Winter

[bikegolfgirl]

So being new to the RV world, I have read that you have to winterize your RV but is that only if you are going to store it? Can you use an RV for example this winter when the temps have stayed warm? Or does everyone in the Northeast take their RVs off the road until spring. Sounds like a dumb question I know. Currently I have my RV at camping world to be winterized but I thought wow I could of used it for another couple of months with this weather.

Thoughts? Help?

[JamieGeek]

You can use your RV all through winter. As long as you keep it heated (e.g. use the furnace and/or any tank heaters if installed). One time my brother had to wait for the campground to shovel the snow out from the campsite before he parked.

You will go through a lot of propane on those really cold days, though.

Winterization is primarily used when you put it away in storage for the winter.

Last year I had winterized ours for a couple of months, unzinterized it for a trip to FL and then re-winterized it when I put it back into storage.

[bikegolfgirl]

So if you dont winterize it how do you make sure nothing freezes? And what is involved with unwinterizing it ? I am so new to this I wanted the dealer to do this the first time.

[EA37TS]

If I know that I will be using the RV during the winter months I will "dry winterize" until the temps drop below about 15 degrees. I basically drain the tanks, remove my whole house water filter and blow the lines out with air. Nighttime temps here have already dropped into the low 20s and my coach is currently dry winterized. It only takes me about 30 minutes to dry winterize and I don't mind doing it two or three times a year.

Since I am hitting the road later this week it will get de-winterized on Wednesday and depending on the night time temps I may set the furnace at a low temp to keep the water lines warm overnight.

When I know I have made my last trip of the year, normally the end of January, then I will winterize with antifreeze. I have found over the past three or four years that the only month that I have not travelled is February. Historically February is also the month we see below zero temps at night.

[JamieGeek]

You make sure nothing freezes by either leaving the furnace running or by putting some sort of heater in the unit.

If you plan to leave the unit in storage for any length of time I'd winterize and then unwinterize it.

Unwinterizing it is just flushing all the pink stuff out of the system with water, putting the water heater plug in (if its been left out), and setting up the bypass valves for normal operation. When unwinterizing in the spring many people also sanitize the system (basically run chlorine through it and letting it sit for an hour or two then flushing).

What you do depends on your comfort level with your skills with winterizing, how much you want to use it over winter, and how much propane and/or electricity you want to use.

I think you'd want to start out with a plan on how often you want to use the camper. Then you can figure out what needs to be done (e.g. "Since we'll be camping both weekends here, for that week in between we'll leave it plugged in with a small ceramic heater running in it. After the 2nd weekend we'll winterize it for a month...." etc.).

I can usually winterize our unit with the pink stuff in about 20 minutes (but we have a smaller unit with the Axis which only takes about 1.5 gallons to get it winterized).

Sadly, in our case its parked, winterized, and covered from Oct through March (sometimes April).

[Yosemitebob]

If your new to RV'ing, know that what these guys are saying when they mentioned Anti-freeze, it is not the type for the radiator, this is for the potable water system. I have to say this because I told someone that years ago and they thought I was talking the antifreeze for the automotive radiator. It's funny now but not then.

[bikegolfgirl]

Sounds too complicated for a newbie to accomplish

[EA37TS]

One of the dealers in my area offers free seminars for RV owners. One of the seminars they offer every year is winterization. There may be a dealer in your area doing the same.

Also, there are numerous videos on the web that explain the winterization process. Here is one done by Mike Wendland who does quite a few motor home tech articles and videos for FMCA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KclDkjfnak

[JamieGeek]

Wow! Mike Wendland was the local tech guy on TV here in SE Michigan for years!

[pstandiford]

My better half insists that if getting ready for winter is called winterizing the getting ready for summer should be called summerizing.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Wow! Mike Wendland was the local tech guy on TV here in SE Michigan for years!

He has a regular column in Family Motor Coaching Magazine called "Open Mike". His articles are interesting reads. He did one in August titled "Moving On after Thieves Move In" The article was about how their motorhome was burglarized in a shopping center parking lot in a manner of 7 minutes and they lost 12K worth of AV equipment. That article put a new perspective on RV security.

[Yosemitebob]

Originally Posted by dstankov

He has a regular column in Family Motor Coaching Magazine called "Open Mike". His articles are interesting reads. He did one in August titled "Moving On after Thieves Move In" The article was about how their motorhome was burglarized in a shopping center parking lot in a manner of 7 minutes and they lost 12K worth of AV equipment. That article put a new perspective on RV security.

Dave:
That would be an excellent topic for a new thread "Security in the RV"

[JamieGeek]

Wow this is an interesting article of his:
Details on the Travel Trailer we'll tow with our Roadtrek
Pulling a small travel trailer behind his Roadtrek (also note that he uses the Roadtrek as their 2nd vehicle; mentioned here another use for our Roadtrek).

I have thought about that with the Axis: It is almost small enough to use for trips I wouldn't normally consider using an RV for (trips across town to relatives, drives to distant sporting events for the day, etc.). I think the thing that prevents me from doing so is the height: The Axis (and Vegas) are standard 12' "RV height" and thus wouldn't fit in many parking garages (whereas his Roadtrek isn't that tall).

In his example you'd pull a trailer for sleeping and use the Axis/Vegas for touring...hadn't thought about that at all (but it is possible: the Axis/Vegas could easily pull the trailer he talks about).

Ooh sorry for taking this topic on a hard left..LOL

Here is his article/blog/podcast about being robbed: http://roadtreking.com/rt36-roadtrek...en-ripped-off/

[bikegolfgirl]

Thanks everyone for the point in the right direction