Should fresh water tank drain completely?

[margeleept]

Thanks, Jann, very thorough and I'm sure will be helpful!

[EricAllyn]

Another option would be to put a bunch of Vodka in the tanks so they don't freeze -- and then the water in the spring would still be drinkable

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

Don't put antifreeze in the fresh water tank or the hot water tank. You'll never get the taste or smell out without much difficulty. If you don't have one put a bypass on the hot water tank. We unhook the water line going into the pump and hook a tube with proper fitting to the pump and pump antifreeze into the water lines and toilet through the water pump. You may have a bypass on your hot water heater. Sometimes it is only one valve and it is positioned so that it can't be seen. We had a hard time finding ours. If you don't have a bypass you'll need one to keep from filling the hot water tank with antifreeze so you can pump antifreeze through the rest of the lines. We have a larger RV and a Casita. It took us about 30 minutes to do both.

Are you using RV antifreeze?
I have never seen the problem of taste or smell after a proper rinse.

[Mike_L]

I never put RV antifreeze in my fresh water holding tank. It isn't poison but it does have an odor and a taste that is difficult to get rid of next season.
I open the drain valve on the final trip home for the season and the movement of the trailer ensures the holding tank is sufficiently empty.
A small amount of water in the bottom of the tank isn't a concern if it freezes as there will be sufficient room for expansion.
The concern is water lines and the pump which could split if water freezes in them.
I cut the discharge line from the fresh water holding tank and installed a ball valve and a "T" fitting in this line. Then I attached about four inches of clearing tubing to the "T" fitting, another ball valve and finally, about four feet of clear tubing.
Closing the ball valve on the "T" fitting line and opening the ball valve on the fresh water tank discharge line allows me to pump water from my fresh water holding tank.
Closing the valve on the discharge line and opening the valve on the "T" fitting allows me to pump water from a jug without putting it into my fresh water holding tank, a good option when boondocking.
I also use this line to draw RV antifreeze through my lines, pump, facets etc. when I winterize my unit.
Minimal amount of RV antifreeze required and no RV antifreeze in my holding tank to flush out next season.
Don't forget to drain your hot water tank!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

I never put RV antifreeze in my fresh water holding tank. It isn't poison but it does have an odor and a taste that is difficult to get rid of next season.
I open the drain valve on the final trip home for the season and the movement of the trailer ensures the holding tank is sufficiently empty.
A small amount of water in the bottom of the tank isn't a concern if it freezes as there will be sufficient room for expansion.
The concern is water lines and the pump which could split if water freezes in them.
I cut the discharge line from the fresh water holding tank and installed a ball valve and a "T" fitting in this line. Then I attached about four inches of clearing tubing to the "T" fitting, another ball valve and finally, about four feet of clear tubing.
Closing the ball valve on the "T" fitting line and opening the ball valve on the fresh water tank discharge line allows me to pump water from my fresh water holding tank.
Closing the valve on the discharge line and opening the valve on the "T" fitting allows me to pump water from a jug without putting it into my fresh water holding tank, a good option when boondocking.
I also use this line to draw RV antifreeze through my lines, pump, facets etc. when I winterize my unit.
Minimal amount of RV antifreeze required and no RV antifreeze in my holding tank to flush out next season.
Don't forget to drain your hot water tank!

Using the fresh water tank to winterize leaves no more odor or taste in the system than what you describe.
There is of course a drain on the fresh water tank so you could flush (fill with water and drain) the tank immediately after winterizing with the simple turn of the provided valve. You would still have to flush the system in the spring with exactly the same amount of antifreeze to flush as with your approach.

[Mike_L]

Flushing the lines/pump involves pumping fresh water through them to push out the antifreeze, agreed.
It is almost impossible to completely drain the fresh water storage tank so some residual antifreeze will remain. This residue will mix with the water you use to flush the tank. Then you drain the tank again but some of the water/antifreeze mixture still remains so you flush again several times. You are, in effect, diluting the residual antifreeze to an "acceptable" level.
If you avoid putting antifreeze in the fresh water holding tank there isn't any antifreeze there to dilute/flush out. Then you need only to rinse once with chlorinated water from a municipal supply and you are good to go.

[k0wtz]

if you drain the tank blow some air though the water faucet, leave the drain open you will have no problems.

bob

[margeleept]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! We've decided to add the bypass kit next to the pump and avoid having to put antifreeze in the FW tank. Don't want to have to mess with flushing it out, and this kit looks very easy to deal with.

[Mike_L]

It worked for me, about $10 at Home Depot.