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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!
  • The pink RV antifreeze is not like vehicle antifreeze. It will gel or slush at low temps. It doesn't expand like water so you should be OK. Really hot water introduced to the tanks after temps get above freezing should get everything flowing again. You can even add some salt to lower the freezing point of the tank contents.
  • I think you have done all you can do by putting antifreeze in after the fact. Let it thaw when it warms up tomorrow then winterize properly. Then inspect everything for damage (water tanks/hot water heater/etc) as there could be burst fittings at any point in your system.