Winterising FWCs

[Nosmo]

I'll be ordering an Eagle soon for my Toyota Tacoma.

Is there enything I should address or watch out for in my options choice to improve ease of winterising for use or storage at June Lake, California, 7,500 feet up in the Sierra Nevada?

Cheers

Nosmo

 

[erod]

not sure about winterizing...probably drain all the fluid from water tanks, maybe disconnect propane? ask FWC or give ATC a call otherwise i am sure someone will chime in soon...be sure to post some pics when you get the camper!

 

[DirtyDog]

You'll definately want to insulate the water pump. Mine froze and was ruined the first winter I had the camper. Search for water pump insulation or winterization and you should find a couple discussions about it here on the board.

 

[craig333]

Doesnt freeze where I'm at, but I'd think you probably want to get an air compressor and slightly pressure the tank to make sure you get all the water out. Or put in some non toxic antifreeze.

 

[benburnett]

Winterizing Camper

Do not pressurize your water tank. It is all plastic fitting and hose clamps holding everything. Very low pressure to say the least. Too much pressure and you are going to be fixing things. If you are going to store the camper for the winter or use it very little, drain your tank and water lines. Put in some anti freeze for water tanks that you can buy from any camper store. This should keep you safe through the winter. Other than your water lines, there really is nothing else in the camper that I have heard about over the years that will cause you problems.

Keep up the regular routine of popping it up every couple of months to let it air out. Check with FWC about the liner material that they are using now and if the 303 product with work with it. I am not sure of the material that they are now using.

 

[pvstoy]

FWC for some time put the electric water pump under the sink. The water tube went up then down to the pump and up to the sink faucet. This made a loop in the line and the pump always had water to it so as not to burn it up by not pumping water. This also made the pump freeze in the winter.

If you have this set up and storing in freezing conditions, you should drain the tank from the out side with the faucet open and then take the inlet hose off the pump and drain the water out of the pump.

Other than that there is no worries other than what Ben said about the liner.

 

[HERR42]

how would we get to the pump? what are the steps? i assume panels must be removed?

 

[pvstoy]

I would be talking about this one from the FWC web page. It is there in plan site on the Ranger, Eagle and older ones under the sink storage. The new Hawk and Kestrel seemed to be above the tank but still lower than the faucet and hidden behind the foward panneling. It is a on-demand ShureFlo that can run dry and produce ~45psi and ~1 gallon per minuite flow. The fittings are band wraped and the lines are heavy duty. They have a fitting that you can hook up a water hose that bypasses the tank and supplies water and tap pressure so no need to run the pump. It is suggested to put on a 45psi regulater.

 

[craig333]

Yeah, ben, I always hesitate when I recommend something like that. Never know what someone might do. My thought was just a psi or two would be enough to blow the water out of the lines.

 

[benburnett]

water pressure

Craig,

I could just see someone putting about 125 psi on the tank and having to fix some things. Just one or two would work fine though.