RV Antifreeze VS Windshield Washer Fluid

[Living The Dream]

I was curious as to which one was better for winterizing. I went to RV Antifreeze after handling regular antifreeze was to much of a pain to dispose of. What I discovered really surprised me. It's -10°F here and I set these jugs out overnight. The Super Tech I bought at Walmart for around $2.50, the Arctic Ban I bought for around $5 at my hardware store, and I think the Splash Winshield came from Lowes for around $2.50. After one night in the cold the at -10°F the Supertech that is supposed to be good till -50 is froze solid and bulged out the jug. The Arctic Ban is not quite solid but more slushy, and the Splash Winshield wash is still not froze and in liquid form. I think I'll be using windshield washer fluid from now on.

 

[jcooper]

No wonder RV service centers stay in business.

"Yea Tom, RV antifreeze will work great" said the salesman.


See ya next spring for a new pump!

 

[Nomad74]

I get so tired of all the marketing hype and scams. Thanks for your in-depth research.

 

[Nomad74]

 

[Living The Dream]

View attachment 88578

Oh my....what is that?

 

[Nomad74]

Oh my....what is that?

That was a Toilet tank that exploded when the water froze during this polar freeze everyone is going through. Somewhere in Wisconsin. At least it didn't flood the house.

For the record, I'm not going through a polar freeze here in California. I just ride my motorcycle around and think happy thoughts.

 

[Mikey P]

Swami are those RTU products or do they need to be be mixed?

 

[Living The Dream]

Swami are those RTU products or do they need to be be mixed?

All are RTU.

 

[Mikey P]

store them in a thermos

 

[Living The Dream]

Out of all the windshield washer fluid I bought non of it has froze yet, all of the RV has. You can see in the picture of the pink RV antifreeze next to the washer fluid on there sides, the RV is bulging out. I think that could be enough to pop your heat exchanger.

 

[Living The Dream]

store them in a thermos

My heat exchanger is kinda a thermos?

 

[BIG WOOD]

Out of all the windshield washer fluid I bought non of it has froze yet, all of the RV has. You can see in the picture of the pink RV antifreeze next to the washer fluid on there sides, the RV is bulging out. I think that could be enough to pop your heat exchanger.
View attachment 88580View attachment 88582View attachment 88581

I hope you return the frozen antifreeze jugs back to where you bought them and get your money back.

 

[Jimmy L]

All I know is that superTec oil filters are made by WIX.
Don't know who makes their synthetic oil.

Don't use RV antifreeze though.

 

[KevinD]

All RV antifreeze will will slush up or freeze at a certain point with some at slightly below 20 degrees.

What you are concerned with is the "Burst Point" where the product will start expanding in a sealed metal pipe
and cause damage. So a -50 degree product will not expand enough to do damage in a metal pipe until it reaches that temperature.

A bulge in a plastic container is not a good comparison to a sealed metal pipe.

 

[Living The Dream]

All RV antifreeze will will slush up or freeze at a certain point with some at slightly below 20 degrees.

What you are concerned with is the "Burst Point" where the product will start expanding in a sealed metal pipe
and cause damage. So a -50 degree product will not expand enough to do damage in a metal pipe until it reaches that temperature.

A bulge in a plastic container is not a good comparison to a sealed metal pipe.

I understand that RV antifreeze will slush up, but the pink Super Tech ones are froze solid like a block of ice. You can see in the picture how it expanded all the way to the top of the jug and bulged out the bottoms. It would definitely burst the small copper pipe in a heat exchanger. The Arctic Ban is a little more slushy and I would use this again if I had to, it's actually what's in my machine right now, but I also have heaters going in there.

 

[FredC]

curious

Is there any concern that the methanol in the in the wiper fluid is harsher on components than the propylene glycol or ethyl alcohol of the others?

 

[Living The Dream]

curious

Is there any concern that the methanol in the in the wiper fluid is harsher on components than the propylene glycol or ethyl alcohol of the others?

Good question. I wouldn't even know who to ask.

 

[Nomad74]

Who cares, I’d drink it.

 

[BIG WOOD]

curious

Is there any concern that the methanol in the in the wiper fluid is harsher on components than the propylene glycol or ethyl alcohol of the others?

Not as harsh as the copper pipes busting.

 

[DAT]

curious

Is there any concern that the methanol in the in the wiper fluid is harsher on components than the propylene glycol or ethyl alcohol of the others?

Reading about that just now.. it seems to be corrosive to aluminum, iron, steel and stainless steel..

Is there any potential contact with any of the metals mentioned when fully winterizing the TM?

Id probably still use antifreeze still because my area does not get that cold. It not corrosive either.

 

[hogjowl]

Wow
I am amazed this hasn’t turned into a DAT yet

 

[bob vawter]

Hey guys...they come up wit a marvelous device that will take care of this dastardly problem....its called a.......Garage!

 

[DAT]

Hey guys...they come up wit a marvelous device that will take care of this dastardly problem....its called a.......Garage!

I dont have one

 

[bob vawter]

I dont have one

That would be like having a doctor that didn't have an office.....

 

[Hack Attack]

my garage is full of mostly worthless stuff which needs to go to the dump.. and my vehicles get to sit in the drive

just as well no freeze risk lol

 

[scotty747]

The red antifreeze is non corrosive from what I understand. a lot of newer cars use aluminum water pumps so you can replace the impeller and not the whole dam thing. I have the pink cheep rv stuff from wally world in my painting equipment but it dosent get below the 20's here usually.

 

[DAT]

That would be like having a doctor that didn't have an office.....

 

[Zion Carpet Cleaning]

I wish I saw this thread sooner. I used pink -50 RV antifreeze in my CDS this winter and the heat exchanger is cracked. I haven't used it in a couple of months and was getting it ready for a job and coolant was leaking everywhere. It doesn't even get close to 0 degrees at night here.

 

[Cleanworks]

I wish I saw this thread sooner. I used pink -50 RV antifreeze in my CDS this winter and the heat exchanger is cracked. I haven't used it in a couple of months and was getting it ready for a job and coolant was leaking everywhere. It doesn't even get close to 0 degrees at night here.

RV antifreeze works but you have to make sure you get rid of all of the water first. You have to drain the mix tank and blow out all of the water from the heat exchangers and supply lines before adding the antifreeze. I would add directly to my mix tank and flush into a pail until I had pretty pure antifreeze, the I would keeping adding and recirculating until the unit was full. Luckily I don't have to do that anymore. RV antifreeze will freeze into a gel but usually won't expand to break pipes.

 

[Zion Carpet Cleaning]

RV antifreeze works but you have to make sure you get rid of all of the water first. You have to drain the mix tank and blow out all of the water from the heat exchangers and supply lines before adding the antifreeze. I would add directly to my mix tank and flush into a pail until I had pretty pure antifreeze, the I would keeping adding and recirculating until the unit was full. Luckily I don't have to do that anymore. RV antifreeze will freeze into a gel but usually won't expand to break pipes.

I emptied the waterbox and system of water before putting the antifreeze in. I didn't blow the lines out though which I guess is where I went wrong. I put in two gallons and ran it for awhile and still had at least a quarter of my waterbox filled with antifreeze. It must have gotten rock solid like the photos above.