Blowing out lines help needed

[CampPete]

We have decided to blow out the lines and add antifreeze to drains as our winterizing procedure.We live in the NW so we don't get deep freezes and we use our Imagine about once a month so I don't want to have to clean out antifreeze from the lines for a quick weekend away. I am concerned though that since we have actually had some freezing days over the last few weeks that I "blew it". There is something that didn't occur to me until the middle of the night last night.....

Three simple questions (I hope)

1. We used our fresh water tank last time because we were worried about freezing our hose on a cold night. When I blew out the lines, I didn't do anything about the water pump. What should I have done to empty that of water?

2. How do I blow out the lines for the toilet? Realized I didn't specifically do anything or that. It is as simple at holding the foot petal while the air is going?

3. I am pretty sure I didn't blow the lines long enough. Do I just open one faucet at a time and for how long each ? After that, do I open all and let the air keep blowing for a while? How long should I do that for?

We are going to the trailer this weekend. I'm hoping I didn't do any damage with my bad winterizing attempt (we are serious newbies).

I do see lots of people who frozen lines with this serious cold back east. They seem more worried about not having water than possible burst pipes. Is it pretty rare that damage is actually done in these freezes vs the inconvenience of having to thaw their pipes.

Thanks for the help.

[LCBoyer]

Open all water valves, one at a time until water stops. I used a hose to pull pink anti freeze into the system and ran all faucets until pink came out. If you have washing machine lines, Rembrandt them.

[Cate&Rob]

Pete - You have the procedure figured out correctly. (This is what I do for the same reason that I don't want to have to purge antifreeze on every refill.)

You don't mention the water heater, but the first thing to do is turn off power to the water heater, open the drain valve and pressure relief vent and open the water heater bypass valve.

You don't need a lot of air pressure (20 psi is lots) and you need to open every faucet and fixture one at a time until it begins to spew air. Including the toilet by holding down the pedal. The line to the fresh water tank can be blown out by switching the valves to tank fill.

The water pump and its associated lines can be difficult. Once you know that the line to the tank is blown out, switching to normal mode (without air pressure) and opening the low point drains and running the pump briefly should do it. After you have completed your process the first time, I would suggest pulling the lines from each side of the pump (this is easy to do with the blue retaining clips) to see how much water is left in the pump. Expect an ounce, but if there is more than that, you will need to change your blow out sequence. You only need to do this the first time to assure yourself that the pump is being cleared.

The lines don't need to be blown until they are completely dry. Damage will only occur if a completely full line or fixture freezes. A small amount of water in the bottom of a line can freeze without expanding enough to damage anything.


Once you are confident in your process, it becomes easy and quick and means that you don't need to worry about freezing between trips.

Rob

[CampPete]

Rob-Thanks. This is exactly what I was needing.

I have done the water heater as you said. That is one of the easy parts to do.

I'm hoping you can clarify a few things though. I am not sure what "normal" mode is. Do you mean city water or tank fill? I opened my low points at at the beginning while the water heater is draining. Is it better to wait until this step or is anytime okay?

where is the water pump located? I have an Imagine so maybe behind one of the drawers where the winterizing tube is? I am going this weekend so I can look for it.

Thanks!!

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Pete - I was using "Kantleak System" terminology, forgetting that newer systems are different. Kantleak "normal" means setting the system to draw water from the tank. The line from the water panel to the tank can be used in two directions. One to fill the tank and reversed (by different valve settings) to draw water from the tank. I blow out this line in "tank fill" mode and then once this line and the water tank are empty, I switch to the settings that draw water from the tank and running the pump should then draw air through the pump. A faucet (low point drain) must be wide open because the pump will not draw air if there is any output back pressure present. This is the last thing that I do after everything else is blown out and the low point drains are left open.

I use a relatively low air pressure (20 psi) connected to the city water input and open and close each valve/faucet one at a time. I start at the highest or farthest away and work towards the panel. The last ones that I open are the low point drains.

I don't know where the water pump is located on an Imagine (maybe other Imagine guys can jump in here) but it should be reasonably easy to access because there is a screen filter on the input side that should be checked/cleaned fairly often. If you run the pump, you should be able to locate it by sound.

Rob

[Jking46]

The water pump on a 2800bh is under the kitchen cabinets You need to remove 2 drawers to access it.
Can't vouch for other Imagines.
Also, be sure the toilet is completely blown out. The water valve can freeze with little water in it because the passages are small.

[maldomaldo]

I also am new and we did the blow out on the 2800 BH and antifreeze procedure you did, but I don't think we did anything to the pump because we didn't use it, but now I am concerned what kind of damage could of been done to it by overlooking it. We are in the south, and had about 3 day f freezing

[CampPete]

I forgot to do anything to the pump after we used it and we had freezing temps too. I don't think anything bad happened but I guess I could find out on a future trip. Someone on the Grand Design Imagine facebook page under the files had a dry winterization guide and I followed it this past weekend. It was so simple and I got out a lot more water than I did with my previous procedure. I would take a look at that. I copied it and made it easier for me to read in the rain and without my glasses. Here are the bullet points but the credit goes to Tom Lasonde on the Grand Design Imagine Facebook page.

• Turn off water heater for both gas and electric.
• Drain, flush and clean black and gray tanks. 

• 
Open your low point drains.
• Open all faucets. Don’t forget outside fixtures.

• Open the drain valve to the fresh water tank.
• Open pressure release valve on water heater.

• Remove water heater drain plug and allow to drain.

• Using clean water heater tank rinser (every few months), let drain again
• Turn on the pump for about 30 seconds to run out any water in the suction line and pump. 

• Close low point drains and all faucets to ensure a pressure tight system, 40 PSI
• Begin blowing out system:
o Blow out water lines running into the W/H and any remaining water in water heater tank.
o Turn the hot water tank bypass valves to the bypass position.
o Hold open and then close until just air comes out, have bucket ready to catch water:
• the toilet valve
• shower
• bathroom sink
• kitchen sink
• outdoor fixtures
• spray ports
• low point drains

Pour about 1qt RV anti-freeze into each drain to winterize p-traps, into black tank, and toilet to 
maintain seal. 

Once the water has been removed from the water lines, water tank, and water heater, screw back on drain caps, and 
close valves to keep critters out of the fresh water system. 

Connect your air compressor to your black tank flush (if used).

[FR8TFLYER]

Looks like it will get near freezing where my rv is stored on friday night. I want to blow the lines out but can remember how to configure the nautilus panel. i am thinking leave it in the city water configuration and open one valve at a time at about 40 psi

suggestions are appreciated

[Malco1]

We have decided to blow out the lines and add antifreeze to drains as our winterizing procedure.We live in the NW so we don't get deep freezes and we use our Imagine about once a month so I don't want to have to clean out antifreeze from the lines for a quick weekend away. I am concerned though that since we have actually had some freezing days over the last few weeks that I "blew it". There is something that didn't occur to me until the middle of the night last night.....

Three simple questions (I hope)

1. We used our fresh water tank last time because we were worried about freezing our hose on a cold night. When I blew out the lines, I didn't do anything about the water pump. What should I have done to empty that of water?

2. How do I blow out the lines for the toilet? Realized I didn't specifically do anything or that. It is as simple at holding the foot petal while the air is going?

3. I am pretty sure I didn't blow the lines long enough. Do I just open one faucet at a time and for how long each ? After that, do I open all and let the air keep blowing for a while? How long should I do that for?

We are going to the trailer this weekend. I'm hoping I didn't do any damage with my bad winterizing attempt (we are serious newbies).

I do see lots of people who frozen lines with this serious cold back east. They seem more worried about not having water than possible burst pipes. Is it pretty rare that damage is actually done in these freezes vs the inconvenience of having to thaw their pipes.

Thanks for the help.

Just hookup the water like you are going to use antifreeze to winterize the trailer and let the water pump suck some of the antifreeze in. that little bit shouldn't be hard to wash out. When I winterize the trailer, I first blow out the lines then winterize with antifreeze. I live in south central NC. I usually go to Florida in the middle of Feb. When I get back in March I just leave the heat on in the RV set to 45 deg. until it gets warm out.