I’ll be in Yellowstone next week in my TT and am concerned about temps dipping below freezing at night. My holding tanks are all exposed below the underbelly. I can easily run some RV antifreeze through my supply lines via the water pump and use water containers for my fresh water needs, but am not sure about the waste tanks. I won’t be able to avoid using the gray and black tanks. I can pour antifreeze in the drain lines but it will be diluted by the gray and black waste water. Is the answer just more antifreeze? Any temporary and easy insulation I can rig up for the exposed tanks and low point drains? Forecasted low temps look to be around 30-35. Am I worrying too much? Thanks in advance.

Dipping down to 30 for a couple hours shouldn't cause problems. How much do you trust the forecast to be accurate?The water and stuff in the tanks probably wouldn't cause any problems even if it were to freeze; the tanks are somewhat flexible, and there's generally room for the water to expand upwards when it freezes. The water trapped in the plumbing between the tanks and the dump valve is far more likely to cause trouble if it freezes, possibly breaking that pipe. Under the conditions you describe, though, I doubt it would be at all likely to freeze hard at all.Rock salt is one inexpensive way to help prevent freezing in the gray and black water tanks. It's probably not ideal for septic systems in large quantities, but at a developed campground dump station that would not concern me in the least (partly because it will get diluted a lot in short order). Obviously, salt water in the fresh water tank is not a great idea, even if it eliminates one step when cooking pasta.

When the black and gray tanks are empty I just pour RV antifreeze in to rest against the dump valves. If it gets above freezing during the day its not a big deal. When I camped out in the winter all the time I liked adding the heating pads and heat tape to everything.

The first time we were at Yellowstone was in mid-August several years ago. We had snow one day. so- who knows what you'll get this time of year

I would kick back and let her rip

Yellowstone Next Week - Freezing Temps Concern | Good Sam Community

time2roll
Nomad
May 15, 2021
InTheRockies wrote:
Forecasted low temps look to be around 30-35. Am I worrying too much?
Yes. Most any RV is fine down to 25 while in use.
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 15, 2021
I would not worry until 27 F.
agesilaus
Explorer III
May 15, 2021
According to my FIL who was a manager for the Dept Of Agriculture, rapid freezing occurs at 26 deg F. And that means in an hour or two for a water hose. But up in the thirties it is not an issue if the temps are above freezing during the day, most of the time. We had a water hose freeze a few weeks ago outside Bryce, was not watching the weather closely. No big problem, thawed out in a couple hours, no damage.
Bionic_Man
Explorer
May 16, 2021
I've spent many days below freezing in my trailer. Sounds like I have a bit more insulation than you have, but I wouldn't worry. The heat from the trailer will keep you from freezing. One piece of advice - have at least half a tank of water in your fresh tank. I have been there when the water spigot froze, and I didn't have enough water in my fresh tank to last the day.
SpeakEasy
Explorer
May 16, 2021
A couple weeks ago we experienced several nights below freezing in our travel trailer in Arizona and Utah. The coldest night was 24 degrees. Had absolutely no problems. The only thing I did to prevent problems was to remove the outside shower head from its hose and bring it inside. The valves for the outside shower were still vulnerable, but there wasn't much I could do for them other than keep the bathroom cabinet door open and the bathroom door open to allow warmer air to access the areas closest to the outside shower.

Temps around 30? Nothing to worry about.

-Speak
InTheRockies
Explorer
May 16, 2021
Thanks for all the input. I’ll take the advice here and not worry about temps in the low 30s.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
May 16, 2021
Another factor people forget
32 degrees F or 0 C is the freezing point of DISTILLED water at precisely one atmosphere pressure.. Different pressure will change the freezing (and boiling) points.
Impurities will also LOWER the freezing point (And generally raise the boiling point) That water in the black and gray tanks... VERY VERY Impure.
PatJ
Explorer II
May 18, 2021
I was worried my first few cold nights in my "new" (2019) rig as I do not have tank heaters or anything fancy like that. I have since spent many nights below 30 and two nights where I woke up to 20f and no issues so far. So far I have pictures in 5 states with snow all around my rig. I didn't try to flush tanks at 20f, but nothing broke dropping down there for a few hours late night/early morning and we used the rig normally. My drain/flush valves are what I was most concerned about.

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Yellowstone Next Week - Freezing Temps Concern

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