Help your RV cozy up for winter
Brrr.
With the temperatures dipping into the 30s at night, it won’t be too long before the first hard freeze hits.
By doing a few simple things to your RV, it will be ready to hibernate this winter and save you a lot of grief come spring.
“Most important,” says master certified RV technician Steve Savage from his office in Tennessee, “is to get all of the water out. If left to freeze in water lines or appliances, it will wreak havoc on your checkbook.”
Get the water out
Savage, editor of Motorhome Review Online and owner of Mobility RV Service in Bristol, Tenn., recommends the following steps:
1. Empty all the tanks.
2. Open low point drains (those spigots outside on the bottom of the RV) and turn on the pump. Any water in the fresh water tank will be pumped out.
3. Remove the drain on the water heater and let all of the water run out with a gush. Unless the plug is plastic leave it out.
4. Shut off the water heater bypass valves on the back of the water heater.
5. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for icemaker and washer-dryer, if so equipped.
6. Using tee ahead of water pump intake (install if not standard from manufacturer) open tee and place on end of attached hose in jug of pink RV antifreeze.
7. Turn pump on with run antifreeze through system opening every fixture including commode, shower, low point drains, etc., until pink antifreeze is seen.
8. Any fixture that you fail to pump pink through will freeze and break.
9. Pour a cup of pink antifreeze down each of the sinks and the shower drain so the traps are filled.
“People often forget the commode and I will get the ‘flooded bathroom’ calls in the spring,” says Savage.
“Many first-time owners don’t realize there is a valve in the top of the commode, not just in the bottom,” he says. “They don’t run pink antifreeze through the commode and the top valve freezes. In the spring they have to take their commode off the floor and take it apart to get to the valve in the top.”
Maintain the batteries
Another frequent mistake, says Savage, is that folks often don’t realize that an RV can’t be put away with the batteries left in it.
“The batteries will totally discharge and there will be nothing left in them but the water,” says Savage. “The batteries will freeze, then crack and have to be replaced in the spring.”
To save batteries Savage recommends:
1. Shut off disconnect and remove batteries.
2. Store batteries in an area where they will not freeze.
3. Top off with water and charge once a month. Do not leave on continuous trickle charge.
Other equipment, systems to protect
•Tires – Inflate to normal pressure and park tires on sheet of plastic to keep off ground
•Generator and fuel system – Fill fuel tank and add fuel stabilizer. Run generator 1/2-hour to insure stabilizer is through system. Follow remainder of manufacturer’s instruction regarding storage.
To learn more about Steve Savage go to www.motorhomereviewonline.com or write to Motorhome Review Online, 312 Sourwood Hill Road, Bristol, TN. 37620.
Fall RV 101 classes
It’s time again for the RV classes being offered through the Spokane Community Colleges’ Institute for Extended Learning.
Taught by local RV technician John Morrill, both classes meet one-time only for three hours. Each class begins at 6:30 p.m. and costs $21.
•The RV Basic Training class is scheduled for Wednesday (course number 7384) at Sullivan Square, Room 104, in Spokane Valley.
•The RV Care and Maintenance workshop gives a better understanding of how your RV works. It is offered on Oct. 26 (course number 7383) at Sullivan Square, Room 104, in Spokane Valley.
Both classes include handouts. To register, call 279-6000 or stop by the IEL office at 3305 W. Fort George Wright Drive between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Wheel question
If you are one of those RVers who uses their rig in the winter, share your experiences by calling (509) 459-5435 or write to Wheel Life, Spokesman Review, 999 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99201.