De-winterizing Doranya

This post is to complement Alex’s video on de-winterizing Doranya, and provides a checklist that we go through that we think could be useful for others with similar campervans.

It gets cold in Winter in the Great White North, and unless one is living full time in their Campervan​ and keeping it warm, it’s prudent to winterize the RV’s plumbing. We winterized with RV antifreeze last Fall, and with Spring upon us, it was time to flush the antifreeze from the system and prepare for travel. Of course, it being April 2021, we won’t be able to go far until Covid-19 lockdowns/shutdowns are lifted where we live. The de-winterizing process will be similar for different makes and models of camper van, but the specifics will vary based on the design and equipment of the RV. For example, there are three floorplans for the Coachmen Beyond​, and each of those models may be equipped with either the Li3 lithium battery system, or with AGM batteries, as is ours. Our 22C model’s fresh water tank is inside the van, below the couch. The water tank for the 22C Li3 model is under the van, so the plumbing is slightly different. But the general process for flushing the system remains the same.

De-winterization Process

1.       Prepare

a.  Ideally, park where the right side of the van is slightly elevated: this will facilitate the anti-freeze draining process as low point drains, other than the Truma are on the rear left of the van under the couch.

b.  Make sure Truma water heater is still bypassed.

i. Remove the bottom-left galley drawer (under stove)

ii. Check that the bypass valve is open and the Truma input and output valves are closed

iii. Close the Truma drain valve (yellow handle at the end of the brass fitting) i.e., perpendicular to the blue hose.

c. Fill a clean bucket or pot with fresh water (2-4 litres/ ½-1 gal) should be enough

d. Connect potable water hose to City Water inlet.

2.      Flush anti-freeze from system:

a.  From the van’s rear doors, open the service hatch in the bulkhead under the couch on the left-hand side

i. Close the fresh tank drain valve, the fresh water tank supply valve, the hot water drain valve and cold water drain valve

b.  Start the flush from the anti-freeze hose (this will ensure there is no anti-freeze left in the hose or water pump)

i. Extend the capped white antifreeze hose from behind the access panel under the couch and remove cap

ii. Immerse the antifreeze hose end into the water-filled bucket/pot

c.  From inside the van (or using the Mira app)

i. Turn on the water pump; make sure that the white hose stays immersed in the bucket

ii. The pump will stop when the lines are pressurized, but there will still be anti-freeze in the lines.

iii. In the galley, run cold water for a few seconds.

iv. Turn off water pump (it’s best if you stop before the bucket/pot empties so the pump does not suck air).

v. Open the cold water faucet and let the pressure off (important before attaching the spray hose outside – step “d.ii”)

vi. The remaining flush steps can be accomplished with city water.

d.  From outside the van:

i. remove the anti-freeze hose from the bucket, replace the cap on the hose and put the bucket away.

ii. attach the outside spray hose with nozzle.

iii. Turn on the city water supply faucet

iv. Open the spray hose nozzle and let it run until the water is clear.

e.  From inside the van

i. Run the galley cold water until the water is clear. Repeat with hot water

ii. Run the bathroom cold water until the water is clear. Repeat with hot water

iii. Press the toilet flush valve and run until fresh water comes out

f.   From the van’s rear doors

i. Open the hot and cold low point drains and close when clear water comes out.

3.       Close Truma bypass & charge water heater

a.   From inside the van

i. Close the bypass valve (white curved hose), open the red output pipe valve, and the blue input valve

ii. Slowly open the galley faucet in the hot water position and allow air to be purged out. Close faucet when there is no more air coming out. Repeat with bathroom faucet.

iii. Test Truma water heater by turning it on at the Truma control panel, waiting 20-30 min and calling for hot water from galley or bathroom faucet.

4.       Check for leaks everywhere

5.       Clean up

a.  Close city water supply faucet

b.   Release the pressure on the quick-connect hose, disconnect, drain it and put it away

c.   Close the service hatch in the bulkhead

d.  Replace galley drawer

e.   Remove “Winterized” status notices.

6.       Sanitize fresh water tank and lines (separate document).

7.       Get out and travel!