Plumbing Winterizing/De-Winterizing Mistake results in blown out kitchen faucet

Illini83 · April 2025

I'm not sure if I goofed up during the winterizing last fall or the de-winterizing today, but the result was the kitchen faucet was blown apart at the both the hot and cold water connection.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021717/uploads/editor/ts/nywha75yuo8k.jpg

I live in Madison, WI, we did have -5F last winter. I used the TAB 400 winterization procedure on the Nucamp website with a very low freeze point RV anti-freeze.

I'm guessing I goofed up the winterization and there was still some water in the sink line. Has anyone else blown out their faucet like this and if so, should I also be investigating the bathroom sink faucet and shower faucet?

Any insight is helpful.

Thanks

pthomas745 · April 2025

If you saw antifreeze coming through the faucet...your process was fine. The faucets are at the very top of the plumbing "loop", and in theory, gravity was also working for you when you used the low point drains.

So, a lot of things could have been working against those (flimsy) connections at the faucet.

There are a number of threads about replacing the faucets.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/17940/changed-out-the-stock-faucet/p1

This thread shows the same sort of cracking at the pex into the faucet base.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/16126/kitchen-faucet-leaking-under-sink-t-b-400

Illini83 · April 2025

Thanks for the reply. I did not see the threads about the bad faucets. After continued de-winterizing, I found the bathroom fixtures and the remainder of the plumbing system is fine. Although I'm not happy about the bad quality of the kitchen sink faucet, I don't need to kick myself for screwing up the winterizing last fall and worry about it every fall going forward.

pthomas745 · April 2025

There is plenty of help about replacing the faucet. Read over those previous threads and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

qhumberd · April 2025

I would call your broken faucet a win, as I had a time getting the pex loose and the faucet out in the cramped space in our 400.

Use this opportunity to get what I think is our best mod, the folding faucet. We love it. And unless the tariffs have changed things, it was very affordable.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/17940/changed-out-the-stock-faucet/p1

Jginz · April 2025

I would agree with qhumberd. The connections on the Dometic fold down faucet are plastic. Mine broke on my 2021 T@B400 over the first winter. We were on the road when we dewinterized, and I was able to find a Lippert pull down gooseneck faucet. Initially I mounted it in the mounting hole on the sink and removed the tempered glass top. Once we returned home I moved it to a counter top mount (drilling a mounting hole) and made a partial cover from a bamboo cutting board. It's been a great improvement.

Plumbing Winterizing/De-Winterizing Mistake results in blown out kitchen faucet

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