Outfitter Apex 8 Winter (Freezing) Camping

Geewizard wrote:

Oldtymeflyr wrote:
We have a Apex 8 Outfitter and we are good to about -10 degrees. We travel with fresh water and use the toilet just as we would in the summer.

During the day the furnace will be used when its below zero to keep the temperature in the 40's. We have also had to add a computer fan to circulate heated air to the passenger side, front corner of our Outfitter.

Our tanks are heated.

We have found that at some temperature below -20 degrees our propane regulator will freeze and we are out of business. We don't use the camper in that cold a weather.

Yes, the furnace keeps up well, it does not run constantly. The fridge we watch so things do not freeze. We have a blanket over the large dinette window and covers on the inside of the ceiling vents.

Good Luck.

Rick

Ditto. This has been my experience as well, more or less. I don't use a blanket over the dinette window since I have the Seitz double pane windows. I just close the blind to create another air space.
I also carry another propane tank.

Outfitter TCs have heated tanks just for this purpose.

I hate long quotes, but it seemed appropriate this time. We also have an Apex8 and we have stayed comfortably down to 10 degrees many times. The first time the water line froze under the dinette seat along the passenger side. Problem was the water line was routed next to the wall. I moved it away from the wall and added foam insulation. Also, I added foam insulation under the outside shower cover on the driver's side. Absolutely no frozen water lines since then.

Use some auxiliary electric, but let your furnace run some because that heats your basement where your tanks are.

I sleep in my Northstar 850 pop up once a week all year long in NH while I'm at work. I plug it in and run a small ceramic electric heater. That heater keeps my camper at 65-70 the whole time. When temps are in the single digits the heater might be set to 3/4 but generally speaking its at 1/2 or less. I keep my tanks dry and use windshield washer fluid in my cassette toilet for flushing. I've never had a problem. I would take the camper off and plug it in. When you get back from sight seeing for the day you will have a toasty camper. To me that's the only way to go.

Oldtymeflyr wrote:
We have a Apex 8 Outfitter and we are good to about -10 degrees. We travel with fresh water and use the toilet just as we would in the summer.

During the day the furnace will be used when its below zero to keep the temperature in the 40's. We have also had to add a computer fan to circulate heated air to the passenger side, front corner of our Outfitter.

Our tanks are heated.

We have found that at some temperature below -20 degrees our propane regulator will freeze and we are out of business. We don't use the camper in that cold a weather.

Yes, the furnace keeps up well, it does not run constantly. The fridge we watch so things do not freeze. We have a blanket over the large dinette window and covers on the inside of the ceiling vents.

Good Luck.

Rick

Ditto. This has been my experience as well, more or less. I don't use a blanket over the dinette window since I have the Seitz double pane windows. I just close the blind to create another air space.
I also carry another propane tank.

Outfitter TCs have heated tanks just for this purpose.

We've camped in Eastern WA and MT down to 6 degrees F.

My advice is to empty and dry out the black and gray tanks.

Use water like a tent camper --- toss gray water out the back door, not down the drain. If you need to use the gray tanks, add plenty of pink UNSCENTED antifreeze.

Use pink antifreeze to flush the toilet.

It's simple. Just keep water out of your tanks. This is the relaxing way to travel. You won't find yourself worrying about how warm or cold everything is. No need to run the furnace or monitor tank temps.

Forget about it. Have fun.

996Pilot wrote:


There's the quote of the day. You bet!!! I'm looking at cheap motels in the area as an alternative to bringing the camper.

Bring the camper , you may have mild winter weather . Get a motel for a night or two , if needed , to give yourself a break .

Maybe Oldtymeflr will advise if he did anything special to his Apex for winter .

We have a Apex 8 Outfitter and we are good to about -10 degrees. We travel with fresh water and use the toilet just as we would in the summer.

During the day the furnace will be used when its below zero to keep the temperature in the 40's. We have also had to add a computer fan to circulate heated air to the passenger side, front corner of our Outfitter.

Our tanks are heated.

We have found that at some temperature below -20 degrees our propane regulator will freeze and we are out of business. We don't use the camper in that cold a weather.

Yes, the furnace keeps up well, it does not run constantly. The fridge we watch so things do not freeze. We have a blanket over the large dinette window and covers on the inside of the ceiling vents.

Good Luck.

Rick

ticki2 wrote:
Bring a hair dryer to thaw out waste valves and connections if needed

+1

This predicament has made the rounds here many times. We've camped in cold weather and finally below about 10F degrees, plugged in or not resorted to running a dry ship. This means no water in the system and using straight minus 50F degree RV antifreeze to flush the toilet. Our water for drinking is in smaller burst proof jugs.
Cold is an all intrusive menace. We've blown our water pump; split the water lines; froze up the dump valves and grey dump line and generally made a mess of things in very cold weather, all of which is invisible until after it thaws. But...we made our own mistakes and I"m thankful for 1st hand experience, as caustic as it was. With a 2 season camper (Fall and Spring) we simply go dry during the white season. We don't TC in summer.
It's still possible to have a good time.
jefe

I'm assuming that mostly, you are just using your TC to sleep.

Check to see if your campground will have bathrooms open or not. I assume it will and heated shower and bathroom. Do make sure it is open if it is a government run RV park. It probably has a heated bathroom and shower, just turn down the heat to minimize propane usage, or use a low powered heater, and winterize the camper.

If you are wanting to flush, either carry bottles of RV antifreeze or add some to your fresh water tank. Do make sure you drain your hot water heater if you can. If you put freshwater down the tank, add RV antifreeze as well.

Assuming you have some type of covers for the jacks, unloading is probably better than raising the roof each night. I'd put the jack supports on some material to keep from freezing to the ground. I'm not sure how you protect the outside from getting snow in the fabric, but I guess it would melt.

Cut reflectix to fit the tent openings and tape together with silver foil hvac tape. You can roll it up. Add it under your bed, tape it together. Cut it slightly large to fit in your vents. Cut to fit in your windows. Cut to fit in all of your cabinets and outside compartments if any. Do bring heavy blankets or sleeping bags.

If you use a ceramic heater, make sure your plugs are rated for the power, and keep the heat down as much as you can. Overheating the wires and burning up your camper would be bad.

Hopefully, people with your type of camper will respond.

ticki2 wrote:


Have a plan B

Enjoy the adventure

There's the quote of the day. You bet!!! I'm looking at cheap motels in the area as an alternative to bringing the camper. Not thrilled about that at all as I'd feel a lot more comfortable in my own home/camper. I just don't want to damage anything in the process.

Thanks for some/all of the suggestions. Still looking for more to chime in. I'm taking them all seriously and making my list. Off to Camping World San Marcos this AM to get hold of some RV antifreeze.

Thanks again.