Getting Anti-Freeze Through My Water Pump

[johnnybgood]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Johnnybgood,

Here is thought that just flew in thinking about your situation.

Since you already pumped antifreeze through the city water connection, (I think that was what you have) there is about 6 to 8 oz of water inside the pump. When you sort out how to get the pump filled with antifreeze you need to deal with getting that 8pz of water out. Maybe you unhook the downstream hose on the pump and let it go out there and mop up the mess. Or open the closest faucet and bleed the good antifreeze from the city water in the line out, then the water slug and then good new antifreeze through the pump. Point being, ya gotta get that 8oz out of the system.

A thought, if this pump is so buried it is hard all the time to do a normal winterizing, after fighting it one or 2 times, I would do and upgrade to not have to deal with this headache every year. Maybe this year, take the pump out and bring it in the house for the winter. Then next spring deal with upgrading the setup to make this process easier for next year. If you take the pump out, may have to plug the downstream hose so the antifreeze doers not leak out all over the floor during the winter.

Hope this helps and let us know how you make out.

Thanks

John

I haven’t done anything yet. Thinking I’ll get some anti-freeze through the pump first via the fresh water tank, then use an external pump on the city water hookup to complete the job. I don’t have an official water heater bypass. I do have a short section of hose that acts like one, but after having troubles with it leaking last winter, and again when I reversed it this spring, I think I’m going to spend the extra money for the 6 gallons.

There’s a hidden message in the above..........I despise plumbing! [emoji39]

[mainah]

Taking the out pump is a chore and the fitting are plastic tread not meant to be removed regularly plus the wiring. The fittings are 1/2" plumbing fittings I would buy a valve ment for the job it is a one time deal of aggravation never needed again. Suck up some antifreeze and call it good live the antifreeze hose in place at a convenient spot then only have to stand on your head once a year to turn the valve on. I live where sub zero temps are a regular occurrence and have never had any issues with a blown out system once they have been blown out I reopen all of the drain valves.

[johnnybgood]

Makes sense. I’m still learning. I was a little afraid there’d be some water left somewhere blowing out the lines (other than the pump). Maybe I’m overthinking it.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by johnnybgood

Makes sense. I’m still learning. I was a little afraid there’d be some water left somewhere blowing out the lines (other than the pump). Maybe I’m overthinking it.

I too no longer use antifreeze other then in the pipe traps. That said, you do need a big enough air compressor to create enough volume of air to blow out the water to only leave a fine film of a few droplets left over. Other wise the water will stay in place and the compressed air just floats over of the top of the water in the pipes not carrying the water with it. A small tire inflater will not have enough volume as they have almost no tank on them and cannot build up any kind of stored volume. And like Mainah said, leave all the faucets open to allow air to escape and a little evaporation too. If there is anything left that will freeze, having it all open will help to not allow a pressure rise and the expansion if any, a place to go to.

That said you do not need a 5 or 10hp compressor either. But if that is what one has, it will work real well.

Thanks

John

[vcrt]

The 2499 has the pipes running above the floor until they get to the shower. After that, they dip down under the floor, and resurface above floor level under the bathroom cabinet. That's the part I don't want to worry about, so I use compressed air followed by antifreeze. In our 2470, the pipes are all above the floor.

[mainah]

I have a 50' of water line that goes to our small greenhouse I blow that out with compressed air it has plenty of ups and downs no issues in the past 10 years. At the local campground I do some work for we rent a big jack hammer type gasoline compressor and blow out hundreds of feet of water lines no issues there either.

[vcrt]

Oh, the other item I saw in the Sunline manual was to use an oil-less compressor, I don't think I've ever had one of those, I use the standard oiled compressor, but then, we always bring bottled water from home to drink, so I'm not concerned.
Rich

[JohnB]

Our T310SR has a similar layout to the T2499. Both which have the rear living area, center kitchen, pass through bath and front bedroom. And yes, our water lines do cross and go under the floor. In our case to service the bathroom sink, toilet, the city water inlet and water heater.

On the T310, our low point drains are also in the end of that long run in the bathroom under the sink opposite the air input blow point. The water pump area is my compressed air input point and I blow forward from the down stream end of the pump throughput the camper. Through valving I do blow through the pump too and down to the fresh tank. I had to add that down stream pump blow out setup.

When we had the T2499, I created this same setup. Blow from down stream of the pump forward. See here, in that setup I could blow from the pump area and the city water connection if wanted which are at 2 different ends of the camper. http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f6...2499-8089.html

And yes, if you have a piston or some screw type compressors you need to think about if any oil comes through. In my case I have a piston compressor and I filter out any condensation water from the tank and any oil mist that may sneak through. I have a double filter setup to trap all that. One at the compressor and one at the point the air goes into the camper. Folks who paint cars have the same issue so they add a separate filter right at the regulator setup before air goes into the spray gun. Oil or water flying out in your paint job does not create a happy camper

Sunline most likely made that statement about an oiled compressor to create the caution but did not want to get into trying to explain all the in's and out's of why and how to get around it. Someone with a really old worn piston compressor that is reak'ing in oil can create a problem if it is not addressed blowing it into a camper fresh water system. Many of the newer home style compressors are the diaphragm type and do not have the oil issue. They do not have a crank case which uses oil for lubricant, they just make a heck of a buzz sound verses a chug, chug chug of a piston unit or the screaming sound a screw type compressor makes...

As for blowing out the over and under's, I have found I need around 50psi to get an effective blow out and I need enough volume to go with it. 40psi can work, 30 psi seems to the the low point where the push seems to be greatly reduced. Every now and then my step down regulator gets the knocked or moved and I'm off the 50 mark, I can tell real quick when blowing it is is down to around 40 and the blow out is a lot less. Some folks may use the 30psi and have had good results, I just chose to use 50 as my system is always at 50 from the variable speed water pump I have. The piping is rated at 150psi, just don't use anywhere near that as all the rubber washers in the system may start to drip...

I do a diligent water sanitation program and I blow out the camper after each trip. Having standing water in that quantity in a camper lay idle for a week or a month is not something I can agree with leaving. I have no concerns about drinking from the camper, brushing teeth, washing ones face or washing dishes. We are now in a home with a fresh water well so when I fill the camper with water at home, I have to add a little chlorine to make sure nature does not start growing in our camper. I am most likely in the group on the extreme end of the camper water sanitation awareness... Working for a food company for 25 years dealing with food sterilization machinery seems to have rubbed off on me.

All that said, there is nothing wrong with using the anti-freeze method. The air blow method can work too.

BTW, Walmart now has -50F anti freeze for $2.58 a gallon when I picked some up yesterday for the drains. Amazed on how far it has come down. A few years back there was some kind of shortage of something and it was in in the $4.50 or $5 area.

Thanks

John

[vcrt]

Now that you mentioned the filter John, I've always used my shop compressor to blow out the water lines in our campers. That one has a filter.
This year, our camper was in our driveway at home when I did it, so I used my new Harbor Freight compressor without a filter.

We always travel with empty tanks to keep the weight down and fill up at the campground. Fresh water gets dumped on the way out.

In the spring, I do the baking soda thing and flush the system with plenty of clean water.

Rich