How To Store Your RV For Winters In Edmonton

Putting a storage and care system in place for your RV, during winters, is essential – if you want to start using it again, without any hiccups, in springtime. Given that Edmonton winters are pretty harsh and snow can cause vehicles considerable damage, it only makes sense to store your RV in an enclosed facility. However, enclosed spaces are expensive. And if you’re on a tight budget then storing the RV outdoors is your only option.

But keep in mind that if your rv storage is outdoors, you will need to winterize it.

Below you will find tips on how to winterize your RV, which will ensure that it’s in perfect working condition when spring arrives.

⦁ Draining The Water Lines
Before doing anything else to your RV, you need to drain the water pipes of the RV. If any water is left in the pipes, and the temperatures have reached the freezing point, your pipes will crack and the fittings will get damaged.
Usually, draining the pipes isn’t a tough job, and you can manage it yourself. You need to drain all the water from the pipes and water tanks. Once that is done, you can pump antifreeze into all the pipes, preventing cracks and breakages from occurring during the winter season.

If you are unsure about doing this yourself, you can always take the RV to a service station where a professional will do it for you. They will charge you a fee for this service, but it will save you the trouble of doing it yourself.

⦁ Clean The Exterior And Interior
Cleaning the interior and exterior parts of the RV is key in RV maintenance. You want to make sure that the interior is cleaned well and the curtains and blinds are closed when storing your RV to prevent mildew from forming inside.
Draining the pipes will also help keep the RV odour-free when you start using it again during springtime.

For the exterior, you can use a mixture of water and soap to wash the RV. Be thorough with the cleaning because the next cleaning session will probably be after winter. If you suspect any holes or cracks on the exterior, take the RV to a service centre.

The service center will reseal the holes with sealant to prevent water from going in and causing further damage during the winter season.

⦁ Keeping Pests Away
Keeping pests away, especially during winters, is important. Ensure the RV is sealed properly; this will ensure that pests like rats and mice don’t enter the RV during the winters and make a home there. You don’t want to open your RV during springtime and find your interior destroyed by rats.

To seal cracks, pipes and other potential entry points for critters, you can use dryer sheets. If they are lightly scented, that would be even better. Dryer sheets work well at keeping critters away from entering your RV.

⦁ Cover Your RV
Since the RV will be standing in a spot for months, it makes sense to cover it up. This will provide added protection to the RV from dust, water, snow and sunlight.

When covering your RV, make sure you buy a cover specially designed for an RV. The cover should fit your RV perfectly and have enough room to cover the tires. Covering the tires will protect them from UV rays. UV rays from sunlight can damage tires, adding to maintenance costs.

⦁ Remove Batteries
Since the RV won’t be in use for some time during winter, it is wise to remove the batteries and store them in a cool, dry place. The storage area for the batteries shouldn’t be too cold, though.
When you disconnect the batteries from the RV, check the charge on the batteries using a voltmeter. If the battery is partially charged, you should charge it fully before storing it, keep checking on the battery after a week or two, and charge it if the charge is lost.

Experts say that batteries lose their charge when in storage, but keeping them in a cool, dry place slows this process down. If you take care of your batteries during wintertime, then you won’t have to worry about changing them when spring arrives, and you can use your RV without battery trouble.

⦁ Protect Your Tires
Since the RV will be standing in one place for a long time, the tires will probably develop flat spots. Flat spots usually go away when you start driving again, as the tires get warm, but you will have to change your RV’s tires if that doesn’t happen.

To avoid flat spots, you should add jacks underneath the RV or bricks to lift the RV and release the pressure on the tires. Doing this will prevent flat spots from forming.

⦁ Stabilizing Your Fuel
You will need to add a fuel stabilizer when parking your RV for long, like the winter season. Fuel that isn’t used and remains in the fuel tank will form sticky deposits. This can cause damage to the engine.

The sticky deposits form due to oxidation, and to prevent that, you need to add a fuel stabilizer. When stabilizing the fuel, you first need to add the fuel stabilizer to the fuel tank and then fill it with gas.

Once the fuel tank is filled, you can start the RV and drive around a bit to ensure the fuel stabilizer runs through the entire fuel system. You can park your RV after this and be assured that you will not have any engine trouble when spring arrives.

This concludes our tips for winterizing your RV. The last tip that we would like to add here is that you should check up on your RV after a few weeks to ensure everything is in order. Winters in Edmonton are harsh and long, so leaving the RV completely unattended for a long duration isn’t recommended either. We hope this article has helped you understand how to winterize your RV and helped you save a lot of dollars on service centre fees.