For Those Who Blowout and Use Antifreeze

manyman297

Did my winterizing today and learned a few new things in the process. Some of this may be common knowledge.

Normally I follow the procedure outlined in the nautilus manual but I was never satisfied that I had done a good job blowing all of the water out of my lines. The manual stated to turn the knobs to a 45 degree angle. I used to think this was to blow all possible lines out by opening everything up partially…this is true but it also leaves quite a bit of water in the lines.

This time around I blew out my lines by setting the Nautilus to city connection first, blowing out all faucets, and THEN doing the 45 degree method. A lot more water came out and I feel like I got more out of the Alde Flow tank as well. In the past I would always hear gurgling within the lines during the 45 degree blowout. Yes most of this comes out once you push antifreeze through but you end up wasting a good amount of AF making sure you’ve pushed the water out. 

By blowing everything out thoroughly you waste a lot less AF and you aren’t mixing water and AF. I used about 1.5 gallons total. 

At any rate, this might be what most do but I have a hunch most are just doing the 45 degree blowout. 

pthomas745

The "45 degree position" is designed only to "blow out" the Nautilus harness, that area behind the Nautilus panel with all the Nautilus setup. The Nautilus 3.0 manual on page 12, Paragraph 5 says" 

........(40 PSI max) with handles still at 45 degree angle as shown. This will ensure any trapped water in plumbing harness is removed".  (Italics mine). 

 The valves at the 45 position may blow a little water toward the faucets, but not nearly enough to clear them, it seems.

The next step, with the valves in the "Winterize"  position, (Page 12, Paragraph 7) is the only way to have either antifreeze or "air" correctly reach the faucets.

This is a continuous source of confusion.  Many owners on Facebook and different groups keep asking: "Why do I have to add antifreeze when "I've already blown out the lines?".

We are victims of another poorly written manual, and there are lots of other threads that discuss this confusion.

Bill&Suze

I recently did the full blow out, set to winterize first to clear lines and faucets, then the 45 degree phase to clear the Nautilus harness, then back to winterize to move any residual water. Right afterward I removed the kitchen sink (due to a leak around the faucet base) and when I removed the faucet and laid it on its side I was surprised a how much water was still in it that drained out onto a towel. I'm convinced that pumping antifreeze to clear remaining water will be a very good idea. We are guaranteed to go below freezing here in southern Maine.

SLJ

If I drain and blow out all my lines on my '21 320S and then tilt the camper back a few degrees, more water drains out. Why I always blow out the lines and then run AF trough it anyway.

gkreitzburg

First time winterizing our 23 400. Blew out the lines and added AF per the manual. Process was decently smooth. I feel like the pump did not siphon as well on winterize as it did on sanitize when i de-winterized in the spring. eventually for AF to all fixtures and in all drains. The manual does leave a lot to be desired, lol.

manyman297

@pthomas745 The confusion for me was if I set it to winterize or just city water in order to blow out the lines. Looking at the individual settings of each knob (page 4) it appears city water would be best since it would leave the hot water tank open and get a bit more water out of it. 

@Bill&Suze” yeah, I like the idea of doing both so you don’t end up with watered down AF and the AF will push any water that could be trapped in the lines. Belt and suspenders.

@SLJ I too raised and lowered the tongue and got a bit of extra water out doing this.