Winterizing with antifreeze

[WearyTraveler]

I used about 15-16 gallons of antifreeze in my clear water tank. I first opened the large valve and emptied it. I don’t think I got all the water as I didn’t level the rig. Then poured the antifreeze in.
I turned on the water pump and went to each spigot and turned it on. I was told to watch for the pink antifreeze to come out. It never really came out pink. There was a lot of sputtering and frothy liquid coming out. No, not clear like water, but not pink. It also had a bit of an alcohol scent.
Did I not use enough antifreeze and it diluted? Granted, water doesn’t froth, so I’m hoping that I’ve got at least some weak antifreeze in the pipes.
An additional data point is that I poured about 1/2 cup of bleach into the tank for the last few miles before draining the clear water tank.
On my 150 gallon clear tank, how many gallons of antifreeze should I use?

I know, I know, questions, questions...

The RV is a 2017 Thor Outlaw 38RE.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by WearyTraveler

I used about 15-16 gallons of antifreeze in my clear water tank. I first opened the large valve and emptied it. I don’t think I got all the water as I didn’t level the rig. Then poured the antifreeze in.
I turned on the water pump and went to each spigot and turned it on. I was told to watch for the pink antifreeze to come out. It never really came out pink. There was a lot of sputtering and frothy liquid coming out. No, not clear like water, but not pink. It also had a bit of an alcohol scent.
Did I not use enough antifreeze and it diluted? Granted, water doesn’t froth, so I’m hoping that I’ve got at least some weak antifreeze in the pipes.
An additional data point is that I poured about 1/2 cup of bleach into the tank for the last few miles before draining the clear water tank.
On my 150 gallon clear tank, how many gallons of antifreeze should I use?

I know, I know, questions, questions...

The RV is a 2017 Thor Outlaw 38RE.

Never put antifreeze in your FW tank. Install this between the pump and the FW tank. My 32' trailer take 2 gals. your MH will use a bit more depending on the plumbing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-Pu...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Judge]

Most people will tell you not to put antifreeze in your fresh water tank.... just drain it. All of the coaches should have a by-pass near the pump that allows you to turn a valve to by-pass the fresh water tank to pump directly out of the RV anti-freeze bottle.

There is a fitting at the end of a PEX tube and you remove it, screw in an elbow with a section of clear tubing, place it into the gallon jug and turn on the pump. Then wait for the pink ant-freeze to come out of the hot and the cold from every faucet.

[WearyTraveler]

Originally Posted by Judge

Most people will tell you not to put antifreeze in your fresh water tank.... just drain it. All of the coaches should have a by-pass near the pump that allows you to turn a valve to by-pass the fresh water tank to pump directly out of the RV anti-freeze bottle.

There is a fitting at the end of a PEX tube and you remove it, screw in an elbow with a section of clear tubing, place it into the gallon jug and turn on the pump. Then wait for the pink ant-freeze to come out of the hot and the cold from every faucet.

Any idea / clue where to look? I’ll start looking in the morn8g but would like a place to start...

The RV is a 2017 Thor Outlaw 38RE.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by WearyTraveler

Any idea / clue where to look? I’ll start looking in the morn8g but would like a place to start...



The RV is a 2017 Thor Outlaw 38RE.

In general, start at the water tank... Nearby is typically the pump (turn it on if you need help locating). Between those two (a distance of about 12” on my coach) is the fresh water drain, and anti freeze inlet.

[cavie]

Did you bypass and drain the Water Heater? Youtube is your friend. You can probably find a vedio of you rig. If no they are all pretty much the same.

[WearyTraveler]

Ok - today was my third day of winterizing my beast (The RV is a 2017 Thor Outlaw 38RE). I tried for 2 days to pour over 15 gallons of antifreeze in the FW tank, then tun the pump waiting for pink in the faucets. Nothing pink, only froth. So, I did a bunch of surfing and read that my RV has a winterization valve. I fabricated a short length of hose with a male end, plugged it into the inlet, put the other end into a bottle of antifreeze, turned on the pump and almost immediately had pink out of the faucets!!!! Voila!

4 gallons later I was done!

I drained and manually put the water heater valves to bypass. What is the function of the water heater bypass valve in this picture? How would I use it? I know that I want antifreeze in the pipes all the way to and past the heater so I can’t bypass all tubing between this valve and the water heater.

[cavie]

Anderson valve does not bypass the WH. The by-pass in the Anderson valve is for the water pump as I understand these things. That is where your Anti freeze goes. The WH has valves on the back side of the heater.

[EA37TS]

The Anderson by pass is a second water heater by pass. Same as on the Challenger. In the spring make sure both are not by passed before turning on the water heater.

Suggest you contact Thor for a fresh water diagram and Anderson Brass for a Kantleak diagram.

[mountainsam]

Weary Traveler
Have you given any thought to learning how to blow the lines dry. You have used enough antifreeze to winterize a fleet of RV's.

[Richie]

I was having similar issues with locating the winterizing/antifreeze inlet on my Quantum. After posting a few questions I took someone's advice and registered on the Thor Owners Resource website and was astonished as to the vast amounts of info, schematics, and drawings listed for my coach. On the schematics tab I found the exact location of the antifreeze inlet and valve for my coach. All you need is the VIN number of your coach to register and all information pertinent to your model is listed to view and download. I filled a 3 ring binder with info and it is now permanently stored in the coach for future reference.
A virtual gold mine of info.
Here is the link:

https://www.thormotorcoach.com/owner-resource/

[cbach]

Being that every other house within 20 miles of us apparently owns and RV, I couldn't find a drop of RV antifreeze anywhere this afternoon to get ready for the upcoming cold snap. Fabricated a quick fitting for the city water connection and just blew it all out, which is so much easier and I don't have to flush it out next week when we take off again

[WearyTraveler]

Found the manual for the wet bay Anderson valves.