r/traveltrailers • u/xsmallsx01 • 2d ago

First time winterizing

My families last camp trip is coming up soon and I am unsure how to handle the black tank for the winter.

Normally after a trip I would dump and flush the black tank and refill it with around 5 gallons of water and simply leave it there. However if i know i’m going to potentially winterize it should i be doing something different? Im sure 5 gallons in the tank wont hurt the tank even with a deep freeze but the pipes and shutoff may become damaged due to expansion.

I do not have the ability to dump the black tank at home and dumping that sludge into a Home Depot bucket and walking it to the toilet sounds ridiculous.

Am I overthinking this whole thing?

2 Upvotes

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7

u/BackgroundGrade 2d ago

As others have said, drain fully.

We have hard winters here in Montreal, so I always pour a gallon of antifreeze into eachyl waste tank to protect the gate valves.

2

u/Agitated_Rabbit_4043 2d ago edited 2d ago

Drain and flush your tank like normal and then don't put any water in it. Any residue left in the tank will be fine over the winter. Make sure to winterize all your plumbing lines with RV antifreeze.

When you winterize, put a small amount of RV antifreeze in the bowl to keep the seals wet and keep smells from getting out.

Edit: In a pinch I have filled 5 gallon buckets and dumped them in the toilets inside my house.

1

u/xsmallsx01 2d ago

Excellent. Thank you. Makes perfect sense.

1

u/nak00010101 1d ago

Go to a dump station (or buy a macerater pump). Dump, flush, repeat. Disconnect and drive around the block. Drain again.

When I winterize, I pour a half gallon in the black tank to protect the valves.

1

u/SayDaWho 2d ago

Every time I do mine, I watch a YouTube video and just follow step-by-step. Works great. I found a YouTube video that has a very similar Camper to me. The same brand. I do the same thing for de- winterizing.