Winterizing Tips for the First Time...Did we miss anything?

Greetings from Northern Minnesota!  My wife and I purchased a 2014 2552 this past August and, after a wonderful trip out west to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Badlands/Teddy Roosevelt, we are in the process of winterizing the unit until our next trip in the spring.  I'll be parking it outside next to our garage (on gravel) with a cover installed so it will be protected from wind but open to cold temperatures.  We picked up a "like new" Elements Cover that should give it some physical protection from the sun/snow.  We've washed the unit, changed the oil, will install our tire covers, put anti-freeze in all the lines, flushed the gray/black tanks, emptied the fresh water tank/water heater, filled the traps with anti-freeze, and put mouse traps/mouse repellent inside.  I plan on filling the tank and treating the gas with PRI-G (similar to Stabil).  I also plan on running our generator and E450 every 2-3 weeks during the winter. 

My biggest question is regarding the coach batteries.
 
Should I keep the unit plugged in to our 30 amp outlet....or plug it in intermittently?  Should I remove the batteries and bring them inside until needed to start the generator (now doesn't that sound like fun!)?  Please let me know if there is anything else that I should be doing to ensure the unit is ready to go in the spring.

Thanks in advance for any tips and I appreciate your time.

One thing coming to mind is to air up the tires to their max 80 psi.  Doing so will minimize ground contact and also help to retain enough air in them come spring time.

Also place those sticky rodents traps on the engine and in the house.

I vote for bringing all batteries into the house and not worry about running the V10 or generator engines until spring time.  But my opinion on this one matter is in the minority.

Good tips, Ron.  Our tires should be good but I might max them out per your advice.  Also, the extra mouse traps in the engine compartment makes great sense.  I know your unit is stored in a heated garage so that likely influences your decision regarding starting the engine & generator periodically.  Thanks for your input...most appreciated!

When we lived up north (NJ, not WAY up north), we would bring in the batteries and drain the gas from the generator carburetor.  Didn't run it all winter and it was fine in the Spring.  The only issue we had was squirrels hiding walnuts in the engine compartment.  Leaving the hood slightly open and occasionally leaving a light bulb turned on under the hood fixed that problem.

Peg

Thanks, Peg!  I've heard many people drain the carburetor so I'll look into that further.  That would certainly keep cold weather starts to a minimum...which is a good thing.  When you stored your batteries inside, did you periodically charge them or put them on a trickle charger non-stop, by chance?

Thanks again...

Draining carburetor good idea. I do that on snowblower and have no issues. I will do on generator.  Also put stabilizer in gas and run generator before draining carburetor just in case.

I plan to bring in all three batteries. I bought a smart battery tender for two batteries.  I plan to use it in winter to keep them charged.

Western trip sounds like a blast. Hope to do it next year after retirement.

Ron

Chiming back in here.....about draining the generator's carburetor.  Today's fuel is so very clean, and with cleaning additives & 10% ethanol.  Today's fuel evaporated inside a carb does not leave residue or varnish behind.  Granted our garage is heated, but I cannot imagine that temperatures would change how the fuel evaporates and what it leaves behind in a carburetor.

For long term storage, I don't drain or run anything out of my lawn equipment engines, my PC generator, PC,  Corvettes, Solstices, whatever.  My lawn equipment, I just set them down and let them be....and much of my equipment is near 30 years old now.  My vehicles, I store them with a full tank of gas and I never add a stabilizer.  Fuel anti-freeze is a real joke now that the fuel we all buy has 10% ethanol in it.  Why add a small bottle of extra when you have gallons of the stuff in your tank already?

I personally like the idea of driving the motor home once in a while if being stored outdoors, just to keep the brake rotors from rusting badly.  I think brake rotor rust and rodent damage will be your most serious threats during outdoor winter storage.

Running your PC and generator engine during storage does no harm as long as you run them long enough.

On the matter of keeping rodents out of the rig and engine compartments, we do what people who live year round at a squirrel, mouse and other varmint infested Escapees Co-op RV Park near Yosemite do.  We put a small (25w) electric light bulb in the engine compartment, and put LED rope lights all around the bottom of the PC  All these are set on light sensitive timers so they don't stay on during daylight.  Works so far during 20+ years of RVing.   

Greetings from Northern Minnesota!  My wife and I purchased a 2014 2552 this past August and, after a wonderful trip out west to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Badlands/Teddy Roosevelt, we are in the process of winterizing the unit until our next trip in the spring.  I'll be parking it outside next to our garage (on gravel) with a cover installed so it will be protected from wind but open to cold temperatures.  We picked up a "like new" Elements Cover that should give it some physical protection from the sun/snow.  We've washed the unit, changed the oil, will install our tire covers, put anti-freeze in all the lines, flushed the gray/black tanks, emptied the fresh water tank/water heater, filled the traps with anti-freeze, and put mouse traps/mouse repellent inside.  I plan on filling the tank and treating the gas with PRI-G (similar to Stabil).  I also plan on running our generator and E450 every 2-3 weeks during the winter. 

My biggest question is regarding the coach batteries.
 
Should I keep the unit plugged in to our 30 amp outlet....or plug it in intermittently?  Should I remove the batteries and bring them inside until needed to start the generator (now doesn't that sound like fun!)?  Please let me know if there is anything else that I should be doing to ensure the unit is ready to go in the spring.

Thanks in advance for any tips and I appreciate your time.

Disconnect the coach battery both positive and negative terminals get a Battery Tender (or similar) battery Maintainer (not a standard battery charger) and connect it to the plus and minus posts and leave the maintainer plugged in all winter.  They make 30amp to standard 15amp sdapters so just plug your maintainer into that unless you have a standard 120v outlet near your 30 amp RV outlet.



Also, remove the negative terminal of the engine battery so it doesn't get discharged by any parasitic components such as the radio and other electronic loads.   Make sure the engine battery terminals are clean and no signs of acid leakage and that it's fully charged before you disconnect it.

A battery maintainer on it wouldn't hurt either.

Wayne you have a pretty good handle on your plumbing protection.  You didn't mention your sanicon pump, I also run the pump until the pink comes out of the discharge.  If you run enough pink water into holding tank, you wouldn't have to pour pure pink into the black tank.  Yep, i am in Florida but i dont take chances, the teens are common here in dead of winter.  Larry

Thanks for the additional tips and recommendations!  We did run the Sanicon to ensure the antifreeze was in that portion of the system...Thanks, Swiftboot.  I will likely purchase a battery tender/maintainer as recommended by DONC13 (and others).  Do you have a recommendation on a good brand/unit?  And finally, I've never heard of putting lights under the unit to deter rodents.  Sounds like it works well for some folks.  I'll give that one some more thought. 

In short, based on the recommendations received, in addition to our other preparation steps we'll likely:

-pump up the tires to 80 psi (getting new tires in a week so we're ready to go next spring)
-drain the generator carburetor (actually attempt to run it dry first, then drain the float bowl)
-remove the coach and engine batteries and put them on a battery maintainer in our house
-put a mouse trap in the engine compartment (and possibly a light)

Thanks again...so appreciated!

-pump up the tires to 80 psi (getting new tires in a week so we're ready to go next spring)

I would buy the tires next year prior to your first trip.  Why start out life with one year old tires?  Let the old ones take the winter beating.

About running your engines over the winter.
I shared that we do not do that.  But if you do, just use your 12V chassis battery and run them one at a time.

Trust me, Ron, I've weighed that option.  We aren't sure if we'll head south in January or March and I don't want the inconvenience of dealing with tires then.  We're getting a great deal on the tires - Michelin Defender LTX - so I'm comfortable moving forward at this time....while it's still relatively warm (for Minnesota).  Thanks again....

If you put stabilize in gas tank, you could run generator to stabilize it and just drain carburator. Double protection and no need to run it over winter.

My engine battery is wrapped in an insulated material. So I am going to charge it, disconnect negative and leave.

Ron

I agree, Ron.  I will put the stabilizer (PRI-G) in the fuel tank, run both the chassis engine and the generator, and then drain the generator carburetor.  As stated earlier, I will likely remove the coach batteries and put them on a tender over the winter.  I may remove the engine battery as well or, at a minimum, completely disconnect it and then charge it periodically.

Thanks again!