Winter camping

Hi David,

Welcome to the forums.

Are the tanks enclosed? Is there a heated basement in your Terry 31 5G ?

We use tank heaters and they seem to work. Down to 1F yesterday and we put drop lights with 60W bulbs in behind. Few cabinets to ensure enough heat to keep the lines from freezing. Our tank heaters have kept our tanks from freezing and we just use the frah water tanks and the bathhouse from the CG. We typically don't do a lot of cold weather camping but with us moving over the holidays Uncle Sam has left us few choices a our TT makes moving much easier!

2oldman wrote:
I think the pink is designed to be used full strength.

It is mainly designed not to kill us if we accidently have some left in the system.

The brand sold at Walmart is -50 burst protection. i.e. 100% will prevent your internal lines from bursting down to -50F. (I would not test that limit on my rig.) At predictions of -50F, I'm moving south!

You can't say 50/50 will protect down to -25F, but it is plenty for down to zero.

If I were to run anti-freeze into my waterlines rather than blowing them out - it would be full strength.

But 50/50 is plenty for the tanks - if they are not close to full. Tanks have a lot of surface area for a few gallons of water, and plenty of expansion room if they do get cold enough for some ice to form without causing problems. Does not apply to full or nearly full tanks.

The main reason I use 50/50 or even a little more is because I want the pink to be at that point in the drains by the discharge valves. That is the greatest danger of tank freezing in most rigs - and none of us want to replace cracked black/ grey tank drain pipes and valves.

You can go to 100%, but that going to increase your costs quite a bit.

I get the feeling you really mean: Cold weather camping, right? Because there are many of us that camp all winter, we just do it in warmer climates.

calamus wrote:
You can dump a gallon or two of pink anti-freeze in each tank depending on use should keep it from freezing try and keep at least a 50/50 mix

I think the pink is designed to be used full strength.

We drain both at night and no worries. Some leave gray tank open. Camped last weekend 19 for a low, no worries. Today tanks are empty low of 10. BTW many of our best get aways have been in winter months. Few people, we had the place almost to ourselves. A different kind of camp experience.

Park them in southern Arizona. LOL:)

You can dump a gallon or two of pink anti-freeze in each tank depending on use should keep it from freezing try and keep at least a 50/50 mix

Do you have a 4 seasons package on your 5th? My Lance has heated enclosed holding tanks and you need to run the heater (on propane) for this to work. Sometimes letting a faucet drip a little will help.

WoodGlue

Skirting and heat.