Thank you, that’s what we were going for. To be honest, we always get a bit scared when trying something new on the RV but after you figure it out most things are pretty simple. I like to tell people if we can do it anyone can. Safe travels! -Chris & Suzannah

So you can pay someone $100 or more to winterize your RV and we realized it’s a waste. It’s a very simple process. Thanks again for the support!!

Thank you!

You’re welcome. We’re so glad we could help.

You’re welcome!

We actually filmed this back in March before dropping it off for two weeks for warranty work. It was freezing so we decided to winterize. Hopefully it's not something we have to do again!

@@HintonTheTrail haha 😂 we were wondering about that and confused as we know your future travel plans 😂

One of those things that seems hard until you do it.

@@HintonTheTrail I have a maintenance background so simple for me.

That’s great to hear. It’s not easy for anyone the first time. You’ll get it down fast and become a pro though. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Ha ha. I think we’ve all been there. Glad we could help and thank you for the comment!

That is a really good tip. Thank you!!

Make sure you have an in-line filter for the oil that comes out of the air compressor. You don’t want to contaminate you water system with air compressor oil.

@@chaddelong6485 oops

That’s good to hear Robert. Thank you and good luck!

Meeee tooo

Thank you, glad it helped.

Thank you, glad we could help.

Thank you. We’re glad it helped.

Thank you!

No worries. Safe travels and have a Merry Christmas!

Thank you

Thank you, you’re welcome!

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Glad it helped. Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

That’s great info. Thank you for sharing

We’d never used the shower and when I turned it on antifreeze came out. It was never dewinterized from the dealer. The black tank flush is a good catch. Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave a comment.

How do you do those? Are you able to put the antifreeze in them or do you have to blow them out?

Turn the refrigerator on and put the system in winterize put the suction hose in bottle of rv antifreeze turn the pump on when your ice is pink it's done. For the washer turn on valves till it turns pink put antifreeze in drain

@@briancalloway5487 great info, thank you for sharing! Safe travels. -Chris & Suzannah

Hello. This process is for winterizing to store your RV. You can’t use the water system with antifreeze in the lines.

Got it. Thanks for clarifying@@HintonTheTrail

Not a silly question. You don’t need to empty the tank again. Any anti-freeze that’s in the tank is fine there thru the winter.

We ran it through everything but wanted to keep the video short. The only one we didn’t do was the external shower but we’d never used it. Funny thing was that when we got the trailer back and test it there was still antifreeze it in from when we’d bought it. 😂

You mentioned not having the right compressor? I’m guessing you mean able to lower the pressure, but wondering if it matters, as long as all the faucets, drain valves, etc are open? Guess to be safe, dial it down to 50 psi or whatever is recommended? Thanks.

Yep. When you turn the faucets back on you may get a little water at first but then should have antifreeze coming out. You want to see that on both cold and hot taps. You’re running off the pump with a line in the antifreeze so it pulls from the jugs of antifreeze direct into the lines. Have one person inside turning things in and another person outside ready to switch to new jugs of antifreeze as the previous one empties. Don’t reconnect to any water until you’re ready to de-winterize. When you are ready for that just hook up to water and turn on the faucets. Let them run for awhile to ensure you get all anti-freeze out. Hope that helps.

Yes. You turn the pump on and then go to each faucet and turn them on until antifreeze comes out. Then shut it off and move to the next one. That ensures you have antifreeze in all the lines.

We’re glad we could help. You can email us at hintonthetrail@gmail.com.

Hi, About to go out to do mine in a few hours. You said here that you also put antifreeze in your fresh tank. How did you do that?

When we turned the pump on could send it to the fresh tank. The nautilus system we had gave us the option to do that.

You want the antifreeze sitting in all the lines. When it’s time to use your unit again you can run everything and flush the system out.

This system has the bypass. There are different one where you have to physically bypass it but this nautilus doesn’t require it.

Thank you! We’d winterized a few times before making the video so had some experience. The docking system makes it much easier. There are a few different ways, the first is open up every line and then hook up an air compressor on a low setting and just blow everything out. Some folks do this and don’t use antifreeze. If your want to use antifreeze you have to get it in to your fresh tank and then pump it through. We haven’t done this on a unit without a docking system and don’t want to steer you wrong. There are some great videos out there on how to do it and we recommend you find one that is closer to the unit you have.

@@HintonTheTrail Thanks for the tip . Be safe and Happy Camping. 👍🏾

That nautilus water system has a bypass built. Some systems don’t and you’ll have to do a bypass.

Yes, you close the lines before putting in the antifreeze.

You can but it’s better/easier to dewinterize if you don’t. By draining the tank completely and the bypassing it you really don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to water freezing in there. Just make sure you’ve got all the water out. If you decide to put antifreeze in the hot water tank it’s best to remove the anode rod and replace it with a plug or bolt. Antifreeze can be very corrosive to the anode rod. Also, when it’s time to dewinterize you really need to do a good job of flushing all of the antifreeze out.

Once you drain everything and the hot water tank and get the antifreeze in you run the pump. That pushes antifreeze into the lines and gets any remaining water out. You could also blow them out with an air compressor but don’t go over 30 psi

Yes, close them after everything is drained, and before you start putting the anti-freeze in.

This system doesn’t require that.

Make sure your gray/black tank hose is attached and at a dump station dump those tanks. Also open up your fresh water tank and empty that.

For the hot water tank, make sure it’s been off for quite awhile and run it to get the hot water out before you attempt to dump it. The tank itself should have a drain on it that looks like a bolt. Thats actually the sacrificial rod and drain. You need to open that up and pull the rod out. Very important that you have gloves on for this just in case there’s still hot water on so you don’t get burnt. After you pull out the plug, find the pressure release valve that should be above it and flip it. Let that stay open for awhile to get as much water out as you can. Then you can put the plug back in or replace it with a plastic one for the winter.

All of this is shown in the video but obviously your RV may have different locations for things.

No, it’s not an option. Winterizing is used to prepare the RV for storage. If you’re going to be living in it there are some things you can do. If you’re going to be stationary you can put a skirting around the outside of the trailer. This will help a lot. If you’re moving around a lot they do make ones they snap on and off but not something easily done and carried. Most RVs come with tank heaters so just have them turned on. If you don’t have tank heaters you may want to look into having some put on. Mobile RV techs can assist. Get a heated hose! Always keep some water in your fresh tank (as long as you have a tank heater) just in case, but a heated hose allows you to stay hooked up. Just have to make sure the water source is insulated and where the hose connects to your RV is also insulated. Get a space heater. This helps save a lot on propane, but make sure you still run the furnace. The ducts from the furnace also heat the underbelly which is where your pipes are so that helps ensure they don’t freeze up. Add insulation to the windows. A roll of reflectix is cheap and will help keep in the heat. We found that it’s cheaper at Home Depot than at RV stores. Get insulating vent cushions as well. One more thing you can do that will help save a lot on propane is to get propane tank warmers. The kind that wrap completely around the tank like a blanket. Propane compresses when it gets cold so you will go through it like crazy in the winter. There’s also the risk of freezing up. All of this depends on where you’re going to be and how cold it’s going to get. The colder the area the more you’ll need to do. Hope this helps. Good luck and stay warm.

At the very least you could disconnect the water and drain all the lines. Disconnect the water hose, make sure the pump is off, pull the fresh tank open, pull the low point drains open, and then go turn on all of your faucets. This will get a lot of your water out of the system. Personally I would winterize. We did this video before dropping our RV off for 2-weeks of maintenance in similar temps to what you’re talking about. Just didn’t want to risk it. It may coast $40-50 in antifreeze and hoses and really doesn’t take that long. Then when you get back just drain everything and run a lot of water through the system to flush it out. If you have an air compressor (set to no more than 30 psi) you could do all of the draining above and then blow out the lines. This is something that’s easily repeatable if you leave the rig for a few days or more in freezing temps. Many people skip antifreeze and just blow out the lines and it works for them. Some folks don’t have an air compressor.

Where are the filters? If it’s for a water system I would remove them but recommend you ask your dealer/manufacturer of the system.

Winterizing needs to be done if you’re storing your RV over the winter anywhere where temps could reach freezing. If you’re full time living in it then no. We did this one because we were dropping it off for 3-weeks for service in freezing temps. Didn’t want to risk it. If you’re going through the winter in your RV there are a few things you can do to protect it. Heated water hose. If you’re going to be stationary for a long period in the winter then we recommend doing a skirt. Will help a lot with maintaining temps and protecting your water lines. If your RV doesn’t have heating pads on the fresh water, gray, and black tanks (most do now) then add them. If temps are going to be very cold you can detach from the water source and just run on your fresh water tank. Good luck and safe travels.

The four levers account for the bypass for the antifreeze. Not sure when it comes to using an air compressor. We didn’t open up the lines but probably should have. We were doing a quick winterize for a two week drop off at a dealership.

Here’s a link to the Nautilus P4 system we have on our Tandara. We drained everything from the tanks. www.bandbmolders.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Nautilus-P4-User.pdf The suburban water heater instructions say to remove the anode rod and replace it with a 3/4” drain plug. We were replacing our rod after the fact anyway. Anti-freeze can be corrosive to the anode rod and leave sediment in the tank.

@@HintonTheTrail this was super helpful especially the set up to blow out the lines...thanks again

Wow! Yes, it sounds like there is something plumbed incorrectly. That is the strangest thing. Not even sure how that would be possible. What happens when you fill the fresh tank?

Yes. The antifreeze is drawn in to the system by the pump and passes through it.

Winterizing is for storing the RV and not using. This protects your water lines from cracking. When it’s time to dewinterize, hook up and run a lot of water through everything. Fill up the fresh water tank and then switch over to pump and run off that until it’s clear and then dump all the tanks. If you’re wanting to RV in cold weather you don’t winterize. You should get a heated water hose so that doesn’t freeze. Make sure you keep your tank heaters on. If you’re stationary for a long period of time (like month plus) maybe think about skirting. Your furnace is your friend when it comes to the water lines inside your rig so make sure you use it. Some people use space heaters solely and they forget that those don’t heat their underbelly where the lines are at. Good luck and stay warm. Thank you for the kind words!

@@HintonTheTrail Oh I see now. Yes a friend of mine mentioned that hose. Any recommendations? I'm totally still be at this. Not sure if you remember my wife and I met you 2 at the Tampa Super RV show this year. So we are still in Florida and will be in Virginia some time in October of this year. Any wisdom you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

@@gallom325 We used at 50' Camco product for the last few years with no issues. We started with a 25' but found that it wasn't long enough at a few locations. Here's the link: bit.ly/3DRE3h5 We do remember and it's great to hear from you again. So one other thing to remember is that in cold weather your propane is going to go faster. It's more compressed in cold weather AND you're using more so it's something you want to stay on top of.

@@HintonTheTrail Oh wow! I didn't know that thanks. Yeah man. I try to stay on top of your vids and where you guys are. But, we'll life happens. Thank again. You are indeed a blessing to us in our journey. Have a blessed day and Happy & Safe Travels!!🚍🙏🏽

It does but that’s ok. Having that anti-freeze in the tanks helps protect them too. Then you do a heavy flush in the spring to get it all cleaned out.

Robert, that’s a good question. We don’t have experience with those but saw that there are a few other videos out there about the process. We do have a question for you though. How do you like your tankless water heater? Is it worth switching over? -Chris & Suzannah

Do you use an air compressor?

And run the outside shower.

Good eye. It’s important for everyone to look at their manufacturer’s instructions on this. Some models require physically bypassing the hot water heater, others don’t. It can be a challenge because they don’t come with a whole lot of instructions and there are a lot of different panels for the water system.

We should have commented on that. We actually never used the shower and when we attached it during filming it had antifreeze in the lines still.

Oaf - the water heater was bypassed when they turned the 'red' knob sideways. If they left the red switch vertical, antifreeze would have gone to the water heater tank. We have the same Nautilus system.

This was caught by a few others as well. We’d actually never dewinterized it from the dealer, or used it. After the video we realized we didn’t do it and went and checked. There was still antifreeze in the lines.

Air or anti-freeze, whatever gets the job done so you protect your RV. For most people if you take it in to a service center they blow it out, and then put in the anti-freeze. If you have an air compressor at home that you can do it with then go for it. If you don't, then just doing anti-freeze is a great option.

I can see why some people would be confused and quickly try to point out a mistake. When some folks think of a vise grip they’re probably thinking about the traditional silver tool that can lock into place and the appropriate name is "locking plier". In this case, I’m using an Irwin Visegrip Quick Adjusting GrooveLock. You can utilize the link below to see the product and verify the name. Now, if I were to refer to them as just channellocks that would be misleading because Channellock is the name of a company that produces hundreds of different products. In the case of this video, I held up the product and referred to it by its name. The patented name. There’s a whole world of tool history out there and it’s interesting to learn about. We do appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment. amzn.to/3xfaKRC

Yep. You need to have a nautilus water system but much of the basics and the principles are the same. You have to get all the water out of your system and get antifreeze in it or use an air compressor.

Totally disagree. I have a totally different RV but learned a lot in this video on what to do with mine. I found it very applicable regarding any RV.

Totally disagree? You can’t even agree a little bit? I’m thinking you could easily disagree about 80% and agree around 20%. I mean is that asking too much?