Keep water lines from freezing

Some campgrounds turn off the water during freezing temps. Have you made sure your campground leaves the water on year round?

This thread, Arctic Fox winter use mods, is about mods done to a slide-in truck camper however a lot of the mods would transfer over to a TT. Maybe look what this guy has done and it might give you some ideas.

From that thread, one mod in particular shows a sleeved hose heater applied to the fresh water tank's hose that runs to the pump. You could do something like that and have your fresh tank filled. In the event the temp drops to sustained freezing, you could pull in the city water hook-up and still have water running from your tank.

Other than that, the guy had some good ideas for cutting off drafts as well. Some of that thread goes into more an extreme winterizing, but some ideas for you to think about anyway.

For these late hunts, use the internal tank. I had a vinyl snap-on full skirt made to further insolate the bottom. Also, get some 1/4-1/2 inch foam board and cut it into 2 inch strips. Place it under any pipes that run along the floor or on the wheel wells within the cabinets.

ETA: You need to be concerned about the gray & black water tanks especially when departing camp. Make sure the valves do not freeze up by pouring at least 1/2 gal of the cheap RV anti-freeze into each tank while setting up your camp.

Have you seen this. Kind of pricey, but.


http://www.amazon.com/Camco-22904-TastePURE-Heated-Drinking/dp/B00QUS23RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437950516&sr=8-1&keywords=heated+water+hose+for+rv

Also, on the other end, don't leave the grey water valve open like you normally would in an RV park. If you let little trickles of water go down it, they don't have enough heat to keep the water from freezing all of the way down your sewer line. Open the grey valve when the tank is at least half way full so the large volume of reasonably warmer water will stay warm enough going down the line so it doesn't freeze.

And, don't have any low spots in the drain line. If any water sit in it, the line will be frozen the next time you dump or go to put it away.

Bill

You can get these at a lot of camper supply stores.


http://www.123ponds.com/kh5021.html?utm_source=kh5021&utm_medium=shopping%2Bengine&utm_campaign=googleproducts&gclid=CNeMnKDl-cYCFcWPHwodN4ILKA



And remember, if you use portable electric space heaters inside the camper they will not heat the undercarriage like the TT furnace will in most 4 season campers.

Available in northern climes, though perhaps not in Arizona, are heat tapes specifically intended to go on exposed water pipes. They contain internal thermostats set to keep the tape at 35 degrees, just above freezing. You may have to google them, but they are widely available at home improvement stores. I used to see them all the time in Ohio, but not so much here in Virginia, we have to look for them. It should be noted that they should NEVER be place such that the heated part overlaps itself. In some applications, the tape is run along the pipe, in others, it wraps around the pipe every few inches. The tape will have instructions, be careful to follow them lest the tape burn itself up.

Furnace on. Cabinets open to allow air circulation to the water lines.

Fill fresh water tank......forget about hose, just drain/stow it.

4 season rv should have heated enclosed underbelly...most likely from a furnace duct that blows warm air into area of tanks.

Make sure you keep temps up using the furnace.

We went 2 weeks in -14*F temps.....used fresh water tank and furnace.
Had to keep cabinet doors open at night so warm air flowed around inside cabinets where water lines ran.
Only real issue......propane. GULP! GULP! Furnace was thirsty 30# cylinder every other day

RJCorazza wrote:
I would probably run off the tank and refill when necessary.

This unless you don't have onboard water..