Camping with full hookups in below freezing weather

OR the alternative - leave the fresh water / waste water systems winterized and just don't use them at all. :B JMO but for a weekend of camping in sub freezing temps I'd use a porta potti sitting in the shower pan, draw fresh water from a couple of 7 gal portable Aquatainers sitting inside the warmed trailer, avoid draining any dishwater or shower water into the GW tank, and use the campground bath house for showering. K.I.S.S. ;)

How I do it.... NOTE THere part of this is "Secondary" to another issue

Fresh water. Hook up during day. Fill on-board storage tank (The water where I winter is high chlorine this lets the chlorine dissapate) unhook and drain hose.

Waste.. Hook up and Dump. Then "Walk" the hose so nothing in it remains save a few drops and a lot of air.. Now at the "Main" park I will leave the hose hooked up for 2 weeks but empty of liquid Valves closed.. Then I Dump again before I leave (2 weeks later) disconnect drain and stow (I also refill fresh tank at that time)

NOte this means the hoses only contain air except when actually in use. No freezing issues.

Only once have I ever had a problem with this system.. park froze. My hose was ok but park was froze. I had to re-fill at the other park.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

fitznj wrote:
how long are you going to be camping in below freezing weather?

If it's just overnight then I would not worry. If it's for several days then that's a different story.

If it is only going below freezing at night, I would disconnect the pressure hose at night and drain it. Store some drinking and washing water before going to bed.

X2
Disconnect from water spigot and the key factor being "drain" the hose. Just hold it over your head and walk it over till all the water is out.

AND if you have one of those RV inline blue water filter's? Make sure you take that off and bring it inside. Water stays inside that filter.

Don't ask me how I know that. I did all the right stuff with hose except the filter and in the morning that blue filter froze and blew clean apart! And that was just one night that hit 32 degrees! :B

fitznj wrote:
how long are you going to be camping in below freezing weather?

If it's just overnight then I would not worry. If it's for several days then that's a different story.

If it is only going below freezing at night, I would disconnect the pressure hose at night and drain it. Store some drinking and ashing water before going to bed.

how long are you going to be camping in below freezing weather?

If it's just overnight then I would not worry. If it's for several days then that's a different story.

I camp through out the winter in freezing (night only) weather and I do not take any special precautions. Temps get to about 25deg. Occasionally the black/grey tank does freeze but it thaws out during the day or I dump a gallon or two of hot water.

There are hoses with heat tape surrounding it so the water never freezes. Even with those hoses, you can have issues at the spigot and inlet if allowed to freeze. Drawing from the onboard tank will reduce the concern over a standing water line in the freezing weather. You should't have any issues with the hose so long as water is running such as when refiling the tank.

Small heat pads on the waste tanks is the best solution if planning to camp long-term in freezing temperatures. Even with full hookups, you still wave water standing in the lines. Most tank treatments delay normal freezing
so unless your taking always freezing, not that big a worry for an occasional overnight freezing temps.