Winterizing

I just spent $78 at my local RV service, to have my pod winterized. I asked if I could observe so I can perhaps do it myself next time. It took him about 10 minutes! I'm kind of sick to my stomach because he didn't do hardly anything in the list I got from this forum!!

In reading over it now, he didn't bother to unscrew either low point drain! Huh???   He also only used 1/2 gallon of the pink stuff. I'm sure there are many other short cuts ihe used but these are the two that are bothering me the most. What do you think I should do now??

Thanks, Marcia

Thank you and no! I asked him why he didnt blow out the lines and he said it wasn't necessary since the pink stuff was being used.

I'll get my son to unscrew those drains this weekend!

Well, at this point, if you open the low-point drains you'll drain the antifreeze.  What you have in the lines now is probably antifreeze where you need it in the line and a mixture of water and antifreeze in the low water pipes, which is probably okay unless you live in Minnesota... might be okay even there.

You didn't mention whether they drained the water heater! 

Antifreeze in the drains in essential too.

TT

The main point:  All your lines need to either be full of air, or full of the pink stuff.  The drain traps too.  Open up your low water drains and empty them out, then no worries.  They can't freeze if nothing is in there but air.    

I agree with Cody and Tech.  The thing about antifreeze in the pipes instead of air, is that it can be very hard to get all of the water out of the pump with just air.  The pump is probably the most fragile part of the whole water system, at least arguably, and it's almost certainly the most expensive part.  A little bit of ice in the water pump can damage it.

Having flushed the water out of your system with antifreeze, your pump should be okay if you now open the low point drains.  Those drains are for the fresh water pipes that carry water from the water tank through the rest of the water system (to the faucets).  To properly drain the water through the low-point drains, open them and then also turn on the faucets in the sink, shower, and hold the flush open on the toilet.  That will let air get sucked back into the pipes and allow the water to fall out of the low-point drains.

There is no connection between the faucets and the drains in your sink and shower, and toilet.  (Don't forget to put some pink stuff in the toilet bowl.)  And as Techntrek said, the low point drains are not part of the pod drainage system.  They are fresh water.  Used water comes out through the gray and black tank gate valves.  Those tanks should also be drained for winter.

You might be okay doing nothing else.  The low-point drains are kind of like appendices.  They are little pipes in the water system that go no where.  If there is antifreeze in the pipes you won't have pure antifreeze in those short pipes, but you'll have some, mixed with water.  It probably won't freeze but even if it does, the pipes are PEX, so they probably won't break.  Some people never open the low water drains.  In my opinion, it's too easy to open them and drain them, so it's simply cheap insurance to do so.  More so the further north you are.  (I knew you were in Minnesota.)  I'm in Tennessee and I open the low water drains when I'm winterizing.
TT