# Cold Weather Camping



## zookeeper (Apr 19, 2008)

OK. I learned last year to winterize the camper (toilet is what gave promblems drained the rest). We plain on doing some camping all through the winter (roads permiting), but do you wintize the camper every time you come home or is there something else you can do? I do not have heated storage for the "Boo wagon". I know this might sound like a simpleton question but we have not done that much cold camping untill this TT. The other we had was a pop-up without a heater so there was not much cold camping in it. Your in-put would be much appreciated.

Thanx

David


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

We winterize between cold-weather trips. But we do not pump the lines full of pink stuff since it does not get as cold here as it does North of us. We just open the low point drains, drain the water heater, blow out the lines and pour pink stuff down into the p-traps.

-CC


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## Dub (Dec 8, 2008)

I'll tell you what I do in the winter. I leave my camper winterized. I bring a few 5gal water jugs and wash our hands into a bowl that gets dumped outside. Nothing new goes down the drain. We use paper plates and plastic fork/spoons so there is no dishes to do. Usually it is just over a weekend so needing a shower isn't usually a problem, if so I keep some no-rinse shampoo and soap in the truck--rub it on, it dries and falls off with a towel. We do use our toilet at night but instead of flushing with water I keep a 1 gallon jug of RV antifreeze in the bathroom and just tell people to dump a little down the toilet when they go. Been doing it this way for several years and 3 campers, no busted tanks from freezing or anything.


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

I use one of these.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/pump-converter-winterizer-kit/6279

It takes 20 min to winterize the camper. It takes about the same to dewinterize it, minus the 20 or so minutes of sit time for it to kill the germs and such. I actually collect and reuse as much of the pink stuff I can ( learned that here ) it does not go bad just make sure its does not get too watered down. If you dewinterize at home you could turn the heat on or plug it in and use an electric heater, just leave the cabinet doors open where the pipes go to allow heat in. Following those steps I have never had a problem. I save 3 gallon jugs and store the diluted bleach water in, tape the tops on and use them to clean the system. Some may say its a bit of a pain but a busted line will ruin your trip.


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## zookeeper (Apr 19, 2008)

Thanks for the info. I figured I might have to winterize between trips, but i didn't know I could reuse the anti-freeze. We are not beyond taking water and heating it on the stove and such for things either. We did alot of that in the pop-up and tent camping days. I'm going to check out one of those kits for the pump too, that looked like a pretty simple set up.

David


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## GarethsDad (Apr 4, 2007)

How I reuse the pink stuff. When winterizing the TT I use an air compressor set to 40psi to blow the water out of the lines. I start first by emptying the water heater and then setting the bypass. Next I will open the furthest fixture from the pump (mine is the outside shower) open one side then the other untill all of the water is out, then the toilet, sink, shower, kitchen sink and the lowpoint drains. The checkvalve at the city water connection is now clear of water. Now unhook the air compressor and hook up the winterizing hose to the inlet side of the water pump. Place a large (clean) bucket under the low point drains with the caps off. Place hose into bottle of pink and turn on water pump for 20 seconds. Replace caps on low point drain and pour pink back into bottle. Starting from the furthest fixture open one side (cold) untill you get the pink to come out then do the other side (hot). Now do the same thing to all of the other fixtures. Pour some pink into the p-traps and toilet. Now in the spring i'll hook the compressor back up to the TT and place a clean bucket under the low point drains and open them up and then turn on the compressor untill you get the pink out. I'll do this at each of the fixtures except the toilet. I have now recycled about 3/4 of the pink that I used for winterizing. James


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