Mishap While Winterizing Wrong Stuff Used

gtrnholm

Member
This is hard to believe but it happened. Afriend of mine was putting antifreeze in his trailer, first time for about ten years, anyway his new trailer made it easy just stick the hose in the jug and turn on the pump. Well he ran out of antifreeze before he did the outside shower so he found a jug of old stuff from when he had a trailer before and used that to finish with. I was at his place about an hour after he completed it and he was showing me how he had done the job and it looked good but there was a different odor to the antifreeze. When I asked him about it he told me itwas just the odor from the old stuff he had used. I didn't think it was right so i asked him to show me what he used and he came out with this jug of anti freeze but it didn't smell right and it had a slippery consistency. I told him it did not look, smell or feel like antifreeze it was more like varsol.
I got him another gallon of good stuff and that was ran through the system.
Can someone tell us if this will hurt anything and what can or should be done.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
If it were me I would hook up to a water supply and flush the entire system real good, then go through the winterization process again. With my eyes wide open.
I don't think anything was damaged but he will find for sure out in spring.

Peace
Dave
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Assuming he used the pump to suck in the bad antifreeze, and that he ran it only through the outside shower, maybe it's not throughout the water system. I think I might start by pumping water through the same route as that last batch of antifreeze. A lot of water.

Then I'd fill the fresh water tank and use the pump to flush other parts of the system. Several times.
 

Jimmy

Well-known member
Varsol™ fluids are traditional solvents that are also known as mineral spirits or white spirits. These fluids have been widely used in industry for decades, developed to replace kerosene in solvent applications.
 

gtrnholm

Member
If this indeed turns out to be varsol, a solvent, what will it do to the system. I don't believe there is much according to what was told. Maybe .5 of a quart that was flushed with a gallon of antifreeze about 40 minutes later.
I don't know what the varsol will do but flushing sounds like a good idea to me.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
If this indeed turns out to be varsol, a solvent, what will it do to the system. I don't believe there is much according to what was told. Maybe .5 of a quart that was flushed with a gallon of antifreeze about 40 minutes later.
I don't know what the varsol will do but flushing sounds like a good idea to me.
Is there any chance it was Transmission Fluid? Same color as RV antifreeze.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I did try to search for information on the chemical compatibility of cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) to solvents, but came up with very little.

A pint of the stuff, flushed out 40 minutes later with real RV antifreeze probably didn't have time to do much, if anything, in terms of damaging the plumbing. But I'd still want to flush it thoroughly and repeatedly with fresh water before using it. Flush it with water via the winterizing process, using the pump, to clear all the lines out.
 
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