There’s No One Way to Protect RVs from Winter
The cold season is here. By now, most RV owners have probably taken steps to winterize their camper. If you haven’t, now is the time to jump on that. After all, nobody wants to deal with burst water lines or broken tanks at the end of the winter, and unless you live in a very warm place where it never freezes, that is what you will likely be stuck with.
Of course, in order to winterize your rig, you have to know how to go about it. This may leave you wondering how to winterize an RV without antifreeze on hand. Surprisingly, it can be done and it is definitely effective.
In this article, we are going to discuss how to winterize an RV without antifreeze, as well as why you might do this. This will help you decide if this method is for you, so you can get to work before the first major freeze blows in.
Two Ways to Winterize an RV without Antifreeze
If you’ve been RVing for a while, you probably already know about the more traditional way of winterizing an RV. This involves filling the water lines with a special, non-toxic RV antifreeze that prevents any leftover water from freezing. If you were to choose this method, you would also dump some of that same antifreeze into your holding tanks and empty your water heater and freshwater tank in order to protect those as well.
That said, some people prefer to skip the antifreeze. Meanwhile, there are those who need to winterize in a hurry and don’t have access to RV antifreeze. No matter what your reason might be for winterizing your RV sans antifreeze, the process is the same.
The goal with this winterization method is to remove as much water as possible from the lines and tanks. This is done using an air compressor to blow the lines out after emptying all tanks. Yes, this might leave trace amounts of water behind, but there won’t be enough remaining to do damage when it freezes.
- Image source: Unsplash
Why winterize without antifreeze?
Why would someone choose to winterize an RV without antifreeze? Well, there are of course the cases where a person can’t get a hold of RV antifreeze in time to winterize before a big freeze. That said, as mentioned above, some people just prefer to avoid using RV antifreeze.
Reasons for this could include:
- A preference to use as few chemicals as possible.
- Worries about the antifreeze leaving behind a funny taste.
- Concerns about animals or kids finding and drinking antifreeze (it smells and tastes sweet).
- A desire to save money (Antifreeze isn’t expensive, but if your RV goes in and out of winterization multiple times a year, it can add up.)
- A broken water pump. (Without a pump, you can’t pump antifreeze through the lines, but you can still blow them out.)
How to winterize an RV without antifreeze
By now you’re probably wondering how to winterize an RV without antifreeze, so let’s dive in. Below are step-by-step instructions for ensuring your RV plumbing system is safe for winter without ever purchasing a bottle of RV antifreeze.
What you need
- Air compressor
- Blowout adapter
- Tools for dumping and cleaning holding tanks
Dump the black and gray tanks
Begin by dumping and cleaning your black and gray tanks as you normally would. Make sure they are especially empty and clean in order to avoid stink in the RV over the winter.
Turn the water heater off
Now turn the water heater off and let it cool completely before moving on to the next steps.
Drain the freshwater tank and the pipes
Find the freshwater drain valve and the low point drains and open them. Let all of the water drain out onto the ground and leave the valves open.
Bypass the water heater
Find the water heater bypass valve and switch it into bypass mode. If you don’t have a water heater bypass, you can install one using a kit like this.
Open all faucets
Time to open all faucets, including the sinks and indoor and outdoor showers. Flush the toilet until water stops flowing as well to make sure most of the water is removed from the toilet lines. Leave the faucets open even after water stops flowing.
Turn on the pump
Now turn the water pump on to remove any leftover water. Turn the pump off when no more water is working its way through the lines.
Empty the water heater tank
Open the water heater drain and let all of the water drain out. If you have an anode rod, leave it out and make a note to replace it next season. Otherwise, you can replace the plug using a bit of Teflon tape.
Attach the compressor to the water inlet
Connect the blowout adapter to your air compressor. This will then connect to the RV city water inlet.
Blow out the lines
Make sure all of your valves and faucets are open. Set the air compressor to between 30 and 50 psi (DO NOT set the pressure higher than this) and run it in 30-second increments until no more water comes out of the faucets or valves.
Close all valves
Turn off the sinks and showers and close the low point drains.
As you can see, it’s fairly easy to winterize an RV without antifreeze. That said, antifreeze is not all that hard to use either. Choosing which option is best for you all comes down to personal preference and whether it’s easier for you to access RV antifreeze or an air compressor.
Make sure you keep track of all your RV maintenance and repairs with an online tool such as RV LIFE Maintenance. Not only can you keep all of your documents in one place, but you’ll also receive timely reminders when maintenance is due to help you avoid costly repairs and potentially serious accidents.
Read more about RV winterizing
- How To Winterize Your RV Water System Using An Air Compressor
- What Is The Minimum Size Air Compressor For Winterizing An RV?
- Tech Tips: RV Antifreeze: Not All the Same
Chelsea Gonzales is a full-time RVer, freelance writer, and roadschooling mama who loves sharing her expertise about RVing with kids, roadschooling, and full-time RVing. The entrepreneurial and free-spirited author is also artistic director of the Aistear Mobile Irish Dance Academy, and currently travels with her family in a 27-foot travel trailer. Chelsea’s informational articles about full-time RVing, raising children on the road, camping, and destination features appear on her blog, Wonder Wherever We Wander. throughout the RV LIFE network, and in RV industry media outlets such as Outdoorsy, Coach-Net, and RV Share.
It is impossible to say that the compressed air blow is sufficient in areas where a hard/extended freeze occurs. It totally depends on the RV system design and the points where water collect. Also, there is a difference in RV antifreeze. Those that do not contain ethyl alcohol are not as likely to leave off tastes or cause staining. Important points that should be addressed in future articles..
What about getting water out of the sink and shower traps?
That’s the way I have always done it and I used to leave it in north Dakota for the winter
I want to let people no you must drain your p traps under your sinks an bath or shower this could still have water in lines after you blow lines out and make sure toilet doesn’t have water in it just to be safe do theses extra steps to make sure you have no problem next summer when open your campers or rvs up well you all in enjoy your RVs an campers an wish everyone to have blessed life an look out for other people an help them if they can’t do these tasks for themselves this will be good will towards everyone thank you
Hi Richard what about using a blow dryer to make sure all residual moisture is gone from pipes? Or is draining effective enough? Thanks
You can just add a cup of antifreeze to each P trap. Also dump a couple of cups down the toilet. I know this isn’t totally antifreeze free but it only takes a couple of cups. Draining the water heater is important. We also run a small electric space heater inside our trailer just to keep the temperature up a little. Since we cover it, we don’t use the onboard propane heater. Otherwise you could run it on a low setting.
Saw video where they used shop vac to blow out traps. Then you’d need to drain waste tanks again. Easier just to use cup of antifreeze down drain to displace water in trap and still keep filled to block any smells.
Good article. Don’t forget to flush the toilet to blow out that water line. Also, the refrigerator icemaker valve and water line needs to be blown out. This requires running a few icemaking cycles while air pressure is being applied.
The article is good, but neglected to address removing water from the P-traps of sinks and shower drains.
Can they be blown out too, or should antifreeze be poured into the drains to displace residual water?
This is incomplete misinformation and could lead to severe damage to an RV. She mentions nothing about the need to keep the following from freezing by using RV antifreeze:
1) Toilet bowl and maceration equipment
2) P-traps in sinks and showers.
3) Washing machine pump and drain
4) Refrigerator ice-maker and fresh water in-the-door.
5) Auxiliary water heater tank near generator
Articles all rant about how expensive RV antifreeze is or how not having it available when needed is a problem.
Just buy it in the spring when your store has it on clearance. I usally pick up 4-5 gallons, then and it much cheaper and store it away until the next fall
While blowing out your lines and draining tanks and water heater will probably keep you from getting any freeze damage on the water lines, you are missing one area where water will still be, can freeze and do damage. All of the water you blew out of the lines will still be in the drain traps, the S shaped pipe sections that always hold a bit of water so that games from the holding tanks cannot come back the pipes and up the drains.
I’ve never had an RV…I now live in mine…but…I just placed it where I am putting water to it 24/7 … best way to prevent damage during freezing temperatures ??? ty
Recommending RV owners to winterize without antifreeze is a BAD idea. When you blowout the lines this does NOT get the small amounts of water left in the faucet valves, toilet valve, an Icemaker system or washing machine.
Also there is no need to add Antifreeze in the holding tanks if they have been drained & dumped. Even though RV antifreeze is food grade, it still has a sweet taste that would then need to be drained from the tank at the wasting of water to do that.
Please rethink your recommendations.
Just buy a couple of gallons of the cheapest vodka you can find. Then you don’t have to deal with the nasty aftertaste of RV antifreeze.
Considering the cheapest vodka will run upwards of $25 it’ll probably take over $100 using your advice
You might want to check on this. I don’t believe that leaving all the faucets and fixtures open at the same time will get all the water out of the plumbing system. I found that I have to open each faucet one at a time to have enough pressure to accomplish the task.
I live in my RV full time I have underpinning so what do I need to do to winterize
I live in my RV full time in Alabama and I have underpinning I’m hooked up to water and septic so what do I need to do to winterize?
I agree with the other posts, simply blowing out main lines does NOT cover everything. The only way blowing lines out and not using antifreeze is if you have in depth knowledge of all the places water still pools, like the solenoid valve to the ice maker, P-traps, filter housings, etc… The $50 – $80 a dealership charges is money well spent, repairs after poor winterization cost much more.
You should refill the RV’s fresh water tank before bleeding the air out of the RV’s water line. You will use this to exhaust all the air in the entire water system. Turn on the motorhome’s water pump and open the faucet farthest from the pump. Close faucets and other water fixtures. Let the water run for a few minutes to a few hours or until you notice a steady stream of water. You won’t hear any sputtering sound. Steady or solid flow is always a good indicator of the absence of air in your water line.
It can be difficult to prepare for the cold season, especially if you keep your RV dormant for the winter. If you leave all the water-filled pipelines and tanks that are about to burst, a lot can happen. If you’re concerned about the safety of your RV, winterizing it is the best option. Thank you for the guide.
Once you have finished doing the steps before, all you need to do is ensure that all water is drained from your RV. It would be best if you would double-check everything that uses water, including all the machines.
A gallon of Antifreeze for RV from W-M. Is under $4.00. Real cheap insurance. Compared to repairs.
I used antifreeze the 1st yr I owned a trailer in 1977. That was the last time I did that. I’ve been blowing my lines with air and adding antifreeze to my drain traps. Never had a problem since 1978.