2 down, hundreds to go

Wife, dogs and I did our second "shake-down" run this week in Northwest Illinois.

We're getting the setup down.

The first trip, last month, was too cold to use the plumbing. This trip was to get all systems tested.

The first trip led to only one newbie bone-head event. Left the pod back at storage with fridge shut. Went back to open a few days later -- found an avocado.

Second trip went smoothly. Really nice the day we set up but since we expected rain I rigged a awning from some trees. (Working on rope and tarp awning for the dome track this weekend.)

My newbie bone-head stunt this trip involved de-winterizing. I have the instructions from the forum printed and laminated. I've read them so many times that I didn't look at them before I started.

The next morning, after brushing my teeth I put some water in my cup to rinse -- "Damn! I left some scotch in that cup last night!"

But no, it was just a hint of anti-freeze! Upon reading the forum instructions I only left out one step -- low point drains! Probably won't do that again but may have found something to go with a splash of tonic water.

And it's very SWEET...Propylene glycol is a food safe anti-freeze. It's can be toxic in giant doses. It's also used in foods as an additive!! It almost tastes like NutraSweet or aspartame. Beer makers especially use it in their operations for their cooling systems. They can't use common methanol or ethylene glycol.

 It's used where incidental ingestion might be a possibility (like our RV water systems as you discovered). If it's used in a system for true anti-freeze purposes, many corrosion inhibitors are added to prevent the water system from being harmed. Propylene glycol can break down under high heat, and become corrosive, harming the cooling system.

I had to educate myself a bit about it because I have almost 20 gallons of it circulating in my ground source heat pump loop. It's been in there for 10 years now. Since the anti-freeze temps never exceed 80°F (Summer cooling mode), the corrosion inhibitors stay intact. I have to use a PH test kit each year, and a glycol refractometer to measure it's health.

And BTW that site looks so nice with the flowers starting their bloom. Happy camping.