This is a write-up of what I did to winterize our Travato. I'm explicitly talking about our specific rig, a  2019 Winnebago Travato 59K class B van. I may have left something out, or I may have screwed up something — but hopefully this helps someone, at the very least it'll help future me!

The steps I took are based on a combination of previous experience and some resources found online. They're specifically tuned for the 59K. There's a resource collection at the end, for other Travatos.

I choose to use both compressed air and antifreeze, as it seems blowing with compressed air just always keeps finding another pocket of water somewhere; I just don't trust it to be thorough enough. On our earlier class A motorhome, compressed air was enough, but I don't feel as confident here.

Print this out, cross items as you make progress, and make a note if something was different!

Materials and tools

• dump station within driving distance, or sewer hookup
• 2 gallons of RV antifreeze. Local O'Reillys had them for $4/gal
• towel
• flashlight
• air compressor, blow-out plug, adjustable pressure regulator, quick-connects and teflon tape to build the right adapter
• sliding ziploc plastic bag and something to tie it with (to keep shower head from dripping anti-freeze)
• water filter cartridge wrench really helps
• easier if you have help: extra pair of hands to siphon antifreeze, for a few minutes toward the end

Winterizing steps

1. dump and rinse black tank well; you'll dump again to get rid of water from the lines, but that's after blowing the black tank rinse water line; or, skip this round and get the air compressor out again after dumping later, blow line then
2. park level
3. ensure Truma is off
4. ensure water pump is off
5. lift things out of kitchen sink, prop lid open
6. open kitchen faucet, temperature half-way, leave open
7. open bath faucet, temperature half-way, leave open
8. flip up driver side bed, remove storage cubby and side access door
9. drain Truma with yellow pressure relief valve, leave open
10. open low point valves, wait to drain, leave open
11. remove O-ring filter from city fill inlet and tank fill inlets
12. press city fill and tank fill backflow valves with finger, wait to drain
13. restore O-ring filters to city fill and tank fill inlets (or air will leak later)
14. remove water filter, empty water, reinstall canister; use towel underneath
15. empty pump strainer, clean debris, reinstall; remember threads are upside down, pinch in-the-way hot water pipe to pump with other hand to be able to reinstall
16. assemble air compressor, open hood, connect air compressor power, start van, turn on air compressor
17. adjust to 0psi, connect to tank fill inlet, adjust gradually to 20psi, wait to drain, adjust to 0psi
18. run water pump for 2 seconds no more, turn off
19. adjust to 0psi, connect to city fill inlet, adjust gradually to 30psi, leave on
20. wait until drained, close low point drain valves
21. wait until drained, close bath faucet
22. wait until drained, close kitchen faucet
23. adjust to 0psi
24. switch Truma bypass to winter mode
25. adjust gradually to 30psi, there should be no air flow; next blow pipes one at a time by opening, draining, closing each outlet
26. blow kitchen sink hot+cold
27. blow bath sink hot+cold
28. blow shower hot+cold, ensure handle cutoff valve is open
29. blow toilet fill
30. blow toilet bidet, hold down valve in handle while pressing toilet pedal, after it starts blowing air hold it out the door and low toward ground to remove water from low point in hose
31. blow ext shower, leave hose connected
32. blow low point drain valves; remember to close valves
33. adjust to 0psi, release pressure from pipes with low point valve, disconnect from city fill
34. connect air to black tank rinse inlet (avoid exhaust pipe!), adjust gradually to 20psi, adjust to 0psi, disconnect
35. turn off air compressor
36. turn off van
37. disconnect air compressor power, leave air compressor to cool
38. close covers on city fill, tank fill, black tank rinse
39. empty water filter canister and reinstall, again; use towel underneath
40. empty pump strainer and reinstall, again
41. close Truma pressure relief valve
42. switch siphon tube valve to winterize
43. bring 1 gal antifreeze to pump, remove siphon tube cap, put siphon tube into antifreeze
44. turn on water pump, after initial burst there should be no water flow
45. next pump antifreeze to pipes one outlet at a time, hot and cold separately, close when pink stuff comes out
46. beware running out of antifreeze or siphoning air because tube is not submerged. beware spilling antifreeze bottle. easiest if you have a helper at the bottle
47. antifreeze kitchen sink hot+cold
48. antifreeze bath sink hot+cold
49. antifreeze shower hot+cold, ensure handle cutoff valve is open
50. the shower tends to drip, wrap a 1gal ziploc bag around the shower head and rubber twist tie it
51. antifreeze toilet fill
52. antifreeze toilet bidet
53. antifreeze ext shower; disconnect, drain and stow hose
54. turn off water pump
55. restore siphon tube cap
56. switch siphon tube valve to normal
57. restore bed
58. stow kitchen sink things, close lid
59. drive to dump tanks
60. pour antifreeze 1cup in kitchen sink (waterless trap but it won't hurt)
61. pour antifreeze 2-3cups in bath sink (P-trap)
62. pour antifreeze 2-3cups in shower drain (waterless trap); should be roughly the rest of 2gal bottles, adjust amounts to not run out
63. put towel in laundry
64. carry water bottles etc to house
65. stow air compressor (or if still hot, stow air hose, move compressor somewhere safe)
66. order new water filter for spring (the Culligan US-600A cartridge takes D-20A, D-30A, or D-40A filters, higher numbers are fancier but clog quicker — I've learned the D-30A resists flow so much the water pump cycles on/off all the time and you only get a trickle of water out.. I'm buying D-20A from now on) (you may also need new O-rings)

Resources

• 2019 Travato Operator's Manual (PDF) (other models), has photos to help you locate things, but is also annoying because it covers 59K and 59G with the same instructions
• 2019 Travato 59K plumbing diagrams: drainage (PDF), fresh (PDF), other models
• Truma Combi Operating instructions (PDF), and other manuals
• Travato Owners and Wannabees guides: Winterizing (PDF), De-winterizing (PDF), more
• RVgeeks video, good but generic & class A oriented; great background about air compressors
• Escapees winterizing guide, generic
• FitRV has lots of content about active winter use: tips, winterproofing, insulating, and so on.

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