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Old 03-16-2020, 06:23 PM   #1
GrahamLock
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Winterizing new 3120RL

I'm having trouble winterizing. I have the heater bypassed and drained. I have the winterize switch to ON, and I have a short hose plugged into the Winterize Input and the other end in the antifreeze. We turn the pump on and nothing happens when we open a tap. It isn't drawing the antifreeze up. Any suggestions?
 
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Old 03-16-2020, 07:18 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrahamLock View Post
I'm having trouble winterizing. I have the heater bypassed and drained. I have the winterize switch to ON, and I have a short hose plugged into the Winterize Input and the other end in the antifreeze. We turn the pump on and nothing happens when we open a tap. It isn't drawing the antifreeze up. Any suggestions?
I had the same problem as have others. I think you are either not getting a good seal where your intake hose connects to the winterize input or the water pump is having trouble pulling fluid through the check valve inside that connector; maybe both.

The check valve is not necessary, grab the center piece with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull that puppy out. Try putting two hose washers on your intake hose. Also, elevate your jug of antifreeze above the connector to make it easier for the pump.

The first photo shows the connector with the check valve in place, the second after I pulled the check valve out.
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Old 03-16-2020, 07:37 PM   #3
DutchmenSport
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I have the same issue with my 375FL. I found out the bottle holding the antifreeze has to be level or highter than where the hose attaches to the inlet. If you raise the jug, it will probably begin to suck it up. If it's lower than the fill connection, it won't. I set my jug of pink-stuff on a step ladder beside the trailer. It works great then, as long as it's as high or higher than the hose connection.
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Old 03-16-2020, 07:44 PM   #4
GrahamLock
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Thanks. That sounds easy. For this time, I used air to blow it out and it seems to be OK. I'll take it up with the dealer in April and if it doesn't get fixed, I'll try your solution.
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Old 03-16-2020, 07:44 PM   #5
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That also sounds like it's worth a try. Thanks. Next time I'll do that. For now, I have blown the lines out.
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Old 03-17-2020, 04:55 AM   #6
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Not sure where you are, but I prefer to use air instead of antifreeze. Much less clean up in the spring. I've been in sub zero temps and had no problems.
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Old 03-17-2020, 05:50 AM   #7
GrahamLock
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Thanks. That is what we have done this time. It was so easy that I will likely continue.
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Old 03-17-2020, 07:32 AM   #8
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I am in Minnesota and have used air for over 10 years with no issues. My DW hated the taste of the water after the antifreeze and we would have to use bottled water for anything if we were going to eat or drink it.

Air is much easier to winterize and get ready in Spring.
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Old 03-17-2020, 07:57 AM   #9
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You really need to make sure you can winterize with the "pink stuff" and know how to do it, and make sure it works for your camper. Why?

Not so much for winterizing, but using the winterizaiton line is a great way to sanitize your water system. Simply pour some bleach into a bucket, add some water, and pump that through the winterization system, even into the fresh water tank. Easy-Peasy.

Another reason to use the winterization line is in the event your water heater ever goes out -- completely --- like ours did once in our previous travel trailer. How did we end up taking nice WARM showers? Simple.

I heated in a pan on the stove top till it came to a boil. I did a second pan until I had enough to fill a bucket. I brought it to boil because it would cool before the second batch was hot, when mixing the first batch of water with the second batch it was nice and WARM.

After heating the water on the stove top, pour in a bucket and use the winterization system to pump the WARM water through to your shower. (bypass the water heater), and in this case, it doesn't matter if you run the water through the hot or cold side, you'll only get the water from the bucket anyway. Now granted, this calls for a very, very quick "Navy" shower, to be sure. But it does provide a way to take a shower with nice warm water if your water heater goes out. And yes.... I actually did this once. Both my wife and I took a warm shower when both the electric and gas thermostat failed on the water heater.

So, here is a second reason to be sure you know how your winterization process works. 1) for sanatizing, 2) for emergency warm water

You may think of other scenarios where you'd use the winterization system to pump water too. It's used for more than just winterization.

Good luck!
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Old 03-25-2020, 03:58 PM   #10
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Badknees here we stuck anew washer with the screen on that did the trick. I prefer air less messy good luck
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Old 03-25-2020, 04:18 PM   #11
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Another trick, I had an old pump for a fountain. I put a hose from the pump to the winterization inlet, then dropped the pump into a bucket of antifreeze. It creates enough pressure to send the pink stuff to all the needed positions. It also keeps you from having to hold your supply up high in an effort to get gravity to take over. My arms don't hurt anymore
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Old 03-26-2020, 07:50 AM   #12
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Old 03-26-2020, 07:40 PM   #13
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mine did the same thing, I just poured some of the antifreeze into the short hose to fill it, put it back into the antifreeze jug and that did the trick. Thinking that the pump just needed primed a little to get a good flow.
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Old 03-26-2020, 08:52 PM   #14
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Dont forget to blow out/winterize the washer pipes.
We dont have a washing machine so I installed shut off valves on the pipes going to the washer in the basement
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Old 03-28-2020, 10:53 AM   #15
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We winter south in our camper so store in the summer, usually don't have to winterize. Once In a while we will go home for Christmas and leave the rig, so I blow out the lines. Always be sure to add antifreeze to the traps and toilet.
I read a thread once where someone would add the antifreeze and then blow out the pipes leaving the antifreeze to protect the traps. I would recommend this process and then "winterize" with Clorox solution in the spring to sanitize.
BTW, always drain the H/W tank and it's a good time to inspect/replace the anode.
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Old 04-03-2020, 01:14 PM   #16
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Pink Stuff

Quote:
Originally Posted by DutchmenSport View Post
I have the same issue with my 375FL. I found out the bottle holding the antifreeze has to be level or highter than where the hose attaches to the inlet. If you raise the jug, it will probably begin to suck it up. If it's lower than the fill connection, it won't. I set my jug of pink-stuff on a step ladder beside the trailer. It works great then, as long as it's as high or higher than the hose connection.
I also discovered that raising the bottle of Pink Stuff works great. Last time it took just less than a gallon to winterize my 3000RE
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Old 11-08-2022, 08:42 PM   #17
Rockstar48
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Originally Posted by scottz View Post
I had the same problem as have others. I think you are either not getting a good seal where your intake hose connects to the winterize input or the water pump is having trouble pulling fluid through the check valve inside that connector; maybe both.

The check valve is not necessary, grab the center piece with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull that puppy out. Try putting two hose washers on your intake hose. Also, elevate your jug of antifreeze above the connector to make it easier for the pump.

The first photo shows the connector with the check valve in place, the second after I pulled the check valve out.
Thanks for your post. We had the same issue this year. It looks like you just used a pair of needle nose pliers and pulled the check valve out from the front? I believe you are right - that the check valve is not necessary. Have you ever seen anything about why they are installed by the mfr? Our unit is parked permanently at an RV park, and our only use for the water pump is for pulling in antifreeze. Thus… any “back flow” at the freezeguard port should be non-existent. Would you agree?
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