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Old 09-19-2022, 01:30 PM   #1
Deb Mac
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Default Empty fresh water tank completely

Trying to winterize the TM and I’ve done all of the drains and run the pump. But there is still about 1-2” of water in the fresh tank.
The port for the drain is about 1” above the bottom so it will never fully drain. I am a belt and suspenders person and want to get some antifreeze into the pump at least. Happy to pour some into the fresh tank but I will not be able to empty it out after I have tun some through the pump.
Ideas???
And I can’t get at the ports on the pump to pull the hose and draw directly from the jug.
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Old 09-19-2022, 02:04 PM   #2
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You can cut an access port into the tank , and install a cover - several of our members have done it.

But an easier way? The antifreeze is non-toxic. In the fall, put as much water-antifreeze mix (50/50) in the tank as you want. Pump it through the system, getting as much of the mix out of the tank as you can, and leaving what you must. Then, in the spring, fill the tank with clean water. Pump it through the system, or drain it out the drain port under the TM. It will dilute the small amount of residual water/antifreeze mix still in the bottom of the tank to the point where you won't be able to notice it.

There is less than a gallon of mix left in your tank in the fall, and only half of that mix is antifreeze. So if you dilute it with 20 gallons of water, you have diluted it 40-to-1. If you redo the rinse, you have diluted it 1600-to-1. Seems enough.

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Old 09-19-2022, 02:13 PM   #3
Deb Mac
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Thanks Bill. That’s sort of where I figured this was headed. I can get at the hose to the pump that comes out of the tank without turning myself into a pretzel so I think I’ll put a bypass in there. But that’s for next year - right now I want to get the damn thing done for the season. I’ve been fighting lack of truck (head gasket) so I couldn’t move it ahead in order to open it up, and a fractured sacrum - hard fall on my butt - so I am a few weeks behind schedule. Back on track now.
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Old 09-19-2022, 06:50 PM   #4
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I don’t put antifreeze in my tank. If that last little bit does freeze, it’s not gonna hurt anything because there is plenty of room for it to expand.

As for pushing antifreeze through the plumbing I can’t recommend this piece enough. It is a valve that installs between the tank and the pump, lets you switch between the freshwater tank or a hose leading to a jug of antifreeze as your source for the pump. It makes real winterizing a snap. I can push the pink stuff through every faucet with a single jug of antifreeze and then use a second jug to dump down the drains for P-traps etc.

https://a.co/d/1LQJNpf

Of course you’ll also want to use a water heater bypass or else you’ll need an additional six gallons of antifreeze to fill the water heater tank before it will push through the hot water faucets.

https://a.co/d/j5qnB5p

Anyway. As for the question of getting every little bit of water out of the tank why not put a small hose done the fill tube and suck it out with a shop vac?
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Old 09-19-2022, 08:12 PM   #5
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Hi Shane. I have put both pump and water bypass setups in my previous trailer and motorhome. I am picking some up tomorrow and will install them this week. A little bit of work at the start, but it makes winterizing a 10 minute job in following seasons. And you can avoid pink in the fresh water and hot water tanks. It is so hard to get the residual taste/smell out of the plastic. Nice to avoid that issue completely.

I actually tried to siphon out that last bit today, but couldn’t get the end of the tube into the tank without it curling up back out of the water. Wouldn’t siphon. I’ll come up with an alternative to get last bit out. Probably will involve drilling an additional access port as Bill mentioned.
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Old 09-20-2022, 05:32 AM   #6
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Just be aware that (at least on my TMs) the sink drain pipe goes right in front of the upper water heater outlet. Adding the bypass will require a couple 90° street elbows and a slight modification of the hot water PEX piping. But like you said, a bit of a hassle now makes it oh so much easier later.
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Old 09-20-2022, 09:51 AM   #7
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Seems that way on mine as well. I'm not in front of it right now, but since that drain sits in front of everything else, including accessing the pump, I'm pretty sure it's in front of the heater plumbing as well. Since I want to reputty the sink strainer, I'll be disconnecting the drain pipe at some point anyway, so I might as well disconnect it at the sink and the trap and that will give me better access.
I'm pretty confident in the ability of the general plumbing to empty via the low-point drains. But I can hear water gurgling in the pump head, so that is my main concern. I'll just pull a couple of litres of pink through the pump and flush the toilet - PO put an aqua magic IV in there (no black tank, whole other project for spring - poor man's Sealand), so I need to make sure I have pink in that. Don't need the toilet to crack a line! I'll deal with the water heater by-pass next season.
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Old 09-20-2022, 03:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deb Mac View Post
I'm pretty confident in the ability of the general plumbing to empty via the low-point drains. But I can hear water gurgling in the pump head, so that is my main concern.
Does it continue to gurgle if you run the pump for a few seconds, after you have drained the plumbing?

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Old 09-20-2022, 04:25 PM   #9
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Quote:
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Does it continue to gurgle if you run the pump for a few seconds, after you have drained the plumbing?

Bill
Yeah. So it isn’t quite empty or it may be that I’m hearing it trying to pull from that not quite empty tank. The drain and the pump ports are both at the same basic level. I’ll know better tomorrow when I install the pump bypass.
I’m going to try to track a deck port that will install on the side of the tank. And be water tight at the same time.
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Old 09-21-2022, 03:32 PM   #10
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Installed a bypass in the line to the pump and ran some pink through the system - mostly into the pump. I do have to replace 2 of the 4 shut-off valves - the one from the water heater and the one from the hot water lines at the back. The handles are gone. So there was some leakage of pink. But we got her done. Actually looks like the installation of a water heater bypass will be pretty straight forward in mine. Relatively easy access to both inlet & outlet fittings on the tank.
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