Time to winterize

[Agoogol]

Next is the pump area, where I am confused. Water comes from the tank, T's off, one i the direction of the pump where there is a valve (#1) and one to a valve of some sort,( #2).

#1 - Can I attach a bottle of the antifreeze here, then the pump will pump it directly into the system?

#2 - This appears to be a drain, but it won't budge, appears to be open and nothing is coming out anywhere?

#3 WTF is this?

I believe I can make this work, use city connection to blow out with air, then pump antifreeze into #1, but would love some clarification.

 

[dsmithy]

So I am in the same position here with a coach I have never winterized. This summer I started to tackle the plumbing, and what a mess. Literally everything was disconnected, and I put it back together enough where I could use it to wash dishes this summer and see if I had any leaks. Next year I get to try to see if the hot water heater works, try to install a toilet since the PO took it out and replaced it with a porta potty! Anyway, I have questions. First:

This is a pic of the hot water heater. That appears to be one of these bypass valves I have heard about, correct? In this position, no water even goes into the hot water heater, so I don' have to worry about draining or flushing or antifreeze or anything correct?

Not so Kevin,
You are in CO and you know cold, real cold. Your system must be winterized wherever it is closed and water can collect and freeze. You don't say if you have pex plumbing, but real winterizing with pink stuff is probably necessary. If you know that the water heater is really empty, drain valve open and no water coming out, you are probably good to throw the valves and have the pink stuff bypass it. But please get out a pliers or vise-grip and a wrench and fix the kink in the hose. That will pass pink stuff to the entire hot side of your plumbing. You'll need to use the water pump and fill every water line and trap in the coach. It's not difficult or time consuming but necessary to prevent catastrophy in the springtime.
I have had to entirely re-plumb my coach and while it's not difficult, it is time consuming and annoying.

 

[LQQKatJon]

Next is the pump area, where I am confused. Water comes from the tank, T's off, one i the direction of the pump where there is a valve (#1) and one to a valve of some sort,( #2).

#1 - Can I attach a bottle of the antifreeze here, then the pump will pump it directly into the system?

#2 - This appears to be a drain, but it won't budge, appears to be open and nothing is coming out anywhere?

#3 WTF is this?

I believe I can make this work, use city connection to blow out with air, then pump antifreeze into #1, but would love some clarification.

1 post- yes. That is a bypass for waterheater and looks to be in bypass mode.
There should still be a drain on bottom of waterheater you should open and leave open for winter.

2nd post is a pump bypass valve missing the hose you would use to put in rv gallon jug to suck it in.

use the fresh water pump to pump in rv antifreeze into system to winterize. But city water sidr can give some trouble. There is sometimes a check valve.
Mine has no check valve on city side so i just push in the city fill water center and it will spit rv antifreeze when system is pressurized.

on coaches that have check valve, i blow out city water 1st and then pump in rv antifreeze with fresh water pump.

look in photosite and you can see about city water connections and how they are plumbed.

 

[Matt Colie]

Kevin,

1- appears to be a 3-way valve and you should be able to suck in pink if you attach a hose.

2- should be a potable tank drain and appears to be open. If you can get it out and loosen it up, it can most likely be saved. The handle indicates flow direction - a common thing.

3- I don't know what this was intended to do. Were I you, I would remove that fitting and replace it with a plastic plug so it is easy to remove when you find out more. I did see one coach that had the tank vent/over flow here.

Matt

 

[LQQKatJon]

I should of looked closer at the photo of the pump.

2 is the fresh water drain and it does look open. Many are stuck and dont like to open/close from non use.

that goes into a T fitting. That goes through the floor.

#3 is what is left of a small hose that used to be tied into the fresh water feed line. There was one time(maybe still there) a little valve kinda like a radiator drain or ice maker valve. At corner if tank hidden by the heat pipe. That was intended to be a drain for water lines. Not sure how well it works??? I have had to replace the fresh water valve and always take that out as it seems it us usually jammed up and corroded.

you will find similar drains on the water system usually in closet wall below thenfresh water fill. And also second drawer down below sink area there is an opening and 2 drains.

have dealt with 1/2 dozen coaches like that. I dont remeber one those drain valves would turn by hand or at all. So end up removing them and just winteize with rv antifreeze.

 

[JSanford]

The #2 valve lets you gravity drain your freshwater tank. The #3 nub is the broken off air line that the factory used as a water line to drain the pressure side of the system.

At least you are not dealing with the rotten mess I found! You can see when the red air line goes in my picture here:

 

[LarryW]

One of the first years we owned the coach, I tried blowing the lines clean with shop air. That spring when I fired things up, I found the water pump had split open and was leaking badly. Ever since, I have drained the water heater, and I have run the pink stuff through. After putting some pink stuff in the water heater and experiencing what seemed like forever to clear that effervescent aftermath, I took all efforts to see to it that pink stuff did not get into the water heater. Ran it through hot and cold of kitchen and bathroom sink, shower hot and cold, and toilet. Also filled the traps with pink, and after flushing the black and grey tanks, I pour in 3 gallons of pink stuff down the toilet and run the macerator until I see pink out the hose. In spite of well below zero temps (we live in NW Wisconsin) the only issue we have had is that a little pink stuff still makes its way into the hot water tank and have to put up with a week or so of effervescence until enough water is run through to clear it out. IMO, use the pink stuff. A lot easier and cheaper than replacing pipes and equipment. JMHO

 

[tmsnyder]

I'm still not happy with my winterizing procedure but I'm with Larry. Blow out with air and sweep the lines with pink stuff.

 

[LarryW]

Just to be clear, I am no longer blowing out with shop air. Just running pink stuff through everything BUT not the hot water tank. Using a tank diverter kit to keep pink stuff from getting into the hot water tank. Then pink in the traps and extra out the macerator. JWID

 

[traveler1980]

Just to be clear, I am no longer blowing out with shop air. Just running pink stuff through everything BUT not the hot water tank. Using a tank diverter kit to keep pink stuff from getting into the hot water tank. Then pink in the traps and extra out the macerator. JWID

With the tank diverter, if there is any residual water in the hot water tank, will that cause an issue? I have a drain in my tank, but I’m not sure it completely empties all of the water. I also use the pink stuff everywhere and “bump” my macerator until I see pink. It’s amazing how much water you get out of the system when you blow out the lines with air first.

This was mentioned in another post, but I also make sure to pump some of the pink stuff into the city inlet, even though I don’t use city water. There is also a draincock in the closet that I open to make certain all water comes out of the city tee-in.

 

[tmsnyder]

With the tank diverter, if there is any residual water in the hot water tank, will that cause an issue? I have a drain in my tank, but I’m not sure it completely empties all of the water. I also use the pink stuff everywhere and “bump” my macerator until I see pink. It’s amazing how much water you get out of the system when you blow out the lines with air first.

This was mentioned in another post, but I also make sure to pump some of the pink stuff into the city inlet, even though I don’t use city water. There is also a draincock in the closet that I open to make certain all water comes out of the city tee-in.

you can bypass the hot water tank, flush all your lines with pink and leave the hot water tank drained / 95% empty. The remaining water may freeze but since there is so little it won't be able to push up against anything to cause damage.

 

[boybach]

In preparation for winterizing, I just fitted a by-pass valve to the pump so I can introduce antifreeze into the water lines without getting it into the tank. Of course, nothing comes easy and had to remount the pump in order to have enough clearance to not kink the intake line.

2- should be a potable tank drain and appears to be open. If you can get it out and loosen it up, it can most likely be saved. The handle indicates flow direction - a common thing.

Interestingly enough, and contrary to what I (and several other folks) believed, the valve #2 shown in the pics above is in fact CLOSED when in line so the direction doesn't indicate flow
I tested that today and yes indeed the valve was extremely stiff, but a shot of PB blaster and a pair of pliers got it moving.
When I moved the lever to 90° from the flow direction and checked outside the coach, it was indeed open and the tank started draining. Returning it to the position parallel to the flow direction closed the valve again.

Learn something new every day!!

Larry

 

[boybach]

Today I completed the winterizing prep; installed the bypass pipe and valves in the hot water system.

Job went fairly well, but hot water output valve fouled the electrical cover plate at first. Had to put in an extension to clear the cover then shorten the hot water line the same amount ...anyway, it's all done so I'll be able to winterize without trouble (in theory! )

here's a pic of my setup


Larry

 

[Agoogol]

Today I completed the winterizing prep; installed the bypass pipe and valves in the hot water system.

Job went fairly well, but hot water output valve fouled the electrical cover plate at first. Had to put in an extension to clear the cover then shorten the hot water line the same amount ...anyway, it's all done so I'll be able to winterize without trouble (in theory! )

here's a pic of my setup


Larry
View attachment 5328

That looks so nice.

 

[Agoogol]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their help here. When I went to do this, it only took 10 minutes and I filled the system with pink stuff. We shall see next summer.

Of course, I will be back with questions on how to hook up the toilet and the shower, since these bits were removed by PO. the shower line comes down to nothing and is disconnected, I would guess that goes to the sink faucet. PO has a house style in there now, and apparently I need a RV style with the shower split? And the toilet I have no clue, there is just a hole, but I think a water line is back there but cant quite get it. May have to remove rear seat to gain access. I will start another thread here in a bit!

 

[mcrule]

I have a 1977 Kingsley with a full bed in the back. The tank, pump, and drain are under the permanent full bed. The mattress is next to impossible to remove, especially by yourself. I wanted to set up for quick winterizing using coach pump for pink fluid. I purchased a Camco Permanent Pump Converter Winterizing Kit- Allows You to Use Boat/RV Water Pump to Fill Pipes With Antifreeze - Lead Free, CSA Low Lead Content Certified (36543) from Amazon $14. I located a place in the outside propane area to attach the new valve. I connected 1/2" soft plastic hose to tank outlet to one side of valve and another from other side of valve to pump. This required 2 quarter size holes in the propane bulkhead. The tank drain almost touches it. Since the drain is also under the bed, I put a 1/2" barbed tee that had a 1/2" MPT where I can cap it off until I need to drain. That is also in the propane area. There you have it. Obviously, you can use whatever sizes work for you. If you do very cold wx camping, you would need to wrap that in insulation. I will also be installing the heater bypass. Amazon $10 Camco 35953 8" Supreme Permanent By-Pass Kit for 6 Gallon Tank - Lead Free. Total with Tee and 3' of hose $35.

 

[mcrule]

Oh wow, that's a lot of RV antifreeze. You are way less cheap than me!

Yeah that will do it. Only thing left might be the water in the city water connection. Can you get an air hose connected to that water inlet and blow the lines out?

This might be of interest.I have a 1977 Kingsley with a full bed in the back. The tank and pump are under the bed. The mattress is next to impossible to remove, especially by yourself. I wanted to set up for quick winterizing using coach pump for pink fluid. I purchased a Camco Permanent Pump Converter Winterizing Kit- Allows You to Use Boat/RV Water Pump to Fill Pipes With Antifreeze - Lead Free, CSA Low Lead Content Certified (36543) from Amazon $14. I located a place in the outside propane area to attach the new valve. I connected 1/2" plastic hose to tank outlet to one side of valve and another from other side of valve to pump. Since the drain is also under the bed, I put a 1/2" barbed tee that had a 1/2" MPT where I can cap it off until I need to drain. That is also in the propane area. There you have it. Obviously, you can use whatever sizes work for you. If you do very cold wx camping, you would need to wrap that in insulation.

UPDATE! The above was written as if I had done the bypass, actually it was THE PLAN. Now for the 'Rest of the Story'. I decided to use Pex and Sharkbite connections. I have included pictures that explain things pretty well. The part that really worked out was the Pex washing machine connection attached to the water hose elbow for putting in the pink anti-freeze.