Jut got our 2022 M26 this year. Camping season is coming to an end for us in the next few months. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with winterizing the M26 with air? My wife hates the smell of the anti freeze so I was thinking about trying to blow the lines out this year. I use the fresh water tank, not the city water connection when we go camping. How do you go about blowing the water out of the lines for the winter?
Winterizing 2022 M26 With Air
- Thread starter BIGBREW
- Start date
It really depends on the piping layout. The last RV it was great to just blow out lines. Used about 40 psi through regulator and and a blow out adapter with orfice hole for water connector. The recent RV however has too may low spots and I cannot get all the water out. If the temp is going to get very low I always use antifreeze on it.
taskswap
Well-known member
I love winterizing with air. I have a Dewalt cordless air compressor that I keep in my truck for tires, inflatables, etc that works great for this and one of those hose-to-schrader valves, the metal one not the plastic. I can do the whole camper in a few minutes and I HATE the smell of RV antifreeze so I love not having that issue. It's good to sanitize in spring but I would do that anyway. Like noted above I put some antifreeze in each P trap and tank (to protect the valves). So I still use about a gallon a year, but no antifreeze smell in spring.
What is your process for the low point drains, hot water tank, water pump etc? Which order do you go in?
I am thinking open low point drains and empty everything. Hook up air and start with the farthest point away which would be the hot water tank, then the kitchen sink then the bathroom. What do you do to make sure all the water is out of your pump? Turn it on quickly while the system is pressurized?
taskswap
Well-known member
I like to winterize (and de-winterize) at a campground on a full hookup so I can drain any last water from my grey/black tanks.
I start by flipping the HWH bypass valves, remove its plug to drain it, then put the plug lightly back in to keep bugs out. Then I turn on all faucets, and go open any low point drain valves / remove plugs. While those drain I also flush each toilet and unscrew each shower head hose.
Next I close everything up, attach the schrader valve to the city supply port and turn on the compressor set to 25psi. I go around to each faucet twice, opening it to let the water blow out. Finally I open the low-point one last time as usually blowing the air through the lines pushes a bit more water toward it.
Finally I pour RV antifreeze in each sink, toilet, and bathtub to protect the P traps. I pour enough down that some goes into the tanks to protect the gate valves as well.
I was verbose here but this all takes <10m. You do not need to go crazy here. A little bit of water won't break anything. Think about your ice cube tray in your freezer. It's thin plastic. Water just needs a place to expand "into". A pipe full of water is a problem because it expands outward. But a pipe with some air, the water can expand along it if there's some left, and it's fine.
I start by flipping the HWH bypass valves, remove its plug to drain it, then put the plug lightly back in to keep bugs out. Then I turn on all faucets, and go open any low point drain valves / remove plugs. While those drain I also flush each toilet and unscrew each shower head hose.
Next I close everything up, attach the schrader valve to the city supply port and turn on the compressor set to 25psi. I go around to each faucet twice, opening it to let the water blow out. Finally I open the low-point one last time as usually blowing the air through the lines pushes a bit more water toward it.
Finally I pour RV antifreeze in each sink, toilet, and bathtub to protect the P traps. I pour enough down that some goes into the tanks to protect the gate valves as well.
I was verbose here but this all takes <10m. You do not need to go crazy here. A little bit of water won't break anything. Think about your ice cube tray in your freezer. It's thin plastic. Water just needs a place to expand "into". A pipe full of water is a problem because it expands outward. But a pipe with some air, the water can expand along it if there's some left, and it's fine.
What about the pump? How do you make sure that's clear so you don't crack the housing.
taskswap
Well-known member
YMMV but my pump is at the low point of the fresh water tank so it can prime itself, with just a few inches of level tubing between them. Draining the fresh water tank allows my pump to drain back as well. You can confirm if yours does the same thing by draining your fresh water tank and then putting a few gallons back in. If you then run your pump and it takes a bit of running before it "catches," that means it lost its prime (contains air) and may not need an extra step. You can also run your pump for a few seconds to be sure.
Note that this "drain back" is gravity fed, not driven by air pressure from the other step. All of these pumps have check valves / back-flow preventers that stop you from filling/overflowing your fresh water tank when running on city water supply. But they're typically on the outlet side.
Every camper is a little different and my list shouldn't be taken to be universal. For instance, in a Sunset Trail we owned, we had an inside canister-style water filter. I would remove that each year and put the empty canister back on the housing to keep dust/bugs out, then put a fresh filter on each spring. Our Milestone doesn't have this so I didn't list it. Some pumps also have small debris filters right at the pump itself. Our Travel Lite truck camper has one of these, but it's mounted vertically pointing down so it drains on its own. Our Milestone does not.
There are dozens of good books on Amazon and videos on Youtube if anybody wants a more thorough treatment of the process. And there's nothing wrong with RV antifreeze per se, I just hate the smell and cost so I prefer to use air. 6 campers in 12 years and I've never busted a line or device, but my advice is warrantied against the price paid - $0!
I forgot to mention that I sanitize my fresh water tank before winterizing rather than in spring. This seems to keep any funk/mold from growing.
Note that this "drain back" is gravity fed, not driven by air pressure from the other step. All of these pumps have check valves / back-flow preventers that stop you from filling/overflowing your fresh water tank when running on city water supply. But they're typically on the outlet side.
Every camper is a little different and my list shouldn't be taken to be universal. For instance, in a Sunset Trail we owned, we had an inside canister-style water filter. I would remove that each year and put the empty canister back on the housing to keep dust/bugs out, then put a fresh filter on each spring. Our Milestone doesn't have this so I didn't list it. Some pumps also have small debris filters right at the pump itself. Our Travel Lite truck camper has one of these, but it's mounted vertically pointing down so it drains on its own. Our Milestone does not.
There are dozens of good books on Amazon and videos on Youtube if anybody wants a more thorough treatment of the process. And there's nothing wrong with RV antifreeze per se, I just hate the smell and cost so I prefer to use air. 6 campers in 12 years and I've never busted a line or device, but my advice is warrantied against the price paid - $0!
I forgot to mention that I sanitize my fresh water tank before winterizing rather than in spring. This seems to keep any funk/mold from growing.
Bogie
Well-known member
I blow the line out with air as others have described. With regard to the pump, Before blow out the lines, I drain the fresh water tank and run the pump until no more water comes out. Then I remove the filter bowl on the pump and empty it out. Even after the pump runs dry, enough water remains in the bowl which can cause a crack if it freezes.
fluffywhitedogs
Active Member
An alternative to blowing it out might be using a propylene glycol-based anti-freeze. I am also hyper-sensitive to the smell of standard ethanol based rv antifreeze. LOL, just today, I started a thread on another forum and have lots of people telling me I'm nuts. But I smell it every time I shower, flush, or do dishes, and pretty much all year, especially in the morning when the water has been sitting overnight! This was in my previous trailer. For my new North Trail. I plan on draining the lines and then running propylene Glycol based RV antifreeze through the lines. Once it has completely flowed through and displaced any possible water, I plan on draining it, so that it's not sitting in the lines for months. Apparently it doesn't have the some (or any) odor, and with it not completely sitting in the lines, I hope I can avoid the stench. Unfortunately, it's about 3x the price but I don't care! I'm in Canada and simply blowing out the lines makes me very nervous!
