unanticipated freezing temps

[herewer]

Hello all,

We are living in our travel trailer in south texas and there is a possibility of lows getting down into the mid 20s next week. About 20 degrees below "average". This should be 1 or 2 nights for a couple of hours total with day temps in the 40s.

We will run our furnace and keep the cabinets doors open to allow heat to the pipes. And I will bring in the slide.

What else can we do? It's been suggested to run water all night and adding antifreeze into the black tank.

Any other suggestions?

[_tiredTeacher]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Or all the folks in 4x4 SUVs who think they can run 75 over snow and ice on the bridges because they have a 4x4.

How true. Four-wheel drive works better than four-wheel stop.

Teach

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
A little snow is funny.

Problem is a lot of folks around here don't really understand black ice and how it can form, and how incredibly dangerous it is.

I love it when there is a little snow and all the people with heavy duty pickup trucks with absolutely no weight in the rear end can't understand why they great vehicle spins the rear tires.

Or all the folks in 4x4 SUVs who think they can run 75 over snow and ice on the bridges because they have a 4x4.

Yeah, too many people think that owning a four-wheel-drive vehicle buys them an exemption from the laws of physics. It doesn't work that way.

They need to learn that when it's slick there is no substitute for slowing down and keeping their foot really light on the gas and brake.

Things are getting interesting here in the Allegheny Highlands of WV with this latest cold front. Snowing, temps dropping, wind howling. Expecting wind chill of maybe as much as 50-below.

Wayne

[westend]

A guy has to respect Mother Nature, she can cause a heck of a lot of grief.

I wouldn't sweat temps in the high 20's, especially for short duration (overnight). If I was using the TT, I'd fill the water tank full and just run the taps every few hours to make sure the pipes are in good shape.

It's -20f right now at Rancho Westend but I'm parked, winterized, and don't have any plans to even leave the house.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

A little snow is funny.

Problem is a lot of folks around here don't really understand black ice and how it can form, and how incredibly dangerous it is.

I love it when there is a little snow and all the people with heavy duty pickup trucks with absolutely no weight in the rear end can't understand why they great vehicle spins the rear tires.

Or all the folks in 4x4 SUVs who think they can run 75 over snow and ice on the bridges because they have a 4x4.

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:


Wait until you see us try to drive / tow on black ice!!! . . .

I won't laugh at anyone's fear of black ice. Black ice almost cost a good friend his life.

But I've seen southern drivers on an inch or two of snow and it's usually been pretty bad.

Wayne

[pianotuna]

Hi Wayne,

Great information on the energy loss required to go from liquid water to ice. Thanks so much.

The folks here probably think btu's per pound rather than calories per gram.

The 80 calories per gram translates to 144 btu's per pound.

[Empty_Nest__Soo]

thomasmnile wrote:
. . . preferable to doing nothing and later discovering that marginally freezing temp did indeed create a problem that could prove expensive. . . .

The OP described a situation where the air temps were expected to get down into the mid 20’s for 1 or 2 nights, with daytime temps in the 40’s. That is neither cold enough nor long enough to cause a problem. Not even close.

Water at 32*F needs to shed an awful lot of additional heat, 80 calories per gram, before it turns into ice at 32*F. That’s the same amount of heat it had to shed to go from 176*F to 32*F. That requires either very cold temperatures or a long time period.

I’ve spent many dozens of nights camping in that kind of weather with no problems. And my TT has no special cold-weather features. I would not give it a moment’s thought.

But, we’ve all got to find our own comfort level.

Wayne

[mobeewan]

mudpuppi wrote:
No basement and tanks are not heated so that's why I worry so much

Ok, got the shore water working, so seems like my on board pump is shot and not pumping versus frozen pipe. It only makes a humming sound so guess what I will be doing today!

.

If just humming it could be sucking a little air. Make sure the inlet hose connections are tight.

[Doug33]

Here in NJ we got down below zero Friday night and will again Tuesday night. It has been a brutal winter already.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Empty Nest, Soon wrote:
I can't help but chuckle at the panicky replies from folks in the south, and a few in the north, about a few hours overnight in the mid-20's.

Wait until you see us try to drive / tow on black ice!!!

We're seeing the first teens temps and four or five days below freezing we've seen for 10-15 years - which will extend as far south as San Antonio.

Yes, we are overly cautious.

Fixing things is expensive and a huge pain.

[thomasmnile]

'tiredTeacher wrote:

Empty Nest, Soon wrote:
I can't help but chuckle at the panicky replies from folks in the south, and a few in the north, about a few hours overnight in the mid-20's.

Yeah, at first glance it seems some folks can be unecessarily worried; however, until they've experienced the weather and come through it successfully several times, the thought of a ruptured pipe in an inaccessible place during an extended trip far away from home can give one pause.

Teach

Dunno, but seems like taking action if you think there might be a problem is preferable to doing nothing and later discovering that marginally freezing temp did indeed create a problem that could prove expensive. We may see a couple freezing/near freezing nights in my part of Central Fl. in the next couple of days and I'm going to the TT with some pink stuff for the waste tanks and 'P' traps and my air compressor for the water lines this afternoon.

[_tiredTeacher]

Empty Nest, Soon wrote:
I can't help but chuckle at the panicky replies from folks in the south, and a few in the north, about a few hours overnight in the mid-20's.

Yeah, at first glance it seems some folks can be unecessarily worried; however, until they've experienced the weather and come through it successfully several times, the thought of a ruptured pipe in an inaccessible place during an extended trip far away from home can give one pause.

Teach

[B_O__Plenty]

dadmomh wrote:
Agree that there is no need for major panic. Most years we've waited until Thanksgiving to winterize and have had some overnights in the range you're looking at. We used electric heaters and opened cabinet doors. It's only going to be that low for a few hours and then warm back up...the term "warm" loosely used. Closing the slide will give you less area to have to heat, but if your furnace normally keeps things comfy, wouldn't worry about it. Either way is fine. Disconnect the water hose and drain it. You might check to see if your CG has freeze proof faucets and if not, what their plans are.
Guess you could disconnect the slinky, but have no idea what the thinking is behind that. Really do not think you're going to have any problems. Do they even SELL RV Antifreeze in that part of the country??

We're a toasty 33 right now - up from 16 - but the bottom is due to fall out - again - this afternoon. If it's going to be this blasted cold, might as well have some snow and really shut the place down. DH agreed to make a dog food run for me....he's not gonna be happy having to drive near Walmart to get to Petsmart, but doesn't realize that yet. Won't be a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk to be had....people!, this is not gonna last forever! Better if you can just enjoy this time of being closed in, grab a good book, watch yet another bowl game or make homemade bread. We'll be back to the real world before long.

You must be kidding! That's not even cold...Wife just came back from the grocery store..business as usual and it's going down to -25 tomorrow night with a high of -15 on Monday...Big deal we just live with it..

B.O.

[mudpuppi]

Sorry Tim_W, I guess I inadvertently hijacked the thread. I was responding in the regard that I had done what was suggested, but had a different outcome. What I have figured out since this morning is that my fresh water tank pick-up tube is frozen. I don't have heated tanks and I believe I would have been ok if my tank was full, but I failed to refill from my last stop where I did not have shore water.