Winter camping...

Question

Our Jayco 2016 Greyhawk 31FK has exposed pipes underneath which cramps our style. When the temps hit low 20's (farhenheit) things will freeze.

I've been goofin' with some Heat Cable - the kind you put on the roof to prevent ice dams. After a dozen experiments, I've figured out that the hot-est the cable gets is about 150*F.

I bought some PEX from Home Depot, some temperature sensors and some timers. I placed temp sensors in the pipe (immersed) and outside next to the heat cable.

What I've come to the conclusion is that pulsing the cable on for 30 mins, off for 30 mins keeps the water in the pipe well above 60*F. The pipe itself seemed to reach about 80*F.

In fact on for 30 and then off for 60 minutes seems to be fine too.

60' of this branded Heat Cable consumes 300 watts. So it's not a power hog.

I'm planning on taking this to the next step. Climbing under the doggone RV and see if there's a way I can wrap the exposed pipe with the heat cable.

Unfortunately, it might be Spring before I get under it. :)

wanderingaimles · Answer

Any lines under the floor you could try that with as well as wrapping in foam insulation, but you still have the tanks to deal with.
If you are into the home handyman routine, why not attach an insulation panel similar to what the Manufacturers do, and then adding a small tank heater to take care of that as well?

naturist · Answer

Um, sounds like reinvention of the wheel to me. They make heat tapes designed specifically to keep water pipes from freezing. They have built in thermostats, and will keep the pipe/water above freezing with zero attention from anyone. Run the tape down the line, put a wrap of water pipe insulation around it all, plug it in and forget it. I used them for years when we lived in northern Ohio. They work like charms.

bobndot · Answer

Have a hair dryer handy as well for the dump valve and in case the LP regulator freezes.
If you have the slide out , make sure you have a broom and ladder to scrape off the slideout roof before you pull it back in. Heat from inside the rv tends to penetrate those thin slide tops and if it snows, it can melt and turn to ice overnight making it more difficult to remove.
When parked long term , try to block the wind from going underneath the rv. I have seen some people use a simple tarp where they cut it into narrow widths of maybe 3 ft and long lengths to skirt the bottom. They used parachute cord to tie along the perimeter. You can 'dead-man' the bottom of the tarp in place with frozen snow, dirt or firewood to hold it from flapping.

magnusfide · Answer

Don't forget to get a no-freeze waterhose for you shoreline. It made all the difference in the world for our winter camping. Here's one that we bought:
NoFreeze Water Hose. They also have no freeze waste hose attachments.

shum02 · Answer

You can get glue on RV holding tank heaters as well.  They are thermostatically conctrolled and come in both 12VDC, 120VAC as well as combo unit's.  Along with that are dump valve and dump pipe heaters but they are usually just on/off controlled, no thermostat.

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