How are new T@B 320s winterized?

peterac50

Heading to Washington DC in March. Anticipate using the Alde heater but not the water system as I do not want to have to re-winterize when I return to Vermont.  It can still get pretty cold in late March/early April.  I assume I can do this.

dragonsdofly

@peterac50, there are two ways to winterize a t@b, and both you can do. But that gets us ahead of where you are now. If you picked your trailer at the dealer, it is already winterized. Most dealers use the pink RV anti-freeze method, but it doesn't matter. You are already winterized. You can use the alde system to heat your t@b, as that system circulates glycol. Just don't activate the water system, and you are good to go. Bring bottled water for drinking and cooking. Use "double dooty" type bags in the toilet, or @Verna's homemade version. And you won't have to re-winterize. If you are on an extended trip and want to use the water system, use the search function and look up "winterizing". As I said,  two methods, pink anti-freeze method and the blow out method. We use the blow out method, with pink anti-freeze in the sink, shower and toilet traps. We never put the RV anti-freeze into the fresh water system as flushing it out can be tedious. There are a lot of threads on this topic. The blow out method can be accomplished using a simple bicycle pump, and less than a gallon of the pink stuff. Whichever you choose, good luck. It's not nearly as intimidating or scary as it seems.

JimEngel

http://www.angelplace.net/tab/Winterization.pdf

ScottG

@peterac50, It sounds like your question is more about not having to dewinterize your T@B before using it, and whether you can still use the cabin heat (but not the water system) in the winterized state.

The short answer is yes. That assumes the camper is actually winterized, and depends on how it was winterized. You might not want to run the Alde if the HW tank has been filled with antifreeze--but that's not the normal approach.

If you do decide to use the water then rewinterize when you return to Vermont, there are several winterizing resources available here. As dragonsdofly noted, it's not all that hard.

peterac50

Thank you. That was a great article.