Getting ready for coldest weather in our Solitude 310GK

[Canyonlight]

Glad the tank doesn't leak and you made it through.

Rob

X2 ! What an adventure with the right guy "at the controls" lol !

@Nuffsaid - hope your log home is fine when you get home. You both need a southern vacation and a beverage or 2 !

Dan

[Nuffsaid]

X2 ! What an adventure with the right guy "at the controls" lol !

@Nuffsaid - hope your log home is fine when you get home. You both need a southern vacation and a beverage or 2 !

Dan

Log home was mostly ok with the exception of a water leak from the copper icemaker line at the connection to the water valve. It put a fair amount of water between the laminate flooring and the subfloor. This happened a couple of years ago and I ended up replacing quite a few laminate boards. This time I am going to wait a while. I have had a fan running over the floor and hopefully the subfloor is drying out. There is some swelling, but not terrible. It is always something, LOL

[440scout]

I am pretty sure our fresh water tank froze solid! Tank heater either quit or was able to keep up. I just got the drain valve open and it is ice above it

In February of 2021 we were in Ft. Davis Texas and experienced that Polar Vortex that caused the power, natural gas and internet to go down to a hugh area. Temps got down to Zero and the next day we had no water even though the tank had been filled and the water pump ran. Because the power went down, the fireplace couldn't help heat and the best the furnace could do was 65 while running continuously. A few days later when power was restored. I pulled the coroplast down near the fresh water drain and saw the 1/2" pex where the pump pulls from. It had thawed by then but the tank at the pex connection was discolored from being frozen. I also found that the silver space blanket looking stuff was never spread across the top of the coroplast. I installed foam insulation over at least 6 feet of the pex from the fresh water tank. Haven't had a freezeup since then but haven't been in any below zero temps either.

[Nuffsaid]

When the weather warms up I might drop the coroplast and install a heat trace on the fresh water feed line and possibly an additional heater on the fresh water tank and also add some pipe insulation to the freshwater pex line. I had 25k btu's of heat going into the underbelly during the coldest part and I don't know if the heat was making it back to the fresh water tank. I also think it is possible that the cold transferred through the drain valve into the water in the tank causing it to freeze. I have been down to zero quite a few times and this is the first time that I froze up. I also have a cracked sewer line to repair when the temps warm up a bit.

[440scout]

All excellent ideas. I especially like adding some type of pipe heater around the fresh water tank drain valve. I saw several 12 volt pipe heaters made for RVs on Amazon that could be tied into the existing 12 volt feed to your fresh tank heater. They are low wattage so not big power hogs. I'm very interested to know what you end up doing and will probably follow your recommendations since we seem to end up in those Polar Vortex type events as we usually travel south during the Colorado winters.

[Nuffsaid]

I installed pipe heat tape on my old Holiday Rambler 5th wheel because I used to take it elk hunting and it was common to have 0 to -10 weather. That 5er had the water heater in the rear of the unit and the bathroom up front and the water line to the bathroom would freeze up. I used 110 volt heat tape that I could plug in and power up with my generator and then installed black pipe insulation over the lines. Wasn't too bad of a job. I am thinking about a heavy piece of foam around the drain valve and add an additional tank heater to the fresh water tank and possibly tie it into the existing wiring. I might also think about adding a chase to be able to direct heat from my diesel heater to the rear of the underbelly and then the heat could work it's way back to the front.

[Second Chance]

Here's my take on discussions above about insulating/heating sewer outlets, etc. (based on 8 full-time winters in places that see single digits and high winds)...

The outlet valves for the waste tanks are inside the heated underbelly - they will not freeze as long as the furnace is used and cycling. As soon as the waste exits the outlet into the stinky slinky, it's exposed to the worst of the cold (the stinky slinky is very thin) and that's where it will freeze - beyond any heat tape on the outlet pipe. Since the black tank valve should never be left open all the time, anyway (should wait until the tank is at least 3/4 full to drain and flush), black waste is not an issue; wait until it needs draining, drain and flush. The large volume of waste will transit the drain pipe and stinky slinky rapidly - with the fluids at the temperature of the waste tanks and underbelly - and won't freeze in the stinky slinky. Even better if you wait until the warmest part of the day. Similar for the gray tanks. You want a good amount in the gray tanks to flush after draining the black tank, anyway.

Now, for tank heaters. The fresh and waste tanks will be the last things in the system to freeze due to their mass. It takes a longer exposure to lower temps for the contents in a tank to freeze than it does water in PEX lines, the water pump, P-traps, etc. If you're running the furnace, you don't really have anything to worry about. Our 2016 Reflection did not have tank heaters and was exposed to some pretty extreme conditions. During a polar vortex in the northeast one winter, the water lines to the kitchen islands froze (yes - heater cycling often), but the fresh and waste tanks did not. We've never had a frozen outlet pipe not stinky slinky following the procedures above.

Opinions are like certain parts of the human anatomy... everybody has one and this just my opinion.

Rob

[440scout]

Once you drop the coroplast you'll see the small diameter flexable furnace duct(s) that feed the under belly. I wouldn't be surprised if some of that fiberglass insulation is blocking them from reaching the areas that really needs heat. I will not use any 120 volt heat trace because of my experience during the 2021 Polar Vortex when the 120 volt power failed for 3 days. During that time I had to run the generator 2 hours in the mornings and 2 more hours in the evenings to recharge the pair of 6 volt batteries but those 12 volt heaters never shut off. The factory uses a lot of expanding foam insulation around the fresh tank drain valve so they know about the cold weather issue. I will definitely put either an elbow or short pipe heater around that tank drain but for sure I'm gonna use a 12 volt pipe heater. If the weather warms up enough in the Denver area January or February for just a couple days, I will drop the coroplast and install that pipe heater and add more insulation. And of course make sure those heating ducts flow freely as needed.

[Nuffsaid]

Here's my take on discussions above about insulating/heating sewer outlets, etc. (based on 8 full-time winters in places that see single digits and high winds)...

The outlet valves for the waste tanks are inside the heated underbelly - they will not freeze as long as the furnace is used and cycling. As soon as the waste exits the outlet into the stinky slinky, it's exposed to the worst of the cold (the stinky slinky is very thin) and that's where it will freeze - beyond any heat tape on the outlet pipe. Since the black tank valve should never be left open all the time, anyway (should wait until the tank is at least 3/4 full to drain and flush), black waste is not an issue; wait until it needs draining, drain and flush. The large volume of waste will transit the drain pipe and stinky slinky rapidly - with the fluids at the temperature of the waste tanks and underbelly - and won't freeze in the stinky slinky. Even better if you wait until the warmest part of the day. Similar for the gray tanks. You want a good amount in the gray tanks to flush after draining the black tank, anyway.

Now, for tank heaters. The fresh and waste tanks will be the last things in the system to freeze due to their mass. It takes a longer exposure to lower temps for the contents in a tank to freeze than it does water in PEX lines, the water pump, P-traps, etc. If you're running the furnace, you don't really have anything to worry about. Our 2016 Reflection did not have tank heaters and was exposed to some pretty extreme conditions. During a polar vortex in the northeast one winter, the water lines to the kitchen islands froze (yes - heater cycling often), but the fresh and waste tanks did not. We've never had a frozen outlet pipe not stinky slinky following the procedures above.

Opinions are like certain parts of the human anatomy... everybody has one and this just my opinion.

Rob

Rob, I had an issue with gray water continuing to drip after the valves were closed. I typically let my gray water drain when camping in my daughters yard. I had a 3 inch cap with a hose connection that was left open and when it got into single digits the hose connection froze and plugged up with ice. I couldn't get the cap off because of the ice and poor choice on my part, I just left it that way for a month until we went back up for Christmas which is when I figured out the pipe had cracked while getting the ice out of it. I had full output of my diesel heater on medium output, so about 20k btu's going into the underbelly after the pex line from the water tank had froze. I was maintaining over 70 degrees in the underbelly with my spray foam on the outside of the frame rails doing a good job of holding the heat in. The drain on the fresh water tank was frozen and couldn't be opened and that is what leads me to believe the tank froze, at least on the bottom where the water feed line to the pump is. One day of temps in the upper 30's and I had everything thawed out, but three days with highs only reaching -15, -25 and -6 and lows of -31, -44 and -20 didn't give a good chance at thawing out. My basement temps were staying in the 80 degree range thanks to my diesel heater. I might take the 310gk out in a couple of weeks for a few days of ice fishing and we will see how it does running off of my diesel generator, assuming it will start. I probably won't turn it off and just let it keep running, lol.

[Second Chance]

... but three days with highs only reaching -15, -25 and -6 and lows of -31, -44 and -20 didn't give a good chance at thawing out.

Those are some extreme temps - even houses not built for that kind of weather can have issues!

Rob