1.  Drain the fresh water tank, gray tank, and black tank completely first
2.  Open the low-point drains and let the lines gravity-drain
3.  Bypass the water heater — never push antifreeze through the water heater tank, and don’t leave it full of water either, drain it via the drain plug/anode
4.  Compressed air method: blow out each line at 30–40 PSI max (too high can damage fixtures/seals) until no more water sputters from each faucet, hot and cold, plus the toilet and outside shower
5.  Antifreeze method: use a water pump converter kit or siphon hose to pull RV-specific (non-toxic, propylene glycol) antifreeze through the pump, run every faucet hot and cold until pink fluid appears, then the toilet and outside shower
6.  Pour a cup of antifreeze directly into every drain (sinks, shower, toilet) to protect the P-traps themselves

FIELD NOTE

Never use automotive antifreeze (ethylene glycol) in an RV water system — it’s toxic. Only use antifreeze explicitly labeled non-toxic/RV-safe (propylene glycol based). Missing even one low-point drain or one faucet is enough to crack a line by spring.

1.  Close all low-point drains and re-install the water heater drain plug/anode (torqued but not overtightened)
2.  Take the water heater out of bypass mode
3.  Sanitize the fresh water system with a diluted bleach solution (roughly 1/4 cup bleach per 15 gallons of tank capacity), fill, let sit several hours, then flush thoroughly before drinking from it
4.  Run every faucet hot and cold until the antifreeze taste/smell is completely gone, then check under every sink and behind every fixture for leaks
5.  Inspect connections at the water heater, pump, and low-point drains before assuming everything survived winter undamaged
6.  Check the water heater for proper ignition/heating before your first trip — components can seize or fail after months of disuse

Batteries  Store lithium at roughly 50–60% charge, lead-acid/AGM fully charged and on a maintainer — see our Electrical & Power Systems service page for the full storage procedure
Tires  Cover to protect from UV, and either move the rig periodically or use tire cradles/ramps to avoid flat-spotting over months of storage
Roof & seals  Do a full inspection before storage — a small failed seal caught in fall is an hour’s fix; the same seal after a winter of freeze/thaw cycling can mean substrate damage by spring
Propane  Turn off at the tank valve for storage; don’t leave appliances live all winter
Rodent prevention  Seal any gaps around plumbing/wiring penetrations into the underbelly — a stored RV is prime real estate for mice looking for winter shelter, and rodent damage to wiring insulation is a common spring surprise