guidance for winterizing Bonair 1989, model #3690-FKD trailer

Hi there. It's been a great summer out at my new (old Bony) trailer. A bit of renovations on the addition and a good cleaning inside and out of the trailer and we were good to go. Figured out the furnace (only needed it early on) and the air conditioner (don't really use it....too noisy), but now that the season is winding down, my thought are on shutting it up for the winter. Come October, the power and water get shut off at our park, so I want to do whatever needs to be done prior to that to prepare my trailer for colder weather. Ok...so what do I do? I know I have to get RV antifreeze through the water lines, but how....is there a pump somewhere that I've not found? Do I have to put some sort of septic treatment in? (We're permanently tied in to the RV parks septic system). Do I have to blow the lines with an air compressor? If so, how? Any advice would be greatly appreciated for this first time owner.

Thanks
Christina

Hello Christina . Getting your camper ready for winter is pretty easy and should take no more than hour or so. First thing i do disconnect the water and drain the water heater. There should be a drain plug at the access panel. While this is draining be sure your propane is also turn off. I prefer pumping antifreeze thru the water lines then using compress air. Use a 5 gallon bucket and pour 2 gallons into it. A pool skimmer pump works great for this job. Using a washing machine, connect one end to the pump and the other to your camper water connection. When your water heater is drain there shounld be a bypass that needs to be turn at the water heater so it doesnt fill with antifreeze when your pumping. Start your pump and go to every fixture one at a time a run till you see your anti freeze on both hot and cold side and dont forget the toilet. Any left over anti freeze i pour down the sink drains. Make sure all holding tanks valves are open. Being tied into the sewer is no problem because your not running any water and you already sent antifreeze into the drains. The last thing i do is pull the battery and store in warm place at home. This should cover most of the basics. Good luck and if you have any more questions dont be afraid to ask. Tony camper

Hi Tony Camper. Seems the previous owner replaced the water heater with a typical home style water tank, although a small space saver model. It was installed backwards making the access panel from the outside useless. The drain faces inside the trailer, so I'll have to run a hose from it to the outside to drain it. On top of that, no byass, so not sure how to tackle this aspect. Maybe after I drain the tank, there's a way I can disconnect the hot and cold lines from the tank and temporarily couple them together then pump the antifreeze through that way. Not sure...no plumbimg expert, but all I can think of at the moment. Not sure what you mean by "using a washing machine." I have a manual siphon pump that I plan to use to pump the antifreeze into the lines. Anyway, a bit of a head scratcher, but hopefully I can figure something out. Appreciate your help.

Christina