Air compressors and water lines

[Hikegsm]

I have never used an air compressors to blow out water lines when freezing weather is predicted when camping.  All of our previous campers water intakes were gravity drain. I would just unhook the water hose.  Because of design, the Oliver water intakes are more venerable to freezing. My question is, what type of air compressors do I need to carry?  Can I use the little portable D/C one I carry for inflating tires or do I need to buy one like for air tools? How do you connect to it?

 

 

[topgun2]

I believe that you will need a couple of things.  An air regulator will prevent you from "blowing" too much pressure into those water lines.  I think 40psi is what is recommended and I certainly would not go above 50psi.  The second thing you will need is an adaptor that screws into the inlets on the outside of the Oliver.  I've seen these in two types - get the one that has the bicycle valve on the end, it makes it much easier to apply the air hose to this fitting.

 

As far as compressors - as long as you can attach the air regulator to the end of the hose, it is possible to simply use an air hose at a gas station or repair shop.  If you want one for your home then just about any that have a "tank" could be used.  Harbor Freight and others have these for about $100 or less.  Of course this does not include the really little ones that one uses for simply inflating tires - they generally do not produce enough of a "blast" of air in order to blow the lines out but they produce relatively little "puffs" of air until the tire is inflated (i.e.  put your hand in front of the hose on one of those little guys and turn it on - do you think it would blow any water out?).  Another thing that could be done is to purchase a "air tank" and use your little tire inflator to put air into that.  However, unless you got a fairly big air tank you would need to keep refilling it until you got all of the water out of the lines (don't ask me how I know this).  Take a view of some of the videos on YouTube to get a better idea of this equipment.

 

Bill

[Hikegsm]

When we leave Tennessee in June we generally are in the Rockies until October. We tend to camp at high elevation and not near a gas station or a town for that matter. So I guess I need to shop for a small compressor to take with us.  Any suggestions? Carving out a place to carry it is another issue...

[Mainiac]

We have always blown out water lines. As a matter of fact, we blow them out twice. We wait 10 or more minutes to let any bubbles or droplets roll to a low point and blow again. We don't want to dilute any antifreeze we put in in the next step. With the second blow there is a lot less resistance in the line, so you can move any remaining material. Always amazed on how much the second blow removes. We used to do between 40 and 50 winterizations each winter at a campground we were at and never had a frozen or broken line in the Spring. The 10 or 20 minutes it takes is a lot less time than it takes to replace a water line...

[Raspy]

I do it every year with another one of my trailers.  Get yourself a small 120 volt model, like a Senco air nailer style.  It will have a cutoff and a regulator built in, plus a small tank.  Then make a hose with a garden hose male on one and and a quick disconnect on the other.

 

 

 

Plug it in, set the pressure to about 40 PSI, drain the water heater by removing the plug on it outside, connect the hose, turn on the faucets.  Do the faucets one at a time or until you are only getting air.  it may take 2 or 3 recharges to get a sufficient blast of air.  Then pour a cup or so of antifreeze down the sink drains to protect the traps.   You should also open the suction line where Ollie draws it's water in from a tank and let the pump suck that line dry.  You might be able to hook up the compressor to this suction line too.  Done.

[Overland]

I recently had to replace my Viair 450 compressor, which had fallen victim to a tragic driveway incident involving the new truck.  I decided to experiment and replace it with a CO2 tank from Powertank.  I am really enjoying the versatility, and I find myself using it much more than the compressor.  And it's nicely built - really nice.  But I'm not sure I could recommend it due to the price - you're overpaying really to get a top notch regulator and inflator gauge, which while nice to have are definitely a luxury at least for me.  I think if I had to do it again, I'd go back to a compressor but take the time to mount it to the truck so it's handier to use than the portable version I had.  Even the smallest portable compressor from Viair will give you 100psi, which is more than enough to inflate a tire or blow out the water lines.

[DavidS]

My question is, what type of air compressors do I need to carry?

I decided to use an air compressor to winterize my Ollie. This

was very helpful. They said some air compressors can introduce oil into your RV’s water lines, and so you should use an oil-free compressor with an integrated filter.

 

Based on their recommendations I bought the Viair 40047 400P-RV Automatic Portable Compressor Kit, the Viair 90150 0-200 PSI Air Pressure Regulator, the Camco 36143 Blow Out Plug with Brass Quick Connect, the TEKTON 4711 1/4-Inch NPT Quick Connect Male Plug (M-Style), and the TEKTON 4714 1/4-Inch Quick Connect Female Coupler.

 

The Viair 400P-RV is fairly compact and comes with a nice carrying case. I carry the air compressor in the tow vehicle, and I have used it to add air to my trailer tires. I was also able to help another camper who needed air in his trailer tires.

[Hikegsm]

Hikegsm wrote:

My question is, what type of air compressors do I need to carry?

I decided to use an air compressor to winterize my Ollie. This

was very helpful. They said some air compressors can introduce oil into your RV’s water lines, and so you should use an oil-free compressor with an integrated filter. Based on their recommendations I bought the Viair 40047 400P-RV Automatic Portable Compressor Kit, the Viair 90150 0-200 PSI Air Pressure Regulator, the Camco 36143 Blow Out Plug with Brass Quick Connect, the TEKTON 4711 1/4-Inch NPT Quick Connect Male Plug (M-Style), and the TEKTON 4714 1/4-Inch Quick Connect Female Coupler. The Viair 400P-RV is fairly compact and comes with a nice carrying case. I carry the air compressor in the tow vehicle, and I have used it to add air to my trailer tires. I was also able to help another camper who needed air in his trailer tires.

 

For me size is the major deciding factor. Though I like the idea of a multi functional pancake type compressor, I am going with the  Viair system that David  uses and recommends . It looks pretty compact. I wish you could just plug it in instead of using battery clamps though. The CO2 from power tank looked interesting but size and cost is prohibitive for me. Thanks for all of your responses. I really appreciate it.

 

Yvonne

[Rumline]

Another helpful and thoroughly-referenced post from David.

 

Yvonne, I agree with you about size.  And having stuff that has multiple uses.  You should really have a compressor for your tires anyway, so getting one that runs off of DC and will easily fit in your tow vehicle is a plus for me.

 

One minor question about the model of compressor.  The 450P only draws 23 amps max while the 400 draws 30. The 450 only pushes 1.8 CFM vs 2.3 for the 400.  But the 450 has a 100% duty cycle whereas the 400 can only be run for 20 minutes before it has to rest for 40 (33% duty cycle).

 

Given the above which one would be better?  I was leaning towards the 450 mostly due to the duty cycle.  If I air down for a loose sandy road and then need to reinflate before hitting pavement, filling 8 tires is going to take a while.  Although the slightly higher CFM might be better for blowing out water lines.

[Try2Relax]

But the 450 has a 100% duty cycle whereas the 400 can only be run for 20 minutes before it has to rest for 40 (33% duty cycle). Given the above which one would be better? I was leaning towards the 450 mostly due to the duty cycle.

 

This was exactly why I went with the 450, which is perfect for the inflation issues you mention.

 

When winterizing, you can do it to ways, open a faucet go back and squeeze the trigger to force the air, HIGH pressure blast, let go, quick little repressurize in the compressor to the trigger, this allows the remaining water to collect and then release again. Go around to each faucet and then do it again, just to be sure, as I don't use antifreeze.

 

The other way is that the water system can easily pressurize to at least 60psi, the pex will allow for over 120psi but the pump prefilter and some of the plastic threaded connectors can't handle that much, the trigger that came with the 450 has a pressure gauge and with a couple quick squeezes you can pressurize the system and then walk to the faucet and release. I will use this ability to check how well my system can hold pressure to know if I need to start searching for a leak somewhere, with the filter isolated out, it can now maintain 100psi with ease.

 

The 450 works well for me, it lives under the seat in the truck.

[Free2Roam]

When you all are blowing the waterlines, I know that the water heater should be bypassed, but I wouldn't need to adjust any of the other valves if I am not sucking in antifreeze, correct?  We have only used our city water line so far so my thought was to keep all valves as they are (except closing of the Truma) and then blowing air into the city water connection.  Thanks, Angela

[John E Davies]

When you all are blowing the waterlines, I know that the water heater should be bypassed, but I wouldn’t need to adjust any of the other valves if I am not sucking in antifreeze, correct? We have only used our city water line so far so my thought was to keep all valves as they are (except closing of the Truma) and then blowing air into the city water connection. Thanks, Angela

You must blow out each and every outside water connection, not just the city water line. Even if you have not personally used the other ones there wll be undoubtedly be some residual water trapped in those other circuits.

 

Don’t forget to drain the hot water heater, not just bypass it....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Free2Roam]

 

You must blow out each and every outside water connection, not just the city water line. Even if you have not personally used the other ones there wll be undoubtedly be some residual water trapped in those other circuits. Don’t forget to drain the hot water heater, not just bypass it…. John Davies Spokane WA

 

thanks John!  We actually drain our water heater and take out the filter whenever we are storing/not using the trailer. We had a defective collar around the removable filter that we got replaced under warranty and after taking with Truma the rep said that they recommend taking the removable filter out definitely if it was going to be cold and then again when not in use. So we have just made this a part of our breakdown list. -Angela