How We Winterize the RV without Anti-Freeze

Winter is coming and many RV owners are getting ready to winterize their RV. In this video we share how we winterize our RV without using antifreeze. Winter camping video: • WINTER CAMPING AT -12F...
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[@h2osmokey]

Best winterizing is to drive e to Arizona for the winter.

[@CraigNiesenPhotography]

We use the compressed air method and only run antifreeze through the lines when temps are forecasted to be freezing or lower for a week or more. I was told by an RV tech that when using compressed air to, use a regulator set to the recommended PSI for your water system by the manufacturer. Great video, as always. Thank you for sharing. Peace and Safe Travels.

[@3jhe]

Great video, Kait and Joe! I have an Airstream Basecamp 20X and I live in Northern Utah, where the winters are very cold. I use the compressed air method, diligently blowing each line carefully and repeatedly. Then I pour a bit of antifreeze down the sink drain/ P trap and the toilet, but not in the fresh water system. The compressed air method does require attention to critical details. Watching lots of KZbin videos helped me know how to do it correctly. I think it's worth learning how to use the compressed air method correctly.

[@Weretherussos]

Very true

[@j.patrickmoore9137]

We're a bit different, it's a park model RV we own with partners, and it does get some winter use. We turn the heat to 50 degrees and put a couple of "glugs" (my wife's word 😂) down the sinks and toilet. We leave cabinets open to allow warm air around the plumbing. Our biggest problem was someone going up last winter and leaving the heat at 68 degrees, we used about $500 extra propane because of that. Shared ownership has benefits but that's one time it was a burden, although it was only $125 for us.

[@vi5451]

People definitely need to know their setups pretty thoroughly. Some rigs have weird nooks and crannies in their plumbing system. My Dometic toilet (hooked up to a black tank, not a portable) has to be flushed with antifreeze; using air alone leaves water in a valve that WILL break when it freezes. Every spring, the RV forum I’m on gets a dozen of more posts from folks who tried the compressor-only method, usually in places with harsh winters, but even in warmer climates where the temps barely dip to freezing. And replacing that valve requires pulling the toilet. No thanks! Antifreeze is cheap (get the stuff without alcohol), and it’s quick if you have a bypass valve on your pump or something like a Nautilus system with siphon function. Drain the system, pump in the pink stuff, done and no worries. It’s much more of a nuisance to clear in the spring, obviously, but since the system should be sanitized at the start of camping season anyway, I’d much rather deal with that than a plumbing repair.

[@kenmcclow8963]

Last winter I just opened the drains. It doesn’t freeze much in the Seattle area, but I’m in the foothills so there is usually one or two weeks where it will be below freezing at night and I learned about that little filter in front of the water pump because that’s what cracked. It is a little pain to get to because the water tank and pump are under the bed and covered with insulation. This year I hope to winterize it with being in Arizona and California during the cold parts

[@MikeyV89]

My grandparents dump vodka down their water lines to mix with the water

[@davidfromtexas9681]

Maybe you mentioned it but I thought I would reiterate it anyway. If your going to use an air compressor don't be a jerk and put the PSI on like 120 like your trying to power a impact wrench. 40 to 50 PSI is the max for PEX so keep that in mind. Our current van uses Jerry Cans for fresh and grey and we have a dry flush toilet. Winterizing is about as easy as it gets.

[@Weretherussos]

👍

[@danleonard3600]

Another thing I don’t know if you mentioned, always leave the fresh tank drain open. I forgot this once and water accumulated at the valve and blew out the line. I was able to fix it in the spring but lesson learned.

[@ceciliapetrowsky2572]

We leave it open when bringing it to storage so all the water drains out when going down the road then we close it upon arrival. We’re not going to have creepy crawleys entering our water tank.

[@danleonard3600]

@@ceciliapetrowsky2572 not a problem if you properly sanitize and then flush the tank in the spring.

[@ronsrvandhomelife1219]

I do the same thing for winterizing my rig. Since I live in Florida, I don’t have to do it that often. But I have a battery operated air pump that will maintain a predetermined pressure. So I leave the air pump on and then I go in the rig and just open up all the faucets One at a time. So once it builds up to 35 pounds the air pump will automatically shut off until the pressure goes down then turns back on. Safe travels :-)

[@Weretherussos]

Cool setup

[@JAKSAMcNabb]

I do the same thing, but learned the hard way that you need to get some antifreeze in the water pump internals, the P-traps, and the tanks, which have residual water in them.

[@f3verMonkey]

Yep, I made sure to pour 12 ounces of rv antifreeze down the shower drain and I poured about 40 ounces down the sink and distributed it into the macerater pump. This is on my 2024 Revel. It won’t siphon which I don’t want to do with antifreeze but traveling through Mexico I may need to siphon water into fresh water tank and need to figure out why my Revel won’t siphon. It is a known problem with Revels. I am thinking I simply need to prime the water pump by hooking up a hose to the city intake and running water to all the faucets. Once I do that when I am in warm weather - not now - I think siphon capability will work.

[@danleonard3600]

I’ve always used compressed air to blow out the water in the system and then use antifreeze to winterize. It seems like no matter how much air you use you never quite get Al the water out. Maybe overkill but much better than frozen water lines. I also crank my regulator down to 40 psi on the compressor.

[@Weretherussos]

The thing is that bits of water here and there freezing up are fine as long as the line isn’t full (frozen water needs room to expand) and you’ve drained the water pump as frozen water inside can damage the pump.

[@highball7347]

That’s definitely overkill. If you are going to use antifreeze anyway, it’s a waste of time to blow water out to begin with. Makes zero sense to do that. Also, tiny water droplets left over are not going to swell to the size of an orange and bust your line.

[@michelpaulcote156]

We live in northern Quebec, Canada, and keep our motorhome stored outside for about 4 months in -20 to -30°f at night. We always use compressed air to empty the lines, then plumbing antifreeze to fill up the lines, then again compressed air to empty everything. No matter how careful you are, there is always some residual liquid that ends up somewhere. The residual being antifreeze, the is no risk. And we don't end up with the taste of the antifreeze for weeks. Finally, leave open all drains (fresh water tank, lowest drain valve, some water heaters). Love your videos.👍

[@mikemorris8497]

That’s how we have been doing it for 30 years. Blow it out then fill lines with antifreeze then blow it out again. We never had any problems. It works, but I agree about the residual taste in the lines. Flush a lot in Spring that’s all.

[@jrmason]

Hi Joe, I do the air blow out and then just put enough antifreeze in the lines to keep any low spots from freezing. Springtime comes and I just run the water into the system for about 15 minutes and the hot water maybe a bit more. The previous owner of our RV just used air and when I bought it I had to replace "P" traps and the water heater had a split in the bottom of the tank. Over the past 20 years of ownership I have had little issue with any of it. Now enter in the new problem though. My old grey plastic lines and fittings are starting to leak a bit due to age. They aren't available so I'm probably going to have to replace all of it with the PEX stuff. A good weekend project. Take care! -Jon ( I met you and Kait in Brattleboro VT)

[@Weretherussos]

Yeah that will happen. Good luck with swapping out the lines

[@Rjhaack]

I do not own an RV yet but I like learning what I can and I appreciate those videos that help me learn this kind of thing. I do agree that I would not want to use anti-freeze in my fresh water tank. That just sounds like a bad idea to me and I sure don't want my water to taste funny and I don't want to use a lot of water to fully flush it out.

[@Weretherussos]

Glad to help

[@shekharmoona544]

My Dad told me to do exactly this on our Airstream and I doubted him. Here I am watching this same process. 😂😂😂

[@n2cycles]

I’m sure others mentioned this but I put a regulator between the air valve and the camper. The system is usually capable of up to 60psi but I tend to use about 30psi so I won’t harm the water lines. Most newer rvs have a suction hose near the pump to allow the water pump to suck water out of a jug and pump it through the system.

[@ceciliapetrowsky2572]

Didn’t you mean to say you pump antifreeze out of the jug, not water?

[@horizon42q]

Winterizing with air is a good idea except, Aquahot doesn’t recommend winterizing with air. It may damage the Aquahot system. ($20,000 unit to replace) So you need to go back to the old fashion antifreeze way for most newer diesel class A motorhomes that have the Aquahot systems. Also, you cannnot winterize a dishwasher and washing machine using air only. I guess you can chance it with residential fridge but I doubt air only would work. It takes about 5-10 minutes to get all the antifreeze out. We do it in Virginia on our way to Florida in January. Take our first shower on the way to the Panhandle.

[@kjones2008]

I’m with ya’ll. When we bought our RV, I couldn’t get over how nasty the water was, and how many changes it took to clear. (Even contacted the manufacturer.) We finally concluded it was antifreeze. Ick!

[@f3verMonkey]

This is great, Joe. I park my Revel under cover plugged into 30 amp shore power with heater on 52 degrees BUT I do winterize in case we get a true hard freeze. I do not like pumping fluid into the water lines even though I don't drink from my Revel water supply.

[@Weretherussos]

That’s a great thing because you never know what might happen with the cold

[@Chevy-hw6lw]

We do it the easies method, blow out lines, then antifreeze in p traps. I'm careful to get the pump free of air. If there is no air in the lines, then antifreeze is just not necessary. Can't believe how many people think they need to do that. And, I live in northern MN. Done this 8 seasons, never a problem.

[@tedwilliams1000]

Joe. I have a regulator dialed to 50psi when I do this. Otherwise you could damage something. Our viair is capable of a lot of pressure.

[@Weretherussos]

I’ve never used one because I’m not pressurizing the line since the valve is open and I just give it quick spurts of air

[@813todd]

A pressure regulator is important if you’re coming off of a heavy psi air tank, and anything restricts the line.

[@dfrost7934]

Our van was winterized when we picked it up. We have not been able to get the taste out of the system, even after many flushes. So we have to bring refillable bottles of water for drinking and cooking.

[@Weretherussos]

Yeah it takes a while to get rid of it. One suggestion is to put a tiny bit of bleach on the water tank and run that through the system which will also sanitize it

[@Van_Liberty]

Thanks very much for the RV winter kit. Will do air purging this season in my Embassy RV…

[@Weretherussos]

Good luck!

[@jimandvalstravelchannel]

Same process I do on our outdoor kitchen on our patio. Just di it this evening. All good information.

[@Weretherussos]

Good stuff!

[@philiptarnaski1667]

In the part of North Carolina we live not many days of temps below 32F we just turn the heat on overnight and don’t winterize Thanks for the info and Safe Travels 👍

[@Weretherussos]

Yep that works well!

[@pctwhereschris5318]

Since our Jeep onboard air compressor doesn't have a pressure regulator, we ended up using our bicycle pump that delivered pressure capable of blowing the water out of the lines.

[@bruceturner2629]

I leave a 400W heater in the our Mode LT to control humidity as well as freezing after draining the low points, but use no anti freeze. I've heard you can also use a gallon or two of cheap wine instead which should lower the freezing point by about 10 degrees.

[@ricksmith6537]

Works really good especially if u have washer n ice maker 👍😊

[@ronhowes7948]

I just drive my motorhome to Florida. 😊

[@Weretherussos]

Good choice!

[@jaycast1386]

Great idea I never thought about it 😊

[@Rick-x8h]

In my motorhome I run 3 gallons of antifreeze through the pump into sinks shower and toilet, blow them out with a 3 gallon pancake compressor then dump 1 gallon down all drains for pee traps. Dewinterizing I use a couple cups of bleach into my 40 gallon fresh tank and let it set overnight them pump it through everything, then I repeat twice filling the fresh and pumping through everything. Works very well and all is good.

[@Weretherussos]

Sounds like a great solution.

[@billybeat]

Thanks. I have a LT like yours, so this demo fits me perfectly.

[@ScubaSteveCanada]

I use both methods and pour some RV anti-freeze into all drains and the toilet bowl ... except if I do a long snow bird trip.

[@kenarabrewer5828]

Excellent information. I like the compressed air method over the RV Anti-freeze method.

[@Weretherussos]

Thanks! Hope y’all are doing well and still traveling!

[@TonyPhillips-jy7ev]

Great video thx

[@Weretherussos]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@wendywolfe8684]

Great instructions! Easy to follow! Thanks 😊

[@OverlandCitrus]

Great vid lots of info very informative I always use air on all my boats & Rvs over the years, But I also put a little antifreeze as a back up. But now living in FL I try not to travel were its cold LOL

[@Weretherussos]

Hey following the weather is the best form of winterizing

[@Bozegirl]

In Oregon, there aren't many days below freezing. Do you think just turning the heater on to 50F will work (also plug in the shore power)?

[@Weretherussos]

If all of your lines are inside the RV, then that should work. If it’s only below freezing at night and above during the day - it may not even freeze at all so running the furnace should be fine. If it stays below freezing all day for a sustained number of days, you may want to consider winterizing

[@Bozegirl]

@@Weretherussos Thank you! I have the same STO LT as yours - are all lines inside the RV?

[@Brigand231]

We don't Winterize at all. Then again, we don't have any plumbing in our van, just a water jug and a shower bag.

[@bonniepwtf]

Helpful

[@Weretherussos]

Glad you think so!

[@DayZeroFWD]

Joe - On your Mode LT, would you also open the two low point drain valves underneath the sink? As well, are all the low point valves "open" when you're pushing air through the system? Thanks for the input, from a new Mode owner.

[@Weretherussos]

I did not open the one under the sink but would suggest you do. I leave the low point valve by the shower open and blow out the water there until there’s no more then I close that and blow out the fixtures (you can’t blow them out if the low point is open). Then I open everything up again when I’m done and drive around so any excess can drip out.

[@ozzywon]

How would you get to those under sink valves? Removing the drawers? (Fellow LT owner)

[@billybeat]

Questions from a fellow LT owner: Do I need to winterize at all? I live in this thing and love it. I'm embarking soon on my first real winter trip. If the van is occupied and heated, am I okay down to the ungodly temps that Storyteller touts? Do you know how the lines are routed from the tank?

[@Weretherussos]

That depends on how cold it’s getting and what you’re comfortable with. The water lines are run from the tank, which is in the cabinet on the rear drivers side to the shower and water heater. The line for the sink runs under the metal partition on the floor between the galley and garage area. If you’re keeping the temp inside warm then that will help keep things from freezing. The only thing that’s going to freeze is the grey tank since that’s outside of the interior. I believe there are lines that run from the engine back to help warm the grey tank but you’d have to be driving for it. That said, it all depends on how cold you’re going. Winterizing is a good insurance policy to guard against anything freezing unexpectedly.

[@billybeat]

@@Weretherussos Thanks for the detailed explanation

[@murryadventures7191]

During the process you say to drain all the water. I do that on my Storyteller by opening all the low-point drains. You say after draining water out of the water heater to then close that particular low-point drain. When all draining is done you don't say to close all low-point valves. And at the very end you say to reopen all the low-point valves. Should all low-point valves be closed before blowing out the system?

[@Weretherussos]

When blowing out the lines, close all low points and open the valves on the sink, shower etc one at a time.

[@murryadventures7191]

@@Weretherussos Thanks!

[@davidding6739]

Which ViAir model did you use? Did you also use a winterizing kit?

[@Weretherussos]

Links to what I used are in the description

[@chrisnguyen2935]

Hey guys. I noticed the mat on the counter top and the sink. Where did you get that? Same material for the floor mats at Canyon Adventure Van?

[@Weretherussos]

We got it directly through inHabit but Canyon is a dealer for them.

[@ozzywon]

Getting ready to do this to my LT and realized you didn’t do anything with the rear shower. Is it not necessary? Or did you just skip it.

[@Weretherussos]

I mentioned it in the video saying that you have to go to each outlet and flush it. I always save the rear shower for last

[@cfc247]

are those the bi-xenons on your Transit? if yes, how did you install it without getting errors?

[@Weretherussos]

They are not

[@pher71]

Does that fitting you put in the water fill to blow out come with that compressor if not where do you get it?

[@Weretherussos]

Some compressor kits might include it. If not, you can get a separate blowout kit amzn.to/45NWgGA

[@pher71]

Im going to be getting a storyteller stealth mode just a little confused on last part do you blow out with the sink valve open only, or do you have to open every valve separately and blow out?

[@Weretherussos]

Every valve

[@llang8022]

Did STO drop the Mode LT from their 2024 lineup?

[@Weretherussos]

Yes they did in large part due to supply issues from Ford

[@bjtravelersRV]

👍👍👍👍

[@Robertmillsjr]

Grain alcohol is an antifreeze and you could drink it afterwards. Win win. 😂

[@Weretherussos]

Might take a while to de-winterize the lines a shot at a time

[@LtDan-ov6bf]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ajpresbitero7752]

Hey there man, I really appreciate your videos and I'm amazed with your contents. You're giving knowledge about your reviews and entertains me about your travelling experiences. By the way, do you have business email or should I just shoot you a DM ?