Have read all the user's manual.
What I don't have is pictures, either diagrams or photos. Youtube hasn't helped, I apparently don't know the right words to search.

Read the very long chain on winterizing here, but if there was useful information there, it was lost among people saying how they don't use all the on-board conveniences. Which is great for them, but doesn't help me.

The instructions in the manual are inadequate and too general to help me. Basically, it says "You should winterize" but not step by step how. Mainly seems to be saying, clean it and dry it off first.

My trailer will be stored in a garage. I know I need to turn off the propane at the tanks, but do not know how to do this. Dual tanks on hitch. (Obvs, will need to know how to safely reverse the process.)
Is there some purge/bleed process to remove any residual propane in the furnace and water heater and stove lines? If so, what and where are the valves? Do I just open up all the burners on the stove and leave the trailer open to the air for a few hours?

Instructions for winterizing the water heater (Suburban SW6D) say to turn off both electricity and propane, then drain and check/replace the anode rod. I was able to disconnect the battery, of course, and I handled the last bit ... but is there a specific switch/valve for propane at the water heater itself, or does that just mean the valve at the top of the tanks on the hitch? Is that valve the correct valve? (I think it's dual-feed, but can't find pictures to show the difference.)

Opened the faucet and water in ports and drained the fresh water tank and grey water pipes. Does not appear to have a J or P trap on the sink drain. The pex tubing appears empty, though not perfectly dry yet.

If the trailer will be garaged, does the battery need to be removed from the hitch for storage or just disconnected? Would it be better to leave it connected so I can hook up house power occasionally?
Does anyone have a detailed "here are all the things you need to do, where to find them, what they look like, what order to do them, and safety precautions" maintenance guide for this trailer? The owner's manual is disappointingly short on detail.

Thanks!

Disconnecting the battery and shutting off the propane are not parts of winterizatiin, but rather things you should do after every trip.? To shut off the propane, all you do is twist the knobs on top of each tank.? No bleeding of lines is needed.? Propane won't freeze or spoil.

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For the battery, you should never leave it sit for long periods without recharging it, regardless if over winter or not.? A lead acid battery should be charged every 3 weeks or so for best battery life. It should also be completely disconnected when not charging to minimize the discharge rate.? It's easiest to do that by leaving it in the trailer.? A fully charged lead acid battery won't freeze until it's 90 degrees F below zero.? But if you let it discharge too much, the freezing point is much less.

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To winterize your camper:

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1. Remove the anode rod from the hot water heater and let all the water out.? Dont do this with hot water.. Then replace the anode rod, using a new one if the old one is badly dissolved.? Also drain the fresh water tank.

2. Pour 8 gallons of RV antifreeze into the fresh water tank (you might get by with 7)

3. Turn on the water pump.? Then one at a time, run each faucet until the water turns pink.? Run it first on hot, then on cold.? The first faucet you run on hot will take a long time since it has to push 6 gallons of antifreeze from the fresh tank to the hot water tank.? You probably need to do this for both your inside sink, and your outside shower if you have one.? Run enough antifreeze through the sink to fill the trap under the sink with antifreeze.

4. Turn off the water pump.? You're done winterizing.

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In the description above, I assumed you don't have an inside shower.? I also assumed you don't have a hot water tank bypass kit installed, and don't have a winterization kit installed, since no trailers come with those from the factory as far as I know.

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Doing the winterization the way described is no fun, because you use a lot of antifreeze, it takes a lot of time to load the antifreeze, and you're going to spend a whole lot of time flushing the fresh tank and hot tank come spring.

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You can install a hot water bypass kit that allows you to bypass filling the hot water tank with antifreeze, and you can get by with using 1 or 2 gallons of antifreeze instead of 7 or 8.? Your hot tank has a pipe that lets the water into the tank, and another pipe that let's the water out.? All a bypass kit does is it allows you to turn some valves to send the water from the input pipe to the output pipe, bypassing the hot tank.

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You can install a winterization kit to allow you to pull antifreeze direct from the antifreeze jug, instead of from the fresh tank.? That means you don't have to spend hours filling and draining the fresh tank to flush out antifreeze.? All a winterization kit contains is a 3 way valve and a piece of hose.? You install the valve on the pipe between the tank and pump.? When you flip the switch on the valve, it pulls from the hose which you put into the jug, instead of from the fresh tank.

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If you install the bypass kit and winterization kit, after the tanks are drained, winterization takes a few minutes.? Likewise in the spring, de-winterization also takes just a few minutes, instead of hours spent waiting for the fresh tank to drain multiple times.

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Thanks so much, Steve T!?

No, no inside shower. Will look to see if there was a bypass line, but I'm confused - I thought the whole point of draining and refilling with antifreeze in the hot water tank was to prevent any residual water from freezing and bursting the tank. Why would one want to bypass that, other than saving on antifreeze solution and time? Wouldn't that leave your tank at (some small risk) of freeze/thaw stress or bursting?

Questions about the process:
1) The water pump just moves fluid from the freshwater tank to the sink faucet and hot water tank, correct? So opening the hot tap will create the draw to pull antifreeze from fresh tank to hot tank, then through the hot line to the sink, correct? If so, do I correctly assume the propane heating part of that circuit should be OFF? Is closing the valve at the top of each LP tank sufficient, or are there electrical switches to be thrown, fuses pulled, etc?

2) Is the new anode rod safe to sit in the antifreeze all winter, or should I replace it with a normal drain plug for the winter?

Thanks again!

-lashru

On Sat, Oct 26, 2024 at 12:31 PM, <lashru@...> wrote:

Thanks so much, Steve T!?

No, no inside shower. Will look to see if there was a bypass line, but I'm confused - I thought the whole point of draining and refilling with antifreeze in the hot water tank was to prevent any residual water from freezing and bursting the tank. Why would one want to bypass that, other than saving on antifreeze solution and time? Wouldn't that leave your tank at (some small risk) of freeze/thaw stress or bursting?

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The small amount of water in the hot tank after you drain it can expand upward as it freezes.? It won't burst the tank. The only reason you fill the hot tank with antifreeze is to push it past the tank into the hot water pipes and faucets which could burst.

Questions about the process:
1) The water pump just moves fluid from the freshwater tank to the sink faucet and hot water tank, correct? So opening the hot tap will create the draw to pull antifreeze from fresh tank to hot tank, then through the hot line to the sink, correct? If so, do I correctly assume the propane heating part of that circuit should be OFF? Is closing the valve at the top of each LP tank sufficient, or are there electrical switches to be thrown, fuses pulled, etc?

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Yes, the hot water heater has a switch to turn it on and off, and that switch should be in the off position, and the water cool, when you drain the hot tank or do anything with it. That switch should be mounted somewhere inside the trailer.

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You can also disconnect the battery by pulling out the fuse in the battery cable near the battery, and turn off the propane by the valves on top of each tank.??

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Yes leave the anode rod in all winter.? I'm not sure if rv antifreeze will allow galvanic corrosion or not, but it might just like water does, and you want the anode in there if it does.

Thanks again!

-lashru

My 2022 Classic came with a hot water tank bypass. It seems that Aliner makes changes every year that reflect solutions that their researchers - the good people on this forum - have found.?
JoeS

I learned all about anode rods when I pulled mine from the hot water tank last week to drain it.
All the way down to the steel rod.
Tank full of large clumps of deposits, took over an hour to smush them and flush them out. (Used an inspection camera to check for tank damage, doesn't appear to be any).
When I bought my trailer in June, the dealer claimed they'd replaced all the replaceable parts (battery, tires, etc.) with brand-new. Since it was sold As-Is, there was only a 30-day warranty.
Things you learn ... at least we didn't have any system failure before I discovered it.

Thanks for the excellent guide and links. Appreciate y'all.

-lashru

You're supposed to clean out the hot water tank once a year if you use it a bunch and don't empty it after each trip.? Otherwise you get chunks of calcium and minerals collecting in the bottom of the tank.

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On my trailer the backflow preventer on the hot tank inlet pipe broke and got stuck open, so when I open the low point valves, not only the pipes but the entire contents of the hot tank drains.? Its great!? I don't have to pull the anode rod (or just plug in my case since I have no anode rod) to drain the hot tank, and no more chunky mineral deposits collect in the hot tank, since its drained every trip.? Not having to pull the plug is really nice.? Twisting a valve is so much easier than using wrenches and messing with sealing paste to put the plug back in. I also don't have any noticeable backflow out the inlet, since the pipe goes downward to the floor, and hot water will rise, not sink.?

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They make anode rods that also have drain valves in them.? But those have a small drain hole, and drain slowly.? I also don't know if that drain hole is big enough to flush out the calcium chunks that can build up.

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On Sun, Oct 27, 2024 at 01:24 PM, <lashru@...> wrote:

I just realized that there's one more step to winterizing that I've never seen posted anywhere.? If you have low point drain valves in your plumbing, there's about 1.5 ft of pipe that goes to the drain.? So with the water pump enabled, you need to open the low point valve for a couple seconds.? That will replace water in the drain line with antifreeze.

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Pex pipes can supposedly freeze 400 times without damage, however.? So if you dont do this last step, you probably won't have any damage.

Yeah, great point about the low point drains (mine has one for the freshwater tank and one for the hot water tank). I had planned to get antifreeze in both, in addition to putting some down the sink drain (though, as far as I can see, there's no trap, just straight ABS down to the elbow.)

The manual recommends Teflon tape over paste, so that's what I used on the threads of the replacement rod. The tank threads took a bit of scrubbing to remove the deposits (might be rust, might be some other reaction product).

Writing up all this in my own file because I sure won't remember it all next spring when I need to reverse the process.

Thanks again, all!
- lashru

I certainly don't have anything to add the excellent advice given above!? As Joe S. commented above - my 2021 Expedition also came with the hot water heater bypass built-in.? I did not realize it was there, and after reading through this forum, I determined I needed to install one.? So I bought one on-line and began to remove all the necessary plywood to get at the hot water heater.? Imagine my surprise when I saw one was already installed!? I was able to return the valve for a refund.??? My brother-in-law had a 28' Airstream - he has much more to do to winterize.? On mine, I have the toilet, a sink, a fresh water tank, and an outside shower.? Winterizing is not a difficult chore for me.? Of course here in South Texas we usually only get a few days near/below freezing - but still need to winterize because it only y=takes i day for damage to occur.

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Good luck with your winterizing!

--

2021 Expedition Off-road, TV 2020 Ram 1500

If you want to install a hot water bypass kit, I recommend the one from Flair-it:

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https://www.zoro.com/flair-it-flair-it-04912-by-pass-kit-supreme-9-plastic-04912/i/G101972975/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&utm_content=free google shopping clicks&campaignid=21460994854&productid=G101972975&v=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7Py4BhCbARIsAMMx-_LKRu3r-Jq8TGOxme5KR5fgUu5hUc7VD3sH2y4U_hosOyiChkBjPVMaAgTMEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

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The flair-it kit has high quality nylon valves that won't cause any galvanic corrosion.? Thats not an issue for the steel suburban water heaters, but is a real big deal for the aluminum atwood/dometic water heaters.

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For the winterizing kit that lets you pull antifreeze from the jug, I recommend this one:

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The kit above comes with a hose even though it doesn't show the hose in the picture.

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The camco winterize kit shows up in a lot of ads, but I had several of those leak so recommend against them.

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Got it all done between (and during) some major downpours. Pretty straightforward with all the tips from y'all. The hot water tank is a Suburban SW6D, and already had a bypass valve in place, so that part was pretty easy.
Should the anode rod be left loose so the hot water tank isn't a sealed bacteria breeder reactor? (Don't want creepy crawlies in there either, but it seems like I shouldn't leave it sealed while wet.)

Made sure to put antifreeze down both water tank low point drains, as well as down the sink drain and in the tubing for the outdoor shower.
Now tagging all the "how to reverse process" spots for spring.

Thanks again, for all the advice -
lashru

I've left mine closed and empty whenever the trailer is stored at any time of year, and never had any issues.? I'd leave it closed.? Open could cause calcium crystals, so there's a downside to that too, but i don't think that's a?big issue either.?

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You should flush everything out with bleach water come spring, so anything that grows in there would be taken out anyway.

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On Fri, Nov 1, 2024 at 01:24 PM, <lashru@...> wrote: