Winterizing 101

"Uncle Phil" (Paul's brother) came to visit this past weekend.  While he was here we took great advantage of his years of experience as an RV-er.  Phil started out with a Class C like ours, years ago, but ended up with a Class A that was in the neighborhood of 38' long, so he's had lots of practice with RVs.

The first thing Phil and Paul had to do was empty the hot water heater and install a by-pass valve.  We aren't sure why, but the previous owner never installed one.  Perhaps he just filled the hot water heater (HWH) with 6 gallons of antifreeze.  Getting at the HWH was a chore.  It's only accessible by taking apart the bed in the back end of the RV....Literally unscrewing the plywood sheathing that makes the floor of the bed.  From what we've read, installing a by-pass valve is often a hassle, and as you can see, this one turned out to be, too.

The guys drained the potable water tank and all the faucets.  (Paul drained the black water [sewer] and gray water [water from the sink, etc.] tanks last weekend at the campground which is one of the reasons we wanted to go camping at someplace that had a dump station.)

 After all of that was done, it was time to blow out the lines with a compressor, and then fill the lines with non-toxic antifreeze made especially for RVs.  At $4 a gallon, it's not particularly expensive.  Instead of purchasing a pump to get the antifreeze into the system, Paul just used an old piece of hose and a funnel.

The final thing was to turn on the water pump and run each faucet until we saw pink antifreeze run out.   One final step was to release the pressure on the back flow valve for the potable water connection on the exterior.  Phil demonstrated how 'not' to do it!  Don't stare at the valve or you'll get a good shot of pressurized antifreeze in the face!

Antifreeze through the shower head.

That was the end of the 'water' winterizing.  Paul took out both new deep cell batteries (from under the bed, also) and put them in the basement of our house ready for a trickle charger as soon we buy one.

Jan went through Bella and took out anything with batteries in it -- mostly flashlights and push-button LED lights.  If they sit in the freezing cold all winter, they won't be any good.  We also took out bedding, pillows, etc. that mice might like for nesting.

We still need to install covers over all of the outside vents so little critters don't get inside.  Jan found one hole under the bed; it went right through the floor boards to the outside.  It seems like it was a drain for an older water heater which has since been replaced.  It would have been an easy place for mice to get in, so she plugged it with a wine cork. Hey, whatever works!

There!  Bella is almost ready for winter!  Many thanks to Phil for all of the advice and help; it was great to have an experienced hand helping us!

Left Behind

This is a door mat.  A plain ugly black vinyl doormat.  It will replace the colorful pretty vinyl doormat that we left behind on the ground at the campground when we drove away last weekend.   I can see that this could become a trend...  We will have to be much more diligent when we pack up to drive off.  Note to Self:  Add "Bring in Doormat" to the check list!

We'll call this "Doormat #2".

And to Rust You Shall Return

As we've said before, we knew we had some work to do on the RV.  The first major priority was to replace the propane tank.  The last thing we wanted was a nasty propane leak!  Since the RV is so old, the tank had to be special ordered, which took about a week.  Once it arrived the RV place called us up and said, "Bring it in."  The job was supposed to take one or two hours.

BEFORE

When I would call to check on it, the service manager would say, "Nope, he's still under it working on it." Two DAYS later....  the tank was ready. The invoice for the replacement reads like this:

"Had to remove furnace and freshwater tank and one dinette seat.  Cut old LP tank off.  Bolts were rusted.  Had to replace freshwater drain.  Broke when draining tank.  Reassembled.  Filled LP and tested LP system.  Ran furnace and put water back in freshwater tank."

AFTER

Clearly, the tank needed to be replaced!  We (mostly Jan) feel a lot safer driving around now!

Bella's Maiden Voyage

It wasn't easy, by any means, and it wasn't cheap, but we were able to take Bella out of her parking space next to the garage for her maiden voyage to Mohawk Trail State Forest campground near Charlemont, MA on October 4.  

Jan collected Bella from Daimond RV in Hatfield around noon, drove her home and began packing.    Bella has a new propane tank now and Jan is feeling much more comfortable thinking that she's not driving around on top of a propane-explosion-about-to-happen.  There will be another post about the propane.  Bella also got brand new house batteries (as opposed to truck engine battery) because the others would not hold a charge.  So, $1500 later, Bella is in better shape!  We knew that she'd need some repairs, so it was part of the plan.

Paul arrived home from work about an hour later.The doors for the basement area were still not repaired so Paul used some of his best jury-rigging skills, and some old plastic panels from an old shower enclosure (Paul never throws anything away) to put in temporary replacements that worked really well to keep out the rain.

This was pretty much peak weekend for the foliage, and despite some drizzle and fog, it was still beautiful. On our way around 2:00 pm, Bella chugged up the steep inclines almost holding her own, although we were polite and pulled onto the shoulder to let some other cars pass.  We know how annoying a slow RV can be!  

The ride to Mohawk Trail campsites is only about an hour, so it was an easy trip, and a good chance to take a 'maiden voyage'.  We had a nice level campsite right on the river.  The view out of our bedroom windows and the dinette windows was beautiful!  

Making gorgonzola mac and cheese

We stayed for two days and used the time to make lists of things that need to be fixed, adjusted, added, re-done, etc.    We tried out all of the appliances; Jan took full advantage of the stove and the full oven to make some great meals.  Using the oven kept us nice and warm -- hot homemade cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning were a great way to wake up!  The oven looks like it had never been used in 19 years!

Caulking all of the lights and attachments.

Paul did some caulking around the outside on Saturday afternoon; lots of the seals were cracked and old.  By Saturday night it was raining, so we were really glad that he'd done the caulking!  We were snug and dry inside.  Unfortunately, the neighboring campsites got pretty drenched.

Changing the upholstery on the valences.

We enjoyed sitting inside and reading in our nice cozy spot. Jan has been working on some redecorating -- getting rid of the foo-foo 1990's pleated blue wherever she can and replacing it with a beige tweed that just blends in nicely.

Tempermental hot water heater (blue flame)

The only problem we've run into, and it's a small one, is that we can't get the hot water heater to stay lit.  The gas flame seems to blow itself out.  Maybe it's insect nests in the delivery pipe; that's supposed to be a common problem.  We had an easy temporary fix, though, because we could boil hot water on the stovetop for washing dishes.  But, in the spring, we'll have to work at figuring it out.

All-in-all we had a great time with our first time on the trail with Bella!  Now it will be time to winterize her and put her away for the winter.  We're really excited that we were able to extend our camping season!