RV Antifreeze vs 1st Stage Reg???

[Jiminy]

Drain the lines or get some pipe hearters they are cheap

M-D Building Products 3 ft. Pipe Heating Cable with Thermostat-04309 - The Home Depot

 

[kelemvor]

I've never lived somewhere that was cold enough for a pipe to freeze so I've no first hand experience.

I was curious so I googled it. Apparently antifreeze in a house's pipes is not uncommon. There's instructions all over the web. It sounds like you blow them out with air, then add antifreeze after that.

Here's an example: Get Tips on How to Winterize Your Plumbing Pipes to Prevent Damage

Note: They don't use "car" antifreeze. It's some special "non toxic" stuff like this: Non toxic antifreeze, pipe winterization antifreeze - Easily and safely winterize plumbing systems of unoccupied properties. Great buy, in stock!

Description
Non-Toxic Antifreeze winterizes the plumbing of unoccupied properties. Use this safe, non-toxic antifreeze to winterize the plumbing systems of unoccupied homes, boats, RVs, and trailers (even their fresh-water systems too). Pipe-winterization antifreeze protects against pipes bursting down to –50 degrees F. Blend of propylene glycol and denatured alcohol creates a non-toxic antifreeze that's safe for copper, brass and plastic (not acetate). Use full strength; suggested amounts per use: 24 ozs. for each toilet tank and bowl,16 ozs. for shower drains, and 8 ozs. for each sink and drain

 

[al303]

Thanks for the replies. We, and our bathtub, made it through the worst of it. It "only" dropped to -26 on Wednesday night. Since the bathtub is sitting in a section of the house that is cantilevered to the outside, the hot, cold, mixing valve, and drain are enclosed in an outside wall/floor (not the best design for Northern Illinois).

I ended up using RV antifreeze in the drain, and removing the chrome escutcheon covering the valve. This allowed me to blow some warm air in the wall cavity with a little fan. When I first exposed the valve, a thermometer read 24 degrees in the wall cavity. With a small fan running, I was able to bring that temp up to and maintain 55 degrees.

Still has me thinking if I needed to pressurize RV antifreeze, could my old 1st stage handle it, and any long term affects to an old cylinder...

Thanks again for all your replies,

Al

 

[kelemvor]

Thanks for the replies. We, and our bathtub, made it through the worst of it. It "only" dropped to -26 on Wednesday night. Since the bathtub is sitting in a section of the house that is cantilevered to the outside, the hot, cold, mixing valve, and drain are enclosed in an outside wall/floor (not the best design for Northern Illinois).

I ended up using RV antifreeze in the drain, and removing the chrome escutcheon covering the valve. This allowed me to blow some warm air in the wall cavity with a little fan. When I first exposed the valve, a thermometer read 24 degrees in the wall cavity. With a small fan running, I was able to bring that temp up to and maintain 55 degrees.

Still has me thinking if I needed to pressurize RV antifreeze, could my old 1st stage handle it, and any long term affects to an old cylinder...

Thanks again for all your replies,

Al

The instructions seemed to suggest using regular air (air compressor) to blow the water away, then fill with antifreeze.

How about using something like an air powered "paint sprayer". You could put antifreeze in instead of paint. If you spray antifreeze either with a paint sprayer or directly out of a tank, I suspect you're going to be inhaling some of it.

 

[al303]

I don't think a paint sprayer will generate the psi I need to overcome my well pump. 45-65 psi. Although, I could shut the power off to the pump, open a faucet or two, and bring the pressure down to a more manageable 10-20 psi. I would hate to drain the whole system, as that is not good for the plumbing. Besides, I didn't want to winterize the whole house, just 2 feet of 1/2" copper pipe feeding the bathtub.

Now I understand why people move to cave country. No frozen pipes!

 

[rhwestfall]

is there a shut off valve in the basement that is the supply to the tub faucet? You close that, and open the air bleed bleed on the valve and open the mixing valve, thus draining that run of pipe section....

 

[rhwestfall]

bleeder

 

[al303]

No shut off valves yet, but when the weather breaks, I'll install both hot and cold stop&waste valves in the crawl. That should solve any future problems.

 

[TrimixToo]

Go get a water fire extinguisher. You know, the big silver ones that virtually nobody uses any more? They are pressurized to about 100 PSI and hold about 2.5 gallons. Put a tire chuck on an inflator valve on your first stage and use it to pressurize the extinguisher. Cut off the nozzle and substitute the fitting of your choice to push the antifreeze into your plumbing system.

New ones are expensive but they seem to be _everywhere_ used, for cheap (like $10). Here's what I am talking about:

2 1/2 Gallon Stored Pressure Water Fire Extinguisher - Amerex 240 - Fire Extinguishers - Home, Business Vehicle Fire Safety

Nozzle attached, they make good rinse systems for cleaning tanks, too (grin). There are two in my garage just for that.

 

[northernone]

I've pushed water through a first stage. It works exactly as you are expecting it to.

I can't guess how the internal components will hold up long term after exposure to antifreeze. Chemically speaking that's out of my knowledge and experience.

Practically, you can push water through a scuba reg. It is quite a small volume at high pressure, run some tests if you like to determine the flow. For example 20 seconds into a measuring bucket. Online calculators for the pipe volume too if you're wanting to be specific how far up the line you push the antifreeze.

A half full al80 holds ~1.5 gallons.

Cameron