I have talked about this subject and asked questions before, but being the newbie that I am I would like to reach out to
those Canadian Foretravel owners (not shutting out the knowledge of you ultimate Foretravel owners State side please!!) as to winterizing my coach and storage for the the winters ahead in Alberta Canada.
The winters here get as low as -34 C (-29 F).........ya I know, winter in the south....lol
I am taking the coach in to a professional to have it drained and antifreeze etc put in including the aqua hot(do those coils!!), washer, hoses and such this year as he has told me he will walk me thru the process for next year so I can do it myself.
He suggests that instead of putting battery minders on the coach and engine batteries just to leave it plugged in and check my Freedom 25 inverter every so often to make sure everything is good. (??) Is this the way to do it as I only have 15 amp plug in power??
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE
I am putting a good winter cover completely over the unit along with separate window, tire and mirror covers on it (under the cover) Do I have to worry about humidity?
I have done my research on Mice protection (that is the only rodent to worry about here in Alberta) and am putting OODLES of bounce sheets, peppermint soaked cotton balls. Irish Spring soap inside the coach EVERYWHERE and moth balls in the under compartments, the engine and generator as well as scattered under the coach. I will be also plugging any "holes or inputs" I can see with steel wool. (sewage drop down outlet as well) HAVE I COVERED ALL THE BASES HERE? I do not want to use mouse traps loaded with peanut butter as I feel that just attracts them
How about the HWH system?? leave it on travel? leveled? drained??
The tires will be on rubber covered boards.
Refrigerator opened slightly and OFF
ANY SUGGESTIONS FROM YOU GURUS WOULD BE SOOOO HELPFUL.
Peter
1998 U320 40 ft with aqua hot M11 450 HP 10 KW powertech gen. No slides
Your Freedon inverter/charger will only charge the house batteries. You can use some kind of a start battery charger that works off the house batteries or some kind of combiner or get a smart multi-stage charger for the start batteries. 2-3 amps per battery is all you need to keep them charged.
Or you could get a smart Sterling pro charge Ultra charger. It will keep house and start batteries charged, save your old freedom inverter.
Sterling ProCharge Ultra 30 Amp Boat Battery Charger (https://baymarinesupply.com/chargers-inverters/sterling/sterling-procharge-ultra-1230.html)
Pay attention to the winterizing process. We do it every year (in MN where it has been -30). Once you see how it is done it onky takes a couple hours and $20 of winter juice.
Send a PM if you have questions, glad to help.
Here is a good guide.
Replacing the isolated with an auto combiner like every new coach comes equipped with will charge both banks.
If the banks are fully charged before storage the 15amp circuit should be more than enough power to maintain the batteries.
Small trickl chargers have limited output and if the 15 amps source should be accidentally interrupted then restored the high demand from the batteries can and has failed the trickl charger internally. I fried 2.
The combiner running from the main inverter/charger can be set to not over draw the sources power..
I just used air on everything last fall with no Spring time surprises. Any thoughts
Dan, you do not have an Aqua Hot heater so blowing your freshwater lines out with air could work. No one can blow all the water out of Aqua Hot freshwater loops. Peter has an Aqua Hot so air will not be his total solution
Be aware, if you lose power and the AquaHot freezes, you're looking at a $10K repair just for that.
Suck the pink antifreeze through the system. Including the washer/dryer if you have one and the fridge icemaker. Very little effort for HUGE peace of mind.
Get a DampRid container and media for condensation in the living space.
FreshCab works better than peppermint oil/dryer sheets.
I always blow mine out first. And then add potable RV antifreeze to everything until it comes out of every hot and cold tap, the toilet, the drinking water spout (with the filter removed of course) and every hot and cold drain line. And keep doing it until every thing gets checked again. And then all the drains get filled. An hour of your time an $20 for antifreeze is cheap. Fixing any frozen line is expensive.
I like FreshCab too. MouseMagic comes in bulk, make your own bags.
Winterizing applies to any coach that sits unheated in any location where subfreezing temperatures are possible. Why take a chance? De-winterizing only take an hour or so at the other end.
I have found that used cat litter spread on the ground under coach has a good effect on rodents not showing up. I have lots of Irish spring soap in all bays but feel the ,litter is a perfect ploy. We get it from a neighbour so do not need a cat.
While doing the fuel oines a week or so I also packed the ends of that wire trough with stainless wire mesh as that is the entry point in our coach's.
We have pack rats and mice coming from Crown Land behind our property and of course look for a new home come fall and winter.
Winterizing the coach may be needed this year and after blowing the lines I will for the first time used RV Antifreeze as Roger suggests.
John h
Thanks for all the suggestions!!
I am not sure what a combiner is for the isolator so if someone could suggest a brand name I could look up it would be fantastic.
Does anyone have info on how to set the HWH system for the winter. Do i leave it leveled, in travel mode or just dump all the air?
Also my intentions were to put ALOT of moth balls under the coach, but the used kitty litter thing is intriguing!
The damp rid is a great idea as the coach will be under cover (Gold Shield 5L - RV Cover for Class A RV 40' To 42' Feet Long)
Peter
Just level the coach and shut the HWH system off. No need to leave it on. If you have some leks like most of sundo, your coach may sag one way or another.
A combiner is a device that goes between your house batteries and the start batteries. Some are voltage sensitive relays. If the start batteries reach some preset low voltage and the start batteries are above some voltage threshold then they are connected and amps flow from the house batteries to the start batteries until the start batteries reach a certain upper limit voltage or the House batteries reach a lower limit. When either of those happen the start and house batteries are disconnected from each other.
There are a wide variety of these devices, some work a bit differently from others. Some work both ways, some work only one way.
Roger, for adding a new line and valve for winterizing I guess all you need to do is cut the line from tank to pump and put in a valve then a spare hose to a tee after said valve and another on the new line. All for closing off tank so no feed back either way.
Johnh
John, my coach has a valve between the tank and the pump as OEM equipment. I close that valve and unscrew the screen filter from the pump and screw on a connector with a 3 ft 1/2" vinyl tube that goes into a 5 gal bucket where I dump the antifreeze. There are kits with the right fittings and a valve that you could leave in place but the PEX tubing is cut to fit and not very flexible in short pieces. I have heard of folks isolating the pump with more flexible lines to reduce noise. It might be a good idea if it works. Nine winters so far for me, no problems. I just keep doing what works.
Convenient & easy to use if needed. I think the kit was $22?
Just let the coach settle on the tires and turn the HWH off.
Mine also has the shut off calve from tank so will look into the remove filter idea and figure it out. Been busy the last few weeks doing fuel lines and a travel trailer front end rebuild for a friend, which is now finished
Johnh
So another quick question about storage in winter.
My coach is currently stored with pink throughout the plumbing AND I have heaters located in the manibloc/water pump bay
and the sewage bay. It is -15F here today in Alberta Canada.
Which wet bays are the most important to keep warm?? It is definitely harder to keep the water hose/sewage bay warm as the bay
when the door is closed is "kinda" separated. It stays about 15 even with the heater. The manibloc/fresh water/water pump area stays about 7 degrees . which I think is more important for warmth....Am i CORRECT??.
Any other bays that I should be worried about?
I would think you have it under control. Our weather here in S Okanagan so far this winter has been a lot warmer than normal. We had a small covering of snow twice but it melted and temps have been around +5 in the day and lowest at night was -7c. Beautiful blue skies in day and hardly any rain. I have not put the pink anti freeze in but all lines are dry and a small 200w heater in sewer and water tank bay on all the time, so just one heater.
This is not a normal winter for sure which is nice but bad for everything else.
JohnH
i believe my fresh water tank is located in themanibloc bay right?
And I did send the wrong temp forthe sewage bay. The temp is -15
Is your heater working in the water/sewage bay. I have a heater on both sides of the wet bay.
I have the aqua hot fuses taken out (position 4 and 5) so the basement heater would not come on so I would not burn fuel all winter. That is why I ran pink through everything and used the electric heaters in the two bays. The more than brutal temps here is my concern cause with the pink and the heater...just want to be proactive to make sure everything is good come spring. I am even a little worried about the radiator antifreeze in the gen and engine cause it is suppose to get to -37C the next few nights!! I think that if I do not make an attempt to start either of them during the super cold period they will be fine. Thoughts?
Dick,
Other than the cost of the electricity is there a reason you are not running the A/H electric element?
One other thought is if the diesel switch isn't on inside then your A/H unit won't burn fuel.
Mike
Your antifreeze should be 50/50 which is good for 50 below.
I don't know off hand what -37c translates to in F but instinct tells me I'm glad I live in Texas!!!
Stay warm!!
Keith
If you have past antifreeze in all you lines ,hot water tank, in you washer , ice maker, if you read on the antifreeze containers it good for -50 C you don't have to put heat or a heater on make sure your clean water tank and holding tanks are empty I've had rv for over 30 years and stored them outside I just put antifreeze through the system and drain traps empty tanks and left them outside like that this is the first year I have my coach in a heated garage and I live in Canada it's not as cold as Alberta but it gets cold her to I've never had problems with lines because of cold weather freezing
At those temps they are pretty much the same so -35f. Still mild there as Ruth was talking to her son today in Regina and it is -50 c today. Here in BC it is +7c and raining, almost spring like.
JohnH
Pamela and Mike,
Where my unit is stored for winter, (fenced chip sealed pad beside my house) it would be a pain to have to fill the tank sometime in the winter. I have taken the time to ensure my fuel is full and antigel is put in the tank to avoid any freezing condensation. (I do exercise the gen every month with a load...except in these temps..lol) That is the specific reason for not running the aquahot. Also I guess the other thought it if I ran the unit, that would provide heat to that one bay, which would attract mice looking for warmth. I take that chance with the wet bays with the heaters, but have steel wool and other things done to ensure they DONT get in.
Peter,
I just went back and reread your first post on this and saw where you only have 15amps at your location. That would limit your use of what can be powered. If you could upgrade your electric to just 30 amp it would sure help you out in these conditions that you are having right now.
Mike
I have not had any problem running 2 lasko my heat heaters in my manibloc bay and a lasko 1200 watt heater in my sewage bay. I have ordered 2 more lasko my heat heater to replace the 1200 watt heater, as each of them is only 200 watts. Sooo in the end I will be running 4- 200 watts heaters. I also have my start batteries plugged into the same circuit with the BatteryMinder 128CEC1: 12V 2/4/8 AMP Battery Charger. My freedom 25 inverter shows 13.55 volts all the time., and have not blown the breaker as of yet. Maybe lucky I GUESS.! Aside from a couple of the switch indicator lights on (little green indicators) that is the extent of stuff plugged in.