AN UPDATE TO OUR STEP BY STEP WINTERIZING DIRECTIONS

I really did not want to winterize the Roadtrek this year until the very last minute. I don't know - maybe the chance of a late Fall trip, though we just got back from an early November trip a few weeks ago. Both of us felt this way, but we knew that we could not take a chance that the upper 30's nights might suddenly change for the worse, and we could always head out without water for a trip as we have done in the past. So we winterized.

There recently was a comment/question asked on one of our posts if winterizing is necessary if there is no water in the water system. When we ended the last trip I dumped the fresh tank and opened all of the faucets and flushed the toilet. One would think that there should be no water in the system with that, but coming to winterize just a couple of weeks later, turning on the faucet - no water pump on - water came out. Turning on the faucet with the water pump ON - a lot of water came out. And following that more water came out when the antifreeze went in pushing the rest of the water out. So yes, you still have to winterize even if you think that there is no water in the system - because there is. The antifreeze pushes remaining water out and replaces it in the pipes and valves. 

In case you think that I have all the steps right there in my head, before I do anything like winterizing on the Roadtrek that I have written about, I print out the entire article - with photos and use that to follow every step. I know that if I didn't I would miss something. While we did the winterizing this year, as every year, those instructions were with us and we read and did each one by one.

We had drained the tanks at the end of our last trip and dumped the black and grey tanks, then put some RV antifreeze down into the black tank so that it would not dry out until we did winterized. Draining the tanks can take the most time when winterizing. We had drained the hot water tank also. What we had to do when winterizing was get the antifreeze into the plumbing and the tanks. The job took about an hour. If we had to wait to drain the tanks or deal with the hot water tank, it would have taken longer. I bought four gallons of RV Antifreeze. I used two. I will keep the rest for next year.

While winterizing I realized a few things that while are not generally talked about in the winterizing process are a good thing to do and I have NOW added those to our step by step winterizing article. Here is what I have added.

When we first learned how to winterize at a paid private winterizing lesson given to the two of us by the Roadtrek dealer/service where we bought the Roadtrek, after he put the antifreeze into the pipes, he turned the hot water heater bypass valves quickly out of bypass and back again. He said that he does this and was not sure if anyone else did. My concern about following this in the past was that it would put some antifreeze into the hot water tank which I have been reluctant to do. Since over the years we have had a two hot water heater bypass valves freeze (or at least go bad) over the winter, I decided that perhaps this small step would be a good addition to the process. That step has now been added to our winterizing guide.

The other thing that I have changed and updated is the place in the process that winterizing the macerator pump comes at. Here is what happened. We followed the original steps in their order and when we went through the process of putting RV antifreeze into the macerator pump, a lot of water came out of the black tank into our "dump bucket" (also called the "doody bucket" 😉 ) before the pink antifreeze that we had put in the tank came out. I realized that we really should put some more antifreeze into the black tank. I thought - no problem - when we are done with the macerator we will just open the toilet flap and pour more antifreeze down the toilet into the black tank. Well, when I stepped on the toilet peddle the antifreeze that was in the toilet pipe and the toilet valve came out into the toilet. The water pump was off, but it still came out. What I figure is that this was in under pressure and flowed out when the valve was activated. So much for the idea of putting more antifreeze down into the black tank because I did not want to let all of the a/f in the toilet valve and pipe out - so my foot came quickly off the pedal and that was that. To replace the a/f I would have to reconnect the winterizing valve hose - which was off, cap tightened back on, etc. or get out the winterizing antifreeze hand pump again, connect it to the city water connection outside and pump a/f into the lines to the toilet. We both decided that what was in the lines now and the black tank was good enough - and stopped. BUT from now on and in our winterizing guide the winterizing valve and a/f hose will not be taken out until the macerator is done and all will be in place to put antifreeze back into the black tank and keep it in the toilet lines.

So our Roadtrek is winterized. More trips are not out of the question if we travel in no water conditions which is OK but not great. But now I look forward to the Spring. But there will still be articles until then, so come around every two weeks and we will keep you informed and entertained.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

HOW I GOT MY BLACK TANK SENSORS TO READ ACCURATELY

The infamous black tank sensors on the Roadtrek are well known for never reading accurately. I found this out soon after I bought my 2011 190 Popular new. I even brought it back to the Roadtrek dealer's service department to have them "fixed" and the RT service tech replaced two of them - which involved leaving the old bottom two sensors in place as he said they cannot come out and installing two others next to the originals and moving the wires from the old ones to the new ones. This worked for about a day and then the same things as before started to happen.  When the black tank was empty the monitor panel would read that it was 2/3 full. Then with just a little water added to the black tank the monitor panel would read full.  During a single day the monitor panel would change - from 2/3 to full and back to 2/.3 without anything being added to the tank or taken out of the tank. They just did not work!  I should add all of the other water sensors did work accurately on my Roadtrek - the two fresh water tanks and the grey tank have always been accurate. 

I tried all the things recommended to make them work. I flushed the tank repeatedly with clean water - still the same. I used various tank additives including borax and detergent and commercial tank cleaners that say they also clean sensors -  no difference. I bought a tank wand that attaches to a garden hose that is connected to an outdoor spigot - all brought into the RT through an open door, The wand goes down into the tank - this was a flexible wand (they are not all flexible) because the black tank is not straight down the toilet drain into the black tank pipe. There is an on/off valve on the wand to shut off and turn on the water flow - which is coming out at some pressure.  You open the toilet flap and keep your foot on the pedal as if the flap shuts on the wand the flap breaks. You put the wand down into the drain and move it around and up and down to "pressure" wash the inside of the black tank.  And if you happen to move it up too high from the hole in the toilet the water from the nozzle splashed on your face.  This, too, did not work. 

I eventually gave up as many Roadtrek owners do and on a trip we counted how many days it took us to fill the black tank with average use. It came down to between four and five days which was enough for us to know that once you get to four days dump the tanks. If the days are hot summer days just before it needed to be dumped it was possible to get a small whiff of odor when flushing the toilet when the flap opened.  I also found that if you look down the open flap in the toilet with a flashlight when the tank is really full you can see the water coming up from the tank just below the toilet flap. The problem with this is it is too easy to drop the flashlight down into the black tank which is a lot more trouble than just having a full black tank. (I never did this - I put a flashlight on a cord that fit around my wrist.) I have never put a bag of crushed ice into the black tank and drove around. Big RVs say this works BUT if your Roadtrek has a macerator and do this and you are not sure if all of the ice has melted completely - and you try to dump with ice still coming out into the macerator - you will break the macerator.

Sometimes things happen accidentally - and this article is about one of those happenings. I have not written about this until now because I wanted to be sure it worked. This goes back to May 2019 and started in November of 2018. 

In November 2018 we started winterizing the Roadtrek - using the instructions of my own article - which has become well known.  It is always important to keep the black tank's interior wet and I have always put one gallon of water into the black tank during travel season to prevent anything left in the tank from drying out and building up which will clog the output of the black tank. When we started winterizing I knew that since our last trip at the end of October there was one gallon of water in the black tank. We started by getting all of the water out of the fresh tanks and then started to dump the black tank of that one gallon of water.  We got a bucket and pointed the macerator hose in - and pushed the macerator button and we could hear the macerator running and there was a spurt from the hose and then nothing. The motor ran - the macerator was not pumping. We tried various things - change the angle the RT was sitting on - nope. Tried turning the macerator unclog handle - it turned with no resistance - nope. And then we smelled burning coming from the macerator and just gave up.  It was November. There was no way we were going to get to any RV shop that could fix this and we just would have to wait until the Spring.  But what to do about the black tank until then.  When I winterize I replace the one gallon of water in the black tank to keep it wet with one gallon of RV antifreeze poured down into the tank through the toilet. I decided that in addition to the winterizing RV antifreeze that went through the pipes to the toilet I would add TWO gallons of RV antifreeze into the black tank for the winter - keeping my fingers crossed that in the Spring there would be no problems from the cold winter other than needing to get the macerator replaced. 

The Roadtrek sat on our driveway like that the entire winter and in late April 2019 we had an appointment at the RV dealer we bought the RT in that is located in Pennsylvania - two states away - for the macerator to be replaced. (There is an article about that in April and May 2019 on this site.)

An amazing thing happened when the service shop installed the new macerator and dumped the black tank of the two gallons of RV antifreeze. THE BLACK TANK READ EMPTY!  

I figured that this was only temporary and with use the black tank sensors would go back to their  old tricks and do what they were so well known to do.  We took a trip that July - the black tanks were empty at the start of the trip. The black tank holds ten gallons.  With a  day plus  of  use the monitor panel showed 1/3 full -  right on what it should be. A day or so more and it went to 2/3. As I said earlier in this article - we calculated that we fill the black tank in four to five days.  At the end of the fourth day the black tank went to full. One way to find out if the black tank is really full is to put some water down the toilet as look in the pipe -  a little water should in the pipe that the black tank was really full!  The sensors worked. We dumped the tanks and they showed empty. Even with the gallon of clean water put down into the tank the sensors still showed empty - as they should! 

I have been putting one gallon of RV antifreeze down into the black tank over the winter and until we dewinterize in the Spring  and this never fixed the sensors.  Could it be that the two gallons made the difference?  This stayed from November into late April. I did not jump to conclusions. The variables from it working and prior - the RV antifreeze and the new macerator. Others have replaced their macerator and still have black tank sensors that do not read accurately.  The two plus gallons of RV Antifreeze into the black tank over about six months, I believe, is what has done it!

After the summer of 2019 Covid arrived, so travel was limited to not at all.  We live in an area that was very hard hit by the virus.  We were on lock down. There were a lot of deaths. Businesses were closed and supermarkets that were open had empty shelves.  But I still had to winterize the RT and in 2019 I put two gallons of RV antifreeze again into the black tank in addition to the antifreeze that went down into the tank winterizing. The empty black tank showed empty when before the antifreeze went in and just the two gallons of RV A/F, it still showed empty. As Covid lessened we took some day trips using the black tank. The sensors read correctly.  After dumping it showed empty - every time!

Recently we used the black tank a lot. It went to 1/3 and correctly after that to 2/3.  Before I dumped the tank I added water to the tank and took it to full - and it read full.  We dumped the tank - and it now reads empty. I tested this over three years plus - each time winterizing two gallons of RV antifreeze went into the tank between winterizing in the late Fall and dewinterizing in the Spring. The sensors are still reading accurately. 

 So what do you do if you want the same results? I do not know that if you vary the time period shorter that the RV antifreeze is in the tank, it will work for you. If you put it in and let is sit for a couple of weeks or even a month or two, I doubt it will work!  Put it in over six months and you should have the same results. No guarantees - but if it worked for me - it should work for you. Do I use any "special" antifreeze? No - unless you consider $3.99 a gallon antifreeze from Walmart special.  This same antifreeze has kept my plumbing safe over the winter for years. Will it work with other RV antifreeze? It should.  

 For eight bucks for a fix?! It is well worth the investment in two bottles of RV antifreeze and no more guessing if the tank is full! I feel I should put steps to this of what to do. OK - 

1) When winterizing - dump your black and grey tanks before you start along with draining your fresh tanks - all part of my winterizing step by step article.  This article is found here - https://roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com/2013/11/winterizing-your-roadtrek-step-by-step.html

2) Go through all the steps in the winterizing article through NUMBER 48. Instead of putting one gallon in as specified there put TWO GALLONS IN! Do this with or without a macerator. The macerator has nothing to do with fixing the sensors!

3) If you have no problem with your grey tank - as I  don't - then do not put any into the grey tank. If you want to, you certainly can but unless your sensors don't read accurately in your grey tank there is no need to do this. 

4) That is it! Leave it in until you de-winterize. While it is in the first time you do this you will still see sensors that are not working correctly. Once you dump your black tank in the Spring it should read EMPTY!

FINALLY...

My last articles were about a trip cut short - as our summer trip had also been. We were determined to get out in the Roadtrek and have a trip that we could relax on. If you have been reading along, you know that the service call on this last trip required a return to the dealer's service center to have the black tank's sensor resistor replaced so that it would actually work - we hoped. We also had an appointment to have what the service center calls a "demo winterizing". Winterizing is done on RVs in cold climates in the winter when the temperatures will fall below freezing. It is done to protect the plumbing from freezing. The "demo" part at this dealer is when the owners are shown step by step what is done when the winterizing is done, and watch and help with the first winterizing, so that in the future they will be able to do this on their own. It costs more than the dealer just winterizing for you, but after this, you can just do it yourself. We arranged to have both the tank repair and the demo winterizing done on the same day - a Wednesday, a week and a half later from the last service.

When we left Pennsylvania suddenly Meryl suggested that we come back the two days before the service appointment to finish the trip that barely got started. I thought that was a great idea, but I must admit that in the back of my mind I wondered what would go wrong if we went. We decided to wait and see. We did not make any campground reservation. The likelihood of this campground booking to capacity in the beginning of November was slim. If all was well, we would call the morning that we were leaving and get a site reserved.

I watched the weather as far in advance as you can for a period of about ten days ahead. It looked good. Too good. It was to be warm - especially for November and it was to be nice and sunny. Day to day, I kept checking the updates. By Sunday of the week of the appointment we knew that the trip was on.

When we travel we take some things out of the Roadtrek that we bring back into the house that we don't want to leave inside for any extended period of time, so there were things - not many things - but things that had to be packed back inside. We also had to fill at least one water tank for the trip. We filled the tank on Saturday and put what we would need on the trip on Sunday. Everything was set to go.

And I went to bed Sunday night thinking about what could happen that had not yet happened while we were away. Meryl had joking said "tornado". Unlikely, but as we had learned this past year, anything is possible.

Monday morning came and we got up and called the campground. Of course, they had a space for us and we even requested and were given a particular one that we had been in before. We were off.

Of course, there is no such thing anymore as traveling off Long Island where we live without encountering traffic and we wound up in a long traffic jam that seemed to be the result of one car over on the side of the road with a tow truck. This was not even mentioned on the radio traffic reports, but we sat bumper to bumper for an hour. Things generally get better once you cross the state line into New Jersey and not only does the traffic improve (most of the time) but the gasoline prices drop about fifty cents per gallon.

Half-way through New Jersey and it is possible to pick up the Country station coming out of Philadelphia on the radio and with a mix of old and new country songs we cruised into Pennsylvania and headed southwest. The sun was out and the temperature was nicely comfortable. It looked like we would get what we have been hoping for - a nice, relaxing trip.

We arrived at the campground - Old Mill Stream Campground in Lancaster - and greeted the two ladies in the office who had been there when we had left suddenly ten days before. We told them that we hoped that another sudden weather disaster would not be trailing along with us again. All laughed, but as things have been going, it was a cautious laugh. We paid for two days and went out to the Roadtrek to get it into the space. Old Mill Stream Campground is one of the few in this area that is open all year and those that are not had closed at the end of October.

When we pull in to a space we always check the electricity and also see if we can find a level spot on the gravel. We had been in this same space before and liked it because it has easy access in and out to the main entrance/exit road in the campground. We noticed that in the space next to us there was a pop-up trailer. A pop-up trailer is basically a tent on wheels. I knew that the night would get a lot colder than the warm day temperatures and wondered just what it would be like to be in a trailer/tent with net sides. What I remembered about this space is that it is not quite level. It is close but it took a lot of moving around to find the spot. I figured that if I could find it now, we would know exactly where to place the van when we came back at night. We tried for some time and never did find level ground. It was close but off enough that we could have used a lego block under both front wheels to raise them up to level the whole van. We would decide on that when we got back at night. We were off to the places that we like to go.

When I wrote about our trip over July Fourth weekend I wrote about an attraction called Kitchen Kettle. There are some places in this area that we have been going to for years and years and we just like to go back to. For us they are relaxing and for me they bring back memories of relaxing times that I have had there in the past. That is usually one of the first places we head to when we have no special agenda to follow when we are here and that is where we went this day.

I will not go into the details. Check back in July's articles and you will see what this place is all about. Again, nothing very special, but nice. In fact, if someone said, tell me what is nice about it, I could not really say any one thing that would make any real sense. It is just one of those places that we like. We arrived, parked the Roadtrek in one of the several RV spaces - the little Roadtrek really lost in the large parking space meant for a bus-sized RV. We then just strolled around in and out of the little shops that make up Kitchen Kettle Village. Things were starting to be decorated for Christmas - even though the weather felt like early September. Pleasant and nice. And most importantly, relaxing.

By the time that we were ready to leave Kitchen Kettle it was almost 5 pm and tourist spots here close at 5 - especially out of the summer months.

We went over to one of the outlet centers to look for a few things - again, nothing exciting. We then went to dinner - which was pleasantly exciting - at a restaurant that we new to us that I had heard of and wanted to try. All in all, nothing exciting - and that is exactly what we wanted.

Now, you know that we can't end a day away without a stop at some point in a Walmart and that is exactly how we ended our evening out. We got back to the campground, found an almost level, but not quite spot on our site, did not put out the lego blocks because the level was close enough, and hooked up. No drama. And happily, all was well.

The temperature at night was supposed to stay in the forties. I did not put on the propane because I did not anticipate needing the furnace. We have found so far that the heat pump in the air conditioner provides more than enough heat inside the Roadtrek. In fact it blows heat so strongly at the front while we are sitting and watching television that I have run a fan to blow a stream of air to divert the heat off of us. We started the heat pump - and the fan - and settled in for the night. When it was time for bed, we turned off the fan, and left the heat pump on. There are directional louvers over the bed on the lower portion of the ceiling that you can direct the heat (or air conditioning) on or away from you in the bed. We had those set to keep us comfortable and we went to sleep.

Boring - that is good. That is exactly why were were there and that is exactly what we wanted. There is an ancient Chinese curse that goes "May you live in interesting times." Think about that one. We did not want any more interesting times.

The trip continued two more days. This first day was wonderful - boring but wonderful. We hoped the next day would be the same - and it promised to be. I shall save that day for next week. We are getting to the point that if I am going to keep writing weekly through the RV off season I have to stretch things out a bit or run out of things to write about with the Roadtrek on the driveway for the winter. So come on back for the next day of a pleasant trip - wonderfully boring as it may be.

WINTERIZING YOUR ROADTREK - STEP BY STEP

I have written two other articles about winterizing the Roadtrek - Winterizing the Roadtrek and Winterizing Observations. Many of our readers have used both of these articles successfully to winterize their own Roadtrek. Looking over both articles and just completing our second winterizing experience on our own, I felt that what is needed is one article that puts the entire process in one place and definitively goes through the process in simple to follow steps. The basic process applies not only to all Roadtreks similarly equipped, but also all RVs and many trailers. There is no mystery to winterizing unless you have never done it before. With this article anyone should be able to winterize their Roadtrek and in no more than two hours - most likely a lot less. Remember that this is STEP BY STEP IN THE SIMPLEST OF STEPS. Do not let the number of steps you see here overwhelm you or discourage you!

 NOTE: If you have not installed a winterizing valve on your Roadtrek and/or you don't have a winterizing hand pump, Just pour the RV antifreeze into your EMPTY front (exterior) fresh tank and just use your water pump to put the RV antifreeze through the plumbing and fixtures. 

IF you just have the winterizing hand pump you can use that to do the entire process. It just takes two to do this - one inside the turn on and off the water fixtures and one outside with the pump and the RV Antifreeze bottle to pump. 

THIS IS A CHANGE TO WHAT TYPE OF RV ANTIFREEZE TO USE (SEPTEMBER 2024). IT HAS RECENTLY COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT RV ANTIFREEZE THAT IS ETHANOL BASED MIX OR FULLY ETHANOL IS NOT GOOD FOR THE SEALS IN THE TANKS OR THE TOILET. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO USE RV ANTIFREEZE THAT IS PROPYLENE GLYCOL BASED.  PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE IS SAID TO BE GOOD FOR THE SEALS AND LUBRICATES THEM. MANY OF THE BOTTLES OF RV ANTIFREEZE SOLD ARE A COMBINATION OF THE TWO BUT APPARENTLY THAT DOES NOT HELP WITH THE MAJORITY OF ETHANOL THAT IS IN THE MIX. I HAVE SEARCHED LOCALLY FOR WHO CARRIES PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE AND FOUND THAT HOME DEPOT CARRIES  THIS PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE:

PRIME GUARD 128 FL OZ PG FORMULA AND GLYCERIN FREE  MINUS 50 DEGREE F RV ANTIFREEZE

IT IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE ETHANOL BASED ANTIFREEZE AT VARIOUS RETAILERS. CURRENTLY IT IS SELLING FOR $7.98 A BOTTLE.  HOME DEPOT ALSO HAS A ETHANOL BASED RV ANTIFREEZE FROM THIS SAME COMPANY - DO NOT BUY THAT. TO AVOID PROBLEMS WITH THE TANK SEALS I AM SWITCHING TO PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE FOR WINTERIZIING. (I am in no way related to this RV Antifreeze company or Home Depot and am not receiving anything in return for mentioning this product.)

THERE IS A RELATED CHANGE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS SECTION ABOUT WHAT TO USE TO KEEP YOUR TOILET BOWL FLUSH SEAL MOIST WHEN WINTERIZING. PLEASE LOOK FOR THAT. IT WILL ALSO BE IN RED.

 

To start, here is a list of what you will need to follow this process and as I go through the steps I will explain alternatives for some of these items. There are some that you must have.

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE BEFORE YOU START:

 -  THREE (3) BOTTLES OF RV ANTIFREEZE (Pink, non-toxic and drinking water safe)

 -  RATCHET SOCKET WRENCH with 1 -1/16" SOCKET (For Roadtrek SUBURBAN Water Heater)

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEFORE YOU START:

-   CAMCO WATER PUMP CONVERTER WINTERIZER KIT

This is permanently installed between the pipe coming from your fresh water tank and your water pump. Here it has been installed on the intake side of the water pump filter strainer (which on my Roadtrek was moved by service to make room to install the winterizing kit - the brass valve that you see here). Some older Roadtreks do not have room for this valve to be installed. It is possible to make room by adding pipe to the intake side of the water pump as was done here bringing the connection to the floor. A service center can install this for you and make it fit. If no modifications are required for space at your water pump this is an easy DIY install with full instructions included with the kit.

-   PLASTIC WINTERIZING HAND PUMP KIT

This is distributed by several RV accessories companies. They are all the same with the exception of color. If you cannot install the water pump converter above you can winterize with just this. With the pump converter, you will also want this as you will see in the winterizing steps below.

-  8" ADJUSTABLE WRENCH
The wrench is to remove and replace the cap on the water pump converter valve as shown above.

 Before you begin here is one preliminary step - 

CLEAN THE FLOOR OF YOUR ROADTREK AROUND THE SHOWER DRAIN TO AVOID ANY DIRT GETTING WASHED INTO YOUR WASTE TANK.

NOW - You are ready to BEGIN!

1. IF YOU HAVE A 190 OR 210 (Models with two fresh water tanks) MAKE SURE YOUR TANKS ARE SET TO SUMMER MODE. 

2. OPEN THE INSIDE SHOWER DRAIN BY REMOVING THE DRAIN SCREEN/PLUG. For an aisle shower remove the plate on the aisle floor and the shower drain is inside. For the permanent bathroom, remove the shower drain screen/plug from the floor.

3. OPEN ALL FAUCETS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. FLUSH TOILET.  Water pump OFF! Put your inside shower head down on the floor right at the drain to catch the water that will come out. Remove any water filters that you may have on your faucets first.

4. DUMP YOUR WASTE TANKS - BLACK AND GREY. Flush your black tank with clean water to full and dump again.  For convenience this can be done at the end of your last camping trip of the season. As long as it is done before you start winterizing.



5. REMOVE THE FRESH WATER TANK FILL CAP(S) IN THE DOOR FRAME(S).

6. DRAIN YOUR FRESH WATER TANK(S). Newer Roadtreks have a cap on a drain under the chassis at the rear, lower corner of the driver's door that must be unscrewed and removed. Some older Roadtreks will have a turn valve in the same location. Other older Roadtreks have other methods to drain the fresh water tank. For 190's and 210's, the rear interior tank will drain into the front exterior tank with the outside drain if your are set to Summer Mode as per Step 1. WAIT FOR ALL OF THE WATER TO DRAIN OUT. This may take some time. It will come to a slow drip and then stop. If you want to be sure, leave the drain open for 24 hours or more to allow the inside of the tank to dry out.

7. CLOSE ALL FAUCETS INSIDE AND OUT.

8. CLOSE THE FRESH WATER TANK DRAIN.

9. KEEP THE FRESH WATER TANK CAP(S) OFF FOR A FEW DAYS TO ALLOW THE TANKS TO DRY OUT BEFORE PUTTING THEM  BACK INTO THE DOOR FRAME(S) HOLE(S).

10. OPEN THE HOT WATER HEATER OUTSIDE PANEL. Turn the white plastic ring so that it matches the slit and grab the top of the panel pulling up and out.

11. OPEN THE HOT WATER PRESSURE RELEASE VALVE. This is the small handle in the middle of the photo above on the top of the compartment. Pull up gently on the metal handle. STEP BACK AND OUT OF THE WAY! Water will come rushing out with some force. Leave this open. Wait for the water to stop coming out before going to the next step.

12. OPEN THE HEX HEAD BOLT USING THE 1 1/16" SOCKET AND RATCHET WRENCH. This is seen in the exact middle of the bottom of the compartment in the photo above. This will be hard to turn at first. This hex bolt is the head of the ANODE ROD. Once completely loose pull out the Anode Rod by pulling out the head of the bolt you just turned open. ALL OF THE WATER WILL RUSH OUT OF THE HOT WATER HEATER. YOU JUST DRAINED THE HOT WATER HEATER TANK. SOME WATER WILL REMAIN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE HOT WATER TANK. Y9U CAN LEAVE THIS OR LEAVE IT OPEN FOR A FEW DAYS TO LET IT DRY OUT.

13. INSPECT THE ANODE ROD FOR CONDITION. It's purpose is to corrode. If it's diameter is less than a pencil it needs to be replaced. Replace with a new one now or make a note to replace when you de-winterize.  THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO FLUSH THE HOT WATER TANK OF ALL SEDIMENT - FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE TO SEE HOW.

14. REPLACE THE ANODE ROD AND TIGHTEN IT IN WITH THE SOCKET WRENCH. Use Teflon pipe tape or pipe sealant paste on the threads of the hex bolt.

15.  CLOSE THE PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE BY JUST GENTLY PUSHING IN THE HANDLE YOU PULLED OUT.

16. REPLACE THE HOT WATER HEATER PANEL. Put the bottom in first lining up the two points on the bottom frame with the two holes in the door. Push in with the plastic ring going through the slot. TURN THE PLASTIC RING TO LOCK.

GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK 

17.  BYPASS THE HOT WATER HEATER. Newer Roadtreks have three valves on pipes in the middle of the hot water tank inside in a cabinet. The hot water tank is covered in foam and is easy to identify. Older Roadtreks may have one valve. Roadtrek Ranger's have a very different process to drain the hot water tank and there is only one valve for the bypass.

You see above the three valves that you need to turn to bypass the water heater. The foam box behind the pipes is the hot water tank. There is a valve on the top pipe, one on the down (middle) pipe, and one on the bottom pipe. In this photo these valves are in NORMAL HOT WATER USE POSITION. TURN THEM IN THEIR OTHER DIRECTION and you have bypassed the hot water heater!   What you are doing is closing the valves on the top and bottom pipes and OPENING the valve on the down pipe. This is a bit confusing, but if you think about what you are trying to accomplish - cutting off water from the hot water tank and sending water around it, it starts to make sense as that down pipe once opened will send water around the closed connections. When in bypass water still comes out of the hot water faucets - it will just be COLD water - and that is what is should be when the hot water heater is bypassed.

18. PLUG IN YOUR ROADTREK OR TURN ON YOUR GENERATOR IF YOUR COACH BATTERIES ARE NOT FULLY CHARGED. You will now be using your water pump and you don't want to run out of battery power. If your batteries are charged, just use your batteries. TURN ON YOUR BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH.

19.  TURN ON YOUR WATER PUMP WITH THE SWITCH ON THE WALL.

20. OPEN AND CLOSE ALL FAUCET HANDLES INCLUDING THE SHOWER HOT AND COLD AND FLUSH THE TOILET UNTIL NO MORE WATER COMES OUT. The water pump may run on because it is now sucking air from the empty fresh water tanks.

21. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP WITH THE SWITCH ON THE WALL. 

22. OPEN THE TOILET LID AND POUR ONE HALF GALLON OR MORE OF ANTIFREEZE INTO THE TOILET AND FLUSH IT DOWN INTO THE BLACK TANK. Doing this step now prevents the loss of antifreeze that you put into the toilet lines if you do this step later. This is to keep the black tank wet all winter with antifreeze so that it does not dry out and also puts antifreeze in that you will use later to protect the macerator. Do this even if you don't have a macerator. 

GO OUTSIDE THE ROADTREK

23. CONNECT THE HOSE ON THE ANTIFREEZE HAND PUMP ONTO THE CITY WATER INLET CONNECTION. Make sure that the CITY WATER VALVE IS SET TO USE WATER AND NOT TO FILL THE FRESH TANK(S).

24. SOMEONE NEEDS TO GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK TO THE SINK FAUCET, WHILE YOU STAY AT OUTSIDE WITH THE HAND PUMP. Open a door or a window or use a walkie-talkie so that the two of you can communicate.

25. PERSON INSIDE OPEN THE SINK FAUCET ALL THE WAY TO COLD.

26. PUT THE OTHER END OF THE HAND PUMP INTO AN OPEN, FULL ANTIFREEZE BOTTLE.

27. PUMP THE HAND PUMP UNTIL THE PERSON INSIDE SEES PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMING OUT INTO THE SINK FROM THE FAUCET. As soon as the person sees pink antifreeze and no water coming out and tells you, they should CLOSE THE FAUCET and YOU STOP PUMPING.

28. REMOVE THE HAND PUMP FROM THE CITY WATER HOSE CONNECTION. The pump is full of antifreeze and will spill so get both ends of the hose into the bottle quickly and empty the pump. 

29. CAP THE CITY WATER HOSE CONNECTION IF YOU HAVE A CAP.

GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK YOU ARE FINISHED WITH THE HAND PUMP. YOU HAVE JUST PROTECTED THE CITY WATER HOSE VALVE AND THE PIPES THAT GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK.

YOU ARE NOW GOING TO USE THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE INSTALLED YOU CAN USE THE HAND PUMP BY FOLLOWING THE NEXT STEPS WITH THE HAND PUMP STILL CONNECTED AND ONE PERSON INSIDE AND ONE PERSON OUTSIDE PUMPING ANTIFREEZE INTO THE PLUMBING USING THE HAND PUMP.

30. REMOVE THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE CAP. You may need the 8" adjustable wrench to do this if the cap is on tight. 

31. CONNECT THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE ANTIFREEZE HOSE TO THE VALVE BY SCREWING IT ON WHERE YOU REMOVED THE CAP.

32. OPEN THE VALVE. Turn the brass valve to point toward the antifreeze hose (across the valve).

33. PUT THE END OF THE HOSE INTO THE ANTIFREEZE IN THE BOTTLE.

34. TURN ON THE WATER PUMP.

35. TURN ON THE KITCHEN SINK FAUCET TO COLD ALL THE WAY. In a few moments the pump will pull the antifreeze from the bottle and into the water pump, through the pipe and out the kitchen sink faucet.

36. TURN OFF THE FAUCET WHEN YOU SEE PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE ONLY COMING FROM FAUCET INTO THE SINK. First there may be a burst of air, then maybe, but unlikely water, and then antifreeze with some water, and then pure pink antifreeze. Let it go down the sink drain.

37. REPEAT STEPS 35 AND 36 FOR THE

                      KITCHEN SINK HOT WATER

                      INSIDE SHOWER COLD WATER

                      INSIDE SHOWER HOT WATER

                      OUTSIDE SHOWER HOT WATER

                      OUTSIDE SHOWER COLD WATER
                    

      IF YOU HAVE A PERMANENT BATH WITH A SINK THAT IS NOT THE SAME FAUCET AS THE SHOWER FAUCET:

 

                      BATHROOM SINK HOT WATER

                      BATHROOM SINK COLD WATER

                       QUICKLY OPEN AND CLOSE THE HOT WATER HEATER BYPASS VALVES TO ALLOW A LITTLE RV ANTIFREEZE TO FLOW INTO THE VALVES TO PROTECT THOSE. CLOSE THOSE VALVES ALMOST IMMEDIATELY!

38. FLUSH THE TOILET AND HOLD THE VALVE OPEN UNTIL YOU SEE PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMING INTO THE TOILET.

39. ALLOW SOME ANTIFREEZE TO REMAIN IN THE TOILET COVERING THE RUBBER FLUSH FLAP/DOOR. If there is none remaining after you flushed the antifreeze, then just pour some from an antifreeze bottle into the toilet and let an inch or so sit over the flush flap.

**** UPDATE/ADD IN -

Having followed my own directions for several years now to winterize my Roadtrek, I have found one step that needs to come at THIS POINT and not later. That step is winterizing the macerator pump. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A MACERATOR SKIP NOW RIGHT TO STEP 49. IF YOU DO HAVE A MACERATOR, do these steps NOW.


40. POUR A HALF GALLON OF ANTIFREEZE INTO THE KITCHEN SINK DRAIN. This is to put some antifreeze into the Grey Tank.

41. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP. LEAVE THE SETUP WITH THE A/F BOTTLE AND THE WINTERIZING VALVE IN PLACE.

 GO OUTSIDE THE ROADTREK

41. PREPARE TO DUMP THE BLACK TANK WITH THE MACERATOR.

42. POINT THE MACERATOR HOSE INTO A BUCKET AND OPEN THE BLACK TANK VALVE. RUN THE MACERATOR UNTIL PURE PINK ANTIFREEZE COMES OUT. 

43. REPEAT STEP 42, BRIEFLY OPENING THE GREY TANK VALVE. 

44. STOP AND PUT AWAY THE MACERATOR HOSE.

YOU HAVE JUST PROTECTED THE MACERATOR.    

 GO INSIDE THE ROADTREK

45. GO TO THE TOILET AND OPEN THE TOILET FLAP. POUR AT LEAST ONE HALF GALLON OF RV ANTIFREEZE DOWN THE TOILET INTO TH BLACK TANK. When you push the flush pedal you may see pink antifreeze coming from the toilet water opening even though the water pump is OFF. This is OK. This is the antifreeze sitting in the toilet valve and pipe under pressure. We will replace that NEXT.
 

46. TURN ON THE WATER PUMP AND GO BACK TO THE A/F BOTTLE AND WINTERIZING VALVE. MAKE SURE THE HOSE IS IN THE BOTTLE.

47. HAVE YOUR PARTNER PUSH DOWN THE TOILET PEDAL ALL THE WAY UNTIL PINK ANTIFREEZE FLOWS STEADILY OUT OF THE TOILET WATER OPENING INTO THE BOWL AND DOWN INTO THE BLACK TANK. STOP (FOOT OFF THE PEDAL) AS SOON AS IT FLOWS.  

48. CHANGED STEP --- 9/2024 -  WE NOW NEED TO KEEP THE RUBBER SEAL IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TOILET BOWL MOIST FOR THE WINTER.  IN THE SUMMER WE DO THIS WITH WATER. FOR THE WINTER I RECOMMEND THAT YOU GET THIS PRODUCT - OR USE THE PROPYLENE GLYCOL RV ANTIFREEZE THE PRODUCT I AM RECOMMENDING FOR THIS STEP IS THETFORD TOILET SEAL LUBRICANT AND CONDITIONER. THIS USE IS RECOMMENDED ON THE BOTTLE IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER THINGS IT IS USED FOR WITH THE TOILET SEAL. PER THE BOTTLE POUR 1/4 OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BOTTLE (6 OUNCES) ONTO THE TOILET FLAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL WITH THE BLACK RUBBER RING AROUND ITS EDGE.  THIS WILL COVER THE FLAP UP TO THE TOP OF THAT INDENT IN THE BOWL.  IF YOU USE THE RV ANTIFREEZE INSTEAD THEN PUT 6 OUNCES OF THAT ON THE SAME WAY.  THIS PRODUCT IS NOT EASY TO FIND LOCALLY.  IT CAN BE FOUND ONLINE. IF THERE IS AN RV DEALER WITH A PARTS SHOP TRY CALLING THEM TO SEE IF THEY HAVE IT. I TRIED TWO - ONE DID NOT AND THE OTHER WAS ABLE TO GET IT FOR ME THE NEXT DAY TO COME AND PICK UP. (I am in no way related to the Thetford company and I am not receiving anything in return for mentioning this product.)

 

*49. TAKE THE HOSE OUT OF THE ANTIFREEZE BOTTLE.

50. TURN ON THE KITCHEN SINK AND LET ANTIFREEZE RUN OUT INTO THE SINK.

51. TURN OFF THE WATER PUMP.

52. TURN THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE HANDLE TO POINT TOWARD THE WATER PIPE (AS SHOWN IN THE PHOTO ABOVE). 


53. UNSCREW THE HOSE FROM THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE.

54. PUT THE CAP BACK ON THE WATER PUMP CONVERTER VALVE. Make sure the cap is on tight. Use the wrench but don't over tighten. You want to be sure that no air can leak into your water pump plumbing from here when you go to use your Roadtrek next Spring. 



55. POUR A CUP OF ANTIFREEZE SLOWLY INTO THE KITCHEN SINK DRAIN TO FILL THE TRAP.

56. POUR A CUP OF ANTIFREEZE SLOWLY INTO THE SHOWER DRAIN TO FILL THE TRAP.

57. PUT THE SHOWER DRAIN STRAINER/CAP ON BUT LEAVE IT LOOSE.

58. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MACERATOR AND DID NOT DO THIS STEP ABOVE, POUR SOME ANTIFREEZE INTO THE TOILET TO COVER THE TOILET FLAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL TO KEEP IT FROM DRYING OUT OVER THE WINTER.

59. TURN OFF THE BATTERY SWITCH ON THE WALL!

60. IF YOU PLUGGED IN FOR POWER UNPLUG OR TURN OFF THE GENERATOR.

61. IN A FEW DAYS, PUT THE DOOR FILL CAP(S) BACK INTO THE HOLE(S). 

 YOU HAVE JUST WINTERIZED YOUR ROADTREK!

 
When you are going to winterize your Roadtrek print these step by step directions out and cross off each step as you complete it. This will be far better than trying to use a checklist with brief and confusing wording of items. Here you have it complete and simple. 

If you do not wish to use the "toys" that make this job simple as shown in the photos at the beginning, you could just pour gallons and gallons of antifreeze down into the fresh water tank and let the water pump bring it out and into the pipes following the steps above. This method uses far more antifreeze than is necessary. With my directions you will not need more than three gallons of antifreeze, maybe less. I would rather not have the antifreeze in the tanks for my drinking water. Yes, it is in the pipes and is is non-toxic, but why have all of that antifreeze sitting in your fresh water tank(s) all winter.

Do not be concerned about the fresh water tank(s). If there is any water left in the bottom of the exterior tank at all it will be so little that it can cause no problems in a freeze. The problems come when water freezes in small places such as pipes and valves. The water when it freezes expands and has no room to go so the pipe or valve bursts. The large tanks have plenty of room for water expansion as long as they are as near empty as possible. In all of those small places you have replaced the water with antifreeze!


If you plan to travel with your Roadtrek winterized, NEVER TURN ON THE HOT WATER HEATER SWITCH. Doing so on an empty hot water tank will burn out your hot water heater and can be very dangerous. There is a wire cable coming out from the top of the foam tank that connects with a small circuit board plug to a socket on the wall to the front right of the hot water tank. By pulling that plug gently out you will prevent the hot water wall switch from operating. Just remember that you did this when you de-winterize.

Don't forget that you still need to go into your Roadtrek all winter. You must run the generator under load (in the winter this means connect an electric heater to put the half load needed on the system) for two hours every month to keep it running properly.Start the Roadtrek engine. Take a drive, but avoid roads with salt for ice and snow as the salt will corrode the under carriage and what is located there of your Roadtrek

An RV shop will charge you $50 or more to do what you just did for the price of three bottles antifreeze, a one time only investment in the water pump converter valve and the antifreeze hand pump, and less than two hours of time. The actual process goes quickly. It is the moving from spot to spot, getting things out and putting things away that take most of the time.


 

 

Winterizing the Roadtrek

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED. DO NOT USE THIS ARTICLE TO WINTERIZE. USE THIS ARTICLE INSTEAD:

WINTERIZING: THE DEFINITIVE STEP BY STEP GUIDE

 

If you live in an area where the temperatures drop below freezing in the late Fall or Winter, you are going to need to winterize your Roadtrek. Essentially, this is removing all of the water from your Roadtrek's plumbing and keeping it from freezing. Most RVs have to have this done. Some of the large RVs have heating elements that will keep the plumbing warm in the coldest temperatures, but Roadtreks, for the most part are too small to install the equipment required to do this.

As the temperatures started to drop on us, here in the Northeast, in October we started to become concerned about when to do this - we had a few more trips before we planned to put the Roadtrek on the driveway for the winter. During our trip in late October we almost regretted not doing the winterizing by then as we had a few cold nights with the temps coming down near and at freezing. When we consulted the dealership and a few other RVers we were told that the temperatures would really have to be below 28 degrees F for three days and nights in a row before really needing to be concerned and as long as the days were coming back to well above freezing - in the mid to upper 40's - we should be fine. Just in case, I put a some antifreeze into our waste tanks and with our 190 Popular we have the option to shut off one of the two water tanks - the exterior water tank and we drained that, and turned the system over to just use the interior water tank - which Roadtrek claims can be used up to 14 degrees F outside. It is all a bit like shooting crap. Maybe the water in the pipes will freeze under these conditions and maybe they will not. If they freeze and the water inside of them expands and puts pressure on the interior of the pipe, the pipe bursts and then you have a very expensive repair that is not covered under warranty. We made it through that trip just fine - except for that freak snow storm that I wrote about - but made sure that we had an appointment with dealer service shortly after to winterize the Roadtrek.

Many winterize their RVs themselves, and we intend to do that in the future, but our dealer offers a "demo" winterizing during which the owners watch while the service tech winterizes the RV and you then are taught how to do it all yourself in the future. This cost just slightly more than the regular winterizing at this dealer service center, and it seemed to us to be well worth it to see it all and be taught by an "expert".

The day of the winterizing, we were having some other work done - and while we were waiting for that to be finished we walked around the dealer's RV parts and supplies store, and saw something called a Water Pump Bypass Kit. This kit is installed on the water pump and allows RV antifreeze to be pumped directly into the pipes from the bottle connected into the water lines using the RVs water pump. I had no idea if the Roadtrek had such a thing already built in so we passed it by. Later, we learned that the RT does not have such a bypass (though it does have a built in bypass for the hot water heater), and during the winterizing, we stopped and purchased this and the service tech doing the winterizing installed it for us. I will go into more detail about this as I describe the process of winterizing the Roadtrek.

The following is what we were taught. Please note that this service tech used a combination of accepted methods. He used both compressed air to clear the lines of all water and he put RV anti-freeze into the lines. Some do one or the other. Some do both. For the little additional time that it takes to do both, it is well worth the added protection. With both the whole process was less than an hour.

So - to winterize the Roadtrek - any Roadtrek - here is how it is done...

I take no responsibility if you follow these steps and have problems or cause damage. This is how it was done and how we will do it - but be advised, take a class for yourself! This process is offered for illustrative purposes ONLY!

TO BEGIN YOU WILL NEED -

2-3 bottle of RV antifreeze - this is the PINK antifreeze specifically made for RVs and nothing other than that should be used. Never use engine anti-freeze! It is poison and you are putting this into your drinking water system.

Ratchet Socket Wrench with 1 -1/16" socket (For Roadtrek Water Heater)

Air Compressor

Fitting for Air Compressor to Connect to City Water Inlet (standard garden hose faucet)

FOR FIRST TIME YOU MAY WISH TO INSTALL THE CAMCO PUMP CONVERTER WINTERIZING KIT

1 - Open all spigots & outdoor drain & drain fresh water tanks - let air out of faucets – hot and cold, shut spigots off. Make sure, if you have a 190, that the water system is set to "summer" mode and not with the exterior tank shut off in "winter" mode.

2 – Drain (dump) waste tanks (Flush Grey & Black Tanks- clean black tank with wand and dump again)

3 - Open hot water heater outside panel. First release pressure by pressing the pressure overflow release valve - STAND OUT OF THE WAY. Then using the 1-1/16" socket remove the anode tube (big nut) slowly, allow pressure to release before removing all the way - water will come out with force if there is any pressure remaining in the tank. Remove the anode bolt completely & allow water to pour out. Leave out. (Allow hot water tank to cool before draining.)


4 – Place the inside shower head on floor drain. Open all faucets, hot and cold, including sink/ toilet/shower/outside shower. Drain inside shower into floor drain. Recap all drains and close faucets.

5 - Bypass the water heater - 3 valves (in front of it) when pointing at the aisle they are open and this is “normal operation” position. Turn each of these three valves to winterize/bypass position. (After winter put back in position.) Never turn valve top left back behind big red valve. Never touch outside shower valves in cabinet.

You see above the three valves that you need to turn to bypass the water heater. The foam box behind the pipes is the hot water tank. There is a valve on the top pipe, one on the down pipe, and one on the bottom pipe. In this photo these valves are turned in the NORMAL operating position. TURN THEM in their OTHER DIRECTION and you have BYPASSED the hot water heater!

What you are doing is closing the valves on the top and bottom pipes and OPENING the valve on the down pipe. This is a bit confusing, but if you think about what you are trying to accomplish - cutting off water from the hot water tank and sending water around it, it starts to make sense as that down pipe once opened will send water around the closed connections.

6 - Replace anode tube(outside of water heater) get it started straight & carefully tighten by hand, once hand tight then use wrench. Close the pressure release valve. Replace hot water heater cover outside. (There is some disagreement between myself and Meryl as to if this was done before or after the next step. Some I have consulted with since, recommend doing this now.)

 NOTE: I HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY ROADTREK THAT USING COMPRESSED AIR TO WINTERIZE THE WATER SYSTEM IN A ROADTREK CAN CAUSE DAMAGE IN MULTIPLE WAYS AND IT SHOULD NOT BE DONE. I AM TAKING THAT ADVICE AND I RECOMMEND THAT YOU SKIP THE COMPRESSED AIR SECTION THAT FOLLOWS AND INSTEAD RUN THE LINES DRY WITH THE WATER PUMP - IN OTHER WORDS RUN THE WATER PUMP AND OPEN AND CLOSE EACH FAUCET AND FLUSH THE TOILET UNTIL NO WATER COMES OUT AND THEN PROCEED WITH PUTTING IN THE ANTI-FREEZE.

SKIP - 7 - Set an air compressor to 25 to 40 psi (this tech used 40 psi - many use 25 psi or 30 psi at the most - NEVER GO BEYOND 40 PSI), attach compressor hose to city water intake valve using a nipple or device sold for this purpose at RV supply stores. Turn on compressor. (Faucets closed). With the air running open ALL hot & cold water faucets - ONE AT A TIME (including outside shower, inside shower, sink, and toilet flush) and let all remaining water out until only air comes out. Close each after a few seconds of just air. Let shower head drain into floor drain. SHUT OFF COMPRESSOR, REMOVE FROM ROADTREK BY DISCONNECTING FROM CITY WATER INTAKE. You are finished with the compressor.

NEW 7 -  Turn on your water pump and open ALL hot and cold water faucets one at a time 
(including outside shower, inside shower, sink, and toilet flush) and let all remaining water out until only the water stops.  Let shower head drain into floor drain. You may find that water does not come out of all of the faucets as you have already emptied the line.

THIS IS THE POINT THAT THE WATERLINE BYPASS KIT WAS INSTALLED. YOU ONLY INSTALL THIS THE FIRST TIME AND LEAVE IT IN PLACE PERMANENTLY. WHEN THE TECH LOOKED AT THE PROXIMITY OF THE WATER LINE TO THE WATER PUMP IN THE ROADTREK HE DECIDED TO ADD A SMALL PVC ELBOW JOINT INTO THE LINE TO MOVE THE VALVE THAT HE WAS INSTALLING AWAY FROM THE PUMP TO ALLOW MORE ROOM TO USE IT. THIS IS A SMALL PIECE OF PIPE AVAILABLE AT ANY PLUMBING RETAILER.

It is a very close space and difficult to photograph. Follow the directions that come with the kit. That little pink cap on the left (?) hides one side of the connection. The other side is shown. The valve is the brass piece in the upper middle with the hose coming from the right. That hose was previously attached to the water pump output on the left.

8 - Inside - Use waterline bypass kit now to left side of opening under seat at water pump (remove the brass cap on the new brass valve just installed & screw hose in place where that cap set & turn valve). Valve pointing to pump is normal operating position. Point to intake hose to pump antifreeze. System is pressurized so open & close sink faucets to relieve pressure. Place the tank bypass kit hose into an open bottle of antifreeze as deep as it will go. Turn on water pump. Open sink faucet and when you the hear pump, shut off sink faucet. Pump stops - if doesn’t stop something is open. Turn cold sink valve on until pink antifreeze comes out of the sink faucet, shut off. Repeat with hot sink position, and shower hot & cold (into floor drain), outside shower hot & cold, and toilet flush. Watch for the pink antifreeze to come out of each. Make sure the anti-freeze is the same color of pink as in the bottle. If it is lighter there may be water mixed in at first, so just let more antifreeze flow through each faucet and the toilet until you see pure antifreeze coming through.

9 - Pull hose out of bottle. Run sink faucet into sink. Shut off pump. Turn water line bypass kit valve off. Remove hose, replace brass cap.

10- Pour antifreeze into sink drain and floor drain to fill both traps, & then some into toilet drain for macerator. Dump tank(s) until pink comes out of the macerator hose nozzle. (In this way you are protecting the macerator by getting antifreeze into it also. If you have no macerator then you don't need to dump antifreeze out of your waste tanks, but do be sure to have at least a half gallon of antifreeze in the black tank so that the tank does not dry out!

11 - Leave caps off clean ("fresh") water tanks for a couple of days to air dry them out.

12 - Pour ½ gallon antifreeze into black tank through the toilet and ½ gallon antifreeze into gray tank down the sink drain. Pour some antifreeze into the sink drain again into the trap just to be sure the antifreeze put in at Step 10 does not get pushed out when you put in the half gallon for the gray tank. 

13- UPDATE - Pour some antifreeze into the toilet just enough to cover the flap, and leave it there on top of the flush flap. This will keep it moist all winter  (as it would be with water on the flap when in summer use). The "cocolube" formerly recommended gets thick and pasty in the cold and is a mess. The antifreeze will keep the flap moist.

14- Leave shower drain loose.

THAT CONCLUDES THE WINTERIZING PROCESS.

What you have done is replace all of the water in the pipes and lines, first with air to dry them out and then with anti-freeze. Many have their own ways to do this process.This is how we were shown. I know that those who have done this will say, but we do it this way. That is fine. I will stick with what I was shown by a Roadtrek service technician.

Now, to start up in the Spring- (and I will get into this in more detail this coming Spring when we actually do this)

1 - Pressure in line - put hot water bypass valves to normal (open).

2 – Fill both fresh water tanks.

3 - Turn winter/summer valves to normal.

4 - Send water through system using the water pump including the hot water heater. Open each faucet and allow cleaning water to run through each – hot and cold positions. Do this twice.

5 - ½ cup Clorox in fresh water tank - fill & send through system using the water pump including the hot water heater. Open each faucet and allow cleaning water to run through each – hot and cold positions.

6 - Fill tanks and do #4 again. Make sure there is no pink in the water. If there is a chlorine taste to the water, do it again.

Again, I tell you all this to illustrate how it is done - not to recommend or instruct you to do any of this in this way - I take no responsibility if you do it and there is any problem or damage what so ever...

Even Whe You Know What You Are Doing , Things Go Wrong

 Weather here has been jumping from warm to hot and back to cold this Spring. We usually de-winterize in early May but waited until just now - the end of May to de-winterize.  As I have said in my de-winterizing and sanitizing articles, what you have to do takes very little time but de-winterizing and especially sanitizing the tanks involves a lot of waiting.  We de-winterize on one day and other than pouring the bleach water mix into the two fresh tanks on our 2011 Roadtrek 190 Popular, the sanitizing happens over night, the plumbing and tanks are flushed of bleach on the next day. 

De-winterizing went well.  Like many of our readers, I print out my own article on de-winterizing and sanitizing and follow along to make sure I have not left out any steps.  And I do go back and refer to it throughout the process. Nothing out of the ordinary happened -  other than my deciding to wait until the last minute to buy the bleach. Bleach goes bad over a year in the bottle. It turns to salt water and loses all of its disinfectant properties. We don't use bleach much in the house and we buy the bottle just for sanitizing the Roadtrek - so I knew that the bleach we had was from a year ago when we last de-winterized and sanitized the tanks - and kept putting off buying the bleach.  I decided that we would start de-winterizing and when we got to the point that we would pour the bleach into the Roadtrek, we would stop and go out and buy a small bottle of  bleach.  What I had not thought about was stopping meant putting everything away - the fresh water hose, unplugging because I did not want to use the battery to run the water pump, and just get ready to go.  So we went. Still all was OK. 

 We got home and got out the gallon water jug that we keep that says "BLEACH WATER" on the side and a measuring cup and the new bottle of bleach.  Out on the driveway next to the Roadtrek I took the hose and filled the water jug half way with water. I measured out a half cup of bleach and there was no odor from the bleach.  We checked the date on the bottle - it was good to some time in 2024.  I smelled the open bottle - no smell. Meryl smelled the open bottle - no smell. We stop and wonder what now.  Was the bleach bad because we remember the bleach smelling like bleach all the other times we measured it out. It was the correct bleach - it was disinfecting bleach - full strength. I poured the bleach into the water and filled the bottle the rest of the way with water. I put the cap on the bottle and gave it a shake to mix the bleach in the water.  Still no smell.  What's wrong? If you can't smell the bleach how will you know the bleach is out of the plumbing?

I was not going to stop - I took the funnel with the plastic tubing attached to it - that we made just for this purpose and started pouring the water/bleach into the front exterior fresh tank through the door fill in the driver's door frame.  I then could smell the bleach. It needed the water and to hit the air as it went into the fill hole through the funnel.  The bottle go to about 3.4 empty when the water and bleach came pouring up and out of the fill hole - all over the driver's door steps. What was wrong? Then I realized that just running the RV antifreeze out of the plumbing until only clear water came out of the sink, showers, and toilet was really not enough to take that much out of the front fresh tank - and combine that with the rear tank refilling the front tank as the water is pumped out into the fixtures, the front tank was fairly full. Was there a step I missed - no, but there should have been. Before pouring the bleach and water into the fresh tanks, let some water out of the tanks through the low point drain in the front exterior tank to make room for the gallon of water with the bleach in it that has to go into each of the two tanks.  I had a quarter of a gallon of bleach water that was not going to fit into the front tank. 

 I said something that I can't write here, and got the bleach bottle and the quarter filled water jug and poured in the one quarter cup of bleach for the rear interior tank, topped of the gallon jug with water, capped it, shook it to mix it, and took the funnel over to the rear cargo door with the water fill in the door frame. The funnel went in and the entire gallon of water and bleach poured into the rear tank - which had been refilling the front tank, as it is supposed to do. I got the hose and topped the back tank up with water.

I got into the Roadtrek, started the engine, and backed it down the driveway stopping short every few feet and then going back forward doing the same to mix the bleach and water inside the two tanks. That was it for the day. We just had to put everything away again. 

This brings us to the next day. The bleach and water sat in the tanks for just under 24 hours. According to the Clorox company when we called them years back, bleach and water after a number of hours turns to water but the bleach smell remains.  We could have drained the bleach after about four hours but we were not coming out in the middle of the night to start a process that has the most waiting.  This day was warmer than the day before which was supposed to be warmer but was fairly chilly. It was also maybe supposed to rain (which did not happen until the night). 

First thing to do was drain the bleach/water out of the two fresh tanks.  Our low point drain on the front tank - the only fresh water low point drain on our Roadtrek - has a screw off and screw on cap. Taking it off means lying on the ground next to the back corner of the driver's door, reaching under the chassis to the cap and unscrewing it which means bleach water pours out all over your hands.  We got the cap off - put it where we would not lose it and let the water drain while we had lunch. 

After lunch, the first thing to do is put the  cap back on the drain - and do that in the puddle that resulted from the water and bleach pouring out. So far no surprises.  They would start soon enough. 

The fresh water hose was hooked up and I filled the front tank with fresh water. We then went to the back of the Roadtrek to fill the rear tank. I pulled on the orange push in plug that caps off the water fill holes- it was off yesterday - no problem.  It was not coming out. I pulled on it. Meryl pulled on it. We tried lifting the edge around the cap.  No it was not budging.  I went to the garage to get a pair of pliers. The cap came right out.  On ward!  Ha! Ha!

 What happened next is something that has happened in the past at this same point in the sanitizing process - not regularly but has happened.  The hose with its RV water fill nozzle went into the fill hole for the back tank with the water running slowly. A few minutes later the water was pouring back out of the fill hole - the tank was empty - but something was preventing the water from going in . 

We have figured that since this mostly happens after the fresh tanks have been filled with bleach and water, a chlorine gas bubble forms inside the smaller rear tank and prevents the water from going down into the tank - pushing it back out the fill hole. There have been times when the water comes out in a gush. This time it was steady stream pouring out. It was time to get out the "gizmo". I made the gizmo years back when this first happened. The gizmo is a hose nozzle with a small diameter. long  tube that  is fed down the water fill hole to the bottom of the tank so that it will fill the tank with water from the bottom up - under the bubble - pushing the gas bubble up and out and not the water. Up until this time it has always worked. (Here is an article about first "The Gizmo" and this article shows what happened to that gizmo one winter with a photo of the new gizmo I made to replace it which is what I use now.)

The Gizmo was screwed onto the hose, the water pressure at the outside faucet at the hose was set  low and the tube went down into the tank. I opened the valve on the gizmo and the water started pouring out of the fill hole again. I shut off the gizmo's valve, pulled the tube out of the tank - fed it back in again - tried again - still water was coming out. This was one of those "OH BOY!" moments. If the water did not go into the rear tank we were not going to be able to get the bleach smell out of the tank. 

I stood back and starting thinking, perhaps I was going about this the wrong way by putting a slow flow of water down into the tank through the gizmo. Maybe it was not enough pressure to burst the bubble. I went to the faucet on the house and turned it all the way up.  The gizmo's tube went back into the tank, the valve was turned on and the water did not come back up into the tank. The tank filled and we were ready to flush the water tanks and pipes of bleach.

There was still a smell of bleach in the water as it came out of the sink and the showers. We drained the tanks and went for the third flush. Just an aside - it takes 25 minutes to drain the two tanks through the low point drain on the front exterior tank. It usually takes three flushes.   Meryl suggested that we fill the back tank first this time. It sounded like a good idea. 

I was not taking any chances and left the gizmo on the hose to fill the rear tank again.  This time no water came back up the fill hole but it seemed like it was taking much too long to get the tank full. Meryl was inside the Roadtrek at the monitor panel.  She would check the level of the tank every few minutes. The rear tank was at 2/3 but the front tank was also filling and was at 1/3 full - before we put any water into that tank from the front fill hole.  The water system in Summer mode was doing what it is supposed to do - the water was running from the rear tank into the front tank. This was going to take forever. I could have just changed the water valves to Winter mode and that would have cut off the front tank but I was not going to start playing with valves in the cabinet. I pulled the tube out of the back tank, took it to the front tank and started filling the front tank with the gizmo. Water in the Roadtrek in Summer mode does not flow from the front tank to the back tank. The front tank filled quickly. I then went back to the back tank and filled that to the top. 

The third flush resulted in no bleach smell in the water from the tanks. Hooray! The tanks were sanitized!  We put everything related to sanitizing and fresh water away. Now, I wanted to dump the RV antifreeze that I put in the black tank when we winterized out of the tank.  It could have been left in, but for the first trip I wanted to start with an almost empty tank (almost empty because I always keep a gallon of fresh water in the black tank so that the tank and its seals do not dry out). I also wanted to see the macerator work before we took a trip so that there would be no unwanted surprises on the road! 

We got out the pail that we use to dump the tanks at home. We have no outside sewer connection - they are not permitted in this area. I pulled the macerator hose out (the SaniCon retractable hose we had put on three years ago) and went to take the cap off the nozzle. This is a nozzle that I made for the SaniCon hose as the nozzle the RV shop put on it was a pain to use and the nozzle made by Thetford for this hose would not fit into the opening of the storage compartment where the hose is stored in the Roadtrek. (Here is the nozzle.) The nozzle has a PVC cap that screws on and off. Meryl took the hose as she holds it into the pail while I push the macerator button. I said to hold the nozzle pointing up as she removed the cap so that anything in the hose would not pour out on her as she removed the cap. The cap would not budge.  So I came over and took the nozzle and grabbed hold of the cap and took my turn to unscrew it. The cap would not budge! I tried a few times. It was not coming off. I don't know why. I was last off this past November when we winterized.  I went into the garage and came back with a pair of pliers and the cap came right off.  We dumped the black tank and finally we were done!

It was a really good thing that I wanted to dump the black tank because if we were at a campground - and we generally dump on the last day before we leave, there would have been a lot more panic if the cap would not come off. I said this to Meryl later and she agreed! 

So - what you think should go easily and quickly (well, never think or say "quickly" because nothing ever goes quickly when it should), things don't always cooperate and they go wrong! 

It happens! And it is better for it to "HAPPEN" when you are home rather than when you are out having a nice trip in the Roadtrek!

Is WInterizing Necessary?

This may seem like a strange topic for an article after I have posted various articles over time about winterizing and how to do it, but recently I have been reading a number of posts from RVers (not necessarily Roadtrek RVers) on various groups who are asking "Do I need to winterize?" or "I didn't winterize and suddenly there was a sudden freeze last night and no water is running? What do I do?" My first thought when I read these is why didn't you think about this in the Fall or, at least, before you heard the temperature was going to drop? I try to be polite and understanding as the therapist side of me comes out and try to give advice on what to do now that it is too late.

I understand that some areas of the country that never got really cold in the past have been getting cold - but with last year's winter when there were ice storms in the South and sudden deep freezes where there had not been for many years before, wouldn't one take precautions this year. It seems not. I also understand that some live in their RVs full time and while many head to where it will stay warm during the winter, some have job commitments in one place and can't just pick up and go to Florida. Florida, by the way is one of the hardest places to get a vacant campsite during the winter - or so I am told - and if one is thinking of heading to the warm Florida sun from December to February or March, make a reservation well in advance.

Some RVs have heated water tanks and are able to stay out in the freezing temperatures without having to be concerned, but I recently read a cry of help from someone who "went away for the weekend" (obviously, not with their RV that has tank and plumbing heaters when plugged in 24/7, but evidently they forgot to leave them running) and when they returned found the entire water system had frozen. And what could they do? Not much but try to thaw it out, if the outside temperature was not going to cooperate. And this, thankfully, so far, has been a mild winter - at least in some parts of the Country that are usually colder.Tank and plumbing heated RVs need an ongoing power source to keep those running and without failure. 

My Roadtrek does not have any tank or plumbing heaters. It does have an interior water tank that holds less than half the water capacity of the exterior water tank it also has. There is a way to isolate that tank from the outside tank and only have water running from the interior tank. (Summer Mode/Winter Mode) This is supposed to be a way to travel in freezing weather with water. The problem is that this only works if the interior of the coach is heated 24/7 which means plugged in, run on the generator, or be able to recharge the coach batteries which will eventually run down that are needed to ignite the propane furnace and run the furnace fan that will move the hot air around inside the Roadtrek. And even this is only good to a certain exterior outside temperature. Then there are the outside waste tanks. If you run water from this interior fresh water tank, where does that water go when it runs through the sink or toilet. It goes right down the drains into the grey tank or the black tank that are both outside hanging under the van close to the ground where it stays the coldest. Will these freeze? Oh yeah! Will the pipes coming and going from these freeze with water in them. Yup, that too. There are new Roadtreks that have a different type of hot water heating system that is supposed to dump its contents outside automatically if the temperature gets toward freezing. That is good for the hot tank, but what about the waste tanks and the fresh tanks? I have not heard anything about what happens to those.

So Roadtrek or not, what do you do? (And this is all my own opinion - but formed after hearing about all of not what may happen but what does happen.) Well, the obvious is winterize and travel or stay in your RV without water through the months that will potentially freeze. What else could be done? If one's RV is not winterized and you do not have heating systems to keep all of the water system from freezing, it is extremely important to pay attention to the future weather forecasts. Yes, the weatherman is often not right. I know one nationally popular weather forecasting network that likes to make disasters out of everything and will emphasize the negative and rarely reports any weather in a positive way. I am sure that one beautiful sunny normal day they are going to report that dangerous sun rays will bring imminent disaster to anyone who goes outside. But there are several weather services including the National Weather Service that when the reports of each are taken together and compared, the chances of a more accurate forecast are greatly increased. If with this approach there is agreements that the temperatures in the coming week are going to go below freezing and there will be no daytime warm up well into the 40s, it is essential to winterize or move quick to where it will be much warmer. Winterizing is not hard - if you read my step by step guide to winterizing and you install a winterizing valve on your water pump - or get one of the hand RV antifreeze pumps that I also talk about in my step by step guide to winterizing - you can winterize in less than a half hour. It is not hard to do and the longest time required is waiting for tanks to drain on their own. RV antifreeze at Walmart is less than $3 a gallon and with a Roadtrek all you need is two and a half gallons. With another RV with more plumbing you may need more - but not much more. What do you do for water - you can do what we have done when winter traveling while winterized  and some modify this by still flushing the toilet with RV antifreeze instead of water - either pouring it in from the bottle or filling the fresh water tank with RV antifreeze to do this. Is this all inconvenient if you live full time in your RV? Of course, it is, but paying to fix burst water pipes or broken valves due to having frozen is a lot more inconvenient. Think it all through. Be prepared. Know what is ahead at all times. And keep a few gallons of RV antifreeze on hand, if you don't winterize, because once the winter starts, like winter clothes that are gone from the shelves when the coldest weather is about to hit, the RV antifreeze sells out in November and they just don't restock it.

And if you have an RV with heated plumbing and tanks, and you decide to go away for a winter weekend without the RV - leave all those heaters plugged in and running... (I have to smile every time I think of that one...)