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Sub-Freezing Temps without Winterizing?


Joe Lee

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Guest Ray Davis
4 hours ago, bftownes said:

The adapter in question is similar to that BUT...the end is the same as a tire valve stem.  Use it as if putting air in a tire.  

 

Correct,  but there are several configurations available all using the same principal.   If I was blowing the water out with air I think I might try this one.

Blasoul RV Winterizing Kit Sprinkler Blowout Adapter,With Blow Shut Off Valve-12Inch Air Compressor Kit Male & Female Quick Connect Blow Out Fitting

Rick aka waterskier_1 is absolutely right, Do not depend on air for winterizing an Aquahot you'll be sorry.

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Over many years I have heard many stories of those who took chances with freezing temperatures and lost.  Mother Nature has no idea and does not care what your situation is .  Blowing out the water lines in a trailer or an older smaller 5th wheel works fine.  But in the newer larger 5th wheels and large motorhomes you take a chance because not all the water lines are level and there is no absolute assurance that you have blown out all the water in the system.   And most of those water lines were installed way before much of the walls and appliances and features were installed.   That makes the majority of the water lines unseen and much harder to get to for repairs.

I can only speak for myself.  Because I have a hot water heater, I by pass it, drain it and flush it out.  Then I take the time to purchase enough RV antifreeze (if I need more) to winterize my coach.  With the shower, a bath and a half of two sinks and two toilets, the double kitchen sinks, a stacked washer/dryer, an ice maker in the residential fridge and the outdoor shower hoses, there are too many places for water to stay inside that hundreds of feet of pex and other types of water lines and drains.  It takes more than a few gallons but I sleep better at night knowing I will not have to deal with broken water piping or fittings and such.  ALSO, RV Antifreeze is reusable.  You do not have to toss it out and can put it back into the jugs you used to winterize in the first place.  For me our rigs are way to expensive to play games with Mother Nature.  Just my way, works for me.  Stay safe and Stay well

 

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12 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

I assume that your coach is parked at an OUTSIDE storage facility.

Here is what I would do in that same situation. The Aqua-Hot diesel and electric assist switches should be left on. Your Inverter should also be turned on. Remove all unnecessary 12 VDC power draws that could drain your house batteries more than what is needed for the Aqua-Hot. Set up your Auto Generator Start to come on when your house batteries reach 12.2 State Of Charge and turn off when the house batteries attain FLOAT SOC. Set the inside temperature thermostats to 50F.

Now the Aqua-Hot will keep the inside of the coach at 50F and it will also prevent the Aqua-Hot from freezing.

If your house batteries do run down to 12.2 SOC your generator will fire up and charge them back to Float SOC then turn off.

 

I concur 

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10 hours ago, Ivylog said:

Why should the inverter be left on?

I am assuming that the Auto Generator Start program only works when the Inverter is on and active. Am I wrong in that assumption? I don't really know as my Inverter is on 24/7/365 so I haven't really tried the AGS with the Inverter turned off.

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On 11/13/2021 at 8:19 AM, ncsteve said:

I am in the same boat. Well kind of anyway. My RV is home under our shed in NC and I am currently in Indiana.  Supposed to get in the upper 20’s tonight. I am not worried. With temps in the 50’s during the day and only getting to sub freezing for a few hours won’t hurt anything based on all of my previous experiences.

That is a huge risk to take, the aqua hot is very delicate and freezing would be catastrophic, either winterized coach or run the aqua hot for two days, put your generator on auto start if equipped 

Edited by moxy1962
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11 hours ago, Ivylog said:

 

Why should the inverter be left on?

 

While our rigs have/had AGS, other than to test if it worked, I never use it…don’t need it starting during quite hours. I’m ASSUMING you do not need 120V for it to work…time for someone to test.

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12 minutes ago, Ivylog said:

While our rigs have/had AGS, other than to test if it worked, I never use it…don’t need it starting during quite hours. I’m ASSUMING you do not need 120V for it to work…time for someone to test.

Nope it auto starts when batteries get below set parameters and will charge batteries through inverter until they reach predetermined state of charge and you can set quiet times, on my inverter charger controls, Yours may be different 

 

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At the risk of getting too far off topic, The Inverter has a setting for "quiet time" such that it will not allow the generator to start during the times set.

The purpose of the Inverter is to use 12 VDC battery power to Invert it into 120 VAC. Therefore no 120 VAC is needed.

I will test it one day but it's not high on my priority list at the moment.

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Just now, Dr4Film said:

At the risk of getting too far off topic, The Inverter has a setting for "quiet time" such that it will not allow the generator to start during the times set.

The purpose of the Inverter is to use 12 VDC battery power to Invert it into 120 VAC. Therefore no 120 VAC is needed.

I will test it one day but it's not high on my priority list at the moment.

It works great and just as you would imagine, starts, charges and shuts off when charging is completed, takes 3 minutes to set up and away you go, 

 

Just now, Ivylog said:

The inverter doesn’t charge the batteries… the charger in the inverter/charger charges the batteries. There are 2 buttons on the remote control… one for turning the charger on/off and the second for the inverter.

You would need to shut off charging function on my inverter charger otherwise it defaults to charging , the only on off button on my RCGS is for turning inverter on or off

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Not everyone has the same inverter/charging system.  Some inverter/charging systems are much different than others and require them to be on to perform certain duties.  If my inverter is off, as the batteries drain they will not be charged up at the correct discharge point.  That is one of the functions of my inverter system so it is left on to cycle the battery charge and discharge cycles that keep our batteries from freezing .  Otherwise I would have to remove the house and chassis batteries from my coach to keep them from freezing.  I'm sure there are other ways to keep batteries from freezing but that is how I do it.  Stay well, Stay safe

 

 

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On 11/14/2021 at 5:11 AM, Dr4Film said:

I assume that your coach is parked at an OUTSIDE storage facility.

Here is what I would do in that same situation. The Aqua-Hot diesel and electric assist switches should be left on. Your Inverter should also be turned on. Remove all unnecessary 12 VDC power draws that could drain your house batteries more than what is needed for the Aqua-Hot. Set up your Auto Generator Start to come on when your house batteries reach 12.2 State Of Charge and turn off when the house batteries attain FLOAT SOC. Set the inside temperature thermostats to 50F.

Now the Aqua-Hot will keep the inside of the coach at 50F and it will also prevent the Aqua-Hot from freezing.

If your house batteries do run down to 12.2 SOC your generator will fire up and charge them back to Float SOC then turn off.

 

I think what you meant to say is to set up the Auto Gen Start to come on when your house batteries 12.2 VOLTS, not SOC.  That would be somewhere between 50% and 55% SOC (State of Charge) depending on the specific battery charastices.  

I knew what you meant, but if someone who hasn't programmed an AGS, they may have problems finding 12.2 SOC.

  _Rick N.

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