Winterizing The 450 LXI

[Doubledoc]

We had a '99 40'LX and it had an air system blowout for winterizing. One used the coach air to blow out the water. This was the BB procedure. All worked fine for 6 years. However the Aquahot system had a reguirement to use antifreeze to winterize their system. We had a leak caused by the draining of water to the low point and freezing during cold tempertures, in the Aquahot system even after a thorough air blowing winterizing procedure. The fix was to replace the Aquahot system at considerable cost. This happened in the 7th year of ownership.

Question here is: Does the Webasto system on the 450LXI have the same low point as the Aquahot. If it does not, does one have to use antifreeze or can it all be done with Air? I have a way on feeding air into the system and blow out the water. Will that be suffient for winterizing? If so We can easily recover from winterizing and use the coach in winter and then redo the winterizing procedure when we return.

We will need to use antifreeze in the p traps etc , but that is easy to un-winterize.

With the 4-5gals of antifreeze and the time to remove so that the water system is clean and usable. becomes a daw back to using the coach after winterizing.

Am I hoping for something that is not to be had?

The BB procedure calls for anti freeze thru out all systems. The 99' 40 LX did not require antifreeze and it was good for 6 out of 7 years.

[Stephen]

Iwould use Anti Freeze after blowing out the lines

Prestone makes a rv anti freeze that is not as objectionable as the cheap stuff that we bluebird owners usually use. The trade off is cost it is about twice the price
you still have to flush the system for use after the winter but it seems that the taste or traces of the antifreeze are easier to remove

[G_man]

For both our previous '99LXi43 and this M450 I always blow out the water then pump in RV non-toxic antifreeze. I then blow that out leaving little to no antifreeze but guaranteed no water. A freeze up is not worth the risk.

[dentmac]

Hi,
Just saw this. No doubt a few found out.
There is no need to winterize the Webasto in a 450LXi nor is there a way to blow it out as it is part of the engine cooling system and is the same ethylene-glycol.
Ross

[Doubledoc]

The hot water system runs thru the webasto unit. It may be coils like in the AquaHot system. If coils are present, then blowing out the hot water side may not remove all the water which with time would run to the lowset point in the coils and could freeze and reputure the coils. That is the problem with the Aquahot system and why one can not just blow out the hot water and be safe.

[Beakar]

Hi All,
I own a 2000 LX40. I went through the manual and blow out the lines through the air purge as well as via the water intake valve. I tried to pull in antifreeze via the water pump area but the pvc opening leading to pump and it won't take any fluid in, it seems to blow out air at this point. I am yet to add 8 OZ of antifreeze to AH.
Am I correct to assume there is no need to add antifreeze to the system? That is a bit scary.

[Doubledoc]

The aqua hot system requires antifreeze to be pumped thru the system so that no water can drain to the lowest point in the coils and freeze and then split the copper coil. It is not replaceable. Must change out entire unit. I disconnected the input to the water pump. Connected a syphon tube to the pump and pumped antifreeze thru the hot water side of the system. That will purge the aqua hot system. Blowing out the rest of the water system with air works fine. Do not forget to add antifreeze to the p traps in the pumbing system as well.

[Beakar]

Thank you Jim
Would you have any picture of where to disconnect from/to the pump and add the syphone part in? And would I run the AH and hot water faucets to make sure antifreeze is coming out?

[TOPHAT1]

Just a suggestion - I have added a "tee" connection into the suction line of one of my pumps and have a cap to close off the new connection port. The Tee is of the type that two of the connections are of the barb type to connect into the cut suction pump line. The third is the type that the the connection of the pipe to the pump uses. I fill a container that has two connections , one is for the hose to run to the suction Tee and the other is for letting in air into the container to eliminate any vacuum. With about 14 gallons of RV antifreeze in the container and having a clear hose connect to the installed tee with the proper screw on connection. (Note: this is after using the air purge on the water system- this includes doing the washer and the refrigerators ice maker and dispenser and if you have a whole house water filter - drain it.) I start up one of my pumps with one of my faucets open. I then check to see if the clear hose connected to the suction line shows that the pink RV antifreeze is being drawn into the pump. If it is not, I blow into the second containers opening to force the antifreeze to the pump - priming it. Then I wait for the pink RV antifreeze to push out the air in the water lines and pour out of the faucet. I also turn the faucet to both the Hot and Cold sides to fully flow. Then off to the next faucets, shower, washer, toilet, refrigerator and outside spigot - remember to turn on your second pump if you have it so it also draws the pink RV antifreeze through it. This procedure fills all the water lines , aquahot system, toilet, traps and puts pink RV antifreeze into your black and gray holding tanks. The only additional item I do is after having drained my fresh water tank, I open the tank's high point plug and manually pour in about a quart of pink RV antifreeze. (Note; I have added a whole house water filter directly after the shore water inlet - after using this procedure I find that the pink RV antifreeze has filled up the whole house container)

In the spring, I use the air purge to push the pink RV antifreeze out of the water lines, but I catch the pink RV antifreeze expelled out of the faucets in a small tub and return it to the container that I use for the installing it. This way I don't have to purchase as much the following winter.
Yes, you could air purge the pink RV antifreeze directly after flushing the system and only have to run water through it in the spring. I just prefer not to.
The container I use, is bungeed to a cheap two wheel dolly to make it easily portable and I just roll it into the compartment where the water pumps are, so that the pumps don't have to draw so hard.

[gcyeaw]

I would suggest that whenever you refer to 'antifreeze' for use in the fresh water system that you specify 'potable antifreeze' just to be sure newbies understand there is a difference. Most of use refer to it as Pink Stuff or RV Antifreeze as well.