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John_Jasper's avatar
John_Jasper
Explorer
Oct 04, 2013

Getting cold tonight – risk of frozen pipes?

I'm at 7,000 ft. elevation and the weather forecast for tonight is a low of 26 degrees F. After that the nightly lows are expected to be 34 degrees and above. Should I worry about something freezing and damaging my ’08 Fleetwood Providence tonight?

The RV park has only W&E at the site and the “E” is only 30 AMP power. Without a sewer hookup I can’t leave a faucet running. However, I can keep the inside at about 50 degrees or more.

Any recommendations?
Class A

10 Replies

  • JimM68's avatar
    JimM68
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2013
    racerguy wrote:
    The Texan wrote:
    Darn, what do all you people do when it actually gets cold..:?.. My icemaker has never ben drained, just blown out and with temps of well below zero, never had a problem. 26° is NOT cold for an RV as long as it is less than 12-18 hours duration. Will be 17° here tonight and we are doing NOTHING special other than disconnecting the water hose till it warms above freezing in the morning.


    I'm curious how you can blow out the ice maker but not drain the water?


    If you disconnect the line from the output of the ice maker solendiod, anywater will drain out, it's not actually connected to anything at the top, it just kinda flows into the ice maker.

    FYI, every rv ice maker line I have seen was wrapped in heat tape.

    Also fyi, the working of the fridge keeps things pretty warm back there. If it gets really cold, cover all but one air inlet in the lower fridge vent cover.
  • racerguy's avatar
    racerguy
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2013
    The Texan wrote:
    Darn, what do all you people do when it actually gets cold..:?.. My icemaker has never ben drained, just blown out and with temps of well below zero, never had a problem. 26° is NOT cold for an RV as long as it is less than 12-18 hours duration. Will be 17° here tonight and we are doing NOTHING special other than disconnecting the water hose till it warms above freezing in the morning.


    I'm curious how you can blow out the ice maker but not drain the water?
  • The_Texan's avatar
    The_Texan
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    Darn, what do all you people do when it actually gets cold..:?.. My icemaker has never ben drained, just blown out and with temps of well below zero, never had a problem. 26° is NOT cold for an RV as long as it is less than 12-18 hours duration. Will be 17° here tonight and we are doing NOTHING special other than disconnecting the water hose till it warms above freezing in the morning.
  • racerguy's avatar
    racerguy
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    Does your fridge have an ice maker? If so, you might want to unhook the water line in the fridge compartment. There should be a shut off valve in the line going to it. Close the valve, then undo the line. Make sure there's no water left in the fittings.
  • edraff's avatar
    edraff
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    I have an 07 Providence, it has a heat register in the tank holding area. If you are using your gas furnances to heat there should be no problem. I would disconect the fresh water shore supply hose.
    It would take several hours of 26 degree temp to cause a problem, 12 to 18 hours.
  • Mandalay_Parr's avatar
    Mandalay_Parr
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    Just make sure both your furnaces are on. Leave cabinet door open if you are concerned. Furnace should be ducted below to keep your tanks and service bay above freezing. Do the light bulb thing mentioned above.

    I have been in like conditions with no problems.
  • The_Texan's avatar
    The_Texan
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    Was 26° here this AM and nothing froze, including our hose. It needs to be below freezing for an extended length of time, before you have to worry. We are below freezing almost every night, but warms up to the 40's during the day.
  • Sandia_Man's avatar
    Sandia_Man
    Explorer II
    Oct 04, 2013
    Disconnect water hose and run off your filled FW tank. We camp often in these kind of overnight temps and as long as daytime temps get to 40 and above we don't experience any issues, but keep in mind every rig is different so results may vary. We like camping in cool weather and sitting by the campfire in the evening is much more enjoyable when there's a nip in the air. Happy Camping!!!
  • bluwtr49's avatar
    bluwtr49
    Explorer II
    Oct 04, 2013
    You shouldn't have any problem if you keep the inside of the coach at normal living temps using whatever you have for a heat source. If your water tank is full or nearly so there is to much volume to freeze in a single temp excursion to only 24 and the water lines probably run either at floor level or inside the coach. Enough heat will radiate through the floor to keep things OK. Plus your HW heater will also help the bays.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Oct 04, 2013
    100 watt light bulb in the wet basement compartment and full water tanks should do it. If you have an insulated wet bay, and your heater is ducted to it, then you also should have no problems.

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