Newbie Mistake Winterizing - Do I need to start over?

Da_Birds

I winterized today following the Nautilus p2.5 instructions. Everything was going as planned until I started pumping the AF in. It took a whole gallon easily and when it started to take most of a second gallon I shut down the pump because I knew something was wrong. Upon further inspection I realized my faucets were turned on and my AF was just coming out the faucets and going right down the drains. I typically open all faucets and open drains before coming home from each trip to allow water to drain, which is why they were on. I shut off the faucets and everything went fine from there.

However, I'm now wondering if having the faucets open when blowing out the city water connection is problematic. I'm thinking the important parts that needed to be blown out were even with the faucets open. I also believe having all my drains opened during the drive home and the past couple weeks would have help make sure most water was drained. If recommended I will flush the lines and winterize again but I'm not sure that is necessary. Think I need to winterize again?

Sharon_is_SAM

@Da_Birds - while it works better to open only one tap at a time, I suspect that any residual water will have been pushed out through the faucet with AF considering it sounds like they were running freely😂. Just remember to quickly open and close the gray tank valve to get some AF on both sides of the valve. Leave the cap on while you do that😊

Da_Birds

@Sharon_is_SAM - I was following the Nautilus p2.5 instructions so I was not attempting to blow out all of the lines, just  the city water connection per the instructions. All other lines are filled with AF, so no worries there. I did open\close the gray tank valve but not with the cap on. I have plenty of AF in the gray tank so I did it again with the cap on this time. Thanks for your feedback. I'm much more confident that I'm protected for the winter. Guess we'll find out in the spring if I'm correct.

Nanabirdie

I drove with the low point valves open, but not the faucets. Would you recommend this again as a way to ensure as much water is out as possible without blowing them. Good for you getting through your first time winterizing!!! I'm still working on it!

Da_Birds

Opening the faucets helps to drain the water by allowing air in. I'm not sure I would trust it as much as blowing out the lines with air. I'm not sure how important the blowing out step of the Nautilus procedure is if your filling most of the lines with AF anyway. I don't think anyone knows for sure if this is done in an abundance of caution or if it's vitally important to purge water from this particular section of the plumbing. But if the manual says to do it I assume there is good reason.

ScottG

Da_Birds said:

Opening the faucets helps to drain the water by allowing air in. I'm not sure I would trust it as much as blowing out the lines with air.
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I can confirm this. Having used the blowout method seven years running, there is a lot more water that comes out even after a complete gravity drain.

I think there are nooks and crannies and low points that will not drain without assistance from compressed air.