Starcraft AR-One 18QB (2015) owner. Do not know how to dewinterize

[maya]

Thanks Gary, I watched your video and others and now we are confident we can do this with no problem!

But Alas, the weather is crazy and they are calling for snow on Saturday so we will do it next weekend, weather permitted.


Carolina

[dadthepilot]

Yes you really need to sanitize. Once a year should be good in most cases, remember you don't know the quality of the water from different camp grounds.

[maya]

Thanks Gary and Neal for your replies.

I have watched several videos in Youtube and hopefully we will be able to dewinterize this weekend.

The dealer told us the same not to let any of the antifreeze or bleach into the water heater, which (I assume) they left on bypass to winterize.

One question do we have to sanitize? or it is like optional.

Thanks for all your help.

Carolina.

[dadthepilot]

I just got my trailer new and so I used the manual both to de-winterize and sanitize. They state that you do not want any bleach or anti-freeze to go into your hot water heater. To sanitize they recommend a 1/4 cup of bleach mixed with 1 gallon of water for every 15 gallons. Fill the tank run the water out of each faucet until you smell the bleach and let it sit a good 4 hours. If you are in a hurry you can use 1/2 cup of bleach for at least 1 hour. Drain the whole system and run fresh water through each faucet until the odor and taste are normal. Repeat if necessary. Then open and use the hot water heater. I just learned last night that my 42 gallon fresh water capacity is actually a 36 gallon tank plus a 6 gallon hot water heater. You have to watch out for those asterisk's in the literature!

[GaryG]

The RV dealer that winterizes my trailer does put some in the toilet traps, that all, for the antifreeze. Yes, I do use the fresh water tank for the hot water when I'm off of city water. But that is rare. Is that harmful for the hot water heater? Thanks for your questions.

[dadthepilot]

Just a question Gary, do you use RV Antifreeze? Also you don't let that bleach water go into your hot water heater do you?

[GaryG]

congratulations of your Star Craft RV.

I just took mine out of storage and de-winterized it. I did the following:

1. Hooked the trailer up to city water
2. Opened up all faucets in the trailer & closed the water heater pressure valve so it could fill up as well.
3. Turned on the city water and allowed all of the air to escape the water lines
4. Be sure to open up the outside shower valve if your trailer has one.
5. Filled to 1/3 the fresh water tank and added a small amount of bleach to disinfect it.
6. If the water heater bypass valve is open (which allows water to bypass the water heater) close it so the hot water tank will fill up.
7. Turn off the city water and turn on your water pump and allow the air to escape the water lines as well. The pump should prime itself.
(I had to do this two times to get my pump to prime)
8. Flush the toilet until the water flows freely without sputtering. I'd add a chemical to the toilet as well as about 5 gallons of water so the
black tank is not sitting with just the chemicals in it.
9. Turn on the water heater ONLY after it has completely filled and there is no air coming out of the hot water lines. This is to check to see
if the water heater is working properly.

The plumbing should be usable after all of the air has escaped and just water comes out of all faucets and taps.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be glad to assist if needed. Happy camping.

PS: Hope I didn't leave out any thing! LOL

[dadthepilot]

I am new to travel trailers and am blogging my experiences as I learn. Check out my video page on my website, I just posted a video where I de-winterized my Autumn Ridge 28QBS. www.katskamper.com These links don't appear to work so just type the website into your browser, feel free to leave comments or email me through the website.

Neil

[maya]

Good evening.

As the title states we are the proud owners of a Starcraft AR-One 18QB (2015). We bought in October 2017 and had a few trips. Then the dealer were we got it winterized it and we storaged it.

We moved it to a new seasonal last weekend. But have no idea on how de-winterize it. Any other owners who had done it in the past? We deeply appreciate any help.


Thanks in advance.