Antifreeze for winterizing

[magicofmassage@gmail.com]

Do they use a different antifreeze for winterizing? Do I have to sanitize before drinking [emoji848] from the fresh water tank? Keep in mind I'm a first time rv'er

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by magicofmassage@gmail.com

Do they use a different antifreeze for winterizing? Do I have to sanitize before drinking [emoji848] from the fresh water tank? Keep in mind I'm a first time rv'er

RV antifreeze is pink and is non toxic. It is, of course, different from automotive antifreeze (which IS toxic and usually is yellow, orange or green). You can get it a Walmart or nearly any store in the fall and you’ll probably only need a couple of gallons which shouldn’t cost more than $5. Normally you don’t need to put any in the fresh water tank or the water heater. Just use your on board water pump to circulate the stuff through all of your water lines and fixtures. It’s not difficult but there is a bit of a learning curve and it’s import to do it correctly. It does have a bit of a taste that you’ll notice in the spring if you don’t flush the lines well enough. Won’t hurt you but you might prefer to avoid it. “They” say you should sanitize in the spring but it’s more because the residual moisture in the tank is old than anything to do with antifreeze.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by magicofmassage@gmail.com

Do they use a different antifreeze for winterizing? Do I have to sanitize before drinking [emoji848] from the fresh water tank? Keep in mind I'm a first time rv'er

RV antifreeze is propylene glycol. It is non-toxic to most life; good down to -50 F. Vehicle antifreeze ethylene glycol a potent poison to most living things and is about three times more expensive than propylene glycol.
Just flush the system with clean water. I would recommend you sterilize the coach's water system before starting out.

[Coveman2]

There are many very good youtube videos about winterizing and Thor has a pretty good one also but a little hokey with the angel. Every coach is a little different but the process is the same and there are a lot of things to remember.
Coveman2

[magicofmassage@gmail.com]

Thank you

[Bob Denman]

Think pink...
It's almost safe to drink!

[magicofmassage@gmail.com]

Thank you

[Steamboat]

And it leaves a certain after-taste. Too much of it will give you the “Green Apple Quick Step”. Moderation is the key.

[Pete'sMH]

It it’s nothing to worry about! Just flush your system trough each faucet on a city water connection for a few minutes when de-winterizing and you’ll be fine. Remember to do the flushing before you open the water heater bypass valve(s).

[cavie]

Don't put it in the FW tank or the WH

[Judge]

Originally Posted by cavie

Don't put it in the FW tank or the WH

Not always the case when it comes to the Water Heater. The Girard Tankless Water Heaters don't have a By-Pass installed or a drain (at least the two coaches I have owned with it don't). Since you do not have a physical tank holding water, you do have copper pipe running through a heat exchanger and you either need to run anti-freeze through it or blow all the water out of the lines with compressed air or the copper will burst and ruin the Water Heater.

I do both..... I first run antifreeze through all the lines (including the Tankless Water Heater) and then I hook up my VIAIR Compressor set at 40PSI and flush the lines.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Judge

Not always the case when it comes to the Water Heater. The Girard Tankless Water Heaters don't have a By-Pass installed or a drain (at least the two coaches I have owned with it don't). Since you do not have a physical tank holding water, you do have copper pipe running through a heat exchanger and you either need to run anti-freeze through it or blow all the water out of the lines with compressed air or the copper will burst and ruin the Water Heater.

I do both..... I first run antifreeze through all the lines (including the Tankless Water Heater) and then I hook up my VIAIR Compressor set at 40PSI and flush the lines.

Why would you install antifreeze then blow it out??? not enough coffee this morning

[Judge]

Originally Posted by cavie

Why would you install antifreeze then blow it out??? not enough coffee this morning

Just being cautious on the off chance that enough antifreeze didn't flush the water through the tankless heater to make sure it is protected down to at least 0 degrees. While PEX is more forgiving to bursting from freeze conditions the copper in the tankless is not.

After running the antifreeze through all the faucets, I will blow the lines out so I have less to flush out in the spring.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by cavie

Why would you install antifreeze then blow it out??? not enough coffee this morning

I don’t do it that way but it’s a somewhat clever strategy. The problem with just blowing out the lines is that there often are pockets in fixtures or fittings that can trap a tiny bit of water. It’s enough to cause problems. By putting the antifreeze in first you would avoid having water in those places. By blowing it out you would avoid having to flush it in the spring or at least minimize the “pink taste” on that first trip. Whatever works!

[rudyhehn]

We drain our fresh tank and HW heater in the early winter and then air purge the lines.
Works for us but we are in the South so hard prolonged freeze less common. No busted lines so far. through the lines. We don't sanitize, seems unnecessary to us. If you bought this used maybe sanitize once?

[lwmcguire]

Aquahot and instantaneous water heaters require antifreeze for winterizing to be on the safe side

We use our coach in the winter several times so each time it gets antifreeze when it goes back in the shop

I hate the taste of lingering antifreeze or chlorine

The simplest way to rid the antifreeze aftertaste and disinfect is to add 1 ounce of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 10 gallons of water

Coffee taste much better and I didn't risk freezing a 8k Aquahot

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by rudyhehn

We drain our fresh tank and HW heater in the early winter and then air purge the lines.
Works for us but we are in the South so hard prolonged freeze less common. No busted lines so far. through the lines. We don't sanitize, seems unnecessary to us. If you bought this used maybe sanitize once?

I’m guessing you usually use city water!? Well water can go “bad” fairly quickly in a tank - fresh water or water heater. I rarely sanitize either but I’m careful to avoid well water for that reason.

[Ed-Helen pns]

Move to Florida and you don’t have to worry

[KUDZU50]

I use 2 fifths of Vodka too keep my camper water lines from freezing up. You don't have to flush & it cleans the water lines from bacteria. Win Win. Wife says the water in the camper taste better than from the home faucet.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by magicofmassage@gmail.com

Do they use a different antifreeze for winterizing? Do I have to sanitize before drinking [emoji848] from the fresh water tank? Keep in mind I'm a first time rv'er

Blow out your lines and use the pump to run the RV antifreeze through the lines. Don't forget bypasses. If you leave any -50 antifreeze outside it will freeze at about +20 degrees and the -100 degree antifreeze will freeze at -20 but don't worry if the jug is frozen in the winter it doesn't expand like water does. I put my RV antifreeze in and then I blow my lines out again (because you can't freeze air) 44 years and never had a pipe freeze.