Tips/suggestions for outdoor winter storage in Alaska

[neolithic1]

The leaves are yellow, the temps are dropping, and winter is coming!

I have never stored my 2011 170 camper outside up here in Anchorage, I have always kept it down south, but this year it is staying here, stored in the yard.

I have a simple build, so it is easy to drain the plumbing, and I have a goalzero for power, so again, easy to remove and keep stored indoors when the van is not in use.

From looking around, there are, as usual, many different takes on how best to store a sprinter over the winter, and I know they like to be driven, and will, if and when the weather is cooperative, but it will be parked for much of the next 5 months.

Topping fuel and adding stabilizer as well as filling the DEF tank seem to be the main recommendations that I have found while reading the "winterization" posts on here.
I have access to shore power right by where I park, would heating pads on the engine/DEF tank be a good idea? Heaters on the battery make me a little nervous so I will likely bring it indoors, yes, a pain in the rear, but not too big an issue really.
We get down to -30 F relatively often, but it is not Fairbanks cold most of the time.

I run a dehumidifier (and heater if it is getting cold) after the last trip of the season, to try and dry things out as much as possible, but whatever I miss will freeze, so condensation I doubt will be too much of an issue.

Any other suggestions?
Keep a heater going in the van?
Warmth in the engine compartment? Or will that just add to condensation?

Getting work done on vans up here is really hard, so I would like to be as proactive as possible.

Thanks

 

[cbaarch]

We get temps as low as -15C ( 5F) so slightly different but still applies.
I clean mine out of everything mice might get into. I drained the radiator over flow tank as they have chewed on the rubber hose to get to some.
Make sure the motor antifreeze tests for -40C or lower - the testers are cheap to buy if you do not have access to one https://www.amazon.com/antifreeze-tester/s?k=antifreeze+tester
I winterize with RV antifreeze for the water system including a cup in all the drains.

I disconnect the chassis battery at the gas pedal and it worked even with a 6 yr old battery- but with much low temps it is a good idea to bring the battery inside and use a trickle charger once a month, Did that for years with motorcycles and a convertible. Battery blankets for heat is really only good if you plan on starting and driving it and if you do that there is a block heater that plugs into AC power. You will see electrical cords sticking out of grilles all over the place.

a small electric heater will never keep up so wasting power.
then I lock it up till spring when I crank the heat to dry things up.
I have had a few cars where I used wood blocks just to get no load on the tires but still touching. Covers for the tires (UV protection) is a good idea if you plan on keeping it for a while.
and we can get "storage insurance" for fire and theft instead of regular car insurance when in storage so one idea to look at with your existing insurance as it can save lots of money.

 

[Mike DZ]

I know they like to be driven, and will, if and when the weather is cooperative,

Do not drive it, unless you can go a distance that gets all engine, transmission and exhaust components up to temperature and holds them there for 15-20 mins. With a diesel in cold weather (depending on temps) this may mean a high speed drive of an hour or more. If you do drive it for short distances, you will leave water (combustion byproduct) in your exhaust and add moisture to your crankcase and transmission housing. Any benefit you may think you are gaining by driving it for less than a full warmup will be negated.

Suggestions above by cbaarch are good, especially pulling the battery and keeping it warm and topped up every once and a while.

 

[neolithic1]

Thank you both for your time and this information. Sorry for the slow response, I have been out in the field.

Last winter I left the van in Washington and when I came back to start it this spring, it was very slow to get going. I was wondering about the water in the fuel filter. Any thoughts on that? I am right at my service interval, so I am debating which would be better. Change the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter now, or wait until spring and do them then?
I also got a check engine light and the codes all came back for DEF/Emissions systems sensor faults this spring when I started the van. Most ended up being covered by the MB recall, but still was a costly and time-consuming few days. I was wondering if I should have done something different with the DEF tanks over the winter. Any thoughts? It might have just been a coincidence, but it made me start thinking.

Thanks again

 

[Mike DZ]

The 2011 fuel filter should have a water in fuel sensor and dash light, check your manual. Suggest change your fluids/filters before you put her to bed. Def freezing point -12F. If you will see colder than that, as a minimum don't fill your DEF tank full. If you you really really want to be sure, drain the DEF tank. Do not start the vehicle with an empty DEF tank. Your computer won't like it and you may set some trouble codes that will be hard to get rid of.

 

[Roamers]

Def freezing point -12F.

+ 12 not -

 

[Mizzle]

Definitely do a proper winterization of plumbing and don't just "drain" the system. Pockets of water will remain and freeze, expand, and wreak havoc.

 

[Mike DZ]

+ 12 not -

You are right -12 C or +11F

 

[neolithic1]

Thanks all, this is great help!
11F is downright balmy, so that is certainly going to freeze. I am likely just going to go with a partially full tank and hope that the expansion from freezing has space to move and does not cause issue. I have had a few friends with van just leave them out all winter long and so far all have been more or less fine, so hopefully I am no exception.

Thanks again.

 

[Kajtek1]

I was always big fan of farmer's approach how to store the equipment off season.
"Disconnect the battery, put coffee can over exhaust pipe and walk away".
But as the topic says, there is more on modern vans to it.
You can figure out how to winterize house part, but is your manual saying anything about DEF winterizing? If not I would call MB hotline.
Per my understanding DEF will freeze, so I would drain the reservoir.
Question is how to drain DEF from the piping.
IMHO putting heater on park van will only bring more troubles and potential danger.
I have been doing that in CA, where we had 5-10 morning freezes a year, but that would not work on van sitting in subfreezing temperatures for weeks.

 

[Roamers]

I had a lesson learned last winter with DEF freezing. Froze solid, heater thawed some as it was supposed to, as thawed fluid was used a gap developed between the chunk of frozen and some sensor. Lit the CEL. Learned about frozen DEF when tech noticed it when investigating CEL.

 

[marklg]

I had a lesson learned last winter with DEF freezing. Froze solid, heater thawed some as it was supposed to, as thawed fluid was used a gap developed between the chunk of frozen and some sensor. Lit the CEL. Learned about frozen DEF when tech noticed it when investigating CEL.

Did that result in "X starts left" messages?

Regards,

Mark

 

[Roamers]

No countdown. I don't recall the complete explanation, but the tech indicated the light might come back on when I drive because the chunk of ice was still there. He offered that perhaps a $$ bottle of DEF added might keep it from coming back on by getting fluid back around the chunk. I didn't have DEF added. A lengthy software update kept the van inside for several hours, it warned up to over 20 degrees outside; I assume the DEF melted enough to resolve the issue.

We don't spend a lot of time below 0 F. I now park with the DEF tank side facing south in the winter and try to remember run preheater two cycles during the night if it's going to get below 10 F and I'll be driving in the morning. Trying to create a suitable micro-climate.

 

[RVCuisineScene]

I've stored my van (2017 3500ext 642 engine) and before the van a boat for extended periods. In addition to winterizing the plumbing I place numerous small containers of Tea Tree Oil around the inside, this is to prevent mold, by far the best solution I've found. I've had my DEF experience freezing problems when below 0F, twice leading to a visit to the dealer where they replaced parts that had cracked due to the DEF freezing, both times under warrantee. Not sure if the problem would have happened if I didn't drive the van, haven't been in those temps since.

 

[HarryN]

As you have noticed, the pre-packaged Li based electrical systems cannot handle the cold. That is why I still build both LiFe and AGM based van power systems. The AGM ones can handle the cold just fine.

Personally I would put vodka in the water system as it is food grade, anti freeze, and a disinfectant, and of course useful for other things as well.

Perhaps plug in an oil pan heater a trickle charger on the starter battery.

Some people add methods to keep the fuel warm as well so that it does not go below the cloud point.

 

[ACCESSDENIED]

Personally I would put vodka in the water system as it is food grade, anti freeze, and a disinfectant, and of course useful for other things as well.

Wait does this actually work?
Do you drain all the water first? Mix it with water? Are there potential issues sending vodka through an electric water pump??
So many questions... This seems like a cheap solution though, if you were being serious lol!

 

[AlaskaOE]

Drain the plumbing, remove the goal zero and drive it every couple weeks. Don't overcomplicate it.

 

[Kajtek1]

Personally I would put vodka in the water system as it is food grade, anti freeze, and a disinfectant, and of course useful for other things as well.

Wait does this actually work?
Do you drain all the water first? Mix it with water? Are there potential issues sending vodka through an electric water pump??
So many questions... This seems like a cheap solution though, if you were being serious lol!

1 of top-end Russian MIGs was using alcohol for cooling the cabin and in good quantity.
The landing always had lot of enthusiasm as pilot choose to suffer in order to have good sharing/bribing material.
Vodka was and probably still is very expensive in Russia.
In Communistic Poland I used to pay daily wages for 1/2l of it, what is small bottle.

 

[HarryN]

Wait does this actually work?
Do you drain all the water first? Mix it with water? Are there potential issues sending vodka through an electric water pump??
So many questions... This seems like a cheap solution though, if you were being serious lol!

I am nearly always serious - for better or worse.

You can tell when I am just having fun when I post something with a youtube video link.

Here is the wikipedia page with a table of ethanol / water mix concentrations vs freezing point. Typically vodka sold in the US is 40% ethanol by volume but products such as everclear can often be purchased with a higher concentration. (60 - 90%)

Just think about what the lowest temperature protection you will need and make sure to reach that level of concentration in the system.

For instance if your goal is to achieve (-40 C) - which is the same in (F) , it would require ~ 50% ethanol.

To a large extent the concentration will level out throughout your system within a week even if not 100% flushed, but it would be better to at least remove the water that you can.

Ethanol (data page) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I am a chemical engineer by training, but have not worked in the field for a very long time. Nonetheless, IMHO, one of the great tragedies of history is the criminalization and over taxation of ethanol, especially high purity / low methanol / low aldehydes content ethanol.

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Some plastics are not compatible with ethanol so you will need to double check this aspect for how you built your system and the components.


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During the pandemic there was quite a shortage of "rubbing alcohol" which is isoproanol and is largely un taxed. At my van electrical shop I historically used pharmacy grade rubbing alcohol to clean parts and de-grease wood surfaces prior to coating.

In spite of the cost, I switched over to ethanol (yes vodka and everclear) as a hand sanitizer and parts cleaner. It really is a far superior solution - other than the cost (mostly due to taxes).

 

[aksotar]

I replied to your PM… forgot to add to use a trickle charger on your starting battery.. no need to remove it and take it indoors nor any need to put a warmer on your oil pan or interior…. if you have a house bank you should put a trickle charger on it also…