De-winterizing questions

Jay_and_Kat

The basics of de-winterizing, I get.  Flush the anti-freeze out of the lines and you're more-or-less ready to go from there.  Don't dump the anti-freeze in your storm drains even though it's non-toxic.

Which leaves me and the wife with a couple options:

1. Use the portable holding tank we won when we bought our camper to get it in the house and drain it into the bathtub
2. Fill the fresh tank, take the camper back to our storage lot and flush it into their dump station

It's option #2 that I've got a question about, though.  Does the fresh tank in a 2022 T@B 400 BD have ENOUGH water storage to get a good flush of the lines?
While we have a state park close-ish with a "sanitation station" for RVs, I'm not sure if we could just drive in, maybe pay a small fee to use it, and drive out, it might be only for campers in the park (and much as we'd like to camp there soon, work and her Mom are making planning difficult.)

Second question, if we de-winterize in the coming weeks, as our weather has been weird lately (they're predicting SNOW today!) if we flush the lines and then it drops below freezing again, will it be a problem?  We wouldn't be leaving water in the tank, but short of blowing out the lines with a compressor (already been told that's a BAD idea) or re-winterizing, we're not getting ALL the water out...

Yoshi_TAB

Hi,  Re: Q2;  I just asked the same question on another forum in regards to using water in your system after dewinterizating.  I was looking for ideas of what others have done when just a single day of below freezing temperatures are expected.  I posted realizing the two variables, how long below freezing and what temperatures make it difficult to get "an exact answer".  I asked because I'm going on a long trip where just a day or two of below freezing temperatures are expected mixed in with 50F-70F day time highs. There was a mix of answers.  If you run your heat inside, many said it will be fine for a single day, Some said, why take a chance and either leave it winterized or carry a compressor capable of blowing out the lines.   There was a  suggestion of making a skirt around the bottom to help preserve warmth/keep wind out or keeping cabinets and doors where water lines run to keep them warm.   

Jay_and_Kat

@Yoshi_TAB what we're looking at doing, because our schedule is in such a state of flux right now, would be to de-winterize one weekend and then the camper would go back to the storage lot.  Looking at our 10-day outlook, in theory, in about a week we're going to the 70s, which would be plenty safe to de-winterize I would think.

BUT from something I read ages ago, any weather forecast more than about 3 days out is borderline educated guessing by the forecaster, so I wouldn't trust it...

Sharon_is_SAM

@Jay_and_Kat - There is plenty of water in the fresh tank to flush your plumbing lines, just don’t run your pump excessively as it can overheat.  You will then need to fill and sanitize your fresh water tank following dewinterizing.  If the storage lot has a potable source of water it would be much easier to hook up to the dump and flush out the plumbing, then sanitize your fresh tank.

Regarding freezing temps - if you flush the system, then only drain the lines, there may be water left in the Nautilus harness.  That is why they instruct to use a compressor to initially blow out the harness prior to adding antifreeze.  Why do you think blowing the lines is a bad idea?

Jay_and_Kat

@Sharon_is_SAM because I could've swore I asked about blowing the lines out with a compressor, but in a quick look at my likely posts that would've involved that, I'm not finding it...

So maybe I'm mis-remembering things.

Mooree

To de-winterize the RV water system, you must put some water in it. You may use a socket wrench to check that you tightened all hoses and pipes to prevent moisture from leaking from your plumbing system. However, refrain from securing everything too tightly.

BrianZ

@Mooree, a socket wrench?

Sharon_is_SAM

@BrianZ - Moore does not use a TaB.  I think he runs a fifth wheel.

GregChris

I know this sounds like a bad idea, but when we left Georgia to return to Ohio in March, I Knew I was not going to winterize again. I drained fresh water, opened the low points, and left all faucets open. I drained the gray water and left the gate valve open. My only concern was the cassette because I couldn't leave the flush open. I figured after driving 800 miles with all of shaking going on there couldn't be much moisture left. Any way every thing seemed fine on our short trip last week.  I met an older rv'er (older than me any way), who claims to never winterize, just open and drain everything. By leaving everything open any moisture that freezes can expand enough to not cause problems. worked for him for 50+ years. 

BrianZ

@GregChris, while that approach may work well enough for larger volume things like tanks & hoses, there are some water-containing parts that may not drain well and have small crevices that don't allow enough expansion, like exterior hose sprayer valves & spray head nozzles and toilet water valves, for example.  If you had a hose & connectors to manually attach & pump some antifreeze inside these devices, that could help.

GregChris

I always winterize with anifreeze before winter. This is the first time we camped mid winter, and I didn't rewinterize after returning from Georgia to Ohio. While I wouldn't recomend going this route every year, It  has dawned on me that these old timers know what they're talking about. It' funny me refering to old timers, I'm 71, but always ready to learn.

BrianZ

And I'm 73. 
And still learning!  And sometimes re-learning!   

Sharon_is_SAM

@GregChris - Brian’s point regarding pooling of water in the TaB plumbing accounts for reported plumbing leaks behind the toilet.  

Since every trailer is different, it is possible the “old timer” had a better draining unit and/or got lucky.  I think that since the Nautilus system makes it easy to winterize, I would do the easy thing to prevent unwanted repairs.  Pretty easy to just siphon antifreeze into the system.