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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2012 12:31
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Hopefully a simple question.....Is RV antifreeze Ok to winterize a toilet if you have a septic system? I cannot get all of the water out of my toilet. Will RV antifreeze do anything, meaning interfere, to the breaking down of waste when I kick back in next spring/summer?
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AYP1909
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2012 13:18
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I used RV antifreeze in our cabin toilet on a septic system for almost 40 years with no ill effects. I also added some to the p-traps of the sinks.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2012 18:30
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RV anti freeze is madfe for that. The amount in a pea trap is minimal anyway.
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Montanan
Member
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2012 13:27
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Yep. We use RV antifreeze too.
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bukhntr
Member
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2012 22:00
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we have a coleman portapot in our cabin. We dump the waste everytrip I wonder if it would work for that as well to leave it in the freshwater tank
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bukhntr
Member
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2012 22:01
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forgot to ask what ratio do you mix to water, our tank holds 13 ltrs
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2012 01:12
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You leave RV antifreeze undiluted. No need to completely fill the tank; just enough for the pump to draw some into it. Then splash some in each trap.
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guy48065
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2012 15:04
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RV antifreeze is propylene glycol and water. PG is sometimes used as a food additive so it's certainly harmless to your septic.
Don't forget the toilet tank. Even after a flush with the water turned off there's often enough left in there to freeze & crack.
I thought I was pretty thorough in my winterizing but 2 years in a row the sink sprayer cracked. Seems there's always a tiny bit of water left in the plastic valve. So I removed the sprayer & installed a pipe plug in the port under the faucet. The sprayer wasn't worth the trouble 
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PA_Bound
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2012 15:52
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bukhntr... While RV antifreeze does not freeze, it will get a little thick and slushy in really cold weather. So if you put it in your porta-potty it may not flush well until it warms up and thaws out . But it doesn't take much termperature rise to thaw it.
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Montanan
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2012 16:06
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Quoting: guy48065 I thought I was pretty thorough in my winterizing but 2 years in a row the sink sprayer cracked. Seems there's always a tiny bit of water left in the plastic valve.
We JUST had this happen last weekend. GRRR!
We drain all the water (including the toilet tank) so the antifreeze is to pour in the traps- the only place where water remains...theoretically.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 16 Nov 2012 17:39
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Faucets with cartridges, especially those with mixer valves as used on a shower may trap water that can lead to freezing problems. A thorough blow out with compressed air, accompanied by lots of moving the control through its range of movement while the air flows has worked for us.
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Montanan
Member
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2012 12:31
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Yep- we use a pancake compressor to blow out the water...just forgot about the kitchen sprayer. DOH!
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clearwater
Member
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2012 02:04
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Well, after reading and reading through the many remarkable posts and great info here, the concept of needing antifreeze for a toilet is a real wake-up call to just how easy I've got it when it comes to outhouse situations here half-way between Sydney and Brisbane on Australia's east coast.
Brrr..Keep wanting to hum that old song "'Blue Moon"' for some reason, reading this.
Hi all.
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wakeslayer
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# Posted: 19 Nov 2012 11:01
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Ha, Clearwater. Yeah, not much freezing weather where you are. I have good friends on the Brissy river, near Caloumbra (I think) Been there a few times.
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clearwater
Member
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# Posted: 20 Nov 2012 05:31
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You may find a difference next time you visit, wakeslayer..despite what the global warming doomsayers warn about, the weather, here in southern global parts at least, seems to be getting colder and colder each year.
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Montanagirl
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# Posted: 20 Nov 2012 21:06
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And always remember most of this stuff is poison to dogs and cats (it's sweet so they actually are attracted to it) so be careful with splashing and spillage!
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 20 Nov 2012 21:16
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Quoting: Montanagirl this stuff is poison to dogs and cats
It has been mentioned that the stuff that has been mentioned here, RV antifreeze, is propylene glycol. It is NON toxic unlike ethylene glycol, the stuff used in most auto motive antifreeze.
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