How To Winterize Your Camper Van
Ensure Your Battery Health, Protect Air & Water Lines
As the cold weather creeps in your travel season may come to an end, or you choose to strap on the snow boots, head north, and embrace the freeze. However you decide to spend your winter months, it's primetime for prepping your Camper Van for a safe and headache free winter.
Deep Clean
Before jumping head first into winterize mode, give your camper van a thorough deep cleaning. A full summer of use leads to a lot of dust and grime build up, start next season with a clean slate. A deep clean also helps to prevent mold and mildew from forming while the van isn't in use. Even if you plan to use your camper van into the winter, it never hurts to start a new season with a clean van.
Make sure you :
Clear any debris from roof vents
Wipe down the windows
Dust the walls and doorways, especially high traffic areas where dirt can accumulate
Remove any food products, vacuum any leftover crumbs and wipe down food surfaces
Turn off, disconnect and wipe down all appliances – stovetop, microwave, desktop, air-fryer, etc
Defrost and deep clean the refrigerator and freezer. Unplug the unit and leave the door ajar to keep it dry, fresh and mold-free
Sweep and clean floors.
Empty Cargo
If you've decided to call it quits for the season, the best move is to empty your camper van before you pack it away for the season. Leftover food may attract unwanted pests and the below freezing temperatures can damage a wide variety of items.
Remove all valuables, electronics, and food. Spring and summer time camping supplies that don't fall into these categories can be left in the van to save on winter storage space.
Toilet System Preparation
No one wants a number 2 emergency on their hands. Taking the time to prep your toilet system for the winter will save you from dealing with a black water mess in the future and keep your unit healthy for the next season.
We recommend starting with a Walex Bio-Pak treatment to make the winterizing process more manageable. Once that runs its course empty both the black water and grey water tanks completely. Using a flexible brush and warm soapy water scrub the inside of the bowl and tanks, ensure there is nothing is left to fester for the coming winter months. Potable toilets left unmaintained are breading grounds for bacteria.
Once everything is clean allow the toilet to dry completely and store in a cool dry place until spring.
Water System
If your camper van is in a setting where the temperature drops below freezing it is essential to winterize your water system. You can severely damage your water system if you leave your camper van to sit in the freezing weather.
Theres two ways to tackle your water system compressed air or antifreeze.
The first step for both methods is draining your entire water system - black waste, gray water, fresh water and water heater. Starting with black water, empty the tank as usual and use the gray and fresh water tank to further rinse and clean the black waste tank. Make sure all tanks are clear of any water or left over residue.
If you plan on using the antifreeze method remove any filters. Once you've ensure your tanks and lines are free from as much water as possible, run antifreeze through the system.
You can forego antifreeze in favor of utilizing an air compressor to completely clear the lines. using a blow out adaptor you can connect the air compressor to the water inlet valve, incrementally increase the pressure till you reach ten PSI. Any remaining water in the lines will drip out of the taps. Once the taps run dry, your system is dry. For good measure, top off each drain with a cup of anti freeze incase any condensation forms over the winter.
Electrical System
Keeping your batteries healthy can go a long way in keeping your van running smoothly. Whether you have AMG or lithium batteries freezing temperatures can damage your system.
According to Jim Tomblin at TruckCamper, "when batteries [are] sitting idle you lose 10 percent of your battery capacity each month." There is no way to reverse this capacity loss, recharging will not restore battery capacity.” If you were to winterize your camper in December and leave it until April, that’s four months, or 40 percent of the capacity gone for good.
The first step to winterize your batteries is fully charging them, a fully charged batter will freeze a -80F while a discharged battery will freeze at just 20F.
Turn off and unplug all electrical devices - lights, appliances, inverter.
If possible, store you camper van in a dry place that gets ample sunlight to continuously trickle charge your batteries. For your solar panels to continuously charge your batteries, you must keep the panels clean and clear of any debris. Any leaves or snow on the panels will prevent you from getting a charge.
If you're storing your camper van inside we recommend using a trickle charger to keep your battery healthy.
Exterior Prep
Check all windows and vents and make sure the seals are tight and secure. When your vents and windows aren't secure they moisture and potential pests. There are mesh vent covers available for extra protections.
Give your camper van a good wash and a wax treatment to protect your paint from the elements.
You've done it! You've winterized your van. Go ahead and make yourself a cup of hot chocolate and get ready to hibernate until the spring!