Freezing Water Lines

Hi,

You learn to carry enough antifreeze to winterize the RV. If the "wet bay" and waste tanks are in a heated zone, so long as the furnace is kept on, there should not be a problem.

I've used my RV at -37 c (-34 f).

roadtriptoforever wrote:
So just out of curiosity, what do I do when I am somewhere cold? Not have running water?

As far as Winter travel, I have been through Colorado Springs and the Western mountains in January Winter conditions and I never had problems with my water systems freezing. I keep my fresh water tank very close to being filled completely and do not hook up to the water or sewer shore lines except to top off my fresh water tank or empty my sewerage.
Perhaps you can check the rest of the coach and if everything seems fine, then inspect the water system. If you actually need fresh water to get home, then I would fill up the water tank completely, check the pump and faucets, give the seller his money, and hit the road. I would not worry about the water lines as long as you are driving or using the coach. We have been in below zero temps and never had a freezing problem while we were living in the coach and kept the interior temps comfortable. Once you get home, then you can drain the tanks and Winterize the coach again IF you feel it is necessary.

He speaks the truth.. Test the water systems with what we call "pink Stuff" that is RV Antifreeze, take at least 10 gallons, to test with. Have him show you how to add it to the system, and pump it through, you can even heat it (hot antireeze) and then have him show you how to blow out the lines.

You will have a bit of work getting it all out of the system come spring,, but .. Well, it can be done.

NOTE: on my fresh water tank the drain is **NOT** in the bottom, this means about a gallon remained, I had to vacuum it out with a wet vac and a small hose inserted into the drain.

An he knows this? There is more to this story then is being told is my take.

Either you are right about him covering something up, or he does not think you to be a valid buyer.

Either way since the two of you are arguing about it I would simply walk away. Both from the seller and buyer point of view.

On Edit:

If you really are that serious about buying it after seeing it, then write up the purchase agreement pending a water system test. The seller knows he will have a definite sale because he has nothing to cover up, then why would he say no.

John&Joey wrote:
If you approached me like you stated above I would probably do the same for you. But after that first time, it would be on a case by case basis. Otherwise money talks, BS walks. Front the money for a pro to winterize and the fuel to get there and back. If you buy it or not it's what is known as "the cost of doing business."

I have cash in hand and I drove 8 hours to see this thing. Im as serious as they get

In this case, the seller will probably end up being right, and still be the owner of his coach. He wins! :B

If the weather the OP has in CO is like we have in New Mexico it can be 60 in the day and will freeze at night. Ours did, we got home late and just drained the Fresh water left the spigots open used some lights around the pump and drain traps. The next morning the outside sprayer and toilet sprayer both frooze and cracked..

I side with seller

Two Jayhawks wrote:
My gosh the drama. The highs in the Springs are in the 50's and people are advising against filling to test or fill with anti freeze? Seriously....just go over there mid day and fill and test. with both of you I bet it could be done in 30 minutes. Then both of you can winterize it in 30 minutes. Now if you like it and it functions properly you can buy it and you'll know how to do everything. ;)

From the sellers point of view this is a PITA. I spent two hours showing a couple my Class A, taking it out for the test drive, teaching him about Class A knowing full well they were not going to buy a Class A that year (wife made it apparent.) I did it out of goodwill because I liked the guy and I wanted them to be RV'ers.

If you approached me like you stated above I would probably do the same for you. But after that first time, it would be on a case by case basis. Otherwise money talks, BS walks. Front the money for a pro to winterize and the fuel to get there and back. If you buy it or not it's what is known as "the cost of doing business."

I winterize weekly by draining FW tank, HW tank, open kitchen, tub & shower faucets then open 3 line drains. When everything is done draining I close it all up then add a cup of RV antifreeze to each of 3 drain traps and run some antifreeze through the pump. Oh yeah, if I think of it (most times I don't) I'll open the toilet flush valve and let water drain back into the supply line. This takes about 15 minutes. The next Saturday I fill it up again, take a trip and drain again Sunday night. I don't blow the lines, I don't fill the lines with antifreeze.

A few weeks ago we had a very cold Friday night . . . teens I think. When I went to water up Saturday morning the outside supply intake was frozen. Eventually a trickle made it to the (now open) nearbly line drain and got 2 ft of intake line flowing. So crank up the propane + electric heat and open up all cupboards, drawers, bed, etc and wait. After a few hours finally got some flow to the nearby bathroom faucet, then tub, then another drain valve and finally to kitchen. At some point finally got water to the HW heater but noticed the tup drain was stopped up (ice). Found an access plate and hit the trap with a hair dryer.

Eventually I was on my way . . . to sunny Florida. woohoo!!!
(but I was back home Sunday night . . . ugh)

I know the supply lines have some expansion capability so that must keep them from splitting from the residual water (temps have been in single digits) but I'm very fortunate not to have split the trap.

That being said, perhaps the seller didn't do a full winterization and knows there might be some residual water in the lines. Dunno, just a guess.

Keep in mind I do this weekly, arriving home at 10pm or midnite (or later!). It's not practical to do a full winterization every week and I don't have access to compressed air. I do have an air bottle but blowing the lines uses most of it up . . . . .

But I wouldn't buy it without a full test either. Pretty good bet nobody else will be either and Spring is just around the corner.

Good luck,
- bob

We just bought the motorhome in my sig. We went through de-winterizing, testing, re-winterizing. Takes some time. We found that the kitchen faucet had freeze cracked. The seller replaced the leaky faucet.

I think the seller realized I was serious so he was willing to accommodate my request.