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qhumberd
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Glycol change service costs

gruvt
gruvt Member Posts: 3
in Heating/Plumbing & Winterizing
A new to me Tab 400 owner here.  Need to swap out glycol, currently the yellow stuff. Nearest local dealer wont do it since I didn't buy it from them and they are not taking any new customers, really ? My other option is a nuCamp dealer a tad farther away and they want $600 $to 800 to do the service to change to the new (blue?) stuff, why range in price I dunno.  Is this the usual cost ?  I'm pretty handy and will likely do it myself but would like a read on these service costs. It's  seems like a DOD $1000 hammer issue.
2019 T@B 400 "Dorothy" Wizard of Oz reference....
2020 Honda Ridgeline
HQ Vermont
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Comments

  • Arkansas_Gary
    Arkansas_Gary Member Posts: 16
    Mine was 400.00 in Arkansas.  Make an appointment and Plan a camping road trip?  A few months on the change out won’t end the world as long as you get it done within the year.
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  • Arkansas_Gary
    Arkansas_Gary Member Posts: 16
    Also, look for a smaller business.   The actual cost for bigger Dealers is bigger because the mortgage on their big property the front office staff back office staff.  All they is paid for by the customer walking in the front door.  They aren’t making huge profits at those inflated prices.   Small shops have less overhead to cover.   
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  • bergger
    bergger Moderator Posts: 1,077
    Doing it yourself is really pretty simple, just takes a few hours of your time.  You're simply removing liquid from a loop and replacing it with new liquid.  I did ours just under 2 years ago and the total cost to me was $154.  Based on the increased cost of Rhomar I figure you could add another $100 to that cost.  However When I do it again it'll only cost me the price of the Rhomar since I already have the pump and hose and I won't need to flush the system out with distilled water.  Doing it yourself also gave me the assurance that it was done correctly.  Which is less important if you are simply replacing old rhomar with new Rhomar but much more important if you are replacing Century fluid with Rhomar.  
    2021 T@b 400 BD  "Vixen Gail" 
    2018 Nissan Titan Pro 4X "Big Bird"
    Leadville Colorado
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  • BandB
    BandB Member Posts: 76
    What kind of pump and hose can be used? We didn't realize we had to replace the Rhomar, just thought we had to keep an eye on the Min/Max lines. We were able to buy a gallon of Alde brand Antifreeze (Virgin Propylene Glycol with corrosion inhibitors) on Amazon.
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  • gruvt
    gruvt Member Posts: 3
    https://youtu.be/ADhn3cdR954?feature=shared

    Pretty much how it’s done…
    2019 T@B 400 "Dorothy" Wizard of Oz reference....
    2020 Honda Ridgeline
    HQ Vermont
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  • BandB
    BandB Member Posts: 76
    @gruvt thank you for that link.
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  • Robermcm
    Robermcm Member Posts: 96
    edited April 2024
    bergger said:
    Doing it yourself is really pretty simple, just takes a few hours of your time.  You're simply removing liquid from a loop and replacing it with new liquid.  I did ours just under 2 years ago and the total cost to me was $154.  Based on the increased cost of Rhomar I figure you could add another $100 to that cost.  However When I do it again it'll only cost me the price of the Rhomar since I already have the pump and hose and I won't need to flush the system out with distilled water.  Doing it yourself also gave me the assurance that it was done correctly.  Which is less important if you are simply replacing old rhomar with new Rhomar but much more important if you are replacing Century fluid with Rhomar.  
    When Truma replaced my boiler, they listed the use of 2 gallons of glycol. I’ve never seen a spec on total system fluid, but this might be close. They even gave me ‘the rest’ in a small bottle. So when doing a same-fluid-type replacement, maybe two gallons is enough?
    2026 Haven
    2023 Tab 400 - sold
    2015 Audi Q7 TDI
    Northern Ohio

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  • bergger
    bergger Moderator Posts: 1,077
    When I did mine I used about 3.5 gallons.  However I was doing and change from Century to Rhomar and also did a complete fresh water flush.  I probably pushed a bit more through the system than needed just to be safe.  I'd say somewhere around 2.5 to 3 gallons would suffice.  As long as you do not spill a bunch!!  Buying 3 gallons should allow you to have some left over to top off the expansion tank between services.  
    2021 T@b 400 BD  "Vixen Gail" 
    2018 Nissan Titan Pro 4X "Big Bird"
    Leadville Colorado
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  • pthomas745
    pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,527
    We have tons of info on the Glycol Exchange, and the 6 year long process to figure out how to do it.  I caution everyone watching YouTube videos about the Alde in European Aldes: they use ethylene glycol antifreeze, which absolutely cannot be used in the US Aldes.  The constant comments about the "5 year antifreeze" all seem to come from the European videos. So...good idea of the process in the video, but that is all!
    This link takes you to the comment on the "DIY Glycol Exchange File" which explains the simple tools and the process. 

    This thread is the "Changing out the Alde Fluid" files.  The six year process to figure out the Alde, how it really works, and how to change the glycol yourself.  Plenty of other owners have done this, and they brought back photos and their own little modifications to the basic idea.  Not all the trailers are as easy as others.  There is more than one way to  make the swap.  The link goes to the last page of the thread, and you can skim backwards to find the pictures of other owner's DIY days.  Tons of information and education about the Alde, the glycol, etc. 

    This link goes to another way to get the glycol out of the trailer: using a shop vac to suck it out. Many owners have done this, too.



    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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