More winterizing

After looking at the plumbing under the sink and inspecting the (cramped!) area around the water heater/water pump I'm pretty sure that my model (2012 HRE 177) doesn't have a tube and valve for adding antifreeze.  I noticed Camping World has a hand pump kit for manually pumping antifreeze through the city water fitting.  My understanding is that you do all of the normal winterization steps but use this pump instead of using the electric pump.  Has anyone tried this method?

Thanks in advance!
Rob

The first thing to do with this method would be to dump all of the water in your tank. Then run the water pump for a very short period of time to have the pump try to force all of the water out of the impeller. Don't run the pump very long...I don't know how long the impeller would last without water to lube and cool it.

The water pump has a 'one-way' valve to keep water from flowing backward. Otherwise your fresh water tank would overflow every time you hooked up to city water.

Has anyone else used this method? If so, please reply...pros/cons?

It seems to get a little more complicated when you have an inline water filter connected into the system.  I have an Everpure water filter connected to the cold water faucet in the kitchen sink.  If I winterize with antifreeze, the water filter will also be filled with antifreeze.  Not good.  I contacted Everpure and the only solution is to remove the filter cartridge, place it in a plastic bag and refrigerate it for the winter.  Additionally, I have to connect both the input and output connectors to the filterhead.  The antifreeze will then go thru the system.  Everpure suggested I go to Loew's which has a water filtration dept. and will have the additonal connectors I would need to bypass the filter head.  Hope that helps someone.  Safe Travels.

Great.  Do you have an Everpure?  Safe Travels.

Forest River technical support has told me that all R Pods have an anitfreeze pickup line and that mine (2012 HRE 177) is accessable by removing the mattress and plywood.  I was hoping that it was going to be a handier location.  Has anyone with a similar model changed the location of the anitfreeze pickup line?