winter

If you are not going to use the van during the winter, and your area is very cold during the winter, then you will need to winterize the plumbing system in your van for winter storage. If it can freeze a bottled water in your car, then the weather is cold enough for winterization. Make sure to winterize sooner before the water system freezes in the van.

Steps to winterize:

1. Turn on the pump, open faucet and let the water flow until there is no water coming out. Turn off the pump. (if you have a full tank of fresh water, you will need to dump the gray water tank in the middle of step 1)
2. Dump the gray water tank 
3. If the van is not parked on leveled ground, re-park the van on the opposite direction then repeat step 1 and 2. This is to dump out as much water as possible.
4. Get 5 to10 gallons RV antifreeze. You can find the pink RV and Marine Antifreeze from Walmart for less than $5 a gallon.
5. Connect a small utility pump to the van’s water filling inlet, then pump 5 to 10 gallons RV antifreeze into fresh water tank. You can buy this utility pump from Amazon for about $50: “EXTRAUP 115Volt 330 GPH Portable Low Suction Electric Water Transfer Removal Utility Pump With Suction Hose Kit”.
6. Turn on the pump again.
7. Turn on the shower faucet on COLD side, let it run until antifreeze comes out (the color changes to the same pink as the antifreeze). Turn off shower faucet.
8. Turn on the kitchen faucet on COLD side first, let it run until antifreeze comes out,  then turn faucet to HOT side and leave it there. Let it flow until there is no more antifreeze coming out.
9. Turn off the pump. Leave the kitchen faucet and shower faucet open.
10. Dump the gray water tank (optional)

Now the water line and water heater are filled with RV antifreeze. They will be safe to store outside during cold winter.

First charge the battery to full, then shut down the electric system for winter storage. Make sure you disconnect all breakers:

1. Lithium battery breaker (with yellow button)
2. Solar panel breaker (with red button)
3. Alternator charger breaker (for early models only)

If you plan to use the van in very cold weather, please follow these guidelines:

1. Dump the gray water tank frequently, do not leave it full.
2. Leave the gray water tank heater running
3. Keep the van’s interior temperature above freezing point. You can either run the van’s heater, or an external electric heater.
4. Put insulation cover on windows and roof vents.
5. If the under-bed garage is still below freezing  temperature, then remove the under-bed drawers and the panel behind the drawers to let warm air enter the garage. Open the access panels for fresh water tank compartment and inverter compartment to let warm air in. 
6. Keep an eye on the battery level, not to let it drop to below 30%.

If you want to use the van in very cold weather while it is already winterized, make sure to do the following:

1. Put a portable electric heater in the garage (DO NOT use the power outlet in the van), open the inverter compartment panel, run the portable heater for a day to warm up the battery.
2. After the battery is warmed up, connect all breakers (Lithium battery breaker, solar panel breaker, alternator breaker for early models)
3. Charge the battery to at least above 50%
4. Fill the fresh water tank, then open the kitchen faucet to empty the fresh water tank (faucet on COLD side for half a minute then leave at HOT side). This will flush the antifreeze from the water line and water heater. 
5. While doing step 4, watch the gray water tank level. Dump the gray water tank whenever it is full.
6. You will also need to follow the guidelines in the above section (Using the van in cold winter)

You will need to restore the van from winter storage in the spring:

1. Connect all breakers (Lithium battery breaker, solar panel breaker, alternator breaker for early models)
2. Charge the battery to at least above 50%
3. Fill the fresh water tank, then open the kitchen faucet to empty the fresh water tank (faucet on COLD side for half a minute then leave on HOT side). This will flush the antifreeze from the water line and water heater. 
4. While doing step 3, watch the gray water tank level. Dump the gray water tank whenever it is full.