Winterizing my Amerilite 21MB

[anoldman]

I recently bought this 2011 model and now the time has come to winterize it. The dealer mentioned there are drain valves for the water but I cannot seem to find them. Could someone please give me a step-by-step procedure for winterizing this camper? I'd hate to find damage next year because I'd missed something. Thanks in advance!

[Midniteoyl]

Did the dealer not do a walk though with you showing how everything worked, what needs maintenance and how, where all the breakers are, where the drain valves are, etc, when you bought it? If not, call them and tell them you want to do that now.. its suppose to be included with the purchase.

[anoldman]

Yeah, they showed me a great deal about the camper in a hurry, but that was six months ago. I don't recall everything they said such as where the drain for the freshwater tank is located and so far I have not been able to find it. As for taking it back to the dealer, that's not a very good option for me since they're over 70 miles away. Besides, I'm a do-it-yourself person. I just don't want to miss something and realize next spring that I've made a costly mistake. That's why I'm asking for the help of more experienced camper owners in this forum.

[keithinspace]

I just winterized my 255BH which should not be too unlike your camper in method.

Very near your water heater (mine is in the very back), there should be two water lines, a hot and a cold, poking through the black plastic barrier. Those are your low-point drains and you'll need to unscrew both of those.

You'll also need to get to the water heater from inside the trailer and turn the valves to 'bypass' the heater.

Get a 1-1/8" socket and remove the sacraficial anode from the water tank (the large bung near the bottom front of the tank from the outside access port). This will drain the tank. You may want to flush the tank because there will be a bunch of zinc salt from the anode you'll want to blast out of there.

You can either pour antifreeze in your fresh tank and suck it through the pump or, if you have an air compressor, make a fitting to connect your compressor to the water supply port on the side of the trailer. The fitting costs about $8 to make out of 3 parts from any decent plumbing place or big-box hardware store.

If you do antifreeze, be sure to close the low point drains again. If you do the air compressor, you're in pretty good shape.

You also need to drain everything out of your fresh tank. You may want to pour some antifreeze into both your grey and black tanks and a little in the toilet so the seal doesn't dry out.

Does that get you started?

[anoldman]

Thank You!!! I had looked at the water heater but wasn't sure how to drain it or bypass it either. This sounds like just the information I was hoping for. Thanks again for your help and Happy Camping!

[Timothy]

Check by your water pump too, it may have a winterizing kit that sucks the anti freeze right out of the jug. If not they are inexpensive to buy and easy to add. Once you have filled the lines with anti freeze open a faucet until the pressure is off, remove the screen on the city water fill and push in the check valve until a little anti freeze comes out. Make sure you bleed off the pressure at a faucet before you do this.
Also don't forget the outside shower and Washer hook up if you have one.
Pour about a cup of anti freeze into the drain traps.

[anoldman]

Thank you for that very helpful information. I did not have a winterizing kit at the pump so I installed one. I think I've got the hang of this winterizing now. We've had a sudden cold snap here in Tennessee so getting that water out became more urgent than I was expecting. Thanks to all who have helped. Sure am glad I found this forum!

[anoldman]

Just wanted to add a little epilogue to my winterizing efforts for future visitors.

The low point water drains for my 21MB were located just in front of the trailer tires on the driver's side. Don't know why I didn't see them earlier :? . My freshwater tank did not have a winterizing kit but it did have a drain for it. The drain valve is located about 6 inches in front of the water pump connection and is difficult to see and access.

I removed the drain plug from the water heater but it was already empty. I'll be sure to flush it out next spring before reinstalling the plug.

Draining the freshwater tank completely and blowing compressed air through the water lines appeared to clear them out completely so I decided not to run antifreeze through them. My camper does not have a water filter so that was not an issue. I did pour antifreeze in the sink and tub traps and in the toilet bowl.

I've disconnected the 12v battery and 110v power and am calling it done until next spring. Thanks again to all who helped and Happy Camping!