winterizing

I am getting ready to store our Trail Manor 2720 for the winter and I would like to know how others prepare theirs for storage. The manual that came with the unit has a winterizing section that says little more than open the low point drains and drain the water. It specifically mentions that water freezing in the drain traps will not damage the camper. Where we store the camper, It gets down to zero degrees Fahrenheit and sometime lower. I was getting ready to pump non toxic RV antifreeze into the water system, but don't want to go through the trouble if it is not necessary. I am also concerned about residual water in the Thetford recirculating toilet. Has anyone left there Trail Manor in storage at below freezing temperatures without adding the non toxic antifreeze. If so, did you experience any damage?

In addition to draining low points, I usually blow the lines with my compressor ( 15 PSI MAX) . Easy to make adapter to hook city water connection to compressor. Remove the outside shower head and drain the hose leave the faucets open. Do the same with the sink sprayer and the indoor shower head and hose. I put about 1 cup of rv antifreeze in all three drain traps just to be safe. These is too little water in the Thetford if you dump it to worry about . After draining the toilet and grey water tank,I leave the two outside slide valves open slightly so no water will get trapped and freeze. I don`t use anything in fresh water system. Prefer no to use it.
Make sure to remove containers that can freeze and all food from storage spaces. Gets below "0" here and no issues.

[ThePair]

I do almost exactly the same as rumbleweed: 15-20 psi on an air compressor, blow out at each exit (drain valves and faucets). I leave the gray/black valves closed, but put a little RV antifreeze in there, instead (gray gets some from antifreeze in the traps, black from a little antifreeze in the toilet that I let through first). I've read that keeping the sliding valves closed leads to less deformation over the winter, so they'll seal better. Plus, the antifreeze will help prevent them from drying out (I'd think!). 4 drain spigots open, as are all the faucets; all sprayers removed and brought into the house. I also put antifreeze in the traps like rumbleweed, but that's also to prevent them from completely drying out, thus allowing odors from the gray tank back into the TM. I seal the drain plugs as well; probably overkill, but again, no problems to date.

I don't put anything in the water lines, because that's nasty, and there's no need.

All in all, it doesn't take too long to do, and I've never had a problem with sub-freezing temperatures (Chicago area gets cold!).

I will be taking Rumbleweed and ThePair's advice and winterizing my TM this weekend. My first time. Also plan on pulling the anode and flushing out the hot water tank. I plan on leaving the anode out for the winter. I also had read from one of the members that water is held under the screw cap on the kitchen sink so I will be pulling that off to check. Any other tips would be much appreciated as I live in NW Ohio and it tends to get a little chilly here also.

[Keith Wire]

ottfour,

I think the kitchen faucet in your '06 TM has a spray, our '07 does.

Be sure to unscrew the head and drain that line. Then I just leave the head off and lay it in the sink.

I too live in NW Ohio and mine froze and broke the first winter.

I wouldn't leave the water heater anode out. Not unless you put some sort of plug in there to keep out spiders and mice...

HTH, Keith

Thanks Keith on the insight for the anode. I didn't think about spiders. I do however store inside and to date (knock on wood) I haven't had an issue with mice.
I don't however have a kitchen sink sprayer and I'll not mention that option to my wife as it would probably become part of my to do list......

[Bill]

If you use the search tool on the term "winterize", you will find a ton of good discussion and advice.

Bill