DiskDoctr wrote:
God Bless you guys!!!
Bob,I had to back up and read your post to DW. We both laughed. Did you know I do a pretty animated impression of you when I read LOL.
Not much I can do for you and Don from this distance, but here's a tip that might be of use?
When we winterize, we use the hose attached to the pump as part of the winterization addon kit for antifreeze. It draws in antifreeze from the bottle and pumps it to anywhere in the system with an open valve or faucet.
We use aquatainters for fresh water when we camp. Why couldn't you use something like that INSIDE your TT and flip your valves to draw water into your system from the aquatainer (or whatever) through that winterization hose and use it throughout your TT?
It would surely work in a pinch...like when you have a mouth full of toothpaste! :)
You know...if you are going to keep up this rather...ahem...*wild* and cold lifestyle, it may be helpful to put a Y connector on your fill pipe, leading INSIDE the TT (if you can access it from inside?) or even add a fill tank to your FW tank.
You could then use that winterization tube as mentioned and connect a hose from a faucet or wherever to fill your FW tank from the INSIDE.
The Aquatainer we use holds 7 gallons and is reasonable to carry and handle. It has a valve that screws into the cap and you can lay it on its side and use water directly from it by gravity. No mess- should be fine for indoor use.
Fill the container from indoor supply, carry to TT, PUMP it to indoor fill line (or use directly). Should help avoid the freezing, standing outside, hose length and water issues, etc.
Would take a few trips to fill tank completely, but it should be simple enough to spread it out. I don't know how much water you use daily. It surely wouldn't be as convenient as a hose in warm weather, but you could likely skip the heatgun exercise ;)
Keep warm, guys!
LOL on the animated impression!!
I work outside all day in this weather, so I have the proper clothing to keep me warm. Standing out there thawing the filler isn't too bad when I'm dressed for it.
I hit Alberta on November 12, Home for Christmas Dec 19 and now back here Jan 26 for who knows how long....
Although I have RV'd in cold weather before, this is my first real winter endurance run for an extended time.
I have learned a few things while here. One of them is to get a TT with the Arctic package or whatever you call the ones designed for cold weather use. I am looking to upgrade, hopefully this summer if I can swing it. This TT is full of draft holes. I have plugged a lot of them but there are many more.
For me, winterizing has always been blowing out the lines only. I disconnect the pump and blow it out too. It rarely freezes where I live, only occasionally. This year was the first time I ever even put some pink in the traps. I never bothered before. And the only reason I did this time is because the guy I bought this TT from last May left a bit in a jug in the unit.
I do carry a pair of the aquatainers too. I use them when I cannot get to a hose. Mine are 5 gallons each.
I never thought of putting a Y on the inside of my rig. Good idea!
I don't have a problem with freezing in my water system with the exception of my kitchen water feed lines. They swing right to the outside wall under the shore power cable storage bin and freeze under there. Everything else is fine. Bathtub drain trap froze a couple times but no big deal.
Fresh water tank is under the jackknife sofa, and the run to the pump goes all the way to the back via the heat duct run. Furnace, HWT and water pump are all in the same corner under the lower bunk. I'm surprised it doesn't freeze where it runs under the tub to go to the kitchen, but it doesn't, not even when it was minus 34C (-29F)
So using the water system in the cold isn't a problem, as long as I keep the furnace going. I run the HWT 24/7 too.
If I had a big freeze-up problem, then your use of the containers as described would make good sense.
I'm doing good for water use - I am very careful with it, as I cannot dump my grey tank until the weather gets above freezing. Where I am parked, I have a key to the shop so during the freezing times, i use the bathroom inside.
