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Storage questions…..
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I rent the space.
Tom, that sounds like a reasonable plan to me!
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Great Thread!
Mark, when storing indoors with 50amp power, are you concerned that leaving the Fantastic Fan running will be an entry point for insects or critters?
I’m considering a new storage facility and was told I could run one A/C unit around 75- 78-degrees and would place a container under the drain. I believe you mentioned you would empty the container once per week. I’ll ask what size container you’re using.
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Andy,
My storage garage in TN is a big warehouse holding 100 or more RV’s, Boats and trailers (one big room).
Last summer (2016), I did run a couple of air units. The drip tubes for the 2nd and 3rd air are together just in front of the wet bay on the driver’s side. I could not believe how much water the units produced! I think the bucket can hold three gallons and it will fill up in 24 hours.
This summer didn’t seem to be as hot as last year so the fantastic fans seem to move the air quite well and keep the inside at a reasonable temp.
I keep my snap-on-screen on the little driver’s window to keep bugs or anything else from just flying in. I have not noticed any critters around and I occasionally use bug spray around the baseboards.
Mark
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Why wouldn’t you just connect the drip tubes to a garden hose and run that to a floor drain rather than filling up a bucket.
If you leave the window closed, then additional moisture won’t come into the coach and once the A/C units reduce the humidity in the coach, the amount of condensation to get rid of will go down dramatically.
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Dick,
There are no floor drains so there is not a way to drain the water. This building was some type of manufacturing or shipping business years and years ago. They have several built-in tractor-trailer loading docks.
Last year when I did use the air, the dripping did slow down but not by a whole lot. Some people do use their air units and it’s a big watery mess. The owner’s prefer that you don’t use the air unit’s but don’t press it. And I would if it was really hot. Mid 80’s inside the coach is not bad.
Mark
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If you keep the coach closed and run A/Cs the moisture pulled from the air will be minimal. Initially you will pull a bunch, but as the A/Cs dehumidify the interior very little moisture will remain.
If you allow the introduction of fresh air with the A/Cs running you will be dehumidifying the warehouse.
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Jon,
When I do use the air, it’s buttoned up tight.
Maybe I’ll try it again and see what the water situation turns out to be.
Mark
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Mark, unless you have a fresh air intake of some sort your A/Cs should be recirculating house air. If that is the case there cannot be much moisture after it is initially removed. Do you have the fan on when you run the A/C because if so that will tend to draw in outside humid air.
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Jon,
No, I never use the fantastic fans with the A/C or leave a window open.
Mark
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Harry
We’ve lived in Colorado for lots of years. Back prior to our first motorhome, Airstream,trailers were routine and not intricate to winterize. Our 1999 Airstream Cutter 35ft had a Dometic double door frig with no door water. At the time, we had a shed roof off our office barn, so we winterized it by pumping RV “pink” antifreeze thru the lines, but did keep it plugged in
A year later, buying our 2000 CC Affinity, we vowed never to winterize a motorhome again,
We enclosed our shed roof off the office barn and heated an d insulated it. So my point is, we don’t have any experience winterizing Beaver Bus#34. Sorry
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Winterizing a conversion, old or new is a very complex procedure because of the number of potential spots where raw water can be hiding. I know my coach water system very well and with all the possible places that need RV anti freeze I cannot ever say I protected it all until winter is over and I fill with water and check for leaks. It is scary just thinking about making an error and tearing walls and pipe chases apart to fix a leak.
Just imagine all the places water can be retained in the washer for example. Ditto for ice makers or refrigerators with ice makers or water in the door. With the exception of “P” traps the drain system is probably OK, but what about all the low spots in the water lines that are hidden. It will take a lot of RV anti freeze and patience to run RV anti freeze through every single water line and fixture to insure it is all protected.
As bad as it is trying to protect the coach, the real tragedy is the process is such a pain nobody will want to flush out the coach systems just to take a mid winter trip to escape the cold. The coach ends up out of service once it has been winterized.
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Mark:
Consider putting a large pan under the drip hoses that is big enough to go outside the footprint of the coach that you can put a 120volt sump pump into. Route the discharge hose of the sump pump “somewhere” to a drain. If there isn’t a drain in the building, talk the owner into letting you put a hole in the side of the building with a short piece of pipe with hose fittings on it through the wall. Hook the discharge hose from the sump pump to the interior side of the pipe, hook another hose to the exterior side, and route that hose away from the building to where it wouldn’t be a nuisance. When your coach isn’t in the building, put a plug on either side of the pipe so the building is sealed from infiltration of bugs, varmints, and air.
Edit: Some of the readers might not be familiar with a “sump pump”. Sits in bottom of pit, pail, or bucket. Has a “float” that controls the switch for the pump; turns the pump on when the water raises the float and turn the pump off when the enough water is pumped out that the float drops to the “off” position. Extremely reliable, pretty simple technology that’s been around for many, many decades and not very expensive. The best sump pump made is a “Jim Murray”, manufactured in Germantown, Wisconsin; ask for it by name.
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Allow me to apologize in advance for a stupid question. It was Tom’s recommendation to; “blow all water from the lines and you’ll still need the pink stuff for the p-traps.”
If you blow all water from the lines, I assume by a low pressure air compressor of some kind, why would you need the Pink Stuff? The air going through the lines with pressure should expel the water and any slight residual water should evaporate in a number of days if not hours. Where have I gone wrong because if the water’s gone the risk of freezing goes with it right?
With a bus in storage and again quoting Tom (never a good thing) “Put the coach to sleep with house and chassis cut-offs.” How long do you reasonably have before the batteries get so low they will no longer crank the engine?
Remember my bus is a 91 without all the computer and electronic stuff that can consume power even with the cut-offs in the off position. As a matter of fact this is something Jeff has had to work on with my bus because my coach batteries were losing power when the cut offs were off! Something I hope he was able find and correct.
My thank to all,
Harry
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Your assumptions are that blowing air through the water lines removes the woter.
Let me ask a question. Are your coach water lines perfectly horizontal? Do any of them have a low spot? You cannot answer those two questions because like all of us you cannot see the water lines because the interior was built over and around them.
If you have low spots the air blows a hole through the water in the lines and as soon as you stop blowing air the water that did not get carried out recollects in the low spot.
Then let’s accept the fact a lot of devices still hold water. The washer is a maze of water collection points, from the fill lines to the solenoid valves to the water pump. Same issue with ice makers, either stand alone or built into the refrigerator. It is not where ice is made that is the problem, it is the lines and components leading up to the ice making section that need freeze protection. Like the washer how do you propose to insure RV anitifreeze is in those components and water lines unless you fill the water lines with RV anti freeze and start a cycle on the washer and ice maker to make sure anti freeze is where it needs to be.
How do you propose to get RV anti freeze in the washer P trap? The ice maker P trap? You can’t even get to them without pulling out the appliance.
If I am raining on your parade it is with the intent to make you aware I do not think you yet understand the difficulty associated with a complete job of winterizing a coach. I know you are looking for a silver bullet but there is none and if you do a partial winterizing job you need to be very lucky or have a bale of Benjamins ready to pay for repairs to busted pipes and devices.
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Thanks Jon,
Remember I started with “Allow me to apologize in advance for a stupid question”. I just wanted to make sure I understood the full process and why I’m doing a certain thing?
What about “putting the coach to sleep with house and chassis cut-offs. “How long do you reasonably have before the batteries get so low they will no longer crank the engine?”
I know this is a subjective question, but is it reasonable to expect the coach batteries to fire up the bus after 30 days?
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