Camco Brass Blow Out Plug 36153 | RV Winterizing

When the nights start dipping below freezing, the water sitting in your RV's plumbing becomes the enemy. It expands as it freezes, and that pressure is what cracks fittings, splits lines, and turns a quiet off-season into a spring full of expensive repairs. The Camco Brass Blow Out Plug is the simple little tool that keeps that from happening. It screws into your rig's city water inlet, gives you a Schrader valve to hook an air compressor to, and lets you push every last bit of water out of the system before it can do any damage.

Using it is about as straightforward as RV gear gets. Screw the plug into the city water inlet on the side of your trailer or motorhome. Open every faucet, both hot and cold, and pop open the low point drains. Then connect your air compressor to the Schrader valve and let the compressed air chase the water out through the open taps. You'll hear it sputter and spit for a minute, then run dry. That's the whole job. Work through the fixtures one at a time so you know each line is clear.

One thing worth doing before you start. Bypass and drain your water heater first, and empty the fresh water tank. The blow out plug clears the pressurized lines running to your faucets, shower, and toilet, but it isn't meant to empty a six or ten gallon water heater tank. Most rigs have a bypass valve behind an access panel for exactly this. Handle the tank and heater, then let the plug finish the job on the lines.

The reason we like the brass version over the plastic ones is simple. Brass threads don't strip out or crack the way plastic does after a couple of seasons, and the Schrader valve is machined right into a solid body. Thread it in, use it, unthread it, and toss it back in your winterizing bin. It'll be ready to go again next fall, and the fall after that. For a tool you only reach for once or twice a year, buying one that lasts a decade just makes sense.

Blowing out the lines and running RV antifreeze aren't an either-or thing. A lot of folks do both, and they work better together. Clearing the standing water first means the antifreeze you pump through afterward isn't getting diluted by whatever was left sitting in the lines. If you're in a climate where winter really means winter, that belt-and-suspenders approach is cheap insurance against a cracked pipe you won't find until you're de-winterizing in the spring.

It fits the standard city water inlet you'll find on travel trailers, fifth wheels, and motorhomes, and it works with just about any air compressor, from a little pancake unit to a shop compressor sitting in the garage. One quick note on pressure. You don't need much. Keep your compressor dialed down and follow the blow-out pressure your RV maker recommends, because too much air can stress the lines you're trying to protect. Low and steady clears everything just fine. And to be clear on what's in the box, you're getting the brass plug itself. An air compressor isn't included, but you almost certainly already own one or can borrow one for an afternoon.

If you store your RV anywhere the temperature drops, this belongs in your winterizing kit. It's small, it's cheap, and it does one job really well. Skip it, and you're gambling your whole plumbing system on a mild winter. Ten minutes of work in the fall beats a spring afternoon crawling under the rig chasing a split line. We'd rather spend a few bucks and sleep easy.