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09-10-2020, 05:54 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Name: Steve
Trailer: Scamp 13
Wisconsin
Posts: 8
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When to Winterize
We are brand new 2013 Scamp 13' owners. We are also brand new to the RV world. We live in Wisconsin and I am wondering when do you northerners winterize your RV's? We are hoping to take a trip to the Smokey Mountains in early November and it would be nice to have drinkable, running water. We also are planning a trip to the Grand Canyon in March or April. April seems safe to dewinterize but March is probably iffy.
What would you with experience do?
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09-10-2020, 06:06 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Trailer: Bigfoot Silver Cloud -1988
Posts: 1,539
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With our Bigfoot, we winterize twice each year. The first time is after our last trip in October, but that timing is just because we take a camping break until late December. Then, we reverse the process on our way down to Texas in late December, choosing the overnight spot where temps look to stay above 32 the rest of the way. We winterize again on the way north in January and it stays that way until our first spring trip.
It takes several hours below 32 to freeze lines generally, so you just have to watch the weather forecast. You can travel with it still winterized and just carry water until you hit warmer locations.
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09-10-2020, 06:39 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Name: Steve
Trailer: 2018, 21ft escape— 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie
NW Wisconsin
Posts: 4,500
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We winterize in the first part of October but we live in Northern Wisconsin .
If we lived in southern Wisconsin then probably closer to Nov 1st
We still use our trailer after we winterize we just don’t use the onboard plumbing system
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09-10-2020, 10:53 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
The Mountains of North Carolina
Posts: 4,136
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Grand Canyon in March? Its still winter there, and you travel through some cold weather to get there too. Unless you get super lucky, I'd plan on winterizing.
Probably need to winterize on the way home from the Smokies too. I've winterized as many as four times during one winter as I traveled to Florida a couple of times, etc. When camping late in the season like that, I carry my winterization gear with me. Winterized in a campground in Jennings, FL one year. Not a big deal.
And if you don't want the hassle of winterizing, dewinterizing, and repeating the process, then just take jugs of water with you instead.
If going to Grand Canyon in March, I'd also head up to Zion NP. Weather is warmer there, great time of year for SW Utah.
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09-10-2020, 11:06 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Trailer: Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette
Posts: 1,279
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You can avoid using RV antifreeze by blowing out the lines with air.
Drain the fresh water tank and water heater first.
the small amount of water left in the lines will freeze but has room to expand, so it won't bust anything.
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09-10-2020, 12:22 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Name: Lisle
Trailer: 2018 Casita Spirit Deiuxe
Massachusetts
Posts: 181
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So if winterizing by draining and blowing water out of lines with an air compressor, I’ve heard you should put antifreeze into the traps for sinks. Will the toilet be OK without antifreeze? In my Casita it seems to just open directly into the black tank. Also, how to be sure all 3 tanks are empty (fresh, grey and black)? If there is a little water left in them will it do harm when it freezes? And what do you need to do to de-winterize? Can you just start using the sinks or need to flush out anti-freeze? One last question: is there antifreeze that is odorless? The stuff that came with the camper had a powerful mint smell that leached through the bottle and the plastic bag and permeated the cabinet under the sink. Took weeks for that odor to fully disappear after I removed it from the camper.
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09-10-2020, 12:35 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Name: Gordon
Trailer: 2015 Scamp (16 Std Layout 4) with '15 Toyota Sienna LE Tug
North Carolina
Posts: 5,155
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Collins
You can avoid using RV antifreeze by blowing out the lines with air...
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My concern is with the pumps, the internals of the pump, the filter, etc. I have never seen a satisfactory explanation of how blowing out the lines gets water put of a stopped pump. So I choose to not take that chance and spend $5. Once I see the pink stuff come out of every possible outlet* in the plumbing I know I'm good for another winter.
* except the water heater which only needs to be drained and can have a little water in the tank safely.
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09-10-2020, 12:38 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Trailer: Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette
Posts: 1,279
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisle
So if winterizing by draining and blowing water out of lines with an air compressor, I’ve heard you should put antifreeze into the traps for sinks. Will the toilet be OK without antifreeze? In my Casita it seems to just open directly into the black tank. Also, how to be sure all 3 tanks are empty (fresh, grey and black)? If there is a little water left in them will it do harm when it freezes? And what do you need to do to de-winterize? Can you just start using the sinks or need to flush out anti-freeze? One last question: is there antifreeze that is odorless? The stuff that came with the camper had a powerful mint smell that leached through the bottle and the plastic bag and permeated the cabinet under the sink. Took weeks for that odor to fully disappear after I removed it from the camper.
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The RV antifreeze you put in the toilet/shower/sink traps will just go to the holding tanks -black and grey - to help keep them liquid.
It's the fresh water tank and water heater and lines you may not want the antifreeze in. RV antifreeze (the pink stuff) is polypropylene, not toxic to humans.
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09-10-2020, 01:55 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: Escape 17 ft
Posts: 8,317
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Collins
RV antifreeze (the pink stuff) is polypropylene, not toxic to humans.
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And, used to make many foods, like ice cream.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
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09-10-2020, 02:54 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Name: bill
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
The Mountains of North Carolina
Posts: 4,136
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Actually its propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is very similar but hazardous. Poly propylene is a type of plastic.
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09-10-2020, 03:38 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Trailer: Escape 17 ft
Posts: 8,317
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thrifty bill
Actually its propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is very similar but hazardous. Poly propylene is a type of plastic.
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Correct and corrected, thank you Bill.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
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09-10-2020, 09:27 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Name: Jann
Trailer: Casita
Colorado
Posts: 1,307
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisle
So if winterizing by draining and blowing water out of lines with an air compressor, I’ve heard you should put antifreeze into the traps for sinks. Will the toilet be OK without antifreeze? In my Casita it seems to just open directly into the black tank. Also, how to be sure all 3 tanks are empty (fresh, grey and black)? If there is a little water left in them will it do harm when it freezes? And what do you need to do to de-winterize? Can you just start using the sinks or need to flush out anti-freeze? One last question: is there antifreeze that is odorless? The stuff that came with the camper had a powerful mint smell that leached through the bottle and the plastic bag and permeated the cabinet under the sink. Took weeks for that odor to fully disappear after I removed it from the camper.
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We winterize when it gets cold enough to freeze. Mint smell? Never have heard of anti-freeze smelling minty. Yes you must clean lines when you de-winterize. You don't want to drink or use water from the lines with anti-freeze in them. The toilet valve needs anti-freeze in it. Some people blow out their lines but I had a line freeze once doing that. Wasn't a happy camper the next spring. Water can lay in the lines in low places.
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09-10-2020, 09:33 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Trailer: Escape 17 ft
Posts: 8,317
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jann Todd
You don't want to drink or use water from the lines with anti-freeze in them.
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Depends. If you take sugar in your coffee, you'll probably not notice or like it even better. Tastes sweet. Same stuff is in your ice cream and many other food products.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
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09-10-2020, 09:38 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Name: Jann
Trailer: Casita
Colorado
Posts: 1,307
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo
Depends. If you take sugar in your coffee, you'll probably not notice or like it even better. Tastes sweet. Same stuff is in your ice cream and many other food products.
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No to us the anti-freeze is foul tasting and you should not drink it.
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09-10-2020, 09:41 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Trailer: Escape 17 ft
Posts: 8,317
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jann Todd
No to us the anti-freeze is foul tasting and you should not drink it.
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Do you eat ice cream? Is sugar foul tasting to you?
CH3CH(OH)CH2OH. It is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste.
It is produced on a large scale primarily for the production of polymers. In the European Union, it has the E-number E1520 for food applications. For cosmetics and pharmacology, the number is E490. Propylene glycol is also present in propylene glycol alginate, which is known as E405. Propylene glycol is a compound which is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under 21 CFR x184.1666 and is also approved by FDA for certain uses as an indirect food additive. Propylene glycol is approved and used as a vehicle for topical, oral and some intravenous pharmaceutical preparations in U.S. and in Europe.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
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09-10-2020, 10:06 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Name: Jann
Trailer: Casita
Colorado
Posts: 1,307
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo
Do you eat ice cream? Is sugar foul tasting to you?
CH3CH(OH)CH2OH. It is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste.
It is produced on a large scale primarily for the production of polymers. In the European Union, it has the E-number E1520 for food applications. For cosmetics and pharmacology, the number is E490. Propylene glycol is also present in propylene glycol alginate, which is known as E405. Propylene glycol is a compound which is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under 21 CFR x184.1666 and is also approved by FDA for certain uses as an indirect food additive. Propylene glycol is approved and used as a vehicle for topical, oral and some intravenous pharmaceutical preparations in U.S. and in Europe.
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The anti-freeze is not sugar and it says not to drink it. I have tasted the water when just running it through the lines and it does not taste good until I bleach them. No matter what is in food I still do not like the taste of the anti-freeze. I avoid food if at all possible with any junk in it.
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09-10-2020, 10:21 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Trailer: Escape 17 ft
Posts: 8,317
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jann Todd
I have tasted the water when just running it through the lines and it does not taste good until I bleach them.
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You must be kidding.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
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09-11-2020, 07:35 AM
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#18
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Senior Member
Name: Steve
Trailer: 2018, 21ft escape— 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie
NW Wisconsin
Posts: 4,500
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There are a lot of food , drinks and substances that I don’t like the taste of but that doesn’t make them harmful
I worked at a plant that produced vegetable oils for human consumption and base stocks for use in RV anti freeze as well as food and neither were considered hazardous or toxic .
If you can taste trace amounts of RV anti freeze, then the list of foods you consume must be rather limited
Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey just doesn’t taste right after they removed the RV antifreeze IMHO
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09-16-2020, 10:48 AM
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#19
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Senior Member
Name: Stephen
Trailer: Casita
Tennessee
Posts: 220
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Winterizing should be rightly called decommissioning which takes your trailer out of service making it unusable for a significant portion of the year, which takes time, money and effort, both on the way in and on the way out. My goal is 4 season operation to eliminate all of the above and make the unit available 12m/y, 24/7.
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09-17-2020, 08:40 AM
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#20
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Junior Member
Name: James
Trailer: 1976 Boler Voyager 13'
Ontario
Posts: 29
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RV Antifreeze.
G'day. Rv Antifreeze--Generally regarded as safe--by who? The manufacturer who wants to sell the product? The FDA which is considered to be corrupt in some circles? All GRAS really means is that it has never been independently double-blind placebo tested for true safety so we really don't know. Not a lot different than glyphosate from Monsanto (now owned by Bayer of IG Farben Auschwitz infamy) who would have you believe it is also safe. Jann Todd has the right idea in my mind--avoid where possible.
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