks, but have not done anything with the hot water heater. Do I need to do any thing? Or should I just run the heat on low if it ever gets that cold?


----------



## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

sleecjr said:


> ok ok. what is this pink stuff you all talk about?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


In your case Lee, I would say go ahead and drain the water heater and call it done.
Two hours below freezing won't hurt anything. If you have an extendet cold snap, then run the heat.


----------



## FraTra (Aug 21, 2006)

Lee,

The "pink stuff" is RV anti-freeze that's pink in color and in my case very pale pink. DW picked it up at the RV parts strore today, it aint cheep here either. I wanted to get some in my Outback today cause it's going to be in the mid 20s every night this week and don't want to run my furnace every night. Living in FL you prob don't have to worry any. Here in mid GA it varies. Last year it didn't hardly get below freezing. This year it's been in the 20's already.


----------



## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

FraTra said:


> Lee,
> 
> The "pink stuff" is RV anti-freeze that's pink in color and in my case very pale pink. DW picked it up at the RV parts strore today, it aint cheep here either. I wanted to get some in my Outback today cause it's going to be in the mid 20s every night this week.


Wally mart is the place to go for the pink stuff. About 3 bucks a gallon.


----------



## FraTra (Aug 21, 2006)

I looked at local Wal Mart in the Auto section and didn't see any, the one here doesn't carry any RV stuff like some others. I'll call around and try and find some somehere.


----------



## jidunl (Aug 5, 2006)

In past years I have put the pink stuff into my fresh water tank. I would usually put 5-6 gallons in the tank to get enough into the water lines to fully winterize my Outback. The water heater was bypassed. Seems like a lot of antifreeze, but I think that it is difficult to get the fresh water tank fully empty with just the pump. The Outback has to be level in order to get the antifreeze into the pump or else very little comes out. I have had to play with the front jack sometimes to get everything I can.

This year I tried something different. That pink stuff, even at Walmart, cost me about $3.50 a gallon this year. I located the water pump, loosened the clamp around the fitting that goes into the pump from the fresh water tank and then slide off the hose. I went to Home Depot and purchased a 1/2 inch ID clear vinyl 10 foot lenght piece of hose for about $4.00 and connected it to the fitting that the Outback hose came off of. I opened a gallon of antifreeze and stuck the hose into it and ran the pump. In no time flat, using just 2 gallons of antifreeze, the Outback was winterized. The $4.00 investment to save $14.00 in pink stuff was well worth it. When done, I disconnected the vinyl hose and reconnected the outback hose from the fresh water tank.

Didn't take long and it bets trying to get all the pink stuff into the fresh water tank.


----------



## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Check my FAQ for more info.


----------



## willie226 (Apr 4, 2006)

Is it a shame we has have to winterize








It Stinks!!!!!!!!!

Willie


----------



## Not Yet (Dec 13, 2004)

Home Depot here in NY sells the pink sutff for a few $ per gallon. My 28 footer used less than 2 gallons. I leave the antifreeze / pump adapter on all year long - just turn to the right position to suck up the pink.

Jared


----------



## Rubrhammer (Nov 27, 2006)

This year I tried something different. That pink stuff, even at Walmart, cost me about $3.50 a gallon this year. I located the water pump, loosened the clamp around the fitting that goes into the pump from the fresh water tank and then slide off the hose. I went to Home Depot and purchased a 1/2 inch ID clear vinyl 10 foot lenght piece of hose for about $4.00 and connected it to the fitting that the Outback hose came off of. I opened a gallon of antifreeze and stuck the hose into it and ran the pump. In no time flat, using just 2 gallons of antifreeze, the Outback was winterized. The $4.00 investment to save $14.00 in pink stuff was well worth it. When done, I disconnected the vinyl hose and reconnected the outback hose from the fresh water tank.

Didn't take long and it bets trying to get all the pink stuff into the fresh water tank.

I do basically the same thing. But first I pull the caps off of the lines near the curb side wheels and open the faucets to drain the lines. Then blow out with filtered compressed air including water heater. Then suck up the pink. For those of you who are really frugal you'll find that with this method there is no dillution and you can reuse most of the pink for a second year. Worked for me up here in western NY.


----------

