# Winterize Question



## simpson (Jul 23, 2007)

I started to winterize last night, but I might be having an issue. I put 3.5 gallons of the pink stuff in and went inside and turned the pump on. I waited a minute and then turned on the kitchen sink. I got a bit of pink coming out (I didn't leave it run much) then turned it off. I then turned on the cold water faucet in the bathroom. Absolutely nothing came out. I left the pump on for about 5 minutes with the faucets off, then turned on and only got a little antifreeze to come out of the bathroom sink. I then added another gallon to the tank and got a little pink out of the shower cold water, but that is it. The pump runs continuously with the faucets all closed - and there is very little coming out when I turn any faucet on. It may trickle for a couple of seconds - then it is dry. I keep hearing that a couple of gallons should be plenty, but I can't get anything to run through now after 4.5 gallons of antifreeze. 
Things that may effect it:
I have the hot water on bypass so it is not filling. I was 99% sure it was on bypass so I went and removed the plugs on the hot water heater and nothing came out - so I am 100% sure that it is not filling the hot water tank.
I am parked on the street in front of my house. The trailer is on a bit of a slope towards the curb/door side. Would this 'tilt' effect the water lines from filling?


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

sounds like you put the pink stuff in the fresh water tank. if the TT is on an angle 3 or 4 gallons might not be enough to get it up to the pump hose, especially if that angle causes the fluid to be further from the hose. at the risk of buying more fluid can you put blocks under the low side tires and try to level the TT? That might be what you need. Have you thought about buying a winterizing hose kit for your pump? it would save you a lot of $$ on fluid and leveling the TT wont be an issue.

Good luck!


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## dmbcfd (Sep 8, 2004)

I agree, it sounds like you don't have enough antifreeze in the FW tank. If you install the winterizing kit in the suction hose at the pump, you'll be able to winterize all the lines with just 1 gallon and it will be easier to flush it out in the spring. The fresh water tank just needs to be drained of all water, it doesn't need any pink stuff.

Steve


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## campfirenut (Aug 9, 2006)

Just don't forget to run antifreeze through the outside faucet also. I forgot one year and it cost me $45 to replace it.

Bob


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Putting it in the water tank is a major waste of the pink stuff, it only takes 1 to 3 gallons when you use a winterizing kit that connects to the pump inlet and you suck it straight out of the bottle into the system.

The only thing you need to do for the fresh tank is open it to drain, no pink needed. If your tank was drained before you started then I would drain the pink from your tank back into the bottles and then get a winterizing kit and put it right into the pump inlet.


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## kyoutback (Jul 12, 2004)

I don't use a winterizing kit mainly because I just haven't gotten around to installing one. (only had the camper 5 years) The shower hose fits perfectly on the water pump. Just remove the input hose from the pump and connect the shower hose. Put the other end of the shower hose in the bottle of pink stuff, turn on the pump and suck it right out of the bottle.


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## simpson (Jul 23, 2007)

I have had the 26rs for a little over a year now. Where do I find the water pump and is it easy to get to?


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## duke2006 (Oct 12, 2006)

simpson said:


> I have had the 26rs for a little over a year now. Where do I find the water pump and is it easy to get to?


it is directly under the refrigerator Take the two screws off the vent cover and its right in front of you


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

oh and dont forget to (i have no idea what to call it) release the pressure from the city water hose inlet by taking the screen out and carefuly pressing the little white plastic button until antifreeze comes out.


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

CamperAndy said:


> If your tank was drained before you started then I would drain the pink from your tank back into the bottles and then get a winterizing kit and put it right into the pump inlet.


GREAT IDEA !


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## ALASKA PFLOCK (Jun 24, 2007)

I have been able to fully winterize our Outback in less than 1/2 hour. First I remove the plugs on the fresh water tank and low points. While they drain I switch the bypass valve on the hot water heater and then remove the plug and drain it fully, recap the fresh, hot water tanks and low points. I have found winterizing easy by using 1/2 in clear vinyl tubing (3Ft) and attach a fitting like the one found on the inlet side of the water pump (thumb screw style for easy on and off) and attach to the inlet of the water pump. Put the the other end of the tubing in the 1 gal jug of the "pink stuff" and turn on the pump. Open up the cold water faucets one at a time till the "pink stuff" flows, hot water faucets, outside shower/ sink and lastly the toilet . I pour about 1/2 gallon in the fresh water tank to cover the bottom as a precaution. This can all be done using 1 1/2- 2 gal of the "pink stuff". This works great and I have not had an issue during our very cold Alaska winters







. It also is much less than taking it to the dealer. I save on the "pink stuff" buying it in the spring when Wal-Mart puts it on clearance for $1.50/gal vs the normal $5-6/ gal. In the spring I flush out all the lines and flush/ fill the fresh water tank and we are ready for a new season of camping.


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

All good advice so I'll give just one more tip.

Never knew about the shower hose fitting the water pump (thanks for the tip) but I use a 24" flex hose used to fill the water tank on your home toilet, fits perfect. Less than $5 at any home store and I leave it in the water pump area so I know where it is every year. 2 gallons on our 26rs and that's pouring the last 2/3 gal down all the p-traps.

Good luck.


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

If you drain it back out of the fresh tank like andy said.. Put some water back into the fresh tank and flush it out.. If not, the small amount of antifreeze left in the tank with dry, leaving a pink coating of dry antifreeze in the tank.. You might be getting antifreeze taste for a good while if you dont do that.

I dont use pink stuff at all in mine.. I just blow it out at 50 psi, with a big shop compressor.. Its gets mighty cold here and havent had a problem yet..

Carey


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## shaela21 (Aug 16, 2005)

One of the guys at work was asking me about winterizing their trailer, and the pink stuff. He had called some place they had told him to put about 3-4 gallons of the the antifreeze into the FW tank and pump it through the pipes. I told him about removing the inlet to the pump and attaching a hose which is in the antifreeze container and do it that way. I normally use about 1.5 gallons on my Outback, and about 15 minutes of my time. It kills me to see RV service places that charge about $80.00 to winterize a trailer with the pink stuff. $8.00 and 15 minutes it is done.


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## Eagleeyes (Aug 1, 2007)

Does anyone know where the pump is on the 26RKS?


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

Get the 2.00 blow out fitting......blow it all out, pull the anode on the Water heater to drain.......less than a gallon dumped into your P-Traps...and your done in less than a 1/2 hour........my compressor tank is big....usually takes me longer to fill hthe compressor than to go through the above steps.....


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

clarkely said:


> Get the 2.00 blow out fitting......blow it all out, pull the anode on the Water heater to drain.......less than a gallon dumped into your P-Traps...and your done in less than a 1/2 hour........my compressor tank is big....usually takes me longer to fill hthe compressor than to go through the above steps.....


How do you hold the air compressor hose on the fitting while opening the faucets? Or is this a 2-person job?


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## 4fun_timers (Dec 16, 2007)

Eagleeyes said:


> Does anyone know where the pump is on the 26RKS?


Standing at the foot of the bed & facing the bed, its under the raised, carpeted box on the left side of the bed. It is inside, directly behind the water fill that's outside. Lift the bed and if you look real close you will see a seem in the carpet about half way between the drawer and the edge of the box. Pinch the carpet and lift at the seem towards the bath. A hidden hatch I guess. It took me a little looking to find it. I knew it would be close to the water fill but the seem in the carpet blends nicely. I have to go tomorrow and get a movie we left in the OB from this weekend. I will get a picture and add it to my album. There is a link in my signature.

Michael


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## Eagleeyes (Aug 1, 2007)

4fun_timers said:


> Does anyone know where the pump is on the 26RKS?


Standing at the foot of the bed & facing the bed, its under the raised, carpeted box on the left side of the bed. It is inside, directly behind the water fill that's outside. Lift the bed and if you look real close you will see a seem in the carpet about half way between the drawer and the edge of the box. Pinch the carpet and lift at the seem towards the bath. A hidden hatch I guess. It took me a little looking to find it. I knew it would be close to the water fill but the seem in the carpet blends nicely. I have to go tomorrow and get a movie we left in the OB from this weekend. I will get a picture and add it to my album. There is a link in my signature.

Michael
[/quote]

Thanks! I'll take a look.
Bob


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## campingengineer (May 16, 2008)

I drained everything and blew out the lines (can be done with one person but takes much longer going back and forth - better to have 2 people), added the winterizing kit and ran all the pink stuff through my lines. One thing that I noticed when blowing out my lines was that there was still a little water in the hot water tank and my FW tank (why the drains aren't truly at the low points of these tanks is a mystery and a bit maddening). Is this small amount of water likely to cause a problem? My engineering mind says that the water will have room to expand away from the sides of the tanks and therefore not cause an issue, but I'd like some advice from others who may have more real world experience with this.

Colleen


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

campingengineer said:


> I drained everything and blew out the lines (can be done with one person but takes much longer going back and forth - better to have 2 people), added the winterizing kit and ran all the pink stuff through my lines. One thing that I noticed when blowing out my lines was that there was still a little water in the hot water tank and my FW tank (why the drains aren't truly at the low points of these tanks is a mystery and a bit maddening). *Is this small amount of water likely to cause a problem? My engineering mind says that the water will have room to expand away from the sides of the tanks and therefore not cause an issue, but I'd like some advice from others who may have more real world experience with this*.
> 
> Colleen


No issue at all. With room to expand any ice will not hurt anything. Along those same lines it is best to leave all valves open once you fill them with the pick stuff just in case you have a little water pocket left. It will not form hard ice but turn to slush which can cause just as much damage.

As for the question about tank design. The fresh tank has a bottom drain but the belly skin sometimes pushes up and cause the tank to retain water. The water heater it is a space issue more then anything.


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## GarethsDad (Apr 4, 2007)

Sayonara said:


> Get the 2.00 blow out fitting......blow it all out, pull the anode on the Water heater to drain.......less than a gallon dumped into your P-Traps...and your done in less than a 1/2 hour........my compressor tank is big....usually takes me longer to fill hthe compressor than to go through the above steps.....


How do you hold the air compressor hose on the fitting while opening the faucets? Or is this a 2-person job?
[/quote]
I use a air chuck like this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=46788 . It will hold itself to the fitting. James


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

GarethsDad said:


> Get the 2.00 blow out fitting......blow it all out, pull the anode on the Water heater to drain.......less than a gallon dumped into your P-Traps...and your done in less than a 1/2 hour........my compressor tank is big....usually takes me longer to fill hthe compressor than to go through the above steps.....


How do you hold the air compressor hose on the fitting while opening the faucets? Or is this a 2-person job?
[/quote]
I use a air chuck like this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=46788 . It will hold itself to the fitting. James
[/quote]
Cool. Thanks i think i may try only air this year.... no pink stuff. Anyone else in the "north" only blow their lines?


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## campingengineer (May 16, 2008)

Thanks CamperAndy. I figured a little bit of water wasn't a big deal, but it's always nice to have a second opinion. The passport has the low point drain actually in the side of the tank - go figure. I don't have my valves open, but will do that tomorrow. Thanks for the tips.

Colleen


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Sorry I did not even notice that you did not have an Outback.


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## Path4ground (Sep 14, 2008)

I had a similar concern with my OB water tank. I didn't think there would be an issue with the 1" of water in the bottom after draining, but just to make me feel better anyway, I bought a cheap siphon to get out any remaining water. That may work for you as well in your situation.


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## campingengineer (May 16, 2008)

Path4ground,

Good idea, I'll give that a try. I'm also going to tip the nose of the camper forward to see how much I can get out that way.

Thanks for all the tips.

Colleen


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## dgilmore12 (Mar 31, 2008)

Sayonara said:


> Get the 2.00 blow out fitting......blow it all out, pull the anode on the Water heater to drain.......less than a gallon dumped into your P-Traps...and your done in less than a 1/2 hour........my compressor tank is big....usually takes me longer to fill hthe compressor than to go through the above steps.....


How do you hold the air compressor hose on the fitting while opening the faucets? Or is this a 2-person job?
[/quote]
I use a air chuck like this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=46788 . It will hold itself to the fitting. James
[/quote]
Cool. Thanks i think i may try only air this year.... no pink stuff. Anyone else in the "north" only blow their lines?
[/quote]

I just blow the lines out, no pink stuff, 8 years without any issues in northern Illinois.


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## Chris562 (Nov 29, 2007)

kyoutback said:


> I don't use a winterizing kit mainly because I just haven't gotten around to installing one. (only had the camper 5 years) The shower hose fits perfectly on the water pump. Just remove the input hose from the pump and connect the shower hose. Put the other end of the shower hose in the bottle of pink stuff, turn on the pump and suck it right out of the bottle.


THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!! This little tip just saved me $20 for a winterizing kit. Awesome tip....thanks a bunch.


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## kingpin (Oct 24, 2008)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> If you drain it back out of the fresh tank like andy said.. Put some water back into the fresh tank and flush it out.. If not, the small amount of antifreeze left in the tank with dry, leaving a pink coating of dry antifreeze in the tank.. You might be getting antifreeze taste for a good while if you dont do that.
> 
> I dont use pink stuff at all in mine.. I just blow it out at 50 psi, with a big shop compressor.. Its gets mighty cold here and havent had a problem yet..
> 
> Carey


what about the traps on the sinks and tub? do you drain these. normally you would pour some pink in these. the only bad thing about air is it can leave water in low spots and bust something. i think the pink stuff is a good insurance policy especally with one piece bellys. if you did have a problem it could be quite costly to repair when you consider a couple of gallons of pink is about 5 dollars
dave


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

kingpin said:


> If you drain it back out of the fresh tank like andy said.. Put some water back into the fresh tank and flush it out.. If not, the small amount of antifreeze left in the tank with dry, leaving a pink coating of dry antifreeze in the tank.. You might be getting antifreeze taste for a good while if you dont do that.
> 
> I dont use pink stuff at all in mine.. I just blow it out at 50 psi, with a big shop compressor.. Its gets mighty cold here and havent had a problem yet..
> 
> Carey


what about the traps on the sinks and tub? do you drain these. normally you would pour some pink in these. the only bad thing about air is it can leave water in low spots and bust something. i think the pink stuff is a good insurance policy especially with one piece bellys. if you did have a problem it could be quite costly to repair when you consider a couple of gallons of pink is about 5 dollars
dave
[/quote]

For the low cost of the RV Antifreeze, it is an easy choice for me. I blow out the lines...then pour the antifreeze into the drains to the traps get enough for the winter. Now, PNW winters are pretty tame, but I figure better safe than sorry.


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