Winterizing your RV (Axis/Vegas 24.1 specific)

[JamieGeek]

With the antifreeze it isn't necessary to keep the heaters on.

1/2 gallon is probably a bit of overkill. I only use 2 gallons total when winterizing our coach.

Remember the waste tanks should be empty + the antifreeze. If the water in them is going to freeze it will just expand into the tank. The Antifreeze will keep the valves from freezing up.

[gmc]

If going the antifreeze in lines route, 2 gallons is about right as Jamie said... drawing it thru the lines at each fixture already gets some in the tank...

If blowing out lines instead (compressed air), still need to put antifreeze down each drain to protect traps and tanks... but a gallon would be enough there...

Freezing is a problem where there is no room for expansion... water supply lines, p-traps... the dump tanks when virtually empty have lots of room for expansion... want enough in there to get into the drain pipe to dump valve, but that’s all that’s needed there.

Of course moving to FL makes the whole process go away...

If you have a rig with the additional dump valve (typically when tank is opposite side of RV from dump valve) - be sure that valve is closed, and line running under the RV is empty...

[RichRob]

I ran this by Thor for winterizing my 2018 Vegas 24.1, with tankless hot water system, and got approval. First, I plan on blowing out the system. Then I will fill my fresh water tank with RV antifreeze, since I never use the tank. Next, I will pump the antifreeze through out the system in both the cold lines and hot, passing through the water heater. Lastly, I will put some in bot the gray and black tanks.

[99dart]

Just an FYI for all of you with ice makers. Last year I used the bypass wire method to quick cycle the ice maker. Blowing the all my lines out. Then, in Arizona in February the ice maker wouldn't work. It burned out some kind capacitor/resistor thing in the wiring. I was able to find the short harness on EBay for under $20 bucks. This year I used anti freeze and left it to cycle for a couple hrs. It worked great. Pink in the ice cube container, YaY!

[Norrirn]

Originally Posted by RichRob

I ran this by Thor for winterizing my 2018 Vegas 24.1, with tankless hot water system, and got approval. First, I plan on blowing out the system. Then I will fill my fresh water tank with RV antifreeze, since I never use the tank. Next, I will pump the antifreeze through out the system in both the cold lines and hot, passing through the water heater. Lastly, I will put some in bot the gray and black tanks.

You should not need to fill your FW tank with anti freeze. Just open the low point drains and, if there’s any water in there, it will drain out. Your FW tank holds probably something like 50 gallons. That’s a LOT of antifreeze. It only takes about 2 gallons of antifreeze pumped through the lines to winterize.

[chrisngrod]

Originally Posted by 99dart

Just an FYI for all of you with ice makers. Last year I used the bypass wire method to quick cycle the ice maker. Blowing the all my lines out. Then, in Arizona in February the ice maker wouldn't work. It burned out some kind capacitor/resistor thing in the wiring. I was able to find the short harness on EBay for under $20 bucks. This year I used anti freeze and left it to cycle for a couple hrs. It worked great. Pink in the ice cube container, YaY!

Thanks. I will do this then.

[RichRob]

Thank you for your reply. FW tank only required 2 to 3 gallons to get the job done.

[riskmgr]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Unfortunately, it is that time of year again (at least for me). Time to get the unit ready for winter.

Since there are a ton of new Axis/Vegas owners on here since the last thread of this type I figured I'd start a new one. (Most of this is specific to my 24.1 but will probably apply to the other Axis/Vegas floorplans and other RVs as well).

To start out with you'll want to relieve pressure off your water system and remove the water heater's drain plug (on mine its a plastic plug near the bottom left of the unit--a pain to unscrew because its behind a pipe). If you want the water to drain faster you can open the safety valve at top (I usually just remove the plug and leave it out until spring--so far no critters have decided to take up residence in the water heater for the 16 years I've been doing this).

Next you'll want to remove the panel under the passenger side rear bed--on ours its two square head screws and it comes out. Optionally you can remove the cold-air return grate as its easier to get to the water heater bypass valves from there.

After that I open the drain valve for the water tank and close the feed valve (so the water pump doesn't draw water from the tank). These valves are right next to each other right where the waterlines leave the tank. You can tell the feed valve because its hooked to the pipe going to the water pump, and the drain valve because its the one with the right-angle fitting that goes through the floor.

I'm going to steal FW28z's excellent diagram here: (You'll want to configure the valves for the winterized position)

Here you can see my water heater valves on "winterize"--at least the bypass and hot water ones, the cold water valve is below the grey furnace vent pipe.


Next you want to hook up some hose to the "antifreeze injection point": There is a tube sticking up that is capped. Get a fitting to screw in there and some hose--I use clear vinyl so I can see the antifreeze go through it:


It usually only takes about 1.5 gallons of pink stuff to winterize my Axis--I get extra just in case.

Now turn the pump on with the kitchen faucet open slightly (using kitchen because its right next to the pump switch). The idea here is to have a faucet open so the pump can suck up the antifreeze--try it with all the faucets closed you won't get very far LOL.
Once you see the clear line filled and hear the pump slow down because it has some antifreeze in it close the faucet. Now you're ready...
Go around the coach opening up one side (cold) and then the other (hot) until you see pink stuff coming out. Make sure you do every faucet including the outside shower, the shower head, and the toilet. It should be really pink coming out:

You'll probably empty the first gallon during this process. When you hear the pump running with no antifreeze coming out just turn off the pump, replace the bottle with a full one, and repeat the priming like you did with the first bottle.
When all the sinks are done I also go and briefly open up both low point drains (right next to the water tank) and the two water heater bypass valves so that they all get antifreeze going through them.
Lastly I leave the system semi-pressurized (not fully), take the strainer out of the city water hookup, and lightly press on the check valve there to get some antifreeze to come out there. Don't do this with a fully pressurized system because you could damage the check valve. (There was some discussion about me doing this in another thread--some people recommended not to if I'm remembering correctly.)

When I'm all done I pour any remaining antifreeze into each sink, the shower, and the toilet to make sure that there is antifreeze in the traps and the waste tanks (even though there probably is from the winterizing process but, in this case, more is better). In addition this allows me to use up all the antifreeze and recycle the bottles (no real reason to have a 1/2 full bottle of RV antifreeze sitting around).

Now that’s a lot of work. I winterize my unit without doing what you do. WHEW!

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by riskmgr

Now that’s a lot of work. I winterize my unit without doing what you do. WHEW!

Nope: Takes me 15-20 minutes tops and 2 gallons of antifreeze.

[Terence]

We bought a 2019 Vegas 25.6 this spring, replacing our water-damaged 1997 Coachmen Class C (24', no slides, V-10). The DW hasn't figured out what to do with all the cabinet space! Still working on getting all the kinks out, but so far pretty happy with it. I do wish it was a bit cooler in hot weather -- not sure if it's just that big front window or what else, but it gets a lot warmer than the old Coachmen. We got 10.0 mpg on the last tank, with about half of it at 70 mph (no toad), and it's not broken in yet. That's a bit better than the old Coachmen, while weighing an extra ~2500 lbs, so I'm pretty happy with that.

For winterizing, I've mostly gone the compressed air route in the past, which was pretty easy on the Coachmen with an inlet that went through the pump. For our 25.6, I bought a hookup for the city water inlet, and it was easy enough to blow out everything. But I don't think that blows through the water pump. How do I get that cleared out? I opened up the red and blue low point drains. Do those go through the pump? Can I hook the compressor up to one of those to blow out the pump?

I sure hope I never need to get at that pump! I don't see any kind of access to it, other than maybe taking out the outside shower. Crazy!

-Terence

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Terence

...
I sure hope I never need to get at that pump! I don't see any kind of access to it, other than maybe taking out the outside shower. Crazy!

-Terence

I bet there is an easy way to get at it from the inside. Look at the bottom of the back closet, perhaps you can remove the bottom panel (look for screws). Look at the wall below the closet--again look for screws. If you see screws Thor meant for you to take that panel off.

On all the Axis/Vegas units (and many other Thor's) there is a tap (discussed in this thread) before the pump where you can hook a hose to and feed antifreeze to the pump. It may not be near the pump: where is your fresh water tank? Look for screws on panels near that (there will be a valve you can use to turn off the water feed from the tank so you can use the antifreeze tap).

[revjeffrey]

Camco winterizing valve.

[Terence]

I bet there is an easy way to get at it from the inside.

One would think! The 25.6 has the fresh water tank and water pump under a closet running across most of the back wall (plus the bathroom in the corner). The closet has a set of 6 drawers below, and then a decorative panel below that. I see a few screws related to mounting that bottom panel, but it really doesn't look like it's intended for routine access. Maybe it'll all come off in a pinch for service.

It is easy to take out the drawers, although the openings are rather small and above the fresh water tank (with the pump below it). You'd need to be a contortionist to do any work on the pump from the drawer openings -- removing the outside shower looks easier but also a small opening.

On all the Axis/Vegas units (and many other Thor's) there is a tap (discussed in this thread) before the pump where you can hook a hose to and feed antifreeze to the pump.

Thanks! Partially thanks to a custom modification I inadvertently made (one of the drawers was pulled out a bit when I extended the slide, and I haven't fixed the damage yet. I can provide instructions for anyone interested in making the same mod), and spending some time with my phone video camera to peer around, I found the antifreeze line. For others with 25.6s, it's a white hose with a white screw cap. Remove the lower right drawer, reach in and pull on hoses to find the one with one detached end. It'll reach basically to just outside the drawers. It should be easy enough to pull out blind, if you know it's there. That looks like the better place to blow out the lines (or run antifreeze into the lines), so I'm going to repeat everything to make sure I get the pump thoroughly cleared out.

That'll just leave shopping for a cover to put over it for the off season. Any recommendations?

-Terence

[Terence]

For others with 25.6s, it's a white hose with a white screw cap. Remove the lower right drawer, reach in and pull on hoses to find the one with one detached end. It'll reach basically to just outside the drawers. It should be easy enough to pull out blind, if you know it's there.

Addendum, which I'm sure is covered earlier in this thread if I had read closer. In addition to finding the antifreeze line, you also need to reach down and shut off the valve running from the fresh water tank to the pump, or your compressed air will backflow into the fresh water tank. I suspect it also needs to be closed if using the pink stuff, or the pump would just suck air from the tank.

This valve is very difficult to reach in the 25.6. It is at floor level, adjacent to the fresh water tank, about 9 inches from the back wall. If you can manage to follow the antifreeze line, follow that to the floor and towards the back wall and you can hopefully feel out the shutoff valve. You may need to dislocate your shoulder to be able to reach it through the drawer opening. LOL. My custom mod (see above) was a great help, but ultimately I wouldn't recommend it.

Once the valve was closed it was easy enough to blow out all the lines, although overall I suspect it takes longer than the pink stuff (my compressor only has a 2 gallon tank, and I run ~20 tankfuls through to get all the lines cleared). One of these days I'll even remember to get the toilet before thinking I'm done and packing up everything!

-Terence

[WearyTraveler]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

Sorry Sharon, but I did not see your picture when I replied earlier.

I attached a picture of what you should see when you remove the air vent near the floor in the "hallway" down near the converter. The valve just above the air duct is the bypass valve. Notice at the top of the valve the red (hot water) line is attached and the blue (cold water) line is attached to the bottom of the valve.

Also notice at the top right of the picture on the red line is another valve. That is the hot water supply line that would be coming out of the hot water heater. Also in the lower right corner you'll see another valve on the red line. That is the cold water supply line to the hot water heater.

When winterizing -- you would close the cold water supply line, close the hot water supply line, and OPEN the by-pass valve. This way when you put RV antifreeze in it will by-pass the hot water tank. If you didn't do that it would take an additional 6 gallons of antifreeze because that is what the hot water tank holds. Part of winterizing includes removing the plastic drain fitting on the bottom of the hot water tank (accessed through the door on the outside of the RV).

When getting ready to de-winterize and use the RV -- you need to open the cold and hot supply valves and close the by-pass valve. If you don't, water will by-pass the hot water heater (you'll have NO hot water0, and if the hot water tank is empty and you have the hot water heater set on electric, you run the risk of burning out the electrical coil in the water heater. (In the picture, the valves are set in the normal use configuration)

If you send me an email at bevedfelker@live.com, I'll forward you a copy of the Owners' Manual I compiled that will provide a reference and teaching tool for learning the ins and outs of the Axis/Vegas.

Thank you for that picture and explanation. I now know that I did not bypass my water heater properly. I closed the hot and cold valves but did not open the bypass valve! I’ll be out there tomorrow!

[byaakob]

Those images and descriptions are awesome. Can you tell me where all of those valves about the hot water heater are on a 2020 thor quantum SE 22. I would also like to know where the valves are to drain the fresh water tank as well as the valves for the low points.

Thanks very much

Bill

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by byaakob

Those images and descriptions are awesome. Can you tell me where all of those valves about the hot water heater are on a 2020 thor quantum SE 22. I would also like to know where the valves are to drain the fresh water tank as well as the valves for the low points.

Thanks very much

Bill

Well a 2020 may have the tankless water heater and thus may not have winterizing valves. If your unit has the old fashioned tank heater then the winterizing valves will be on the face of the water heater on the inside--find the water heater on the outside of the coach and then look for a removable panel on the inside at that spot.

Same thing goes for the tank drains: find the tank and the drains won't be too far away (or the pump).

[byaakob]

I did exactly as you said. You were spot-on. I found all the valves. I just have one question. If you're putting in the antifreeze and I guess you put it in the blue line above the Whitewater tank after you shut off the valve to the white water tank and then turn the pump on. There is a screw that's connected to the tubing at that location. Does that seem right?

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by byaakob

I did exactly as you said. You were spot-on. I found all the valves. I just have one question. If you're putting in the antifreeze and I guess you put it in the blue line above the Whitewater tank after you shut off the valve to the white water tank and then turn the pump on. There is a screw that's connected to the tubing at that location. Does that seem right?

Screw? Do you mean the line is plugged? If so: Yes remove the plug and connect up a hose to your antifreeze.

[riskmgr]

Once I got delayed on doing this so I took toDV dealer to be done. That was the last time I let anyone winterize it. I hate the antifreeze when going camping. The water is pink and slimy and seems to take forever to get it out of system. I use a compressor and never have a problem. I do put RV antifreeze in the traps and in the holding tanks.