Outside shower failure - winterize it!

We've had our 2004 2720SL for almost a year and multiple trips, and on our latest trip (still going on, actually) we used the outside shower for the first time. I don't think the previous owners used it either.

I tried it out briefly before departing, and noticed that there were some minor leaks when opening and closing the faucets, and a much bigger leak from the seams of the shower head itself when the trigger was not depressed, but decided that we could live with it for intermittent use on this one trip.

The second day of camping, my wife turned on the hot water handle on the outside shower, and the whole handle blew off! We discovered that the plastic collar that holds the water handle assembly onto the camper had broken completely, and that having any water supply turned on to the camper at all caused water to promptly shoot out the hole. After much searching of local RV and hardware stores, we couldn't find anything that would even patch the hole, much less repair it properly, and had to use bottled water for the rest of the trip.

I ended up having to contact the manufacturer (ITC) directly for a replacement part: $18 for a new handle assembly, and $18 for a new shower head which I got at the same time. The lady I spoke to said it's a common failure, because many people (including me!) forget to flush antifreeze through the outside shower when winterizing their camper.

No need for anti freeze, just use the two drains located under the TM in that area. Be sure to open both faucets and hold the showerhead high while holding the trigger in so the water will drain out of the line. This, and the tub faucets inside are the first to freeze up. There is no insulation on the wall behind the tub and the area where the pluming for the outside shower and tub are is also exposed to outside air temps through a large hole under the trailer where the bathroom vent exhausts. When camping in freezing temps I’ve had this area freeze up even when the bathroom its self was heated, fortunately no damage. I’ll be doing more cold weather camping this winter so I made a modification to the water lines going back to that area. I put shut off valves in both lines under the bathroom sink. Now I can shut off the water supply to that area, drain it, and still use the water supply to the two sinks. If I need to use the shower it’s a simple matter of opening the two valves. Need to remember to shut them and drain the system again though when through. We use a dishpan as much as we can and toss the water when done. For the little bit we use the TM drain and holding tank I add a gallon of anti freeze to the holding tank. Don’t know how much it helps but I sleep better. Attachment 2824

Thanks for the tip, I had used the lower drains but hadn't even opened up the outside faucet enclosure - since I had never used it I didn't even think about water standing in it. I like your shutoff modification.