Getting an RV ready for a Spokane winter

Every spring somebody pulls a cover off a rig on our lot and finds a cracked water line. Spokane winters hit single digits, and water inside an RV doesn't forgive that. Here's what the people who never have that problem do in October.

Drain and blow out the water lines, then run RV antifreeze through the system until it shows pink at every tap. Don't forget the water heater bypass and the outdoor shower. Open the low-point drains and leave them open.

Pull the batteries, or at least disconnect them, and keep them somewhere above freezing. A battery left connected on a cold lot is dead by February. Our plug-in posts are for a few hours before a trip, not for a winter.

Put a breathable cover on. A tarp traps moisture and rubs the finish; a fitted RV cover sheds snow and lets the rig breathe. Under our canopy, the cover is mostly about dust and sun, but it still helps.

Set traps inside. Mice find RVs. Steel wool in the gaps where the lines come in, and a couple of traps on the floor, save you from a spring cleanup.

Then stop by once a month, run the generator for twenty minutes if you have one, and walk around it. Ten minutes a month is what separates a rig that starts in April from one that doesn't.