Froze Up, I Think

**Steve7** · 02-13-2021, 10:32 AM

Glad you got it worked out and no damage. If you’re gonna consistently be in single digit temps, I would consider wrapping some of those problem pipes. It would mean dropping some of the coroplast, but it should solve your issues.

**Ynot4me2** · 02-13-2021, 11:05 AM

Real glad you got this resolved and that there was no damage.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

**D2Reid** · 02-14-2021, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by campingfeen

I'm guessing that if I wanted to take this camper winter camping in the Wyoming back country I'd have to keep the furnace running 24/7.

All depends on temp's and sunshine. Single digit and below our furnace pretty much runs 24/7. In the teens it runs a lot, but will quit when the sun shines on our black exterior. Double digits up, it cycles on and off. But you think you understand what's needed.

**RVlife1967** · 02-14-2021, 06:12 PM

Good thing you got it sorted out and in your favor.

I am sitting in my 2670MK in North Texas right now - it is 10 outside and expected to get colder and stay WAY below freezing until Friday...

I have no flow in my hot water lines - trickled cold last night and its flowing (continue trickling and scared to stop but also concerned of sewer hose freezing...) - keeping an eye on grey tank levels...

Did the low point mod earlier today - running furnace on approx. 78-80 and hoping to have hot water soon (maybe tomorrow or Tuesday...) and no additional water/plumbing problems...

Based on reading I expect my pressure regulator needing to be replaced...its at the supply pole...

***BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN - ROLLING POWER BLACK OUTS NOW IN AFFECT***

Fun stuff!

**Chewwi** · 02-14-2021, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by campingfeen

Chewwi (where in South Carolina are you? I lived in Summerville and still have kids down there)

Live near Anderson.

**Jocmorales16** · 02-14-2021, 11:21 PM

Oh lord! We’re going through the same. It’s my first time ever camping in cold temps. I never expected to encounter this in East Texas. The hose is frozen and i can safely assume our pipes may have frozen to a certain extent. I’ve turned on the furnace and hope for a miracle. Due to my inexperience I didn’t empty out the grey water tanks nor did I empty out the black water tank. We haven’t pooped in our black water tank but I don’t like the idea of iced pee (I don’t want to imagine a frozen turd) . I took the “Arctic insulation” seriously and it never occurred to me that I’d have to prepare for winter. I’m South Floridian I don’t know this stuff. Well... I’ll see what I can do tomorrow AM with antifreeze AFTER the fact. Oi vey 🤦🏽**♀️

**D2Reid** · 02-15-2021, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by Jocmorales16

Oh lord! ... I don’t like the idea of iced pee (I don’t want to imagine a frozen turd) .

They are called poopsicles. As long as they stay frozen they aren't too bad to clean up. Wear gloves. Put a little mint or mentholatum on your mask. Been there, done that, it's survivable.

I am pretty sure the previous posts covered the basics; Know how your propane system switches over, go fill the empty tank, don't forget to turn the valve at the top back on when you install it.

Disconnect the water hose after filling internal tank.

Check for kinks in sewer hose.

Leave cabinet door open at night.

**skier8674** · 02-17-2021, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by D2Reid

All depends on temp's and sunshine. Single digit and below our furnace pretty much runs 24/7. In the teens it runs a lot, but will quit when the sun shines on our black exterior. Double digits up, it cycles on and off. But you think you understand what's needed.

I 100% agree with D2Reid's advice on furnace 24/7 in single and sub zero temps. I decided to pull our 31MB out of storage in the middle of the arctic blast here in Colorado. It was -2F when we showed up to the campsite. I only had the interior warmed up to 40 from 15F earlier in the day so we were starting in a hole.

Our main line from the fresh water tank froze because I was starting from behind so we were without water for about 12 hours. The next day/night only go to 4F and was also a -8F night the second night. I ran the furnace 24/7 (set it to 95F) so the fireplace, space heaters and heat pump were keeping the inside at a toasty 72F. This allowed the furnace to keep pumping hot air into the underbelly since it was set to 95F and after about 10 hours during the day we had water again. The following few days have been in the single digits at night but not negative temps. I'm sure if our underbelly and pipes were already warm going into the sub zero temps we would have been able to keep the pipes warm enough by running the furnace 24/7 at a high temp so the space heaters wouldn't shut the furnace off.

I love a good project and enjoy beefing up the specs so I am going to add tank heaters and heat tape/insulation on the lines in our underbelly. Though we are not full time we enjoy the flexibility of going when we want rather than letting weather dictate our plans.

**PammieC** · 02-17-2021, 09:06 PM

Been camping this week in the Colorado cold in our 2600RB. Both hot & cold water lines freeze about every 3 hours. There's an access hole in the cupboard under the bathroom sink where water lines run. I put a hairdryer in that hole & the frozen lines thaw out in minutes. Unfortunately, our black tank valve froze shut. Heat tape, insulation, portable heater & hairdryer have not worked. Hoping temps raise enough soon so we can get that open.

**gfl123** · 02-17-2021, 10:25 PM

My 2 cents , i had issues with the low point water drain lines freezing in a camper i worked out of, seemed approx 20 degrees was the magic number, apparently it would freeze upward and block all flow downstream, that unit had the drain near the inlet , so everything was downstream. i went with a short heat tape to solve that problem