SOhappy

It's that sad, sad time of year when the days are markedly shorter, the morning temps dipping well below freezing and the hunting seasons are winding down. Yes- time to face the fact that the old RV needs to be put in stasis for the long winter ahead. I always struggle with winterization, hoping we can get "one more trip" in.

But, yesterday after work I finally did it. After all, if you blow out the water lines (as opposed to using antifreeze) it's really easy to get the RV up and going again "just in case" the opportunity arises to hit the road again.

Here's my checklist- you guys might think of something I forgot:

1. Water: Drain freshwater holding tank and grey/black water if needed (should've done that after the last trip). Remove drainplug from water heater. Open fresh water drain points and blow out the lines with compressed air. Open all valves (faucets) and leave open for the winter, the water trapped in there can freeze and break the faucet (don't ask me how I know ). Don't forget the outside shower too.

2. Fridge & Freezer: Turn it off, clean it out and leave the doors propped open so it doesn't get moldy (disconnect fridge light if needed so it isn't on all winter).

3. Food & pests: Best to remove anything not in a can, or it'll attract pests and may spoil over the winter anyway. I haven't had mice problems for many, many years but will set out some traps just in case. I've heard this works great in RVs and easy to dispose of the little buggers: http://fivegallonideas.com/bucket-mouse-trap/

4. Batteries: I check the fluid levels and leave them plugged into a maintainer all winter. Last winter my cheap Harbor Freight maintainer quit working after a couple of months so I just plugged the trailer back into shore power and let the inverter's charger do it's thing. I would like to go back to a maintainer though, anyone know of a good maintainer for 2X 6v batteries? For many years I removed the batteries for the winter, but for the past 10 or so I've just left them on the trailer on the maintainer/charger without any trouble. My last set of Trojans (NO...Not THOSE kind of Trojans!! ) lasted over 9 years- never removed them from the trailer for the winter once during that time. So that's how I deal with batteries, works for me.

5. Misc: Close all vents and windows, cover the A/C unit (I've had it fill full of blowing snow and then melt in the spring, dripping water into the trailer) and fix any roof leaks. If you have a solar panel, might not hurt to cover it too, but not something that would scratch the glass. If you have a flat roof, don't park it perfectly level, leave the trailer leaning a bit (or lower/raise the tongue jack) so the water doesn't pool on the roof. Shut off your propane tanks, they'll leak out if the valves are left open over the winter. Cover the tires, and park on blocks or gravel so they don't sink into the grass/mud over time. Either drain the fuel tank on your generator (dump it in your snowmobile/snowblower) or use a gasoline preservative (better than draining IMHO, keeps the carb gaskets from drying out).

I'm sure I forgot something...always do and find some nasty surprise in the spring when it's time to finally go camping again

Busboy

Last winter I forgot to remove the battery from the smoke detector which is mounted in a part of the trailer that is inaccessible (opposing slides) with the main battery removed. When the temp dropped along with the battery voltage the detector started to beep, it beeped all winter until I could get the slides open again in the spring. Moral of the story remove the battery's from smoke or other detectors.

Russ Roth

I always thought this was they way to go but I was at my local RV guys place recently and he said not to do it this way. He says to leave it running and it will help the life of your reefer unit. He suggests keeping the freezer near full with water jugs and a couple gallons in the refrigerator part to help keep it cool for longer periods without it actually having to run. His reasoning was about the refrigerant separating into several parts one of which is very corrosive when not mixed together. He also suggested running on propane on occasion. Might check your own local RV guy to see what his take is.

j_martin

I've lost batteries to the HF maintainer. The best battery maintainers I've found are battery minders. Use a temperature compensated one for a motor home.

A battery held at float voltage will still sulfate slowly. The pricey part of the battery minders is the pulse part, and it's well worth it.

http://batteryminders.com/store.php?spawner=nav&&app=rv

cLAYH

You obviously don't leave somewhere where it gets below freezing. I'm not leaving jugs of anything in my RV over winter to freeze and burst.

SIXSLUG

Milk and water jugs are designed to freeze and not burst, that is what the indentations are for on the sides...

Keeping stuff in the freezer is good for the motor and condenser as it has to run less to keep temp but still circulates occcasionally.

If worried about bursting jugs, only fill 3/4 full...I've never had one burst and I have about five full of cider or milk in the freezer all the time...

Busboy

My Rv fridge has 4 doors and it came with a device that inserts into the center where the 4 doors meet, it not only latches the doors together in a fixed position but also holds them slightly open. My guess is the fridge manufacturer designed the fridge to be left with the doors open when not being used to store food.

SOhappy

Good call, thanks!

Thanks for the link and the advice- I'll definitely look into those!

******

Also, a co-worker mentioned to dump a little antifreeze in the drains to keep the p-traps from freezing. Never had that problem, I thought they had plenty of expansion room. I guess it can't hurt though.

cLAYH

I don't think the fridge is going to kick in much when its below 0 outside.

Jeff in TD

I prefer to blow out the water lines, run some anti freeze through, and blow that out.

That way I've got anti-freeze into the drain traps, the pump, and have some in the toilet to keep the seals from drying out.

Also some flat screen tv's don't like to be stored in cold temps.

Battery wise, I've got a solar system with a high end charger that will do an equalizing cycle every so often, but winter layup is a good time to check water and clean cables.