Dewinterize and Bypassing Alde

manyman297

Ok, so you’d think that by now I’d have dewinterizing figured out but I don’t.

My question is about the Alde. Most instructions I’ve seen say to drain antifreeze from low-point drains and tank (if there is antifreeze in there) and then proceed to pump sanitizing solution into the freshwater tank. But then you switch the nautilus to sanitize which opens the valves to the Alde and pump your sanitizing fluid through the Alde.

My question is will you introduce some antifreeze into the hot water heater? And isn’t bleach solution bad for the Alde (and Flow) tanks?

Not knowing exactly how the plumbing is all connected makes things confusing for me. Any insight would be appreciated.

Sharon_is_SAM

@manyman297 - see Bergger’s comments in this thread.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/197097#Comment_197097

dsfdogs

@manyman297 I kept the red Alde valve closed while in the "sanitize" mode as I didn't want to pump bleach water through the Alde. Once done with the sanitize procedure of running bleach water through lines, letting it sit, then draining, I refilled the fresh tank with water, still kept the Alde valve closed and ran the clean water through the lines, then drained everything. I filled the fresh tank again, then opened the Alde red valve and set the valves to dry camping and ran water through the Alde hot water tank and lines and drained everything again, including the Alde. Finally, I switched to City water mode to run more water through all the lines and Alde. Through all this, I had the board removed from the bed for access to the Nautilus and Alde yellow valves, and water pump, with towels handy, checking for water leaks. It was an all day ordeal as the fresh water tank takes forever to drain. Good luck!

manyman297

Thanks to both of you! @Sharon_is_SAM @dsfdogs

I knew the red lever simply bypasses the Alde but I didn't know if it was ok to do this in various modes for the Nautilus. This is good to know.

Another question. How much bleach do you typically use to sanitize the freshwater tank? The Nucamp video says 1/2 cup per gallon which seems like WAY too much. I know I did much less (I need to write this stuff down) but wanted to see what you all do.

ScottG

nuCamp's instructions have always been a little ambiguous regarding the amount of bleach.

I think the intent is to put 1/2 cup bleach in 1 gallon of water, add that mixture to the system, then top up with fresh water. So, in this case, 1/2 cup of bleach total.

I bungled this the first time I sanitized. The instructions at the time said 1/4 cup per gallon. I took that to mean three cups total in my eleven gallon tank plus plumbing, but I got skittish and stopped at two. Even then it took several trips before the bleach smell dissipated completely. No worries about cooties that year!  :-)

dsfdogs

I believe I used 1/2 cup for the whole tank. I mixed the bleach with a gallon of water in a bucket, then set Nautilus to Sanitize with red Alde valve closed, then turned on the pump to draw it into the fresh tank. Then turn off pump. Then I attached the water hose to the Nautilus and set valves to Powerfill tank, still with red Alde valve closed, to fill the tank and proceed with process. The Nautilus is confusing. I "think" the red Alde valve doesn't actually need to be closed to avoid adding water to the Alde in these modes, but I feel better seeing the lever closed. 

pthomas745

We have complained to NuCamp about that video and the massive amount of bleach numerous times, and made comments on the YouTube video, but it is still up with the same bad info after how many years?

manyman297

@ScottG 1/2 per tank sounds about right vs. what I’ve done in the past but Nucamp’s video threw me for a loop. 

@dsfdogs I’ve noted your process in my notes. 

@pthomas745 Yeah, that video needs to be redone. It’s almost like they didn’t bother to review it to see if it actually made sense before posting it. So many problem probably have a nice bleachy water system.

manyman297

Just a quick update. Thanks @dsfdogs and @ScottG for the tips. Dewinterizing went well and 1/2 cup bleach for the entire tank seems fine. I had to flush the tank twice to get rid of the bleach smell. 

I did notice upon flushing that there was no pressure in the system at all. I don't know if I had this issue in prior years but then I noticed some antifreeze staining (like a puddle) under the water pump and below the temperature adjust valve for the Alde. Both were fairly dry and left a stain on the floor so they had been that way for a while.

To play it safe I pressurized the system and let it sit for three hours and while those particular trouble areas remained dry, I did have a couple of other fittings that were leaking. I snugged those up and all seems to be ok (I still plan to pressurize it today again and make sure).

Anyway, is it normal for the system to lose pressure over the winter? And if it lost pressure common sense tells me that it had to be relieved through a bunch of antifreeze leaking all over but I don't see any other than those two areas of relatively small puddles.

ScottG

I winterize strictly by the blowout method and leave fittings disconnected and taps open, so I have no firsthand experience with a pressurized system over the winter. Regardless, under such conditions I would expect temperature fluctuations to cause pressure in the system to vary a bit, but I wouldn't expect leaks (other than perhaps at the Alde pressure relief valve, if the Alde wasn't bypassed).

That said, threaded fittings do seem to loosen up over time, so I make checking and snugging those up part of my regular maintenance.   

manyman297

Yeah, it's really odd but I don't remember being cognizant of it in years past. I definitely didn't have antifreeze leaking from fittings...nor the water pump. But everything seems to be functioning fine for now.