We are from Florida so we never had to winterize anything and are clueless about it. We will be traveling to Red Bay to check frame flex and it looks like there will be some cold nights. Question, when traveling how do we keep thing from freezing on the road? When camping on the way I assume the furnace and tank heaters will be enough to keep things thawed, is that correct or?? While at Red Bay we will have hookups so again in the furnace all we need? When in the shop does it get below freezing? Or are we better off to winterize before we leave?
There are two options for winterizing. Blowing out the water lines with compressed air or using RV antifreeze in the water lines.
Depending on the temperatures expected and the duration you may be able to get away with blowing out the lines. If you will be in extremely cold temperatures for extended periods 20 F and below for a number of days when the temps don’t get above freezing it’d be a better idea to use RV antifreeze. You could also use the tank heater which can help keep the fresh water tank from freezing and the furnace may also help circulate warm air around the water lines. You’ll go through a lot of propane if the temps are particularly cold, so be sure to refill the tanks are have a few spares ready to use. (I have 2 40lb & 2 30lb tanks) Do be aware that if have any water lines in slides, such a fridge with an ice maker that water line is fully exposed to the outside.
If you’re lucky Red Bay won’t be experiencing really cold temps for extended periods and those temps will probably get above freezing during the daytime.
I have trip panned at the end of the week, but I’ll be traveling in the northern part of the country and have fully winterized with RV antifreeze and won’t be using the plumbing, but relying on truck stops for showers and will be carrying bottled water for flushing as well as some additional RV antifreeze to prevent the waste tanks from freezing up.
To drain the pipes do I just open the low point drain, where do I use the compressed air? I also have a Truma hot water heater, so will removing the filter let out all of the water and then put it on bypass?
We travel almost exclusively during the winter, and not just to and from warm places. We’ve learned lots of things the hard way, when almost every night is below freezing and some nights close to zero.
So pay attention to the temps where you are, and where you are going to, and you don’t need to panic just because the outside temperature is 31 degrees.
When you are traveling, y.ou don’t need to winterize every morning when you get going, but you should turn off and drain the Truma. That froze one day while going down the highway and it was 10 degrees outside, and the Truma was on the Eco setting. To winterize the Truma, turn it off, turn off the city water or water pump, relieve the pressure on the plumbing, then turn the valve to Bypass, then open and pull out the drain.
I have run the furnace while traveling, but it runs continuously while going down the highway. Depends on how cold it is outside, and how far we have to go.
Definitely winterize before dropping it off. Don’t depend on anyone else to keep it warm and not freeze. No, you don’t just drain the pipes.
You have 2 options to winterize:
- Pink antifreeze. If you’ve never done it before, watch a youtube video. I use a short hose with a special fitting on the end that connects directly to the water pump on the suction side. With someone keeping the antifreeze bottle full, open every faucet and toilet, both hot and cold, and run until they run pink. Do not forget the washer hookup, and flush the macerating toilet several times. If you have an ice maker, that is a pain. I’ve just turned our ice maker off and have left it winterized.
- Compressed air: An air compressor is faster and when it’s time to un-winterize you don’t have to run tons of water to flush out all of the antifreeze. Also much easier to winterize an ice maker and washing machine and the fill line to the fresh water tank (you don’t want to put antifreeze into your fresh water tank). You just have to be meticulous about making sure you get all the water out. I have a threaded 3/4" hose adapter that screws into the city water connection. You must use an air compressor that has adjustable air pressure, and set it below 50 psi (you will blow up something if you use 120 psi). Bypass and drain the Truma, then hook up the air, then go around and open all faucets one at a time, cold then hot, paying special attention to the macerating toilet.
After you are done, then pour some pink antifreeze down each drain. I will pour a half gallon down the macerating toilet and press “empty”.
As far as camping overnight, “a few cold nights” means different things to you and me. To me, several nights around 30 degrees is called “Summer”.
1 Like
Right now the forecast is for 20-30 at night and high 30’s to low 40’s in the day. While we’re there we will stay in it at night so we can run the furnace. Will the furnace keep everything warm? Any other time there it will be inside. As soon as it’s done were heading south again, lol. I do have a compressor and generator onboard as well.
Yes, you should be fine overnight. All of the plumbing is inside enclosed compartments where it should (theoretically) stay warm.
Having said that, our furnace cannot keep up trying to heat the whole trailer, so we keep the fireplace on all night and run a small electric heater in the master bath. And another small heater in the cargo compartment in the rear because there’s lots of plumbing back there. It’s kind of a balancing act though, because if the fireplace warms the living room too much, then the furnace won’t come on and therefore no heat goes anywhere else or under the floor.
The 12V heat pads on the tanks do almost nothing in extreme cold, other than allow the salesmen to tell you that it’s “four season” capable. The reality is that little 10"x10" heat pads will only keep that little area of the tank from freezing… so if it gets cold enough to freeze the tanks, those little pads would do nothing to prevent all the rest of the plumbing from freezing, and all the 1/2" pex lines would freeze way before your tanks. There is a 2" duct from the furnace that goes down to the water tanks (ours terminates right at the fresh water tank) so that helps.
For hookups, fill your fresh water tank and then disconnect the hose, or use a heated hose.
I can’t say what conditions at Red Bay will be. We were just at Tishomingo, and the crew there was very helpful and their shop was plenty warm.
1 Like