Don't Forget to Winterize Your RV

Every spring at the dealership we get a lot of people looking for faucets, toilet valves, fittings and water heaters. This is due to improperly or not winterizing their motor homes, trailers or campers. Replacing a water heater can be quite expensive. We hear all the time "I drained out all the water" and still they face freeze up damage. Their are basically two methods of RV winterizing: blow out the lines with compressed air or run RV Antifreeze through the lines. The first step is to ensure the black, grey and fresh water tanks are drained. Then you will need to by-pass the water heater and drain the tank. A water heater by-pass kit is a standard feature on most RV's these days, but a male/male 1/2" connector works as well. With the blow out method you would now connect compressed air to the city water inlet with a compressed air adapter. Next you would turn on each faucet one at a time to allow the air to force the water out of the lines. Don't forget the outside shower. The toilet should have the water forced out as well. Now you should pour a couple of ounces of RV Antifreeze down each drain to prevent the traps from freezing. To Winterize with RV Antifreeze you would still drain tanks, by-pass water heater and drain it. You would then look for the water pump, identify the inlet side, disconnect and attach a length of line that can reach a gallon of RV Antifreeze. Next you would turn on the water pump and pump the pink liquid through each faucet, the toilet and showers. To prevent freezing of the check valve, it is wise to depress it with a pencil at the city water outlet. It is very inexpensive to have you unit professionally winterized, we charge $29.95 for units that take 1 gallon of anti-freeze and have a water heater by-pass. To contact Hub City RV to book your appointment click here http://www.hubcityrv.ca/contact_us.asp