# De-winterizing



## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Just did a couple searches and found lots of Southern references to not knowing what this word means







... but haven't found any kind of consolidated info. (Maybe its there and I missed it







)

Anyone have anyting close to a De-Winterizing Check List? Sure would make it easier for us newbies to have a clue how NOT to be drinking (or bathing) in the Pink Stuff, as well how best to get the non-water systems up & running the best way. Any help would be appreciated.


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

First rule is DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT open the water heater bypass until your comfortable there is no pink stuff left in the lines.

It's pretty simple, connect to city water and just go around to every water supply and run until it doesn't produce bubbles any more. The pink will be gone but you'll get foam bubbles from the water for awhile. Remember the outside shower or kitchen. Start from the furthest faucet working toward the city connection inside.

Now open the water heater bypass and fill the water heater, go outside and bleed the air from the tank by opening the pressure valve until water comes out (you don't want to burn your electrical element)

That's about it, while you have city pressure check for leaks at all fittings under sinks etc, you do have your water pressure valve on don't you at the city connection.

Bill.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Thanks Bill (yes - any City Water connection on Puff also has the pressure valve!)

Now - that covers clearing the PinkStuff from the lines. Surely there are other routine elements of opening her up in the Spring - no? Like what? you may ask. I don't know - - you guys have talked about bug nests in the stove & water heater compartment, etc. - - how/where do you check for that? Propane connection / leaks / etc.

Can you tell? We're ready! (its 56* here today - YAHOO!) ... just want to be sure Puff is really ready, too!


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## nascarcamper (Jan 27, 2005)

Don't forget to sanitize the water system after you flush it out good.


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## nascarcamper (Jan 27, 2005)

Forgot to add if you open a hot water faucet or two while filling the water heater it leaves a little air gap at the top of the tank that's actually good as it leave room for expansion when the water heats up. I bleed mine off a couple of times a year as the pressure can cause damage without the air gap.


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## Castle Rock Outbackers (Jan 18, 2004)

nascarcamper said:


> I bleed mine off a couple of times a year as the pressure can cause damage without the air gap.
> [snapback]95570[/snapback]​


I empty my hot water tank after every camping trip. It is easy enough to refill it with fresh water when arriving at the campground.

Randy


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## nynethead (Sep 23, 2005)

Just dewinterized mine over the weekend and found two problems. First the outside faucet cracked, leaking when flushing system. The second the electric water heater element does not work but the gas does. Probably my fault on both as I did not winterize until the beginning of december, but I did use pink and actually did put some in the water heater, couldn't find bypass.

I decided to repair myself as cheaper than towing 1 1/2 hours in each direction for nearest dealer to repair. Parts are a rip but cheaper than the time travel. All parts delivered to my door is less than $100, would be cheaper but the faucet is only available from keystone.


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

wolfwood said:


> Surely there are other routine elements of opening her up in the Spring - no? Like what? you may ask. I don't know - - you guys have talked about bug nests in the stove & water heater compartment, etc. - - how/where do you check for that? Propane connection / leaks / etc.
> [snapback]95567[/snapback]​


We spend a night or 2 in the TT before the maiden voyage to ensure everything works (TT parked at the in-laws for winter). Yes there can be spider webs etc but you won't see that until you try it and it doesn't work.

Your situation might be different because "Puff" has never been out yet but have faith in "Puff" and everything will work fine, if not we're here...

Bill.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

De-winterizing is pretty simple. If the dealer winterized your trailer, they most likely bypassed the water heater to avoid having to fill it with anti-freeze. They usually don't put anti-freeze in the water tank either, but you better flush it. Just remove the water tank plug on the bottom of the trailer. If pink runs out, drain it completely...then run water into the tank with the plug out and flush it good. While you are down there, drain the LOW POINT drain lines as well. Put the caps back on when they are drained.

Here is what I do:
~Drain lines as indicated above.
~Hook hose to CITY WATER connection
~Turn on the water, then open each water faucet knob until clear water runs through. (open hot and cold) Give it a good flush.
~Flush toilet as well a few times
~Don't forget outdoor shower if you have one.
~Add some water to the water tank and run the pump to flush it.
*I leave the water heater plug (outside panel) out of the water heater all winter. (empty)
~Open the water pump by-pass valve on the water heater. (inside trailer under the rear dinette seat) It should be labeled. If not, I think it's the top lever if I remember right.
When you turn it on, and the water hose is still hooked to the city water connection, water should flow outside from the heater plug hole. I flush water through for awhile in case some bugs crawled in or something. (I like to remove the low point drain plugs too while flushing)
~After flush and drain, turn off the water hose, and put the plug back in securely, but be careful not to strip the plastic threads. This plug is a pain to get in and out because it's hard to reach.
~Put all plugs back on, and you are ready to sanitize. We don't drink the water in the trailer, but we sanitize it anyway.
There are directions in the owners manual, but you basically dump bleach in the water tank, (with some water) and use the water pump to circulate it throughout all lines via the faucets. Let the bleach sit in the lines for a few hours, and drain the water tank. I then fill the water tank with water and flush all the bleach out the same way I flushed the antifreeze out. Might be a good idea to drain the water heater again so the bleach runs out quicker. Or just run the hot water faucet until it smells less bleachy.

I wrote this from memory...and I'm over 40. The techies will jump on me if I'm wrong.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Jolly - you ARE my hero!!







shy

Puff thanks you all (so do we) !!!


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## ee4308 (Aug 23, 2005)

wolfwood said:


> Just did a couple searches and found lots of Southern references to not knowing what this word means
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Yep, move down south, trade "Puff" for "Puff II". never winterize her and you won't have to de-winterize her this time next year.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Jolly's list is fairly complete. As far as the amount of bleach, I think it is about 1/4 cup of regular bleach, less if it's the ultra type, for every 10 gallons in the tank....the exact number is in the Outback manual.

After you drain the tank with the bleached water, and are going to do a fresh drain, some folks add baking soda to the fresh tank, as this may help neutralize any bleach left in the tank and the lines.

I also take the opporturnity of summerizing to make sure that all of the appliances are working as they are supposed to, put fresh batteries in the smoke detector, the CO detector, and the HVAC remote. Ensure the trailer battery has full charge, check the roof caulking for cracks, give her a real good bath, and wax job, this year, I'm going to repack the bearings on the wheels, and adjust the brakes.

Last but not least, we try to spend at least one night driveway camping before we start for the season, as that way, I usually find something I may have forgotten during the summerizing process.

One of these days, I will write all this stuff down, and post a check list.

Tim


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## nascarcamper (Jan 27, 2005)

I also take this time to check the screws on the underbelly. Mine aren't holding up very well as I've already replaced several.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Between hatcityhosehauler and Jolly it's just about all covered....


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Pretty much covered everything.

Here is what you should do.

When you winterized your trailer....just to the same thing only backwards to un-winterize it
















Thor


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Thor said:


> Pretty much covered everything.
> 
> Here is what you should do.
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Thanks --- but Puff came home with the pink stuff.


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## kmcfetters (May 7, 2005)

I will be doing all this tomorrow---finally spring! sunny sunny


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Thor said:


> Pretty much covered everything.
> 
> Here is what you should do.
> 
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Does that mean I have to dump 1 gallon of the pink stuff into the driveway 
'cause I forgot to put the caps back on the low point drains after blowing out the system??









Tim


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

No Tim, you misunderstood it. You have to blow out all the pink stuff, put 3 gallons of water in the holding tank and run the water at each faucet until it turns clear. Do not forget the toilet. Then dump 1 pint of clear water in each of the drains.









John


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

tdvffjohn said:


> No Tim, you misunderstood it. You have to blow out all the pink stuff, put 3 gallons of water in the holding tank and run the water at each faucet until it turns clear. Do not forget the toilet. Then dump 1 pint of clear water in each of the drains.
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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I flush out my water system several times just to be on the safe side. Do not forget about your low points and the outdoor shower ...Open them as well.

Thor


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## Not Yet (Dec 13, 2004)

All of that was yesterdays task, along with a god wash. My outback looked like a pricked baloon. I had the heater plug out, the outside shoer open, the stove faucet open and the low drain open - water coming out everywhere!!! DId the same inside - should be nice a clean now.

Jared


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Todays job









John


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Todays job also
can't believe the time to dewinterize is finally here









Don


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Not for me...too cold yet.


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## Not Yet (Dec 13, 2004)

Not Yet said:


> All of that was yesterdays task, along with a god wash. My outback looked like a pricked baloon. I had the heater plug out, the outside shoer open, the stove faucet open and the low drain open - water coming out everywhere!!! DId the same inside - should be nice a clean now.
> 
> Jared
> [snapback]97554[/snapback]​


Wow I think that is the worst spelling I have ever had in a post. Not even worth an edit.

Sorry.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

NDJollyMon said:


> Not for me...too cold yet.
> [snapback]97589[/snapback]​


I am with Jolly.







I still need to wait a few more weeks.

Thor


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

I was thinking about doing it this week. I'm working nights, so the days would be free.....left work this morning, and there was a frost on the cars







. I know that the Outback would probably be ok, but why temp fate. I think I will wait another week or two.









Tim


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

hatcityhosehauler said:


> I was thinking about doing it this week. I'm working nights, so the days would be free.....left work this morning, and there was a frost on the cars
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Hey Tim - you can come up and do ours! We're taking her out in 2 weeks !!!! then again 1st weekend in May.

Question: Once we Summer-ize (next weekend), do we need to worry about cold-protection again before NEXT Fall? If so - what & how? We could easily get down below freezing at night - could actually have snow until May 30... but odds are also reasonably good that temps. would rise above freezing the next day.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

I think that as long as the temps are only dropping below freezing at night, and remaining above 35-40 or even higher during the day, you should be alright. If you are concerned and, you have electric hookups at home, you could use a small ceramic heater, or the furnace set low to keep the TT above the freezing mark.

You could also blow out the water lines with an air compressor, after your camping weekends.

Tim


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

We dewinterized this past weekend and now waiting to be stocked up










Don


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

HootBob said:


> We dewinterized this past weekend and now waiting to be stocked up
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We're stocked...but not de-winterized


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