# quick winterization



## shanksyamaha (Apr 27, 2010)

I was very limited on time to winterize my camper this season so I dumped 6 gallons of RV antifreeze in the fresh water tank, turned the bypass valve on the hot water heater so antifreeze would bypass the hot water tank. Then drained the hot water tank with the drain plug and turned on each faucet one at a time until I got pink out of them. I did all the faucets, shower, toilet, outside kitchen sink and outside sprayer port on the back of the camper. Got pink out of all of them so I believe I should be all set. I dumped a little down each drain to protect the drain traps. and will be removing the flat screen tv tomorrow.... Anything else I need to worry about freezing over winter?????

I also got a bucket of "damp-out" from walmart to put in the camper for the winter to control humidity and will spread moth balls on the ground under the camper to try and help keep mice out. I don't want moth balls inside the camper but thought maybe on the ground around the camper would help keep pests away... 

anything else I really need to worry about???? I've read all the tips I could find on here and there are much better ways of doing it but with the limited time and tools I had, I thought this should work fine...


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## artmart (Sep 21, 2010)

Don't forget to remove the battery and keep it at home preferably with a charging and conditioning unit. The water in the battery can freeze and damage the battery.

Leave the fridge propped open too. Even when it's very clean it can smell funny after a few months in storage and it's kept closed.

Cover the tires and periodically check the pressure to ensure it stays as close to recommended as possible. This will help prevent dry rotting of the tires, or "flatspotting" of tires, both of which accelerate tire damage. Some owners will put the trailer on blocks (a combination of wood and proper rated metal jacks - nothing hydraulic which can fail over time) and remove the tires and take them home. But this is not a quick method and then you need to have a way to get the tires home and a place to store them.

How far is the rig from your home? These tips might require another trip to the rig. I understand steel wool in ALL openings under the trailer will keep rodents away (they don't like the taste when they try to gnaw their way inside. And the funny thing about bug traps is to mount them OUTSIDE the trailer. You don't want them to attract them into the trailer to do their work, plus if they are working really good, you'll need to check and replace them too, since they will be accustomed used to going to the trailer, when the bait runs out they will investigate further. Besides most insects don't do well in winter so you might not need them and if no other trailer is using them and you are the only one, guess who will have pesty guests.

My neighbor just went through over $500 damage from rodents who decided to make a nest out of her Honda SUV. The mechanics found THREE nests and they gnawed lots of wires which caused several components of her car to fail. But it sounds like this varmints climbed aboard several months ago, I might add her vehicle was garaged for a month when they went to China, so no telling when this mice made the car their home. I've heard of this crap with trailer owners, too.

I do think your plumbing will be fine from what you've done. Sorry about adding so much other stuff. But this is what I learned from other winterizers.


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## shanksyamaha (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks for the tips artmart. The trailer will be stored at my house in the yard so its easy to access but we have a couple inches of snow on the ground now and its not too much fun crawling around under it. I'll definately take the battery out and put it on my optimate for the winter.


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## dogbone (Sep 22, 2009)

You did fine with the pink stuff. You might have to add more to the traps. I don't know how much you put in them. You have to displace the water in them. You will have to drain and flush your fresh water tank a few times to get the pink stuff out of it. They say it's safe to drink, but.
If you keep the trailer plugged in, you won't have to take the battery out. The converter will keep it charged and it won't freeze.
I put steel and brass wool in every nook and cranny in my trailer. So far so good. The mice still get in my front storage hatch, but that's it. I need to put a piece of sheet metal in a big hole. It's in front of my propane storage hatch. I think they just forgot to seal it off. What I was getting to was, I put a poison cube on a plate with moth balls all around it. They ate the poison. I guess the moth balls didn't bother them. I had heard that moth balls kept them out too.


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