First - I hope any of you in California and those you know are safe from the fires.
I have mentioned before that we have a very small RV (it is a conversion of a Chevy Express van so I do mean small). Those of you who live in the colder areas understand that in cold weather unprotected water pipes can freeze and cause damage. To prevent this in an RV (or a travel trailer or boat which has plumbing) one has to winterize the water system in the fall before it gets too cold. Too cold according to my husband is 2 nights in a row under 28F, without it getting into the 40Fs during the days. At this point water will be freezing in the water system of the RV.
Winterizing is a fairly straight forward process - all the water in the pipes and tanks has to be drained out and then a non-toxic anti-freeze (mostly alcohol - no, not the drinkable kind) has to be run through the system. It really should only take about an hour - but hey, this is us.
At the end of October when it was still in the 50Fs I suggested to husband that we do the winterizing since we were not going to use the RV due to his shoulder and arm pain. We normally due this early in November. He replied that we had plenty of time - I suggested that doing it in relatively warmer weather was better. He said to wait until he felt better. This is one of the few maintenance tasks that we do ourselves on the RV that I cannot do on my own. (Husband has been surprised this past month and a half that I can do the tasks we do together on my own.)
Well, last weekend the weather report was for a night below freezing and that the weather would not improve much this week - going into rain on Tuesday. So, now in panic we had to winterize the RV on Monday. Luckily husband had listened to me when I suggested buying the antifreeze last month and we had bought 3 one gallon bottles plus we had one full bottle and one at least half full bottle left over last year.
First thing we had to do was the result of our not having traveled in September or October. We anticipated at least one more trip when we went away on our last (one night) August trip. The black and grey water tanks (outgoing water) have to be dumped. While we dumped them before we left for home on our last trip, we also added some clean water into them as they cannot be without water (or antifreeze) in it. Generally on our last trip of the season we would not have added this water into the tanks. So we had to dump the tanks.
Well, we thought this was the first thing. Since we had planned to travel again and had been away for at most a total of 5 nights, we had left the bed made. So first I had to unmake and disassemble the bed. Why? The bed is on top of two cabinets (when not a bed it is similar to a restaurant booth - a seats on top of a cabinet on each side of the RV in the rear section and then wooden boards go between, the side seats slide together onto these boards and then the bench backs are laid down along the walls to form the bed) This all has to be reversed to unmake the bed.
So I strip the sheets and pillow cases and bag them in a laundry bag - throw in front of the RV. I then fold the blankets and the mattress covers and with the pillows to the same side of the bed (his side or my side) I bag them in extra large laundry bags and then put those in extra large plastic bags and seal them closed for the winter. I use twin sheets, blankets and mattress covers as it is easier to make up each half of the bed separately. The bags with the pillows etc. each go on one of the front seats. I then lift up the back of the bench on “my side”of the bed and put it on the main mattress piece and push the bottom end (where I am) to the side which lets me pull out the first wooden board from the center and set it aside. I then squeeze in and pull out the second board. I can then reach a small section of the mattress which sits along the rear corner of the RV (head of the bed as we sleep with our heads to the back of the RV) and put that also on the main piece. I can now push the main piece into the bench position on the cabinet on that side. I remove a small additional center mattress insert from between the two sides and put it and the two large pieces of wood under the mattress piece.
I then take the back piece from his side of the bed and put it on mine. I take the matching small back corner piece and put it on mine. This leaves his main mattress piece - the bench seat. Problem is that my side of the bed and its bench is about 3 inches shorter than his in length. So I can not put it on my side, I have to put the rear van end (head of the bed) on mine and with it on a catty corner angle make room to be able to later get to the front end of the cabinet under his mattress as that is where the water system is accessed. This has taken about a half hour.
The water from the fresh water tanks had been let out after our return home - that water can be allowed to run down the driveway as it is clean water, the water from the grey and black tanks cannot be allowed to run. So when we do this at home we have the dump system pump the water into a bucket which is then carried into the house and flushed down the toilet. (If you have been in an RV our has different dump system - instead of it all running out by gravity, ours has a macerator and pump and the contents are pumped out and ground up. Normally he would carry the bucket, this time I had to.
We set it all up on the driveway and I was holding the hose into the bucket while he pushed the button on the side of the driver’s seat to run the pump. He pushes it - nothing happens. Repeat - nothing happens. Repeat - nothing happens. Husband goes into panic mode. Maybe we didn’t put water in it when we pumped it out? He adds a gallon of antifreeze. He pushes the button - nothing happens. More panic. Then he thinks - maybe there is not enough water in it as the RV is on the driveway on an uphill angle and the water is sitting at the other end of the tank. He has me take out our levelers - this are rounded bottom plastic pieces with a thin end graduated to a thick end. One is put in front of the rear tires (or the front ones - in this case the rear ones) and then he slowly drives onto them until the RV is level. Chucks are put under the thin end which is now raised in the air - lifting the tires up off the group. We do this. I hate doing this as I am the one who has to slip the chucks under it and then has to remove the chucks from it - we were going to put strings on the chucks so I would not have to put my hands and arms under the RV to remove them, but of course have not gotten around to it. So the RV was sort of level (we can only raise it so much). I hold the hose in the bucket, he pushes the button. Nothing happens. Repeat. Finally remove the chucks and drive off the levelers.
When we last dumped the tanks the pump sounded funny, it seemed to go to quickly, and there was no need to give short pumps at the end. Maybe the macerator is broken and/or pump is broken? That’s a big expense.
New idea. Maybe something is stuck in the macerator? There is a handle to rotate it and clear it - under the RV. I have lain down before and looked at what was underneath as husband would get ill if he did so and I did have to find the cap to remove to let the clean the water out when we are done with using the tanks. I knew where the handle was. As a matter of fact during this past summer husband and I had a conversation about the handle as someone had figured out how to make a clean out from the macerator directly and let the tank contents out by gravity. The handle is on the driver’s side of the RV - the macerator is under the passenger side. We have had this discussion at least 3 times in the past. He tells me to turn the handle and insists it is on the passenger side. It is fall. The driveway is covered in leaves. I don’t want to lie down in the leaves. He gets a broom and sweeps them away as I humor him by lying down and looking on the wrong side for the handle. Then the leaves have to be cleared off the driveway on the correct side. Problem here is the driveway is wet from our attempts to dump - and I AM NOT GOING TO LIE IN THAT WATER. So I am lying on my wrong side. Next problem. I am short and have short arms so I can barely reach the handle and. I manage to grab it and push it and I think it engaged. I turn it. I cannot keep it pushed and turn it at the same time, but attempt it several times. Guess what - yes, when we try to dump again it still does not work. Husband figures that maybe the water in the macerator (there is always some which is why we are suppose to get anti-freeze in it to replace the water which will be pushed out by the pump) froze.
We realize that we cannot do anything with pump and macerator and - luckily for me - we both have the same idea to move on to the rest of the process. We have used about 2.5 hours doing this. He drives the RV back into its normal position on the driveway to do the rest - most - of the process which remains.
To be continued -
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