Winterize water line to ice maker

ewacowboy · 11-19-2016, 02:54 PM

It's time to winterize our new 38RSSA. We have the Dometic RV refrigerator and it has the ice maker built in which is new to us. I have blown all the coach lines out with air but am unsure what to do with the refrigerator water line. Owner's manual says to 1 - disconnect the water lines from the inlet and outlet sides of the water valve. Drain the lines in a cup and allow the lines to dry.
2 - The ice maker and water reservoir should be drained and dried. Note that this procedure must be performed by a qualified service technician.

I assume this means to disconnect the small water line at the manifold and the refrigerator compartment. Not sure what else needs to be done....any experiences?

brianh442 · 11-19-2016, 09:26 PM

Funny, I went thru the same thought process. I started out draining all the water lines and hooked up my oil less air compressor and blew out the lines. Then I received an e-mail from Thor about winterizing. I watched the video and read the whole instruction sheet attached with the YouTube video. So I decided to investigate that ice maker. For me, I have a Miramar 33.5, I would have to remove the mounting screws and take the refer out completely to access the water line in the back and the diaphram.

Seemed like a lot of work, not to mention needing two people to move the fridge! I went to the hardware store and purchased 4 jugs of rv anti freeze, switched the selector to winterize, turned on the water pump and the ice maker. To my surprise there was 7 or 8 clear ice cubes made, before they started running pink. I'm assuming that was water trapped in the line between the ice maker and the diaphram. I'm so glad I decided to run that ice maker and flush it out until pink stuff came through.

With my luck, first freeze and the diaphram would have froze and broke!! I've attached the link to Thor's web page for the winterizatin, it was a great help.

https://thormotorcoach.com/blog/winterizing-an-rv/

Hope this helps!!

missourijan · 11-19-2016, 10:45 PM

We tried to insulate the water line from the outside with no luck. After it froze and cracked we replaced it then added a connector so that you can disconnect the line and drain it (this may not help the icemaker itself).

Miramar Owner · 11-20-2016, 03:47 AM

I have a Miramar 34.4 with the residential refrigerator. After draining all the water from low point valves using the water pump, I turned off the pump and hooked up the air tank (set to 45 psi) and pressurized the lines. I first opened the plug on the hot water heater and after it was fully purged I turned the valve to bypass. Then I opened each faucet, one at a time until nothing but air came out, including the toilet.

Lastly was the ice maker. I had it turned off up to this point. Now I turned it on by lowering the wire to the make ice position and let it run for several hours. It cycled through 3 or 4 times with each time making less and smaller cubes. The last cycle it made 1 tiny cube. I let it run through another cycle (about 90 minutes) until I heard the valve open and close with no more ice being made.

I then shut off the ice maker and opened each faucet one last time, individually, to make sure they were dry, then shut off the air pump. I left each faucet open a half turn to not place pressure on the valve seats while in storage and poured 2 gallons of RV antifreeze split between all the drains and the toilet.

I also must mention I bypassed the water filter and removed the filter before beginning with the air pressure on the water lines and removed the small filter to the water pump when I was done. I left both of those off for the winter.

I hope this helps.

**EA37TS** · 11-20-2016, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miramar Owner

I have a Miramar 34.4 with the residential refrigerator. After draining all the water from low point valves using the water pump, I turned off the pump and hooked up the air tank (set to 45 psi) and pressurized the lines. I first opened the plug on the hot water heater and after it was fully purged I turned the valve to bypass. Then I opened each faucet, one at a time until nothing but air came out, including the toilet.

Lastly was the ice maker. I had it turned off up to this point. Now I turned it on by lowering the wire to the make ice position and let it run for several hours. It cycled through 3 or 4 times with each time making less and smaller cubes. The last cycle it made 1 tiny cube. I let it run through another cycle (about 90 minutes) until I heard the valve open and close with no more ice being made.

I then shut off the ice maker and opened each faucet one last time, individually, to make sure they were dry, then shut off the air pump. I left each faucet open a half turn to not place pressure on the valve seats while in storage and poured 2 gallons of RV antifreeze split between all the drains and the toilet.

I also must mention I bypassed the water filter and removed the filter before beginning with the air pressure on the water lines and removed the small filter to the water pump when I was done. I left both of those off for the winter.

I hope this helps.

I used the same procedure on my Challenger. We will use the coach over the winter for a couple of trips but during those the ice maker will remain closed so it need not be winterized again. When I do the wet winterization with anti-freeze I will turn the ice maker on and then flush the anti freeze out in the spring.

Miramar Owner · 11-20-2016, 01:53 PM

I used to use the wet method on my old motorhome but when I purchased the new one I also bought an air compressor that allows me to set the outgoing air pressure. As you know it makes it much easier to start up again because there is nothing to flush out.

Like you, if I choose to use it again this winter all I have to do is fill the tank, reinstall the filters (leaving the ice make off) and shut off the drain from the water heater and I'm ready to go. All of which is kept warm while the furnace is running. Quick and easy!

mustang94 · 11-20-2016, 02:35 PM

This is all good and all but what if you use your MH through out the winter? We go out in ours just about every week end. This new years we will use it for 10 days straight. I think keeping the inside nice toasty and warm and over night when its below freezing maybe leave a out side faucet on very low. This year I am even going to put a 40 watt light bulb and leave it on over night in the bay area.

mustang94 · 11-20-2016, 03:14 PM

Hmmm.... just a few things I am looking at....
30 ft. Automatic Electric Heat Cable Kit-HC30A - The Home Depot not sure how hard it would be to wrap a few pipes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/EasyHeat-16...-Cable/3115517 Maybe something like this and just run it all over the basement near and around any water lines or tanks.

https://www.rvwholesalers.com/parts/...ml8RoCtazw_wcB perfect for your fresh water holding tanks.

Just a few ideas here that don't cost to much and I think would do the trick, oh and wrapping your outside water hose is another good idea.

mustang94 · 11-20-2016, 04:20 PM

Last night I put a temperature sensor out in the fresh water bay and left the main one inside MH on kitchen counter. Over all Temp out side was 31 and I set the propane heater to come on at 40 inside. So as you can see the inside Low was 35 and high was 50, the outside low was 44 with a high of 56. WOW... not sure how this can be....

Miramar Owner · 11-20-2016, 07:26 PM

We don't use ours much throughout the winter. It often reaches 20 below here which would make it impossible to dump. But if it is mild we might take a brief trip. Not needing to flush the RV antifreeze just makes it easier to do. We really wouldn't camp...mostly just overnight stops at Wal-Marts and to travel in...just to take a winter break.

Chip · 11-21-2016, 07:44 PM

I have an ice maker, but I'll stick with old fashioned ice trays filled with bottled water. Don't trust random campground water for consumption.

Miramar Owner · 11-21-2016, 09:38 PM

I used to have the same concern. Now I have a filter for the motorhome and if I'm using the campground water I also run it through an external filter before it even hits the internal filter system, so it's filtered twice. I also use a water freshener which I add to the fresh water tank.

For 8 months out of the year I use the RV about 20 days a month. Anytime it sits for more than about 2 weeks I also drain and sanitize the holding tank. That's probably a little over kill but I don't want to have to haul water to drink or brush my teeth.

Our old motorhome had no filter system and it was not easy to drain and sanitize. We also only used it 3 or 4 weeks a year. Then we never drank the water...only used it for showers. I hated always having to haul 5 or 6 gallons of water for coffee and brushing my teeth. I have to say, I really enjoy the freedom the new RV provides.

ewacowboy · 11-21-2016, 10:05 PM

Okay folks here is what I did....

I blew out all the lines with 40 lbs of air and turned on the refrigerator and ice maker while the pressure was held in the coach water system. There was some water left in the ice maker so I let it go through it's cycle. Two hours after it dumped the load of ice I checked to see if there was water/ice in the ice maker and it was dry. Then I drained the water in-door reservoir inside the fridge and blew out all the lines again just to be sure. Everything seems to be empty and dry....I guess we'll see this spring. Thanks for all the comments

brianh442 · 11-22-2016, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chip

I have an ice maker, but I'll stick with old fashioned ice trays filled with bottled water. Don't trust random campground water for consumption.

I try to avoid random campgrounds!!

Chip · 11-23-2016, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianh442

I try to avoid random campgrounds!!

Unless you own the site, all campgrounds are random in my opinion!!!!!

!!!! !! !!!

The water where I'm currently staying is notoriously hard. Drip coffee makers need descaling within 4 months of daily use of tap water. It also tastes awful.

My post doesn't address the OP's question on winterizing. I understand that. I'm just putting it out there that some of these convenience features may turn out to be more trouble than they're worth.

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