winterizing

[herefishy]

We winterized our trailer a month ago, then discovered we hadn't run the outside shower, so pumped a little through that till it came out pink. Then later we decided we ought to add some antifreeze since it might have shorted the system of antifreeze to run it through that outside shower. Tried to put some antifreeze in today, but pump wouldn't suck up the antifreeze, just hummed. And tried to run an inside faucet and it dribbled out clear, not pink.
So, now we have the heat running in case it gets real cold tonight and to see if the pump is frozen. Any other suggestions on what to try?

 

[aatauses]

Just a few thing to consider: did you have your winterization in the correct position so your pump would not draw from
your fresh water tank? Did you somehow get air in your lines? If you can get at the lines on eachend of the pump you shouold be able to see if any fittings have ice around them? Or a cracked line or fitting?
al

 

[danemayer]

Are the outside faucets turned off? I assume you have air in your water heater. If the faucets are on, you may be sucking air out of the water heater and through the outdoor faucet fixture.

 

[chasdvorak]

This might be long shot, but what type of handles do you have on your winterizing valves. I had the plastic handles and thought I turned them correctly, but learned that I actually stripped them. The handle appeared to be in the right position, but the actual metal valve did not turn, therefore I was unable to draw any antifreeze. I was able to take the handle off and turn the valve to the correct position using an adjustable wrench which allowed the pump to suck up the anti-freeze. I had a bunch of posts on this topic a few months ago and made a diagram to help figure things out.

In your case, this shouldn't be a problem since you were able to winterize it last month.....but if you moved the handles it might be worth a quick peek. There is a lot to be said for living in a warmer climate this time of the year. Good Luck

Chuck Dvorak

 

[herefishy]

Think the handles are in the correct position, it seems to sound like a pump problem - would like to not have to crawl into the compartment and check for ice - and with the heat on, we should be able to tell if there was a freeze, right? What I don't know is how to get rid of an air lock if that might be the problem. Oh, and we are in a warm place, it just gets cold now and then. The faucets might or might not have been turned on outside, can't remember what position they were in. I'm thinking I might have to add water to the tank and suck it out of there? Thanks for the quick replies.

 

[herefishy]

All worked out well - we warmed up the compartment, then opened all the faucets, then turned on the pump, and it was able to suck up some antifreeze, evidently having more than one faucet open got rid of the airlock.

 

[Gaffer]

It is a good idea to blow all the water out of the lines before using the pink stuff. You don't say if you did that. One or the other should work but I think both is better.