Winterizing Your Trailer

Getting Your Trailer Ready For The Ottawa Winter

There is a lot that goes into winterizing your trailer, but before you store it away for the winter season you need to make sure you do it properly! While some of the tasks on your winterizing to-do list are simple, others take a bit more time and skill.

If you don’t feel comfortable winterizing your own trailer for the off-season, have one of our team members at Travel-Mor Trailer Sales walk you through the process!

Below is a crash course in winterizing your trailer or RV.

Round Up the Supplies

Before getting down to the winterizing tasks, you will need to make sure you have everything you need to get the jobs done. These items include:

• Non-toxic RV antifreeze
• A Water heater bypass kit (if it isn’t already installed)
• A wand to clean out the holding tanks
• A water pump converter kit, or tubing for the water pump
• Hand tools to remove drain plugs

Winterizing Process

One of the most important aspects of winterizing your RV is keeping any leftover water from freezing and causing costly damages. Make sure to read your owner’s manual before doing anything to your RV or trailer!

Start by removing any water filters and their bypasses before draining the fresh water holding tank. Then, drain and flush the gray and black water holding tanks. You might need to use the hand wands to get this job done. Next up, drain the water heater by removing the drain plug and opening the pressure relief valve. Then, turn on all the hot and cold water faucets. Locate and open the low point drain valves – there will be one for the hot and cold water lines.

Use your water pump to force the water out, and turn it off as soon as the system has been drained. Finally, recap the drains and turn off all the faucets.

Next up, bypass the water heater. The bypass kit works to prevent water from freezing in the lines.To do this you will need to install a water pump converter kit, or disconnect the inlet portion of the water pump. You can do this by connecting a piece of clear tubing to the inlet side of the pump, and to the other side of a one gallon container full of non-toxic RV antifreeze. Once all the connections are made, turn the pump on and pressurize the system. Start by turning on the hot and cold valves until you see antifreeze. Repeat this process until all of the faucets have been addressed. Same for the toilet as well. And of course, you will need to pour a capful of antifreeze down each drain, as well as the toilet, and holding tank.

Make sure that your water heater has been turned off, that all faucets are in the off position, and that appliances have been cleaned and unplugged. Also ensure that all unnecessary belongings have been removed from the trailer and stored properly.

If you would like to ask a member of the Travel-Mor Trailer team about winterizing your unit, get in touch with us today!