Winterizing our 5vers

Hi All:

Well, I didn't get to take one last weekend in the G.C. I pulled it out of the garage and drained and winterized "OUR" Baby. Now I know what soneone was saying about the "Mysterious" water heater experience.

I can't remember what section this was in, but it happened to me and I think I know what is going on !!!! When you are using the power drain of the water tank. I feel that whle you are pumping out the potable tank, you're sucking the water out of the water heater at the same time. When I pulled out the plug/anode rod, NOTHING came out !!! I thought what is going on. I never had this happen EVER !! There was some deposits of white gook around the plug hole, so I took the sprayer and rinsed out the tank and left the plug out so it will dry out.

The winterizing went without a hitch. Be sure to park your trailer on plyboard or 2 x 8's if you are on cement. It is supposed to cause the tires to prematurely crack etc.

If I have the battery master switch in the off position, will the battery stay up all winter ? or should I buy a Battery Tender ?

Bluegrassman Just as with a car, you need to either trickle charge the battery or take it out and store it in a warm place and periodically charge it. It's not good to leave the battery in the trailer all winter uncharged.

Battery

Hi Bigblue:
Thakx for the get back on the battery, in the past I just left the trailer plugged in. I never had any converter failure or any thing. I may buy a Tender and keep it on trickle for the winter.

Fireflipper

Hi Bluegrass man
I have G.C. # 29 and it came with a charge wizard. I know that the factory stopped putting them in due to owners confusion about them. I just set mine to auto and it takes nothing else from me except to make sure the batteries are full of water. If you do not have a drain on the batteries, than the charger will act as a trickle charger and just maintain the proper voltage. If you don't have a charge wizard I know it will not work unless you have a convertor that is compatable. It would be worth the cost if you have can keep your unit plugged in all winter.

charge wizard

Hi fireflipper - we have 2005 GG #008 with a charge wizard and didn't know what it is. If you turn the charge wizard on do you leave the batterys on "on" or can you turn them off and still have the wizard trickle charge?

Fireflipper

I can not honestly answer that question, as I have been full timing and never checked that out. I do believe that if the batteries are turned off that all juice coming and going is shut down. Maybe someone from that factory can give us an answer.

Winterizing questions

Hi All,

I have several questions related to winterizing. I've been full timing in my '05 Golden Gate and haven't had to winterize but probably will need to in a couple of months. Are the instructions in the Owner's Manual adequate?

Power Drain - is there a manual drain for the fresh water tank other than the power drain? My last 5th wheel had a manual drain cock on the underside that worked great. I did use the power drain to drain the water to replace with fresh water recently. At the end of the process it sputtered water for a long time and never really drained completely - I turned it off as I was worried about harming the water pump with just a little water sputtering out. To get all the water out I would have to run the pump until the water completely quits sputtering out - will this harm the pump?

The instructions in the Owner's Manual on page 34, step 3 say to "open the hot and cold water pipe drain valves located either under the galley sink or in an exterior compartment. I don't have any under the sink but on the door to the Spray Port Hot and Cold, in the storage compartment, it says "Low point drains". In the compartment there are only regular hot and cold valves for the detachable spray port. Is this the "hot and cold water pipe drain valves" referred to on page 34? If so, there isn't any drain outlet other than the detachable spray hose.

Battery charge wizard - there were comments about this in attached threads - I'm assuming I don't have one, but, where is it located if one was included?

Thanks for any help.

co4me

Manual Drain ?

Hi All:

Last week when I was winterizing my G.Canyon, I emptied the tank with the pump. When it started to sputter, I shut the pump off. I had the faucets open in the kitchen & bath. The water continued to flow BUT at a slow rate. After I was satisfied that it was pretty empty, I then winterized. Seems that everything is AOK.

Fireflipper

Maybe someone can fill me in on this winterizing thing. I lived in Florida so winterizing was something that never even crossed my mind. Now that I am in Tenn. I will have to take on the task. Why do you have to put antifreeze in the system, when the system is drained and there is nothing in it to freeze? Or is that step just an additional precaution? Thanks for any info.

Hey Glenn
How are you? Where are you in Tenn? We're just outside of Memphis at the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River Park.

On the antifreeze, there are some who just blow out the lines with air and don't put antifreeze in. If you can get all of the water out it's not necessary to put antifreeze in. Since many don't have an air compressor handy, the antifreeze is the common method for most.

You still may what to put some antifreeze in the sinks and the shower because the necks in the drain pipes from the sinks and shower will still have some water in them. Evans & Lana

Winterizing

Hi All:

Up here in Pa, it gets pretty cold, It has already been in the high 20's this week at night. On the winterizing, I have blown the pipes out, I feel more safe if I put antifreeze in. There can be pockets that may have some residual water it can expand then what. At 3.00 a gal it's good insurance. Fireflipper is RIGHT !!! Your drains have water in the traps to keep gasses out. If that freezes you could crack the plumbing.

That;s just my $.02 worth on that.

Correction

OOOPS

I guess I should have said Evans & Lana Waller was Right. Duh, I'm Blonde

co4me,
I'm not sure how you G.G. is configured, but I have a manual fresh water drain valve on my Shenandoah. It is located underneath the unit near the left wheels. It is awkward to reach but it is a good alternative to using the pump.

Slaytop

Manual Drain ?

Hi All:
I never got down and looked around under the unit, thanx for the heads up on the manual drain.

Fireflipper

Hey BigBlue
We are still out in California, but headed back east. Should be back in Tenn around the 15 th of Dec, just in time for Christmas. We live just north of Morristown, which is about 45 miles north west of Knoxville.
About this antifreeze. Thanks for the info, still don't know what I will do. I do have a compressor, so if that is the easier way to go, I may do that.

Blowing Out lines (winterizing)

Hi Bigblue:

As I stated in a previous post, I have blown out my lines. I have had great success doing it that way. It makes it easier (If you're working alone) if you use the type of air chuck that has a latch on it. This way it can stay locked on your valve stem while you are opening the faucets and low-point drains.

I also keep the compressor at around 40 -50 psi. So it doesn't want to blow out a joint or line because of too high pressure. This may cause a future leak. Good luck, in however you get it ready for winter.

OOPS I did that again

Hi Fireflipper !!!!!!!!!! I can never remember who was on the last post, I remember now your were writing to Bigblue. Ya can't just scroll up and double check, ya have to rely on the old "Gray Matter"

Good morning Bluegrassman,

Just a tip: When posting a reply, while in the reply mode, if you scroll down, you can see all previous posts in that thread. The top-most post is the latest one. I often find the need to scroll down in order to get my facts straight when replying.

Take care,

Jim

OK Fireflipper
I misunderstood. I thought you were back here in TN. We're leaving here about the 12th of Dec. and going up north to Il and MN to see our folks for the holidays. Then it's off to AZ for the winter.