New rig, Winter camping, everything has gone wrong

[No_Stress_Expre]

We finally bought our Rig last week (over a month behind schedule we had no choice but to move right in), and thought it was smart to stay local for the next month to educate ourselves about our new home, make sure everything is in good working order and so on.
What we didn't expect...the NC weather to be so cold, the weather to affect the furnace. Then there is the 10 other things that have gone wrong with it that we have to take it back to the dealer to be fixed.
I have years more experience camping than Dan. I camped in the U.P. Michigan every year with an old TT and never had a problem. So, what or why would my furnace (both), stop working when temps dropped below freezing? We weren't using propane, just our 50 amp service. We checked breakers, switches and so on.
Now I'm very concerned that everything is going to freeze and break...black water, gray water, fresh water. The tanks and lines. It's 21 degrees as I'm typing this. We've had to leave the motor home at the campground. I think we are in real trouble. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

[RVER]

YOU better contact your dealer so they can get the list all done in two weeks. Hate to tell you but some dealerships hold units for a month or more to clear up problems. They are good at selling the units but fixing them is not their forte. YOU may have a great dealership but they should have found all the problems BEFORE you stepped into the unit. Most are dogs!!! Hope they are not the ones that are bad, hope you have a great one and they fix it all for you. IF they do not contact the manufacturer immediately so they are notice of a problem with the dealership. BEST of luck with the workkamping, sounds like a lot of fun!!!

[stvdman]

We found electric blankets for the bed to be WONDERFULL. We place it right on top, turn it on 15-20 mins before climbing in, and then turn it on low.. SO NICE!

[No_Stress_Expre]

It was the cold temps! Heat pumps don't run below 40 or so degrees. We purchased 2 electric heaters that keep everything toasty warm! When it's super cold we have to kick on the furnace to get the chill off but other than that we're good! Thank God! And Thanks everyone for all your help!
Sorry it's been so long for a reply! It was a crazy time! I was a bit overwhelmed and couldn't remember my username or password! Ugh finally remembered today how to get back into the forum! (I won't forget again!LOL!)
Heading to the beach in 2 weeks!(first workamper assignment!) But the fix it list to get done before I leave is endless!

[johnwalkerpa1]

allen8106 wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:
If you were heating with electric heat pumps, that could be the problem. Heat pumps only work till about 40 degrees. Then they just blow cold air. Nothing wrong with them, that is how they work by design.

Always keep propane when it's cold out.

Dale

I work for an HVAC manufacturer, we design heat pumps to operate down to minus 20f.

I suspect those are bit more advanced than the $600-$1000 units that are popped on the top of most RVs 🙂

As an aside, in good conditions I've been able to squeeze heat out of my RV heat pump down to 30 but that is about it...

[koda55]

We camp in Pa the beginning of December for 2 weeks in a 42 ft class A.I installed the adapter in the propane line that allows me to use the 20 lb tanks. they last about a day and a half. I just swap them out when needed. I still have my big propane tank to use as needed.
I run my heat pumps when it is above 36 degrees.

[CWDoc115]

We have on occasion used the engine as a heater. 😮 Learned to pay attention to the tank gauges afterward....:B

[hotpepperkid]

Scottiemom wrote:
If you were heating with electric heat pumps, that could be the problem. Heat pumps only work till about 40 degrees. Then they just blow cold air. Nothing wrong with them, that is how they work by design.

Always keep propane when it's cold out.

Dale

I don't know about heat pumps in RV's but the one in my stick house works in cooler weather. The ones in houses have a heat strip for aux heat. Below 37 deg it takes a lot longer for the heat pump to make warm air

[Rovin__Bones]

Another important note about electric heaters; Do NOT use extension cords and do NOT plug them into power strips. Always plug directly into a wall outlet.

Be safe out there. Stay warm.

[Veebyes]

Cheap heat. Run out to Walmart & get a couple of ceramic heaters. The trick is not to overload a circuit. Check to see if all outlets are on one circuit. Split the load or run one heater on low power, the other on high. Between the heater specs & circuit breaker rating not hard to firgure out what can & cannot be run together.

More than likely the built in electric heaters are on their own circuit breaker.

In Newfoundland earlier this year we had nights in the 30s & got by without using built in electric heaters or propane furnace. The little portables, one on low, one on high, did the job.

[CharlesinGA]

You have electrical, use space heaters rather than burning up your propane, burn the park/campground electricity instead. Use a couple, just make sure you put them on separate circuits to spread the load out. Cheap milkhouse heaters or ceramic ones. Cheap at places like Ollies. Just be sure and set them on the floor out in the open, so they are not blowing on anything.

As already noted, put a auto trouble light that uses a regular screw in INCANDESCENT bulb in the service areas that have water fittings. You can still buy 100watt "rough service" bulbs, the government banned regular 100 watt bulbs several years back.

Charles

[PastorCharlie]

No Stress Express wrote:
We finally bought our Rig last week (over a month behind schedule we had no choice but to move right in), and thought it was smart to stay local for the next month to educate ourselves about our new home, make sure everything is in good working order and so on.
What we didn't expect...the NC weather to be so cold, the weather to affect the furnace. Then there is the 10 other things that have gone wrong with it that we have to take it back to the dealer to be fixed.
I have years more experience camping than Dan. I camped in the U.P. Michigan every year with an old TT and never had a problem. So, what or why would my furnace (both), stop working when temps dropped below freezing? We weren't using propane, just our 50 amp service. We checked breakers, switches and so on.
Now I'm very concerned that everything is going to freeze and break...black water, gray water, fresh water. The tanks and lines. It's 21 degrees as I'm typing this. We've had to leave the motor home at the campground. I think we are in real trouble. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Check your control panel and see if you have a heat pump with an electrical heat supplement... mine does.

[Teacher_s_Pet]

Re Mark Nemeth: He has a very informative web page from his years as a fulltimer. It's several years old, but still valid. Mark's Fulltime RV Resource

[Scottiemom]

LarryJM wrote:

allen8106 wrote:

Scottiemom wrote:
If you were heating with electric heat pumps, that could be the problem. Heat pumps only work till about 40 degrees. Then they just blow cold air. Nothing wrong with them, that is how they work by design.

Always keep propane when it's cold out.

Dale

I work for an HVAC manufacturer, we design heat pumps to operate down to minus 20f.

I think that's because those have an electric supplemental unit to augment when temps get too low, something RV units don't have because of electrical limitations.

Larry

Quite possibly, Larry. Ours specifically say 40* and at that point, it's like flipping a switch and then the cold air starts!

Dale

[Scottiemom]

No Stress Express wrote:
Everything else works. We also ran out of propane. Filling the tank this morning, hoping that will work.

Do you have any clue what would make both stop working suddenly?

The best resource DH and I can think of is RV Boot Camp. It is run by the Escapees RV Club. They are in Livingston, Texas, but they hold the boot camp at most/all of their rallies. You can go to their website and look up info on it. One of their members, Mark Nemeth, is very knowledgeable and writes a column in their magazine. Their boot camp, which covers 3 days I think, covers everything and all the systems you have.

Take a good look and see if you could squeeze something like that in.

Happy Trails!

Dale