Our highs are all in the low 60's early week, then mid 50's.. with lows right around 50 until Friday, then it is forecasted to be 29... Saturday back to 50 with the highs averaging mid 50's and lows averaging mid 40's..We have not winterized yet, hoping for extended trips this year... Should I be worried about that 1 night? Am I crazy for even asking?

Our temps here will be somewhat similar and I am not concerned.... I was camping last weekend and still have all my lines and water heater full.... If your truly concerned, you can always turn on your furnace that night and leave it set at the lowest setting... 40*..50* .. For Me, don't wast the propane..By the time the temps around the lines get to freezing, the outside temps will be rising again... Don"t Worry, Camp On !

The answer is no. One night of freezing temps isn't a worry. It's when you get multiple days with wind that will freeze your pipes. You can always drain your lines and throw anti freeze in the traps if you're worried.

We had a few nights of freezing temps in Az and ice in the fresh water supply hose. Flushed out after a minute or two but... one of the heated hoses with 110 plug is in order. Price of over a hundred to over 200 according to length galls me though. I know I can use from the tank and refill during thee day but that's another chore...when it is cold outside! We had installed a 50 amp box at wife's Sisters for our stay but not a 110...so I'm thinking of getting a tech to run a 120ac plug from the other side of the coach that has two or three in the bays. May need a separate wire an breaker though as intend some sort of small forced air heater with weather tight or resistant housing and thermostat to make sure the tangs are warm and the wet bay. Just need the layout and drawing it up before any cutting etc. Would also come in handy going down the road. The furnaces heat the bays some but...***came cross this MH Service Bay Heater: 12volt apparently with plugList several MFGs that use it or that it will fit.Motorhome Service Bay Heater

down home wrote:We had a few nights of freezing temps in Az and ice in the fresh water supply hose. Flushed out after a minute or two but... one of the heated hoses with 110 plug is in order. Price of over a hundred to over 200 according to length galls me though. I know I can use from the tank and refill during thee day but that's another chore...when it is cold outside! We had installed a 50 amp box at wife's Sisters for our stay but not a 110...so I'm thinking of getting a tech to run a 120ac plug from the other side of the coach that has two or three in the bays. May need a separate wire an breaker though as intend some sort of small forced air heater with weather tight or resistant housing and thermostat to make sure the tangs are warm and the wet bay. Just need the layout and drawing it up before any cutting etc. Would also come in handy going down the road. The furnaces heat the bays some but...***came cross this MH Service Bay Heater: 12volt apparently with plugList several MFGs that use it or that it will fit.https://shop.findmyrvparts.com/wet-bay-heater-service-bay-3000rv-monaco-rv-parts-p/3000rv.htmdon't fully understand your post, but if you have a 50 amp hookup, you have 120 availablebumpy

Mayor30 wrote:The answer is no. One night of freezing temps isn't a worry. It's when you get multiple days with wind that will freeze your pipes.Care to share the physics behind that? No, if it's cold enough to freeze, one night is enough. Wind can speed it up a bit but if it's only a couple degrees below freezing, it makes less impact than you might think (wind can be a real issue when in colder weather and you are relying on the heat from the furnace to keep everything thawed).To the OP: - How reliable is your weather forecast? If it's really 29F and it only drops below 32F for an hour or two, it probably won't be long enough to freeze but it's a **** shoot. - If they are off or you are in a low spot where it gets down to 25F and holds for 3-4 hours, freezing is likely. The main tank probably not going to freeze as there is too much mass but lines and fittings don't have the same mass, so they can and will freeze more quickly.If it's convenient to your house, you can just turn on the furnace and set it for something like 60F, that will bleed off enough heat that it should keep the lines from freezing while using negligible propane if you don't want to do a proper winterization.One item to watch is the Black/Gray drain pipes. If they are exposed, heating the trailer won't do much for those, so it's best to drain those tanks fully, so there is nothing sitting in the exposed pipes.

question about freezing temps | Good Sam Community

Aka_the_breeze
Explorer
Oct 30, 2020
update... NOW the low is only forecast to be 31 ... 33 at 4am..32 at 5am.. 32 at 6am...31 at 7am then going up from there ... up to 48 as the high..
Not gonna worry about that....
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Oct 29, 2020
Yeah a unit can have frozen water lines/drain lines at 29 degrees. BTDT.
Situation was we were in western OK at a on the hill campsite in a state park. Cold front roared in out of the NW as usual with 30+ degree temp drops. By dark temps were 32 degrees with 30-35 mph winds. Next morn no running water.
High winds can cold soak a trailer with no heat source fast.

And of course all rv trailer do not have the same insulation values. All we can say is what we experience with our particular trailer.
down_home
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2020
We have used the drop light before. I don't know what happened to the ones we had.
The newer plastic ones do melt and the 130 watt break resistant bulbs, last ones I bought were coated with plastic of some sort, that could kill you in your sleep as they out gassed a poison. That's been a while.
I would like to look at someone's bay that has the heater installed from the factory and duplicate it. Driving down the road in sub freezing weather with it on as well as the furnaces shouldn't have or might not any worries about freezing plumbing. One year coming back from Disney World it was dry but 20 degrees.
When we got to where we stored it, we plugged it in of course. It was not until the enxt day they emptied the tanks and took it inside. I wondered if they had any ice problems. At night it was around zero or lower.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Oct 27, 2020
down home wrote:

We stayed in Az for awhile, parked on Relative's lot that had sewer connection but not fifty amp connection. We installed that but did not think to have a 120pug installed too. We do not have 120 plug in the wetbay but have three on the other side of coach in the bays. Getting a 120plug installed in wet bay, we would not be dependent on a 120 plug on a tower or not.
Afterwards I tumbled across the link to 12 volt wet bay heater that some coaches have and could be installed in ours or yours.

So save 250 bucks and get a 60 watt 12 volt light bulb. Or if you can find one--a 24 volt bulb.
schlep1967
Nomad
Oct 27, 2020
down home wrote:
We had a few nights of freezing temps in Az and ice in the fresh water supply hose. Flushed out after a minute or two but... one of the heated hoses with 110 plug is in order. Price of over a hundred to over 200 according to length galls me though. I know I can use from the tank and refill during thee day but that's another chore...when it is cold outside! We had installed a 50 amp box at wife's Sisters for our stay but not a 110...so I'm thinking of getting a tech to run a 120ac plug from the other side of the coach that has two or three in the bays. May need a separate wire an breaker though as intend some sort of small forced air heater with weather tight or resistant housing and thermostat to make sure the tangs are warm and the wet bay. Just need the layout and drawing it up before any cutting etc. Would also come in handy going down the road. The furnaces heat the bays some but...

***came cross this MH Service Bay Heater: 12volt apparently with plug
List several MFGs that use it or that it will fit.
https://shop.findmyrvparts.com/wet-bay-heater-service-bay-3000rv-monaco-rv-parts-p/3000rv.htm

Wet Bay Heater Link
down_home
Explorer II
Oct 27, 2020
Can someone get the link in my post to the wet bay heater to work, I don't seem to be able to.
down_home
Explorer II
Oct 27, 2020
Bumpyroad wrote:
down home wrote:
We had a few nights of freezing temps in Az and ice in the fresh water supply hose. Flushed out after a minute or two but... one of the heated hoses with 110 plug is in order. Price of over a hundred to over 200 according to length galls me though. I know I can use from the tank and refill during thee day but that's another chore...when it is cold outside! We had installed a 50 amp box at wife's Sisters for our stay but not a 110...so I'm thinking of getting a tech to run a 120ac plug from the other side of the coach that has two or three in the bays. May need a separate wire an breaker though as intend some sort of small forced air heater with weather tight or resistant housing and thermostat to make sure the tangs are warm and the wet bay. Just need the layout and drawing it up before any cutting etc. Would also come in handy going down the road. The furnaces heat the bays some but...

***came cross this MH Service Bay Heater: 12volt apparently with plug
List several MFGs that use it or that it will fit.
https://shop.findmyrvparts.com/wet-bay-heater-service-bay-3000rv-monaco-rv-parts-p/3000rv.htm

don't fully understand your post, but if you have a 50 amp hookup, you have 120 available
bumpy

We stayed in Az for awhile, parked on Relative's lot that had sewer connection but not fifty amp connection. We installed that but did not think to have a 120pug installed too. We do not have 120 plug in the wetbay but have three on the other side of coach in the bays. Getting a 120plug installed in wet bay, we would not be dependent on a 120 plug on a tower or not.
Afterwards I tumbled across the link to 12 volt wet bay heater that some coaches have and could be installed in ours or yours.
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Oct 27, 2020
My experience is that the ball valves for the water heater bypass are the most critical.

Unless you have constant pressure in your water lines from the pump being on, or connected to outside water pressure, there is enough air space in the line for light freeze conditions most of the time.

Of course if you have a constant heat source that is a great help.

The ball valves trap a bit of water. They are a very hard plastic which has zero flexability. They hold a bit more than an ounce of water which can freeze quickly.

What causes damage is not the water freezing - it is the EXPANSION of water turning to ICE.

RV 'antifreeze' gets slushy at 30 degrees, freezes solid near 10 degrees. But it does not expand when it freezes.

Modern PEX used in RV's can take a little expansion. It is the joints, fittings and things like the ball valves that cannot take the pressure of expansion.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Oct 27, 2020
Most RVs are poorly insulated and the interior temps drop down pretty quickly without any heat. There is also the issue of the accuracy of the weather forecast. What if the predicted 29 degree temp is off and the temps drop to the mid or low 20s?

If you have electricity, a space heater on low would avoid any concerns. Otherwise I would at least run the furnace and warm up the RV late in the evening. Don't forget about the HW tank. Heat it and it will take many hours to cool off.
schlep1967
Nomad
Oct 27, 2020
Not crazy to ask. Simple answer is if you are camping put water in your tank and disconnect the city water hose for the night. If you are not camping and you have electric you can run a heater in the area where your water lines are. You don't say what kind of unit you have. If a 5th wheel like mine all I would need to do is turn on the 12 volt lights in the basement. They make some pretty good heat in an enclosed area.
If you don't have electric you can easily open the low point drains and get most of the water out of the system. I doubt the water heater will freeze in that time frame but it is easy enough to drain if you want to be careful.