{ "formatVersion": 1, "title": "RV Water System Winterizing", "description": "End-of-season procedure to get every drop of water out of an RV's plumbing before it freezes: drain, bypass the water heater, and either blow the lines out with regulated air or pump non-toxic RV antifreeze through every fixture. A split fitting behind a wall is a wet, expensive spring.", "category": "maintenance", "subcategory": "RV plumbing and water system", "difficulty": "beginner", "tags": ["rv", "seasonal", "winterizing", "plumbing", "freeze protection"], "language": "en", "estimatedMinutes": 170, "estimatedCost": 40.0, "currency": "USD", "author": { "name": "Trackara", "bio": "Official Trackara blueprint template", "url": "https://trackara.app/blueprints" }, "vehicleCompatibility": [ { "make": "Any", "model": "Travel trailer, fifth wheel, motorhome or truck camper", "notes": "Applies to any RV with a pressurised fresh water system, a 12V demand pump and a storage water heater. Your coach's specific valve positions, low point drain locations and water heater bypass layout are in its owner's manual. Find them once, then photograph them for next year." } ], "requiredTools": [ "Water heater drain plug or anode rod socket", "Adjustable wrench", "Screwdriver set", "Bucket", "Air compressor with a regulator (blow-out method only)", "RV blow-out plug for the city water inlet (blow-out method only)", "Water pump winterizing kit or a length of clear hose (antifreeze method only)", "Flashlight", "Nitrile gloves" ], "parts": [ { "name": "Non-toxic RV/marine antifreeze (propylene glycol)", "kind": "required", "quantity": 3, "estimatedCost": 18.0, "notes": "Two to four gallons covers most coaches when the water heater is properly bypassed. Buy the pink potable-water RV/marine product only, and check the temperature rating on the jug against the coldest temperature your RV will actually see." }, { "name": "Water heater drain plug or replacement anode rod", "kind": "optional", "quantity": 1, "estimatedCost": 15.0, "notes": "Steel-tank water heaters use a sacrificial anode rod as the drain plug and it is a wear item. If more than about a quarter of it is eaten away, replace it. Aluminium-clad tanks use a plain plastic drain plug and no anode rod. Confirm which type your heater is before buying." }, { "name": "Teflon tape", "kind": "consumable", "quantity": 1, "estimatedCost": 2.0, "notes": "For the water heater drain plug or anode rod threads on reassembly." }, { "name": "Replacement inline water filter cartridge", "kind": "optional", "quantity": 1, "estimatedCost": 20.0, "notes": "If your coach has an under-sink or inline filter, the cartridge comes out for winter and generally gets replaced in spring rather than stored wet." } ], "steps": [ { "stepNumber": 1, "title": "Choose your method and find your valves", "description": "There are two accepted approaches: blow the lines out with regulated compressed air, or pump non-toxic RV antifreeze through the system. Antifreeze is the more forgiving of the two because you can see pink at each tap and know that line is protected. Many owners do both: blow out first, then pump antifreeze. Before you start anything, locate your water heater bypass valves, your low point drains, your fresh tank drain and your pump's winterizing intake.", "estimatedMinutes": 10, "tools": ["Flashlight"], "parts": [], "warnings": [], "tips": [ "Photograph every valve in its normal summer position before you move anything. Next spring that photo is worth an hour.", "Blow-out alone leaves small amounts of water trapped in low spots and in the pump head. If your RV will see genuinely hard freezes, use antifreeze." ], "checklist": [ "Method chosen", "Water heater bypass valves located", "Low point drains located", "Fresh tank drain located", "Pump winterizing intake located" ], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 2, "title": "Buy the right antifreeze: this one matters", "description": "Use only non-toxic RV/marine antifreeze, which is propylene glycol based and normally dyed pink. It is rated for potable water systems.", "estimatedMinutes": 5, "tools": [], "parts": [ { "name": "Non-toxic RV/marine antifreeze (propylene glycol)", "kind": "required", "quantity": 3 } ], "warnings": [ "Never put automotive engine coolant into an RV water system. Standard automotive antifreeze is ethylene glycol, it is poisonous, it tastes sweet, and no amount of flushing makes a drinking water system safe again afterwards.", "Read the jug. Some products are sold as a concentrate to be diluted; putting a concentrate in undiluted is wasteful, and diluting a ready-to-use product destroys its freeze protection." ], "tips": [ "The temperature printed on the jug is usually a burst-protection figure, not the point at which it stays completely liquid. Buy for colder than you expect." ], "checklist": ["Product confirmed non-toxic RV/marine type", "Temperature rating adequate for your climate"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 3, "title": "Drain the fresh water tank and the waste tanks", "description": "Open the fresh water tank drain and let it run out completely. Dump and flush the black tank, then the grey tank, so nothing is sitting in them over winter. Leave the tank drain valves open when you are done.", "estimatedMinutes": 15, "tools": ["Nitrile gloves"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "Dump waste tanks only at a proper dump station." ], "tips": [ "Black tank first, then grey, because the grey water rinses the hose.", "A little RV antifreeze poured down each drain at the end keeps the dump valve seals from freezing." ], "checklist": ["Fresh tank fully drained", "Black tank dumped and flushed", "Grey tank dumped", "Drain valves left open"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 4, "title": "Drain the water heater, cold and depressurised", "description": "Turn the water heater off, at both the gas and the electric element, and let it cool completely. Relieve the pressure by lifting the pressure/temperature relief valve lever or by opening a hot tap. Then remove the drain plug or anode rod and let the tank empty.", "estimatedMinutes": 25, "tools": ["Water heater drain plug or anode rod socket", "Adjustable wrench", "Bucket"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "Never open a hot water heater. Scalding water under pressure comes out of that hole. Let it cool for hours, not minutes.", "Never remove the drain plug while the system is still pressurised. Relieve pressure first.", "Turn the electric element off before draining. Running a dry element burns it out in seconds." ], "tips": [ "If your heater has a steel tank, the drain plug is a sacrificial anode rod. Pull it out and look at it. A heavily eaten rod is doing its job and should be replaced. Aluminium-clad tanks do not use an anode rod at all and take a plain plastic plug; do not fit an anode to one.", "Flush the remaining sediment out with a tank rinser wand or a short blast of water through the drain opening.", "Wrap the plug or anode threads in Teflon tape on reassembly." ], "checklist": [ "Gas and electric both off", "Tank cooled", "Pressure relieved at the relief valve", "Tank drained", "Anode rod inspected (steel tanks only)" ], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 5, "title": "Open the low point drains and clear the lines", "description": "Open every low point drain (there is usually one for hot and one for cold) and open all taps, hot and cold, including the shower and any outside shower. Run the water pump for a few seconds only, just long enough to push standing water out of the lines, then switch it off.", "estimatedMinutes": 15, "tools": ["Flashlight"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "Do not let the water pump run dry for more than a few seconds. It is not designed to and it will damage the pump." ], "tips": [ "Open the taps before draining. Air has to get in for water to get out.", "Leave the low point drains open until you are ready to introduce antifreeze." ], "checklist": ["Both low point drains open", "All taps open, hot and cold", "Pump briefly run and switched off"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 6, "title": "Bypass the water heater and remove any inline filter", "description": "Set the water heater bypass valves so water and antifreeze route around the tank rather than through it. Then remove any inline or under-sink water filter cartridge and either bypass the housing or connect its inlet and outlet with the bypass fitting supplied.", "estimatedMinutes": 5, "tools": ["Screwdriver set"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "If you do not bypass the water heater, you will pump six to ten gallons of antifreeze into it for no reason, and it will take a lot of flushing to get out again." ], "tips": [ "Single-valve, two-valve and three-valve bypass kits all exist. Get your coach's arrangement clear now, and note it in this blueprint for next year.", "Antifreeze ruins most filter cartridges. Take the cartridge out." ], "checklist": ["Water heater confirmed in bypass", "Filter cartridge removed and housing bypassed"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 7, "title": "Optional: blow the lines out with regulated air", "description": "Close the low point drains. Fit a blow-out plug to the city water inlet and connect a regulated air supply set to a low pressure. Open one tap at a time, hot then cold, and let air blow through until only mist comes out, then move to the next fixture.", "estimatedMinutes": 20, "tools": ["Air compressor with a regulator (blow-out method only)", "RV blow-out plug for the city water inlet (blow-out method only)"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "Regulate the pressure down. RV plumbing runs at low pressure and manufacturers commonly warn against exceeding roughly 40 psi for blow-out; unregulated shop air will split fittings and blow apart PEX connections.", "Wear eye protection. Debris comes out of the taps." ], "tips": [ "One fixture at a time. Opening everything at once drops the pressure and clears nothing properly.", "Do not forget the toilet valve, the outside shower, and the black tank flush line." ], "checklist": ["Regulator set low", "Each fixture blown until only mist", "Toilet, outside shower and tank flush included"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 8, "title": "Feed the pump from the antifreeze jug", "description": "Close all the low point drains and all the taps. Either switch the pump's winterizing valve to draw from the siphon hose, or disconnect the pump's inlet line from the fresh tank and put a length of clear hose from the pump inlet into an open jug of antifreeze.", "estimatedMinutes": 10, "tools": ["Water pump winterizing kit or a length of clear hose (antifreeze method only)", "Screwdriver set"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "Make sure the fresh tank line is closed off. If the pump can still draw from the empty tank it will pull air instead of antifreeze." ], "tips": [ "Clear hose lets you actually see the antifreeze moving, which makes the whole job easier to judge.", "Have all your jugs open and lined up. The pump empties one faster than you expect." ], "checklist": ["Low point drains closed", "Taps closed", "Pump drawing from antifreeze, not from the tank"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 9, "title": "Pump antifreeze through every fixture until it runs pink", "description": "Switch the pump on. Working from the fixture nearest the pump to the furthest, open the COLD side of each tap until solid pink comes out, close it, then do the HOT side of the same tap until it runs pink. Hot and cold are separate runs of pipe. Doing only one side leaves half the plumbing unprotected.", "estimatedMinutes": 25, "tools": [], "parts": [ { "name": "Non-toxic RV/marine antifreeze (propylene glycol)", "kind": "required", "quantity": 3 } ], "warnings": [ "Keep an eye on the jug. If the pump sucks air the system loses prime and you start over.", "Do not run the pump dry." ], "tips": [ "Do not forget: kitchen tap, bathroom tap, shower head AND shower wand, outside shower hot and cold, and the washing machine hookup if your coach has one.", "The ice maker and any refrigerator water line need their own attention. Check the appliance manual." ], "checklist": [ "Kitchen hot and cold pink", "Bathroom hot and cold pink", "Shower hot and cold pink", "Outside shower hot and cold pink", "Washer / ice maker lines addressed if fitted" ], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 10, "title": "Do the toilet and the city water inlet", "description": "Flush the toilet until pink antifreeze comes through the valve, and leave a little standing in the bowl so the bowl seal does not dry out and crack. Then push in the small check valve inside the city water inlet with a screwdriver until antifreeze weeps out of it, which clears the short section of pipe between the inlet and the rest of the system.", "estimatedMinutes": 15, "tools": ["Screwdriver set"], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "The city water inlet is the single most commonly forgotten point in the whole procedure, and it is right on an outside wall where it freezes first." ], "tips": [ "Leaving an inch of antifreeze in the toilet bowl keeps the seal soft over the winter." ], "checklist": ["Toilet valve runs pink", "Antifreeze left in the bowl", "City water inlet check valve pushed until it weeps pink"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 11, "title": "Protect the traps and the tank valves", "description": "Switch the pump off. Pour a cup or two of antifreeze down every drain (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, and the shower pan drain) so the P-traps hold antifreeze rather than water. Pour a couple of cups into the toilet and flush it into the black tank, and a couple more down a sink into the grey tank, so the dump valve seals are protected.", "estimatedMinutes": 10, "tools": [], "parts": [], "warnings": [], "tips": [ "A frozen P-trap splits just like a pipe does, and it is usually behind cabinetry.", "If your coach has a washing machine, run a short cycle on cold with antifreeze in the drum, per the appliance manual." ], "checklist": ["Every P-trap holds antifreeze", "Black tank valve seal protected", "Grey tank valve seal protected"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 12, "title": "Close it up and label it", "description": "Refit the water heater drain plug or anode rod with fresh Teflon tape, leave the heater in bypass, switch the pump off, and leave the taps closed. Tape a note over the kitchen tap and the city water inlet saying the system is winterized so nobody hooks up a hose in February.", "estimatedMinutes": 10, "tools": ["Adjustable wrench", "Water heater drain plug or anode rod socket"], "parts": [ { "name": "Teflon tape", "kind": "consumable", "quantity": 1 } ], "warnings": [ "Do not turn the water heater back on at any point over the winter. It is empty." ], "tips": [ "Some owners leave the plug out entirely over winter and refit it in spring, which removes any chance of trapped water. Either approach works as long as it is written down." ], "checklist": ["Drain plug or anode refitted with tape", "Heater left in bypass", "Pump off", "Coach labelled as winterized"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null }, { "stepNumber": 13, "title": "Log the date and note what to reverse in spring", "description": "Record the date, how much antifreeze you used, and any valve position that was not obvious. De-winterizing is this list run backwards: heater out of bypass, plug in, filter cartridge back in, low point drains closed, then a full fresh-water flush of every line until the pink is gone before anybody drinks from it.", "estimatedMinutes": 5, "tools": [], "parts": [], "warnings": [ "In spring, flush and sanitise the fresh water system before drinking from it. Non-toxic antifreeze is safe to have been in the pipes; it is not something to drink." ], "tips": [ "Note the gallons used. Next year that number tells you at a glance whether the heater bypass is actually working." ], "checklist": ["Date logged", "Antifreeze quantity logged", "Spring reversal notes written down"], "imageUrls": [], "videoUrl": null } ], "coverImageUrl": null }