# Southern Winterization



## Georgia Campers (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm sure everyone out there is sick of answering winterization questions, but I have a couple more. We just purchased our Outback this summer, so this is our first attempt at winterization. We live in Southern Georgia - near Savannah. I called the RV dealer, to ask them what I needed to do, but I wasn't real sure their answers were based on their experinces. We're thinking we don't really have to mess with blowing out the lines or adding the antifreeze, since it rarely gets under freezing here. We might have one week in late January where it stays under freezing for a few days, but normally we get a little chilly at night and then are considerably above freezing during the day. Today, we're actually enjoying 80! My poor parents in Wisconsin have a few feet of snow and we had to run our air for a few minutes yesterday to cool it off after I baked cookies!

Being that we're new at this - some of these things are going to sound real elementary to all you pros out there, but we just want to get it right. Here goes - as we understand it, we need to make sure all lines are empty. So, running all faucets (including the outside sink) is our first order of business. We need to empty the water heater. I'm told this is a matter of just pulling off the panel and pulling the plug?!

Our grey tank is empty, as it was emptied and cleaned last time we camped. Our black tank was cleaned well and a small amount of water, along with the chemicals was left in there. Do we need to empty this or do we leave that in there with the chemicals? Also, our fresh tank has a small amount of water in it. We've never used this, but the dealer put it in when he was making sure all the faucets were working. I'm assuming we need to run that through the faucets and drain out of the grey tank.

Another thing - do we leave our maxx air vents open all winter? I'm not sure if this helps with condensation or not?

I know these are questions that have been asked many times and I tried doing some searches. However, most of the people talking about winterization were doing it up north and we're not sure we really have to be that extensive. I don't think we need to get as extensive as the pink stuff and blowing lines out, but I just wanted to get some input from all your experienced Outbackers.

Sorry - didn't mean to write a book!

Thanks for all your help! 
Shannon


----------



## jgheesling (Sep 28, 2004)

I live near Augusta gets a little colder, But for 6 years I have just drained the hot water Tank, Switch the bypass valve on the hot water heater, Blow thru the City water hookup with 40 psi of air and open one faucet at the time till I get air close it and move on to the next. Once I have done all the faucets and toilet I open the low point drains and then open all faucets and let air blow for about 5 -10 minutes. Close all faucets and low point drains pour a small amount of antifreeze in each drain. No problems so far. My camper is in a enclosed shed so I don't get the heating and cooling changes that cause condensation. I maybe once a month on our warm 80 deg days I will run the a/c for a few hours to dry it out and keep the a/c cycled.


----------



## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

No problem with the questions Shannon, that's what we're here for!









Pretty much the entire winterizing routine is centered on preventing freeze damage. And that damage occurs when water freezes, and expands. It is the expansion in a restricted space - such as a pipe - that causes the damage.

You make one very significant statement in your post... _"We might have one week in late January where it stays under freezing for a few days"_. A few days of continuous freeze is all it takes... You do need to winterize. Period.

That said, you have it easier than some of our northern friends. As your wintertime climate is similar to ours, I would recommend blowing out the fresh water lines with compressed air. In your situation that should be fine, and adding anti-freeze to the lines is overkill. As far as the _"small amount of water"_ in the tanks is concerned, it's not a big problem. It's that expansion thing. A little water in a big tank is going to be ok if it freezes. The 'P' traps in the drains are another story however. They also have water in them, and will break if they freeze. I would recommend getting a gallon of RV antifreeze, and pouring some down each of the drains (sinks, tub, etc.).

A couple of cautionary notes:

1. When winterizing the water lines, do not forget the outside kitchen and/or shower lines. Also, if you have a Quickie-Flush - or similar - blow that out as well.
2. And this is *THE BIG ONE!!!*... If you do use anti-freeze, be sure you use non-toxic RV Antifreeze only. Automotive antifreeze is extremely poisonous, and any amount in your water lines can be fatal. Did I mention... this stuff WILL KILL YOU!

In any case, don't stress too much over it. Winterizing is actually very simple and quick. After you have done it once, you will think nothing of it.

Hope this helps.









Happy Trails,
Doug


----------



## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

We are in North Georgia, we winterized just for our own comfort, though we didn't have too with the warm to hot weather we are having. Next year, we will camp to mid December, just flush lines for cold nights and winterize after that.


----------



## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

If you don't know what you need for blowing out the water lines just ask at the RV dealer. They have several types of plugs that screw into the outside city water inlet and allows you to use an airline to pump air through the water lines. You want to use an air compressor that you can adjust the pressure on. Don't use more than 40 psi air pressure. In your area I would just empty the water heater (remove the plug) switch the by-pass valve to the water heater and blow out the water lines. add a little RV antifreeze to the drains and empty all of the tanks. I don't think that it would matter a lot if you left some water in the black tank with chemicals but I would drain the water tank. In fact, if it;s been in there for a while, I would sanitize it before putting it to bed. I alway empty the gray and black tanks and leave the valves open the cap off. I then cover it with some fine plastic screening to keep critters out. That allows the tanks to dry out and air out. Nice thing about doing the winterizing like this is that you can easily close everything up, fill up with water and take off for a camping weekend and re-winterize. After doing this once and knowing were everything is, it shouldn't take more than 15 mins to re-winterize. Good look!


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Agree with all the statements...you need to winterize.

Follow Doug's suggestion on blowing out the lines vs filling with the pink stuff. If you were a COLD climate (Minnesota or the like) then I'd say fill the lines.


----------



## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

If it were not for the toilet, I would simply blow out the lines. The air blow doesn't give me confidence that it cleared the water within the bowl ring. When I blow air and step on the toilet pedal, I just get some gurgling noises and a drop or two. I'm thinking there is too much of an opening under the rim to effectively move out the water.

Of course, I could be all wet.









This year I wintered the camper way up north -- northern Middle Tennessee that is. It's probably a good 2 degrees colder up there compared to my neck of the woods south of Twangtown.


----------



## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

I Live about 2 hours south of you. I dont winterize. We do get cold, but it is for a few hours over nignt. On those nights i just run the heater in the camper. I dont know about your temps there, but here it never stays below freezing more than a couple of hours.


----------



## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Lots of good info here for ya! good luck and its always better to be safe than sorry !


----------



## jjdmel (Jan 5, 2004)

I also live a couple hours south of you. We blow out the lines and put anti-freeze in the drains. Why chance it? In the past, when we hadn't winterized, I just ran the heater on cold nights but then I always worried... what was the weather going to be that night, what if I forgot to turn on the heater, did I turn it off during the day... and so on. It's not hard to winterize and forget it.

Btw, we usually just leave the vents open.


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

With the proper compressor connector, you should be able to blow out all the lines (except for the QF).


----------



## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> With the proper compressor connector, you should be able to blow out all the lines (except for the QF).


Actually, the Quickie Flush is just as easy. You have to move the air hose, but they both use the same connection.

Happy Trails,
Doug


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

PDX_Doug said:


> With the proper compressor connector, you should be able to blow out all the lines (except for the QF).


Actually, the Quickie Flush is just as easy. You have to move the air hose, but they both use the same connection.

Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]

Sorry...I didn't say that right. I meant you can do all of them at once, but needed to move for QF. Need more coffee.

At PDX right now...off to California for the day.


----------



## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> With the proper compressor connector, you should be able to blow out all the lines (except for the QF).


Actually, the Quickie Flush is just as easy. You have to move the air hose, but they both use the same connection.

Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]

Sorry...I didn't say that right. I meant you can do all of them at once, but needed to move for QF. Need more coffee.

At PDX right now...off to California for the day.








[/quote]
What are you flying, Jim? I'm right off the end of the runway, I'll wave as you fly by!
No that's not going to work, unless they've turned the airport since I came in this A.M., planes are taking off to the East today.
In any case, have a great flight.

Happy Trails,
Doug


----------



## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

PDX_Doug said:


> What are you flying, Jim? I'm right off the end of the runway, I'll wave as you fly by!
> No that's not going to work, unless they've turned the airport since I came in this A.M., planes are taking off to the East today.
> In any case, have a great flight.
> 
> ...


Alaska today to Cal

Alaska Airlines - All US flights (granted they fly where I'm going...otherwise United)
United - International


----------



## biga (Apr 17, 2006)

We are in NE Alabama at about 1100 ft altitude (big mountain right?), and our winterizing consists of opening all the drains and faucets, opening the cabinet doors under the sinks, and turning on a ceramic heater when the temp is going to be below 30°.

I close the roof vents if the heater is on, otherwise, I open the vents.


----------



## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

I don't have anything to add directly to the topic of winterization in the South.

However, I'd like to add that you still should be sanitizing the freshwater system regularly. For us frozen Yankees (as in north of the Mason-Dixon, not the baseball team), the de-winterization is a good opportunity to do that as routine.


----------



## Chasn'Racin (Mar 12, 2007)

Sure hope you did a full winterization now!


----------

