Winterizing Your RV: The Step-by-Step Fall Checklist

The first hard freeze of the year does the damage, and it does it quietly. A half-gallon of water left in a P-trap, a water heater tank that was never drained, or a line with a low-point you forgot — that is all it takes to split a fitting while the camper sits under a snow load for four months.

Winterizing is an afternoon of work if you do it in the right order. The order matters more than the products.

Before you start

Turn off and unplug the water heater. Relieve the pressure by popping the relief valve. If your unit has a bypass valve for the water heater, find it now — it is usually behind an access panel in the pass-through storage or under the fridge. You want to bypass the tank so you are not pouring gallons of antifreeze into a 60-gallon steel drum that is going to drain out anyway.

1. Drain everything

• Fresh water tank — open the low-point drains and the tank valve.
• Water heater — remove the drain plug or anode rod and let it run clear, then empty.
• Gray and black tanks — dump at a station, then flush the black tank if you have a wash fitting.
• Water pump — many pumps have a drain, and the strainer bowl unscrews to empty.

Leave every faucet and the outside shower open while you drain, so air gets in and water gets out.

2. Blow out the lines

Connect a regulator to your air compressor and set it to 30 PSI or less. Higher pressure can damage fittings and the tubing in the walls — this is the step where people cause the very leak they were trying to prevent.

Work faucet by faucet: cold, then hot, until only air comes through. Do the outside shower, the toilet flush valve if it is plumbed, and any ice maker line. Keep a hand on the line — the water will spit and sputter before it runs dry, and that sputter is normal.

3. Bypass the water heater

Confirm the bypass is open so antifreeze flows through the hot lines but not into the tank. Run the hot side of every faucet until you see pink. Then close the bypass.

4. Pump pink antifreeze through the system

Use RV-specific propylene glycol — the pink stuff. Automotive antifreeze is toxic and will not do.

Drop the pump intake hose into the jug and turn the pump on. Open each faucet, hot then cold, until pink flows steady. Flush the toilet until the bowl runs pink, and pour a cup down it after to protect the seal. Run the water pump until the jug runs empty — you will hear the tone change.

Do not skip the P-traps: pour a cup of antifreeze down every drain, including the shower and the galley. The trap holds water that will freeze.

5. Everything that is not plumbing

• Propane: shut the tanks off and cover the regulator.
• Battery: pull it and store it on a maintainer in a garage, not on the concrete floor.
• Fridge: empty it, clean it, prop the door open so it does not smell by spring.
• Slide toppers and awnings: roll in, brush off debris.
• Roof: one more sealant walk in the fall is cheaper than one in the spring.
• Tires: wash off the salt, check pressure, and park off asphalt if you can — covers help but tire shine does not beat shade.
• Rodents: steel wool in every exterior opening you can find. Mice winter in wiring looms.

When spring comes

Reverse it: close the bypass, reconnect the water heater, refill, and run every fixture until the water runs clear with no pink tinge. Check under every sink for drips before you head out.

If you would rather not do it, bring the camper to our service bays before the first freeze night — we winterize in October and November every year, and a slot booked in September is a slot you still have.