Our Excellent Camping Adventures
Main Page                                                                                                                    Winterizing

It beats bad stuff happening... 

These are the steps I follow, in order, to winterize our trailer.  

  • Wash and wax outside of trailer
  • Park the trailer on boards and chock wheels
  • Inflate tires to 125% (62.5 lbs in my case, as instructed on the Goodyear site)
  • Fully drain fresh water tank, black tank and gray tank (use the Tornado tank rinser on the black, rinse out the gray until all sensors clean)
  • Open drain valves under trailer and drain water system (open kitchen, bathroom, outside taps to let air in)
  • Using hand pump, attach to outside city water inlet, insert suction tube into RV antifreeze jug and pump into inlet
  • Pull anode from hot water tank and let tank drain fully; check anode and replace if necessary
  • Remove clothing, linens, towels from all storage spaces
  • Remove all food from cupboards and fridge
  • Move flashlights, candles, power supplies to basement
  • Vacuum trailer fully, including food cupboards
  • Wipe down inside of cupboards with damp cloth or spray cleaner
  • Defrost and clean inside of fridge and freezer (leave doors propped open for the winter)
  • Clean stove, oven, microwave
  • Remove all items from bathroom including the vanity and under the sink
  • Cover power jack with plastic bucket
  • Close fresh water, black and gray tanks, and drain valves under trailer
  • Put RV antifreeze in the water lines (not the hot water tank or fresh water tank):
          • turn petcocks to winterizing position (there are two at the pump, three at the hot water tank)
          • insert pump intake hose into jug of red non-toxic RV antifreeze
          • turn on pump (it will run for a bit while the lines get loaded up)
          • run the following taps until antifreeze appears, running long enough to get antifreeze into traps:
            • kitchen hot and cold
            • bathroom hot and cold
            • toilet
            • shower hot and cold
            • outside taps, hot and cold
  • Place scented bounce sheets on each bed, couch, kitchen table, counter top, under kitchen sink, bathroom, in food cupboards, and in dish/utensil cupboards
  • leave all cupboard doors open slightly for air circulation
  • leave both roof vents open slightly for air circulation
  • Turn off propane tanks
  • Install cover on air conditioner
  • Install cover on Hensley Arrow
  • Install tire covers
  • Tilt trailer for runoff
and finally...
  • Remove battery from tongue; clean, charge up and store both batteries in basement