If you keep an RV anywhere in the Grand Valley, winterizing is the single most important piece of maintenance on the calendar. Our winters drop well below freezing for months, and an unprotected water system doesn't survive that. Here's what proper winterizing involves and why it's worth doing right.
Water expands when it freezes, and an RV's plumbing has nowhere to give. Left with water in the lines, a hard freeze can split pipes, crack the water pump, rupture the water heater, and break valves — often in several places at once. The cruel part is that you usually don't find out until spring, when you turn the water on and discover a soaked floor and a repair bill that can climb into the thousands.
A common mistake is pouring RV antifreeze into the fresh tank and calling it done. Any water still sitting in the lines, the pump, or the water heater will freeze and crack regardless of what's in the tank. Proper winterizing means draining the tanks and water heater, blowing the lines out with compressed air, bypassing the water heater, and then running antifreeze through every line, faucet, the toilet, and the traps until it runs pink.
The spots that get missed are the ones that crack: the outside shower, the ice maker line, a washing machine, and low-point drains. A thorough job covers all of them. It's also worth pulling and storing anything that can't be protected and checking that the antifreeze actually reached the far fixtures.
Get it done before the first hard freeze — usually by late October or early November here, sooner at elevation. If a cold snap sneaks up on you, don't wait. We winterize coaches on site at homes and storage lots across the valley in about an hour, and we de-winterize in spring too. If you'd rather not crawl around with a compressor and a jug of pink, give us a call.
How to Winterize Your RV in Grand Junction (and Why It Can't Wait) — Mobile RV repair that comes to you across the Grand Junction area.