winterizing

Tom,   Torch Lake is just across the street from us, I pray we never take it for granted. although I am sure there are times we have.  Also, because we are away from towns and bigger cities, the sky at night is very dark, always get to see the Milky Way, and on many occasions have been treated to the Northern Lights.  It is a very special place for us.  We especially become more thankful after coming home from third world countries or areas of the world where the things we take for granted, like fresh water, food, gas stations,and our freedom, are nearly non-existent.  

Never did put antifreeze in the FW tank, but had the 'residue' in the lines from when we winterized the first time.   Took us more than a few times using different concoctions to rid the cold water supply line of the antifreeze taste and odor.

Originally posted by jato My 2 cents.  Did the antifreeze the first year in 2011.  Took a lot of time to rid tank, lines of that nasty taste as we use our FW for drinking.  Since then we have used compressed air, takes about 2 - 3 minutes to do the whole thing.  No problems to date.  Still will use about 1 pint of the pink stuff to put into the 3 traps (2 sinks, and 1 shower).

Originally posted by Tars Tarkas My toilet valve froze last winter.  I didn't discover it for a while. There was just a tiny crack in the valve that sprayed a fine mist on out the back, which eventually trickled down into the shower basis.  I do the antifreeze but apparently I wasn't diligent enough.  This the kind of thing that is much more likely to happen if you blow out the lines, in my opinion, anyway.The repair to the toilet was surprisingly easy -- after removing the toilet, and only cost about $25 for a part on Amazon.  Still, $3 worth of pink stuff would have saved a lot of effort. TT

I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago and (at the time) chalked the breakage up to normal wear and tear. I do both - blow out the lines and put in the pink stuff. However, I do not hold the flush valve open when using the air so, it is possible that the anti-freeze was diluted some. We had an especially cold winter that year, also. I've taken to running the toilet "extra" long with the pink.

Agree that the fix is stupid simple, once the part is in hand. 30 mins. tops.

Originally posted by techntrek My usual reply on this:  if you must pick one, use the antifreeze.  I've been through debates for days that it isn't necessary.  More than once someone has admitted a year or two later that they only used air and a fixture froze.  It takes less time to just use the antifeeze than to debate for days that it isn't needed. The only exceptions are if the pod is stored in CA or FL where it doesn't freeze. See the link in my signature for a checklist.