Sheer terror

[Pinstriper]

In our lives with RV's there are a lot of situations where we might experience high anxiety: bears in the campground, running out of (propane, water, black tank space, grey tank space, battery power, A-1 sauce, firewood, firewater), traffic mishaps, campsite invasion robberies, fireants, etc.

But the highest pucker factor comes with what I did today. Or, rather, what I did 4 1/2 months ago and have been dreading today ever since.

Last November, I laid down a ticking time bomb. A non-ticking time bomb, actually. This is the silent killer type.

That's right, I winterized it myself. And today I recommissioned for the upcoming season. And it occurred to me that even though we have a local spring shakedown cruise for a reason, I really didn't need to wait until I got to the campsite to find out how I did Lo ! These many months ago. Trust me, it is not fun to be outside at the water post with your bitter half inside the trailer, turning the valve and hearing "that" shriek. You know "that" shriek. Of course you do. Yes.

So today I pulled the rig out of the barn and up to the house, gently filled the fresh water tank, and with great trepidation applied my trusty trigger finger to the switch so innocuously labeled "Water Pump".

Now, you may ask "Pin, brother, bubbie...why did you go to all the trouble of filling the the fresh tank and using the pump when you could have much more quickly just connected to the city water port and saved a lot of time ? Schmuck."

Well I'll tell you, wise guy.

First, my momma only raised one fool, and he lives in Atlanta.

See, I needed to test both pathways: city water and fresh tank/pump anyway. So no matter what order you choose, the total time doesn't change. So the joke's on you, because it doesn't save any time.

Second, if there WERE a leak, I can hit the pump switch much faster than trot/waddle over to the standpipe and turn the city water off. So I chose the order that would allow me to react most quickly if there were a leak, from the pump onward, which covers most of the plumbing.

Having faced down the blue wire/yellow wire moment and throwing the swi....no. Hang on. I don't want to use the bomb squad metaphor. Too hackneyed. Been done before. Unoriginal.

Let's go instead with....the scene from Young Frankenstein.

No, not the one where Gene Wilder looks at the castle door and exclaims "What knockers !" and Teri Garr replies "Oh, thank you, Doctor !" I mean the one where he has all the power circuits turned on and the platform elevated into the lightening storm, only to find out that he has the polarity wrong and fails to bring the monster to life.

Which is what I wanted, actually. To turn the pump on and NOT have everything come to life.

So, much like Basher in Ocean's 11 (the remake, not the one with Sinatra) I closed by eyes and put a hand to protect my....well, to protect myself, and then pushed the button.

(For you newcomers, it's helpful if you know that I watch a lot of movies...)

Anyway, I pushed the aforementioned button and then listened......Nothing. Wait for it....nope. OK, let's push the air out. I opened the cold water at the sink, and with much spritzing and gushing, finally got a steady stream going. Repeat at the toilet. And the shower. Turn them all off and sit and wait....nothing.

Wow. Check under the trailer outside. Nope, no gushing cascade of water.

OK, now the hot water circuit. Sink, check. Shower, check. Outside "shower", cold and hot check out clean. Wait a bit, still no leaks.

So now, if there's a leak, it can only be from the city water intake to the junction after the pump. With somewhat more confidence, I turn off the pump and connect to the city water port, and with a studied, casual panache (or is it suave ?) I open the city water valve again.

NO LEAKS !!!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. "Pin, ya doofus, I've been winterizing my own trailer since the second Roosevelt administration ! It's no great accomplishment ! You shoulda been there before they invented threaded pipe !"

To which I reply "If it was so damned easy, my dealer wouldn't have screwed it up last year. And the year before that. So THERE !"

Dealer: 0-2. Pin: 1-1. I win. BOOM !

[Merlin]

After reading this, turning on the water in the spring will never again be the same for me. I feel like I need a suspenseful soundtrack and full rain suit, complete with goggles.

[gbpack]

Good job Pin! You've got it down pat!

[mojospeople]

Or before they invented the bypass kit!

I de-winterized today and tested for leaks then sanitized the system. All seems well so far. This was a combo year. I think our camper was winterized 3 times this season! Once before we bought it, once after we went camping in Feb. and again after the dealer fixed the leak we found in Feb. So twice by the dealer and once by me. It may be a small miracle if no leaks!  But this was the 3rd or 4th year I've done it and I'm not as nervous as I was the first winter!

[MitchB]

Spectacular work, and you spin a good yarn too!

Mitch

[Merlin]

Our camper's water system made it through the winter just fine, but we were not so lucky at our cabin. When we fired up the on-demand RV-type water heater at our cabin last week, it leaked like a sieve from freezing damage. I took it apart to see what was up and apparently an internal o-ring failed and pieces blocked the drain hole so that water remained inside. From now on (after we replace it), I'll use RV anti-freeze in that system instead of relying on a drain.

[Paul]

Our camper's water system made it through the winter just fine, but we were not so lucky at our cabin. When we fired up the on-demand RV-type water heater at our cabin last week, it leaked like a sieve from freezing damage. I took it apart to see what was up and apparently an internal o-ring failed and pieces blocked the drain hole so that water remained inside. From now on (after we replace it), I'll use RV anti-freeze in that system instead of relying on a drain.

Hopefully it's not too expensive to replace!

[Merlin]

I just went through another year of what @Pinstriper so eloquently narrates and I stayed dry (whew!). This year's de-winterization was complicated by installation of a new water heater, so it was especially frightening (double whew!). On top of the water leak fears, I also had to stay calm about the water heater wiring and propane connection fears (triple whew!).  It's been 24 hours and the camper had not 1) floated away 2) exploded or 3) glowed, so I guess we're ready to pack up for our spring shakedown trip next week.

[Steve Sanders]

This is a great example of the misconceptions about having something professionally done instead of doing it yourself.

The problem with professional service that's often ignored is the human tendency to pay less attention to anything that becomes a routine task. For the RV dealer, winterizing becomes a very routine task that gets a decreasing amount of attention and care. If mistakes are made,  they aren't responsible for freezing damage, so it's not a big deal to them.

However, when something like this is done once per year by a conscientious owner that's determined to protect his or her involvement, it gets a lot more attention and care.

It's not "rocket surgery", so you can do it!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[MitchB]

I totally agree with Steve, no one cares about your camper as much as you do.

[Capt J-rod]

I still pump mine full of the stinky pinky antifreeze. The compressed air guys swear it it all good, but I've had great success with antifreeze. We don't drink the water out of the tanks, so other than brushing teeth, or washing hands and dishes it really isn't that big of a deal for the first trip. I throw a little bleach in and its good to go.

[mojospeople]

Agree with Steve and perform the same procedure as Captain. I've now done 5 or 6 winterizings and it gets easier and so far all have been successful.

And to Steve's point - on our first LL I installed an Andersen anti-sway hitch. Did a darned good (if long) job of it too. When we bought new I had the dealer install one. I don't like their install. I don't think it's quite right and pretty sure I could have done it better in 3 times the time less the cost of labor.

[Steve Sanders]

I rarely pay anyone to work on my stuff, and when I do I'm almost always disappointed with the quality of what I paid for.

Several years ago I bought a house and had natural gas service added. I had to hire a state licensed gas fitter to do the plumbing work. I get it, but the "professional" work they did was amazingly horrible. In one place, the copper tubing was excessively exposed to accidental damage because they didn't take the time to do it right. After they were done, I fixed their mess to make it something I was willing to live with.
(My grandfather was a pipe fitter and he taught me how to do it right when I was growing up.)

I would rather know that I did it right than hope someone else did.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[DavidM]

I would rather know that I did it right than hope someone else did.

Ain't that the truth!!!

David