Does anyone else use their camper after winterizing?

[imq707s]

We winterized our 19ft Zinger a month ago, but we’re thinking about taking it out in a few weeks to do some camping. I’m planning on not using the water at all, but I would be firing up the heater to keep us warm…. I figure that it’s got to be better than tent camping. Does anyone else do this? Are there any other issues that I would run into when doing this?

[GWolfe]

allen8106 wrote:

Oasisbob wrote:
Yes, we camp in winter. Some of the best trips. A different kind of camp neighbors. The loud roughty folks stay home. We winterize our rig two or three times every season. Have my total time down to about twelve minutes.

Same here.

I do the same.

[atreis]

I use mine to charge batteries for RC planes. (Charging them from solar just seems neat to me. 🙂 )

[fitznj]

I camp many times in winter - heading out to Delaware/Hampton Roads in Jan.

All I do to winterize is empty all the tanks and open the low point on the
plumbing I never use anti-freeze any where. So de-winterizing consists of
filling the water tanks and off I go. Never had a problem even when camping
in mod-20's weather. I do keep an electric heater running throughout the night
to keep the camper from getting too cold.

[rbpru]

We went to a snowshoe and Valentine's dinner at the state park. They had cleared about 12 spaces and had a heated wash house.

We carried cooking water and an electric heater. It kept the TT about 58 degrees in the day, which is fine if you are out of doors most of the time.

I the morning we would hit the furnace for about ten minutes for breakfast.

We were the only campers, most stayed at the park inn.

We stayed three days and two nights. It was fun break from the winter doldrums.

[ulvik]

Johno02 wrote:
We have done that. We did use the toilet with jugs of water, and we did get to dump and flush before we left. A bit more antifreeze in the tanks for the dump valves, and you are set again.

Same here!

[RavensFan24]

To avoid any potential DUIs or for the convenience of not driving extra, I still use the trailer to camp in friend's/family driveways during the winter. As a matter of fact, I'll be doing that this weekend. I'll bring it over during the day, enjoy the night or nights and have my own space for me and my 2 dogs no matter where I am. I use their bathroom inside, so all I do is plug in, so I can run the heat and a space heater as much as I want without killing the battery. I also have my own fridge to store entertainment. 🙂

[DutchmenSport]

Yup, we use our TT all winter long. We use NO water in the camper. We use a port-a-potty and dump (at home in the house when driveway camping), and State Parks Pit Toilets.

We go through a LOT of propane for heat in the winter too!

We're going to South Carolina the week after Christmas and before New Year. I'll un-winterize once out of the snow belt, and winterize again on our way back home (Jan 1).

Camper will be parked in the driveway so we can continue using it all winter, and will do a couple dry camps (with electric hook-up) at a couple of Indiana State Parks this winter too, after Jan 1.

So yea, use it all the time after winterizing. We keep extra gallons of "pink" stuff around all the time so we can unwinterize and winterize again at whim!

[GordonThree]

I'm looking forward to going out over the next two weeks. I'm winterized already, and won't be dewinterizing, since there's no dump stations open. Other than turning the fridge back on, not much to do really.

Maybe next year I'll get one of those poop pumps so I can dump into an outhouse / toilet.

The salt spray does go after the metal, but it's not the end of the world. I clean it off in the spring, scrub with a metal brush and slap on more rustoleum.

[allen8106]

Oasisbob wrote:
Yes, we camp in winter. Some of the best trips. A different kind of camp neighbors. The loud roughty folks stay home. We winterize our rig two or three times every season. Have my total time down to about twelve minutes.

Same here.

[Community Alumni]

SoundGuy wrote:


Perhaps not an issue where you are but here in S Ontario winter road salt would deter me from towing in the winter. If I were that interested in winter camping (and I'm NOT) I'd participate in one of the winter camping programs that allow placing the camper on-site late fall and leaving it in place 'til spring.

I know you're not interested, but Fluid Film works great. Before we head to the salt areas, we coat the trailer in it to protect it. We've been through so much salt and mag chloride and no problems with corrosion or rust for the areas that got coated. If you miss an area it becomes obvious.

[janstey58]

We have two local CGs with heated bath houses, so we venture out for a weekend and use the RV heat, fridge and TV, and rough it, LOL! We use the bathhouse for our facilities and have a blast!

[MitchF150]

We used to when we first got the trailer back in 2002.. Just wanted to use the dang thing.. But some 14 years later, we still enjoy the trailer, but are mostly 'fair weather' campers now and don't much care for the winter camping any longer..

I only blow the lines out, so even when we did camp in winter, I'd use the trailer's water system.. Just blow it out again when we got back. Not a big deal and never any issues.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Good luck and enjoy!

Mitch

[naturist]

We have in the past, and are looking forward to doing so again in about 6 weeks. We sometimes use it as a guest cabin and we sometimes go camping. When we do either during freezing weather, we don't use the water, but do use the furnace. Heating with the furnace is the safest way to keep things (like us) from freezing. Although, since it is rather poorly insulated, the floor, walls, and ceiling tend to be cold, and after a couple days below freezing, if we neglect to run the dehumidifier, it will start raining inside.

[hohenwald48]

Winterizing is so easy I wouldn't give any thought to un-winterizing if going on a winter trip. Of courses you would need a trailer with a heated underbelly if the temps got too low for too long.

[Oasisbob]

Yes, we camp in winter. Some of the best trips. A different kind of camp neighbors. The loud roughty folks stay home. We winterize our rig two or three times every season. Have my total time down to about twelve minutes.