Begging for immediate winterizing help, newbie here

[JasonBecker]

Hello all,

I do promise to say a proper "Hi, How Are Ya" at a later date... today (Christmas Eve!) this has to simply be a cry for help.

First-time RV owner, picked up our Thor Vegas 25.6 last week. Now an ultra-rare week-long below-freezing snap is expected in Western Washington and I am cramming winterization requirements and not having any luck. My dealer is, of course, closed. I NEED HELP!

As far as I can tell, winterization is a murky alchemy that everyone has a different "system" for. I need to get this right TODAY.

What I have done: emptied fresh water tank and city water tank. Turned off tankless water heater. Connected short hose to city water and put other end in RV antifreeze. Turned on water pump. Opened faucets. Expect to see antifreeze come trough but only hear air getting sucked through, antifreeze level in jug not budging, and I'm scared of running my water pump with no water in tanks.

I do not currently have access to an air compressor.

Will check this thread over the next couple hours. Hope someone out there can save a new RV owner's Christmas

[Kickstand]

I don’t have a Vegas but this video shows where the antifreeze intake hose lives on one.

The city water needs to be under pressure from the water pipe, it’s not where the coolant goes in. There’s a bypass valve near the pump that turns off the water flow from the tank (never put antifreeze in fresh tank) and will pull instead from a bottle/bucket of antifreeze.

In my rig, there’s also a bypass to keep antifreeze out of the hot water tank, yet still allow for antifreeze to flow from pump to sinks. It’s not enough to turn the hot water off- you still need that flow around the heater but not through it. Admittedly I have no idea about tankless, which might be entirely different. Your manual should outline all this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tYq_oxSetw

[16ACE27]

The water pump does NOT draw from the city water connection. It draws from the FW tank or the winterizing hose connection. See the video above.

BTW, what's a "city water tank"? We all know what a fresh water tank is.

[Kickstand]

Two other “gotcha’s” in winterizing:
1) if you have an all coach waterfilter- REMOVE THE FILTER and reattach the housing so the water flows without a filter. Mine is under kitchen sink. Not all coaches have them.
2) in this video, he runs the sinks just until pink and he sort of ran out of the one bottle of antifreeze. You want to make sure your p traps under the sink don’t freeze too. So either run it a little more from the faucet after both the hot and cold go pink, or just pour some directly down the sink when all done.

[waterdog]

Do not try to add antifreeze through the city water fill. Find your water pump and intake to it from your fresh water tank. There should be a shut-off valve coming out of your tank. Turn it off. Between it and your water pump is a short pipe with a plug on the end. Remove this plug and attach a hose to it and put the other end into your antifreeze jug. start your pump and open up each faucet until you see pink liquid coming out . You should have the tankless water heater, so just run antifreeze through it too.

[Scubawise]

You line is behind the upper bedroom drawer or right behind outside shower if you remove panel

[JasonBecker]

You all have me on the right track. Presently trying to access water pump but screw to "magazine rack" drawers is stripped and I'm now working to figure out a way to pull a drawer out entirely. Backup plan is to remove the outdoor shower assembly to access everything and then re-seal after I'm done.

All additional input is very much appreciated...

[JasonBecker]

Well gang, SUCCESS.

Happy to report that I got the outdoor shower fixture off (it's no longer pretty but we'll get back around to that later), located the bypass valve and feed, quick Home Depot trip for the correct hose adapter, water pump pulled antifreeze into all my lines as advertised, poured a little more into each area to rest in the p-traps, and I am of the relieved belief that my pipes are okay for 6 days or so of sub-freezing temps starting in about 12 hours.

MANY thanks to each of you for jumping in to help me today. As promised, I'll be back at a later time with a proper greeting and YOU CAN BE SURE this forum is the FIRST place I'll be going for help from here on out!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday season.

Jason

[16ACE27]

Still don't know what a "city water tank" is.

[JasonBecker]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Still don't know what a "city water tank" is.

Yes, we've definitely established that I am the Newest of Newbies, haha, won't be the last dumb and/or nonsensical things I say