Freezing Temps And Tanks Not Draining

[brookside]

We moved out of our house and have to finish up a couple of things before leaving, and in comes the freezing temps to central KS. We are in a new to us, 2310 Hi Lo. My husband put a gallon of RV anti-freeze down both the gray and black water tanks. Two days later, with freezing temps, the tanks will not drain. The plunger in the shower brings up water and the pink anti-freeze. We didn't learn this until after dark, so will have to work on it tomorrow.

The temp last night was 11 degrees and the high today about 28, similar to this for yesterday. It will be 40 degrees tomorrow and 32 tomorrow night. 48 on Sunday. Central Kansas - a place we will flee as soon as possible.

We have Buddy Heater, the big one in storage that we can access. I have searched here and googled for ideas. I wish I could better pinpoint where it may be frozen, it is not the thingy that you pull open as that is fine. I am thinking maybe some water went into the tank, formed an ice cube near the outlet and it is blocking the whole deal.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Yes, I know this may seem less than bright, but sold the house and the weather decided to be a good 20 degrees colder than last year. This is what we have to work with.

Thanks!

[brookside]

My husband has been underneath with a hairdryer and then went and got the Buddy (Big one) heater and stood up some Reflectix to block the wind. About 90 minutes in so far. He is thinking it may be the discharge pipe which he is trying to warm up now. Thanks!

Does appear to be the discharge pipe and black has drained. He is now working on the grey. Does anyone know if heat tape on the discharge pipe would help? We have wrapped the water hose with heat tape, and used the silver tape and Reflectix to insulate it and it is working well, looks like a silver monster though!

Grey opened up pretty quick after the black tank drained. Now, planning to Reflectix and drop light to try to avoid this. Will let everyone know if that is effective. Also, buying more anti-freeze.

[jnharley]

Could it be that the waste discharge pipe is frozen along with the sewer hose and that the tanks are not frozen at all? We had that happen once before.

[time2roll]

If your tanks are exposed get some heat pads. If the drain plumbing is exposed get some self regulating heat tape.

www.ultraheat.com

http://www.morelectricheating.com/products/HEATING CABLE/PIPEHEATING

[BobsYourUncle]

Been there done that.

I was FT for 15 months, 2 winters in Alberta. Had to get really creative to make stuff flow.
Laying under the dump pipes with a heat gun got old really fast. And it takes a while. My dump pipes would freeze up all the time. Not sure why nothing broke but it didn't.

What I did was bought a radiant heater. I positioned it under the side of the TT pointing up at the end of the tanks and dump pipes and valves. I blocked it in position, not too close as I didn't want to melt anything, but close enough that the tanks would feel warm to the touch.
Then I would go about my life for 5 or 6-7 hours and come back to everything thawed. A quick trip to a dump station and all was well. When it was really cold I had to do the tanks too as they would partly freeze up.

Worked good for me. I did this in -34C. A tad chilly.

[nineoaks2004]

be careful with the real hot water, if the tanks are really cold it could split the tank. I split a brass faucet a few years ago by pouring hot water on it. Hopefully they will thaw with the rising temps.

[brookside]

Thanks! We do plan to use a hairdryer on the tanks also, keeping it moving. Got up yesterday to a frozen door lock (since lubed and working fine now) and the hairdryer worked in about 3 minutes, and no, I don't expect it to be a quick solution with the tanks. The good news is that we do stay warm and can easily maintain 68 to 70 degrees in side both day and night, cupboards open. Trying to maintain my sanity between the cold weather and relocation............

[westend]

The pink RV antifreeze is not like vehicle antifreeze. It will gel or slush at low temps. It doesn't expand like water so you should be OK. Really hot water introduced to the tanks after temps get above freezing should get everything flowing again. You can even add some salt to lower the freezing point of the tank contents.

[FLY_4_FUN]

I think you have done all you can do by putting antifreeze in after the fact. Let it thaw when it warms up tomorrow then winterize properly. Then inspect everything for damage (water tanks/hot water heater/etc) as there could be burst fittings at any point in your system.