Froze black/grey tanks....

[dufferdj]

Hopefully someone here can help me out. We were evacuated last Wednesday as a result of the East Troublesome Fire. We were given about 15 minutes fo get out of our home as the roar of the fire could be heard coming northeast toward us and the the town of Grand Lake and the west side of Rocky Man. Nat'l Park. The RV was loaded and ready to go...almost. We headed south to Granby where we spent the first night on a side street. The next 4 nights were spent in a local rodeo parking lot. Those 5 nights were w/o electricity. Temps dropped to -8 on the coldest night and stayed below freezing most of the time. Now comes my problem. I had the foresight to pour 1/2 gal. of RV anti-freeze down into each the 2 tanks, but it looks like that was not enough. I have not tried to drain the tanks, yet. The temps are finally getting above freezing during the afternoons, but I need to do something to thaw out those tanks. If I pour more RV antifreeze into the tanks, will that cause the "ice" to melt? Someone suggested to pour "ice melt" into the tanks but will that cause a problems with the sensors or the valves? Thanks in advance and so far it looks like our home was spared any damage, but we have not been given the okay to re-enter --- hopefully tomorrow.

[shum02]

I was pretty sure you'd be fine.

[MrWizard]

That is good news
Hope the fire danger has passed your home,
And you made it home safe

[dufferdj]

Thanks to all that responded to my delema. After cranking up the heat last night and putting a couple of trouble lights in the bay with the holding tanks and the fact that the temperature remained a little warmer last night (11 degrees) and the temp got into the 40's this afternoon I drained the tanks successfully .

[MrWizard]

Its a MH
Didn't you use your furnance to stay warm and keep things (like your tanks) from freezing ?
No Hookups
You are self contained
Use the furnace Burn some propane for heat
Burn some Gasoline, use the generator to charge the batteries, maybe put some electric heat in the bay with the holding tanks
If the tanks were empty prior to this emergency and you poured 1/2 gallon of RV systems antifreeze into each tank
That stuff went directly into drain plumbing connected to dump valves, your dump valves are safe ,
on average it takes approximately 2 gallons of water to fill the dump pipes and have some water in the bottom of the tank , many people do not think of this when they are dumping and rinseing the tanks and adding fresh chemicals,
I always put in several gallons of water before adding the stink limiter, to make sure the dump pipes are full and water is in the tanks,
Sorry not an Lesson on dumping
Just an explanation of where your antifreeze went,
In the dump pipes, not in the bottom of the tanks,
Unless there was already enough water in there to cover the bottom of the tank

[MountainAir05]

Put you some rock salt" couple hands full" and it will thaw them out.

[shum02]

How do you know they are frozen if you haven't drained them?

Is the belly of the rig covered or open?

If open a small electric forced air heater will do the trick blowing on the tank, if it is closed and insulated with a "heated" underbelly turn on the furnace and crank it up. It'll take a while but it will eventually warm it up.

I've had worse, don't panic.

[Matt_Colie]

Everybody seems to have discounted the fact that a good part of what goes into the black tank is the same thing used to de-ice runways.

Ego the black tank is always less of an issue, but the gray sure can be. You can put almost any ice-mellter you want in there unless it is going into a septic system, then you have to be careful.

Matt

[valhalla360]

time2roll wrote:
Keep driving south.

Find an RV park and use the facilities there.

You can mess around dumping stuff down the tanks or taking a blow dryer to the pipes but moving south will be the most effective and if you are going to be stuck in the RV for a while before heading home will allow you to use the onboard facilities.

[cavie]

If you have Antifreeze in the tanks you will be fine. Antifreeze jells but does not freeze hard and expand. I think that if you find some fresh running water it will be warm enough to let you dump the tanks.

[pianotuna]

I would try a radiant heater--one of the type that glows cherry red.

I've used one to thaw a frozen compartment door.

You will need to be patient. It takes a LOT of energy for water to change from frozen to liquid.

[time2roll]

Keep driving south.

Find an RV park and use the facilities there.

[Lantley]

if the ambient temperature is above freezing pour boiling hot water into the tanks. Start with the black tank simply because it is a clearer shot into the tanks.

[Old-Biscuit]

I would hookup and try draining before resorting to any other methods

[jdc1]

Anything you pour down there will freeze. If you can find any stick-on electric heat pads, that is your best bet.