Winterizing for a Maine winter.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

21 minutes ago, Mainiac said:

At wakeup I usually just hook up the water and run until clear at all faucets. I also use that time to sanitize the tank and water lines. Flushing the lines seems to eliminate any after taste the antifreeze might leave. That being said, if I happen to pull out near the end of winter, I might leave the antifreeze in until below the Mason-Dixon Line. That is also when we wake up the water heater. And we have a couple of gallons on RV antifreeze to flush with, and we carry a case of drinking water that we keep in a heat source (either truck or camper).

 

Let's say you're on the road.  Daytime temps are in the 40s; you expect it to be upper 20s to mid 30s at night for a portion of the trip.  Do you Winterize -  1. with hookups and heat on at night? 2. no hookups and no heat?  Or is it best just to Winterize and not lose sleep over it?

I ask because we will be towing our new Oliver home close to mid December.  If weather is favorable, we plan to take I-40 from Tennesssee to Nevada, then Hwy 395 north to Oregon.  I'm mostly concerned about traveling in higher elevations - Flagstaff, AZ, Albuquerque, NM and Reno to Redding.

We aren't opposed to traveling in winterization mode, carrying water, and flushing toilet with antifreeze, but having water would be nice.

[Mike and Carol]

49 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

Let's say you're on the road.  Daytime temps are in the 40s; you expect it to be upper 20s to mid 30s at night for a portion of the trip.  Do you Winterize -  1. with hookups and heat on at night? 2. no hookups and no heat?  Or is it best just to Winterize and not lose sleep over it?

For trips where towing temps are above freezing and nighttime temperatures are mid to high 20s I would not worry about winterizing.  We’ve camped in the teens at night with and without hookups and had no issues.  If you are going to have sustained temps in the 20s or below, day and night, then you might winterize or head to warmer temperatures.  Mike

[Mainiac]

1 hour ago, Susan Huff said:

We aren't opposed to traveling in winterization mode, carrying water, and flushing toilet with antifreeze, but having water would be nice

We carry a case of water in the truck. When we stop we take the water into the Oliver. The furnace keeps us plenty warm. If we are at a CG that is open they usually have heated bath houses. If not we can heat water on the stove and have G.I. type cleanup. Instant coffee is better than no coffee?

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, Mainiac said:

We carry a case of water in the truck. When we stop we take the water into the Oliver. The furnace keeps us plenty warm. If we are at a CG that is open they usually have heated bath houses. If not we can heat water on the stove and have G.I. type cleanup. Instant coffee is better than no coffee?

That's basically our plan.  Hoping the weather will be favorable for travel towing.  The rest will be an adventure!

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, Mike and Carol said:

For trips where towing temps are above freezing and nighttime temperatures are mid to high 20s I would not worry about winterizing.  We’ve camped in the teens at night with and without hookups and had no issues.  If you are going to have sustained temps in the 20s or below, day and night, then you might winterize or head to warmer temperatures.  Mike

Thanks!

So, if daytime temps are above freezing, keep the inside plumbing active .   Should we winterize the exterior plumbing (city water inlet, fresh water fill, outside shower and black tank flush valve)?

[Mike and Carol]

9 hours ago, Susan Huff said:

Thanks!

So, if daytime temps are above freezing, keep the inside plumbing active .   Should we winterize the exterior plumbing (city water inlet, fresh water fill, outside shower and black tank flush valve)?

Someone else will have to chime in here, I’ve never winterized.  I don’t know how you would winterize just those areas and not the rest.  If you’re driving all day in below freezing weather I would winterize everything.  If it is only below freezing at night you should be all right.

[topgun2]

A couple of thoughts here:

1.  no real need to flush the toilet with antifreeze at the temps being discussed here - 30's & 40's during the day and mid 20's at night as Mike points out above.

2.  Either your Oliver will be delivered in the winterized mode or you can request for it to be delivered that way.  I would simply leave it winterized, carry some milk jugs with water for flushing the toilet and carry some water in the TV for drinking and possible "GI type cleanup" as per Maniac above.

3.  Relax and enjoy the delivery and trip.

Bill

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, Mike and Carol said:

Someone else will have to chime in here, I’ve never winterized.  I don’t know how you would winterize just those areas and not the rest.  If you’re driving all day in below freezing weather I would winterize everything.  If it is only below freezing at night you should be all right.

I am thrilled to think of not having to winterize, as long as daytime temps remain above freezing.  Our previous RV was not four season; except for the fresh water tank, plumbing was exposed, with the macerator pump being the most vulnerable, so winterizatioin was recommended any time temperatures dip below freezing.  We aren't serious winter campers, but do venture out when nighttime temps dip below freezing.

I think it is possible, by pumping antifreeze into the city connection, fresh water connection, and black flush valve, to protect these exterior portions of the plumbing, without having to winterize the entire plumbing system.  This can be done with the use of this hand transfer pump.

Someone, please confirm my expectation.

 

[bhncb]

1 hour ago, Susan Huff said:

and black flush valve,

You don't need to pump antifreeze in this one. Just cock or remove the filter screen washer briefly to allow any residual water to drain from the line up to the check valve. I drain all four of mine this way and then leave the plugs loose if not traveling.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

A couple of thoughts here:

1.  no real need to flush the toilet with antifreeze at the temps being discussed here - 30's & 40's during the day and mid 20's at night as Mike points out above.

2.  Either your Oliver will be delivered in the winterized mode or you can request for it to be delivered that way.  I would simply leave it winterized, carry some milk jugs with water for flushing the toilet and carry some water in the TV for drinking and possible "GI type cleanup" as per Maniac above.

3.  Relax and enjoy the delivery and trip.

Bill

Thanks for the advice and encouragement.  We will know, from our drive out to Tennessee, what to expect the weather to be on the tow home.  I've thought about having Oliver delivery be winterized, but wouldn't this restrict our test run (staying at Davy Crockett SP a couple of nights).  We want to be able to run the water system in different modes, using fresh water tank as well as city water connection.  Also, testing dumping of the holding tanks.

Not exactly sure how delivery works; so will ask Oliver: should we take delivery not-winterized, test water systems at Davy Crockett, then winterize before we begin the trip home.  Or ?????

For sure we want to enjoy our delivery and trip home 😃

[Ray and Susan Huff]

12 minutes ago, bhncb said:

You don't need to pump antifreeze in this one. Just cock or remove the filter screen washer briefly to allow any residual water to drain from the line up to the check valve. I drain all four of mine this way and then leave the plugs loose if not traveling.

All four being???

[bhncb]

2 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

All four being???

Water hose connection Inlets.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, bhncb said:

Water hose connection Inlets.

Fresh water, city water, black tank flush and what is the other?

[bhncb]

7 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

Fresh water, city water, black tank flush and what is the other?

Winterizing (Boondocking)

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 minute ago, bhncb said:

Winterizing (Boondocking)

OK . . . . that makes sense since you can use it to take up water to the fresh water tank.

Thanks!!

[bhncb]

If you follow the Oliver winterizing procedure, obviously this last inlet wouldn't need attention. I don't and only use it when adding water from jug or sanitizing the system.

[Overland]

The boondocking port also doesn't have a check valve on it, and it's a straight shot from there to where it turns up to the pump, so water should drain out of it easily.

[bhncb]

12 minutes ago, Overland said:

The boondocking port also doesn't have a check valve on it, and it's a straight shot from there to where it turns up to the pump, so water should drain out of it easily.

Except for the quarter-turn. The fine mesh filter screens by themselves restrict complete drainage.

[topgun2]

One could take delivery in the un-winterized state, test all systems overnight, return to the Oliver Service department the next day (or even a couple of days later) and have Oliver winterize the new Oliver while you watch - or go to breakfast, lunch or that exciting shopping trip in the Hohenwald WalMart.  If it was me and if I was worried about this issue I'd ask that this testing and winterization be part of my delivery.  

Bill

[GAP]

I've been searcging the forum for info from folks that use their Olivers in deep cold.  Haven't found anything yet.  Our intent, and the reason why we looked at Oliver in the first place, is to use it mid winter as a ski and mountaineering platform.  Forgetting for a moment the complexities of winterizing to allow travel, do any of you have experience camping in sustained, well below freezing conditions?  Seems to me that these trailers are built for full function (with the exception of exterior shower) no matter how cold it gets even without hookups.  For what it's worth, we ordered with a composting toilet, full lithium solar package and will be carrying  both a Big Buddy for boondocking and a small 110v heater for when we have AC.

[mossemi]

57 minutes ago, GAP said:

I've been searcging the forum for info from folks that use their Olivers in deep cold.  Haven't found anything yet.

Try searching for the word skiing.  Then sort through the 27 responses for member DonnaDuane.  Send him a PM and he might be able to help with your request.

Mossey

[GAP]

Great.  Will do.