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brookside's avatar
brookside
Explorer
Dec 10, 2016

Freezing Temps And Tanks Not Draining

We moved out of our house and have to finish up a couple of things before leaving, and in comes the freezing temps to central KS. We are in a new to us, 2310 Hi Lo. My husband put a gallon of RV anti-freeze down both the gray and black water tanks. Two days later, with freezing temps, the tanks will not drain. The plunger in the shower brings up water and the pink anti-freeze. We didn't learn this until after dark, so will have to work on it tomorrow.

The temp last night was 11 degrees and the high today about 28, similar to this for yesterday. It will be 40 degrees tomorrow and 32 tomorrow night. 48 on Sunday. Central Kansas - a place we will flee as soon as possible.

We have Buddy Heater, the big one in storage that we can access. I have searched here and googled for ideas. I wish I could better pinpoint where it may be frozen, it is not the thingy that you pull open as that is fine. I am thinking maybe some water went into the tank, formed an ice cube near the outlet and it is blocking the whole deal.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Yes, I know this may seem less than bright, but sold the house and the weather decided to be a good 20 degrees colder than last year. This is what we have to work with.

Thanks!
Seeking Advice
  • PaisleyDale's avatar
    PaisleyDale
    Explorer
    Dec 14, 2016
    I lived in a 5th wheel for five cold winter with temps getting down to zero F. My water pipes froze inside several times without ever a brake.

    I had heat tape attached to a hard brown water hose and covered it with 2" foam pipe insulation this heat tape also covered the exposed hose bib.

    I covered the valves for both the black and grey tanks and the exposed pipes before the valves with tin foil then heat tape. This kept my valves working all winter.

    I always had my grey valve open and connected to the slinky and the slinky rested in an elevated cradle. I never had a problem with this system.
  • brookside's avatar
    brookside
    Explorer
    Dec 15, 2016
    PaisleyDale wrote:
    I lived in a 5th wheel for five cold winter with temps getting down to zero F. My water pipes froze inside several times without ever a brake.

    I had heat tape attached to a hard brown water hose and covered it with 2" foam pipe insulation this heat tape also covered the exposed hose bib.

    I covered the valves for both the black and grey tanks and the exposed pipes before the valves with tin foil then heat tape. This kept my valves working all winter.

    I always had my grey valve open and connected to the slinky and the slinky rested in an elevated cradle. I never had a problem with this system.


    Excellent advice. You covered it all! We didn't get the fresh water hose bib covered and that was the last thing that froze. So far, and we are expecting a 2 degree night, so far only done 15, the Reflectix shielding and drop light have kept the tanks flowing although, in order to keep up and not end up full, we empty the tanks after we shower every evening. The good thing is that we near the office/bathhouse for backup water/toilet "services".

    Thanks!

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