Freeze prevention ?

Thanks for all the great input and suggestions, I’ll take some of what will work for us and hope for the best. Just arrived and opened the camper up. No problems found other then an icicle hanging from the one already opened low point drain. First ran the furnace and fireplace to get the coach up to 60 from 38 when we arrived. Hooked up to city water first then checked for leaks, none. Ran HWH on both gas and electric together to get hot water, no problem. Filled the fresh tank until full and checked all faucets, no problems. I layed a couple thick blankets over the outside kitchen faucet inside the cabinet to hopefully help. Current temp is now 31 from TWC, forecast low of 19 tonight high of 38 tomorrow and overnight low of 25. Should be ok. Love the electric fireplace and still running the LP Furnace to hopefully heat the underbelly.
Surprisingly the above ground campground water faucets are not frozen. I see several units that do like we do for football season that still have the water hose connected to the side of there rigs. At least I disconnected it and opened low point drains. I am noticing the larger Class A motor homes are doing what I’m doing for the night,
Unit will be winterized by me next when temps are forecasted to be near 50 daytime and overnight in 30’s
Thanks again for the suggestions.

I've hunted for a week with night temps in upper teens for at least 3 nights an 20's the rest. Daytime temps were upper 30's to 40's. Exposed black and grey tanks. Left grey dump valve open with old garden hose draining down hill. Fresh water tank has Cloroplast on bottom, top is insulated by floor insulation and has 3 inch opening in heat duct to get hot air to top of fresh water tank. Never had a problem with anything freezing. Got back home hooked up electric and dumped and rinsed black tank no problem. Did not drain fresh water tank. Kept an electric heater on low settings in the trailer and opened lower cabinet doors until next hunting trip.

remember propane furnaces eat fuel. and they need a good battery .

Sounds like short trip - leave the heater on and water pipes etc inside the rig will be OK - dump some pink stuff into Blk/Gry tanks and they s/b OK. Open a cabinet or whatever to expose the interior water pipes if it gets extreme.

Mikesr wrote:
The campground DOES NOT have winterized water connections just above ground faucets. Hopefully they work. The camper is a 2017 Outback 325BH with a fully enclosed underbelly. I’ll assume the underbelly is heated since the camper has a thermal package. Anyone know ?
The unit has an electric fireplace plus the LP furnace. I’m thinking of running the furnace even when we leave for the game and setting it at like 50 degrees. Daytime temps on Saturday are only in the 30’s.
The unit has an outside kitchen with water and that worries me too.
After this weekend I’ll fully winterize the unit and we’ll br8ng it home.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It's quite possible the campground has winterized their water lines and won't allow them to be used. You may need to bring containers for transporting water to fill your tank. It's also possible, they have closed their dump site.

Don't assume anything when it comes to heated holding tanks. Various manufacturers used different levels protection. Some just insulated around the tanks, some insulate the tanks and enclose the under belly, some insulate tanks, enclose under belly, and route heating duct work near the tanks, some insulate tanks, enclose under belly, route duct work nearby, and add an opening for heated air to blow on the tanks, and some do various levels mentioned above, plus install electric heating pads on the tanks. They will all tell the customers "they have heated tanks". The "thermal package" could simply be the enclosed under belly.

Also note, even those units with the most extreme tank heat options, won't protect the tanks unless the trailer is plugged into shore power and furnace is running 24/7.

I too, would be concerned about water lines in that outside kitchen. Maybe there's some way to vent some heated air into that area.

I have used my TT (it has electric pads (12/110 volt) on the tanks, enclosed under belly, heat duct running along side the tanks) for deer hunting in North Dakota. On one trip, it got down to minus 5 degrees on the day we were towing back (about 80 miles) to town. Even with the electric tank heat and electric pads on dump lines, down to within 10 inches of the valve. When got to the dump site, my valve was frozen. I had tanks full of warm stuff that I couldn't get rid of. Luckily, I had some disposable pocket warmers and a 12 volt hair drier to thaw it out. I have the plumbing lines disconnected and capped off (inside heated space) for the outside shower.

Bring some RV antifreeze. Enough to pour about half gallon in each black / grey tank, and enough to winterize the trailer if things go sideways with the weather.

If you have a small de-humidifier, bring that to help with condensation inside the trailer. It can get to a point where any clothing that may be touching the walls (in closets and drawers) will get wet. If un-noticed, that can cause mold.

Leave cabinet / closet doors slightly open to allow heated air under the sinks, and for circulation.

Camping it the cold without a four season TT always involves a bit of risk. It does not seem to stop me or many other campers.

If it is near or below freezing all day I will dry camp, If it is only cold at night I chance it and live with the results.

From past experience in my TT, upper 20's at night 40's during the day worked out okay. Any questionable weather and I will dry camp.

But remember every TT is different.

I would certainly be finding out if the underbelly is heated. And I would have at least a half tank of fresh water. Unprotected outside faucets not likely to work with temps going below 20. Nor would your fresh water hose unless it was heated. They may even have the water to the park shut off.

While using the water tank and running furnace is best choice, other risks at those temps may prove to be too much. Yes, the outside kitchen water pipes/faucets, the outside shower pipes/faucets, exposed low point drains, and fresh water drain. JMO, but with temps below 20, daytime only 30s, too much risk.

Jerry

NOT the smart guy... but temps in the 30's with heaters running... Good to go !!

Have fun.

-Repo