tech tip # 453

Good morning.
Well, it was a beautiful day yesterday. Got up to 58. May not see many more of those. :-(
So I took advantage of it. After our running around, I blew leaves off the driveway, patio and deck. While Craig mowed up the leaves, (We don't rake. We have a mulching mower) I winterized the water system in the mo-ho.
First thing, open the low point drains to empty the lines of water. Then open the fresh water tank drains. Then drain the water heater. Open the panel, and take out the plug in the lower middle. Then go inside and turn off the in and our water lines to the water heater and open the bypass. Don't want to fill the water heater with antifreeze. :-)
Newmar adds a nice inlet tube for winterizing in one of the bays. Just close off the fresh water tanks, stick the tube in your gallon of antifreeze, and your ready to suck it into the water lines.
I use 4 gallons. I could probably get away with 3, but I want to make sure there's enough in the drains to fill the macerator pump.
Then it was as simple as going inside and opening each faucet to let the antifreeze fill all the lines and drain traps, including the kitchen bath, shower, toilet, and washing machine. And don't forget the outside shower.
After I finished that, I went up on the roof to find and fix a water leak in the shower. We had a leak earlier this year, but on the other side of the skylight. I thought I'd checked everything out then, but apparently not. I discovered, instead of doing just a visual check for cracks, I needed to do a physical check on the sealant. I found an edge of the sealant had a gap under the edge and I was able to pull it back to expose the edge of the skylight.
I actually found 3 areas like this. I removed the old caulk, cleaned and dried the areas, and reapplied new Dicor lap sealant. While I was up there, I checked the rest of the roof and found one other possible spot I also fixed.
And with that all done, we relaxed with cocktails and enjoyed our last day off.
And now, time to get ready for another work week.....