It got down to freezing last night, I have not winterized yet but since it was 70 yesterday I am pretty sure everything is ok. We have another trip scheduled for Thanksgiving so I am trying to hold off.

 

My rule is getting down to freezing for an hour or so at 6:00 in the morning is nothing to worry about. I usually figure it has to get below freezing and hold there for several hours. That usually means down into the mid-20s at night. No harm in playing it safe, but I expect in NC. you have about the same temperatures we here in N.E. TN. so I figure we still have a good deal of time before we have to worry about freezing.

Steve

 

I finally pushed our 5er back on its winter pad today -- and wouldn't you know it but after it got pulled it off the LH leveling blocks, another 2-3 gallons of water 'wandered' out of the FW drain which was still open. I know it's only a 64 gallon potable tank, but there seems to have been a lot more. Oh well!!!

The battery got pulled out this year and is now on a floating trickle charger. One cell was somewhat low on water so a spring expense may be coming up though it measures correctly for voltage but no clue as to how well it handles load.

There was one major lesson learned this fall - don't seal the roof seams just before the leaves begin their fall plunge to the ground. Or, in my case, the top of our 5er. Another spring project reared its fugly head - a scrubbing off all stuck on leaf carcasses then a reseal with more DICOR

 

So, how about covers? I installed mine for the first time this year. The top still seems kinda..... billowy? in the wind.

 

Better than nothing, but a long ways from a perfect solution. Inside a barn is better.

Steve

 

Are you able to cinch it up any more using the under belly straps? Ours is very billowy when first put on but once we tighten up the belly straps it snugs it up pretty well. Still gets a little fluffed in the breeze but that helps to let it dry out faster after wet weather.

 

Yeah, it looks much better today! It was pretty breezy when we put it on, so I'm figuring I will be able to make more minor adjustments after it sits a while?

And to the OP - sorry for the total de-rail!

 

I am in the process of ordering a new cover for ours, which I kind of hate as I end up putting it on and taking it off several times in the winter. I was going to try to store it in the bay I rent, but it is across town and would not be very convenient.

So far it seems like a cover lasts us 3-5 years depending on the weather.

Steve

 

Winterized mine with the pink stuff on Friday, Saturday night we got down to 21 degrees. It is so easy to dewinterize and winterize for trips in the winter, just need to stock up on the pink.

 

Our camper is at 8800' in SW Colorado and since '08 and we've had no issues with our procedure. We haven't ever used the fresh water tank/pump, it had the pink anti-freeze in since '08. The RV dealer winterized it when we bought it. It took a few weeks of use our first year to get rid of the sweet pink-antifreeze taste from the water lines. My wife, said no more!! We have a potable water source which we hook up when we are there. So, we use compressed air only on the water lines.

* turn off hot water heater, take your last shower with hot water!
* Remove fresh water hose, if lucky enough to have potable water supply.
* connect water supply to your black water scrubber connection, if equiped.
* run scrubber until nearly full..
* Open your black water drain.
* once fully flushed, turn off water and allow black water tank to drain.
* open gray water drain
* With hot/cold sink faucets open, pull the drain on the hot water tank. While the water is flowing out, use an old tooth brush to reach in and stir up/sweep out all the grit on the bottom from the galvanic sacrificial anode. You'll remove an amazing amount of crud and your wife will be thankful that stuff doesn't come out your faucets!
* if necessary, turn water back on (close faucets) if you want to continue flushing the tank.
​​​​​* Once flushing is done, NOW is a great time to replace the anode if it needs it! Or order 2 for future use and a spare.
* Use 40lbs of compressed air to flush the little bit of water out, do hot and cold lines at sinks and shower, don't forget the toilet!
Our external shower was broken, so we've never touched it, and it's clearly the lowest point in our system.
* Close the drain valves!
* Gray water: Pour enough down each sink to flush the trap of water. Then pour the remainder of the 2 gallons down the shower, less mess this way.
* Black water: pour 2 gallons down the toilet.

We leave our faucets open to allow any moisture left to evaporate in the weeks/months before the solid freezing temps arrive.

In the spring, we flush the black water tank of the antifreeze, and then add the enzyme and a couple gallons of water to get it started.

Unique, RV Digest-it is THE best black tank treatment. I buy it by the gallon at our local RV place (CO) and it keeps the tank working well. Camper hasn't moved (no sloshing around) for 8 years and still drains to empty!

RV dealers sell a black water tank cleaning nozel, 2 foot PVC pipe with 90* nozzle to help if you need to get stuck stuff out of your tank.

 

Fogive my bad forum edict by quoting myself, but I can now answer my own question....

YES .. there is a need to worry about the flush valve for the black tank.

I did not get around to doing it last year and was rewarded by water running across my floor this spring.

In mune, the flush line comes out of the wall, down about 6", over a foot, then back up about a foot t the anti syphon valve. So if you don't do something with it you are holding a column of water 6" tall in that line with no where for it to go. I got lucky and a new exterior connection with a new o ring fixed it up.

So yesterday I blew all the lines including the flush line for the black tank. If I can figure out how to get some pink in there ill do that too.

Forgot to update last spring, but for what it is worth ... YES, you should worry about it.

 

use the water pump and siphon from the jug to pump the rv antifreeze through the lines. By pass the hot water heater and fresh water tank.

 

That's how I do the water lines.

But how do I get antifreeze into the flush line? It is a garden hose hook up on the outside if the camper.

I know how Steve would do it (because I pay attention) but I don't have an external pump I can use.

 

Use a 3' garden hose, a funnel and gravity???

 

use the pump already in the camper. unhook the hose that the pump sucks water from the fresh tank. I bought a hose that is the supply for a residential sink or toilet. forgot which. screw 1 end on suction side of pump. cut other end off and stick in rv antifreeze jug.