4 season camper

[bobman]

How do you keep the water lines from freezing while traveling?

I am considering a NL or bigfoot basement style camper. My travel will include driving two 14 hour days to get to North Dakota or Montana, then boon docking for two weeks while pheasant hunting.

My truck is a 1997 f-350 crew cab dually 460 with an 8 foot bed two wheel drive

Will the water lines freeze enroute? All my camping is oct thru January . I know how I can heat it during the day while I am parked while I am up there. it's the long drive to and from that concern me. I own a nice class B but have found it lacking in very cold temps

Thanks
Bob

[bobman]

I like to fish but no way I am going to Mexico lol

[805gregg]

Or take your camper to Mexico and fish instead of hunt

[wintersun]

The only place I have had trouble is with the water in the water pump freezing with successive days of temperature in the teens. If I wanted to prevent this I would leave the water tap on so water would trickle out and the water pump would kick on at least once an hour. The water in the holding tank is going to be warmer than the water in a small line where there is a more surface area.

We keep a couple of 2.5 gallon fresh water containers for use as a backup.

[ticki2]

bobman wrote:
I've been thinking about this ( always a bad idea lol) and it occurred to me I could probably get a heater core out of a wrecked truck and have the blower and everything. Then just plumb it in series with my existing truck heater.

Maybe could even tie it into the campers ductwork.

It's a long ways from Georgia to the Dakotas I would like to be able to drive at night.

Not as crazy as you think .I have been planning to do the same thing for some time now . Have not gone forward yet as the truck still has other winter duty .

A friend of mine use to pre-warm his diesel construction equipment that way ( diesels have come a long way since then ). He had some quick connects on the heater hoses to his pickup to do it.

For a truck camper it would be a matter of routing the lines and control wires from the truck and insulating to minimize the heat loss .I would also add some valves under the hood where you tap into the heater lines in case you damage a hose to the camper .

In anticipation of winter camping I insulated the holding tank and dump valve area I've also added 12v tank heaters and run some 12v computer fans in and out to enhance the air flow .

[bobman]

I've been thinking about this ( always a bad idea lol) and it occurred to me I could probably get a heater core out of a wrecked truck and have the blower and everything. Then just plumb it in series with my existing truck heater.

Maybe could even tie it into the campers ductwork.

It's a long ways from Georgia to the Dakotas I would like to be able to drive at night.

[The_Mad_Norsky]

No advice to give on camper preparation.

But you hit the pheasant season early enough (before Nov 1st) you could make it OK without hitting any freezing during daylight hours at least.

After dark is another matter, but I work on the assumption you would be stopped somewhere then with the heater working.

[bobman]

I was considering running a line off my heater hose to a small water to air heat exchanger. Basically a radiator mounted inside the camper. My vet has a similar set up for his truck to keep his supplies and medicines at a set temperature range.

I might be overthinking this.

[Oldtymeflyr]

We have a basement type TC and it has worked well in the winter down to -10 degrees.

We keep the furnace on all the time. I have a 35 degree thermostat and keep it about 45 degrees during the day.

If you loose a heater simply winterize right away and get the furnace fixed pronto.

We carry winterizing supplies and a 12 volt air compressor if necessary.

Good Luck!

Rick

[HandyRandy]

I have a Lance 1030. Running the heat while stopped keeps everything above freezing. My problem was running down the road in cold temps. I don't worry too much about the black and gray tanks since they slosh around and are flexible enough to not get damaged if they do freeze a little. My biggest problem was the fresh water pipes back to the bathroom.

Last winter I had one of those aha moments. I already had a 750 watt inverter to run/charge laptop computers. I found a 15 watt heat tape, ran it along the pipes inside the cabinets paying particular attention to where the shore water connection comes through the wall. While running, the alternator is keeping the battery up so plugging the heat tape into the inverter is really a no-lose situation. Haven't had a freeze up since. I've been in 10 deg F weather. Not sure I'd trust much colder though. YMMV

[bobndot]

see camper heating and members projects

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25966285.cfm

My personal experience , when it gets below zero, it can be a different ball game. Above zero most units can used with some basic mods and common sense.
I have found a non basement camper a lot easier to deal with in cold temps because I can keep things heated if my furnace suffers a malfunction by using a Mr. Buddy portable propane heater.
If you use a basement model camper and the furnace stops working , you'll have no way (unless you make some kind of major modification)to heat the basement using a back up heater.

Something to think about in camper designs.
My furnace actually heats the entire area under my kitchen sink and bathroom sink without having to open cabinet doors, including my dump valves. It's simply heat generated from the box structure of the furnace that radiates throughout the cabinets. All water lines are protected with no mods.

Try to keep interior water lines away from outside walls. Insulate them if need be.

Wrap the dump valve with insulation. Keep a hair dryer handy.

I wrap my change-over valve (regulator) , if that freezes gas flow will stop, it might also crack . If either happens, gas flow stops. Again a hair dryer will thaw a freeze but a cracked regulator has to changed. I carry a spare.

Cassette toilet , like the one used in Northstar campers, can be used with windshield washer fluid so things don't freeze. Cassettes are self contained systems and do not rely on the campers water system . It can be left alone and used that way in an unheated camper.

My personal choice next time round for winter use would be a Northstar. Its a more simple camper to use in the winter.
A simple test to see how tight any camper is......Close everything up and see how easy to open the rear camper door.
Now close the door and turn on the fantastic fan , listen the motor labor , now open the rear door , it should be more difficult to open and you will hear the difference in the fans motor.


Good luck in your decision, Bob

[GoinThisAway]

If you're concerned about propane use or having problems keeping the furnace lit while in route, you can run it when you stop. Put a remote thermometer sensor in the camper so you can tell when the temperature drops too low and you need to stop.

[calamus]

run the heater just have lots of spare propane bottles. I use our TT for a hunting base also. I leave it up at the lake and take a bunch of Straw bales up and stack around the camper it helps but still get cold and go through lots of propane.