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Old 12-27-2015, 08:52 AM   #321
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You are writing the book right now, Mike. Being from the south, I always have concentrated on beating the brutal summers in an Airstream. I am afraid, I would fail the Colorado test with my current set-up.
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Old 12-27-2015, 10:23 AM   #322
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We are learning as we go here in these cold temps for sure. I will say that we havent had any problem staying warm in the 310. But being from central Il we are used to cold temps this time of year. I am really surprised how little propane we have consumed. Been keeping the thermostat at 65 or so and using the two small electric heaters. The sun is amazing out here, very powerful, but when it drops behind the mountains it gets cold quick. We filled up with propane last Wed, its still reading nearly full. We have cooked, made lots of coffee, and run the water heater when needed all with propane.

Last night was the coldest its going to be while we are here according to the forecast. I think this cold weather use is very doable, so far anyway. Still need to dump our tanks, if that goes ok then we are all good.
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Old 12-27-2015, 11:22 AM   #323
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Mayco,
Great pictures!

I was thinking about you comment about you boost being higher than you have ever seen.
Here is a thought... Combination of cold, dense air, and the Cetane/octane boost from the additive, making better combustion!
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Old 12-27-2015, 11:56 AM   #324
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Amazing what a few days and 4 / 5 inches can do to change the landscape.
Beautiful!

Mike I would plan on putting one of your space heaters under the coach for some time in the afternoon, and maybe screen the area with some plywood or cardboard, whatever comes to hand to free up those valves. And maybe a hot shower around that time too. I've poured a kettle of hot water down the head also. The exposed tanks and drain pluming is a challenge for our classics.

Nice to hear that you two are staying cozy and enjoying the trip. Good thing you are used to chilly weather from home.

Good move on the U Haul van :-)

Happy New Years , Richard
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Old 12-27-2015, 01:56 PM   #325
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Good call on some hot water down the sink/shower and toilet. We have kept our gray water tank nearly empty the whole trip. I found a nice sized tupperware type tub that slides perfectly into one side of the kitchen sink. (Looked forever to find the right size) So all dishwater, bathing washing up water, etc etc etc has been done in that tub. Then we just take it outside and dump. The gray water tank hasnt even moved off empty. So thats worked out real well. In fact, Ill need to add water to the gray tank when we dump in order to rinse the slinky after dumping the black. I started out the trip by pouring one gallon of RV anitfreeze in each tank and then have added more with each use. We will need to dump the black tank within the next day so we will find out!!

Key, I think youre correct in that assumption. Those things along with the fact that our travels for the most part have been in and around the flat lands of the midwest. There are some REALLY LONG and fairly steep uphill grades on US36 in western KS. I really dont
know squat about turbo chargers other than the general concept on how they work. I ASSUME that seeing that kind of boost (12-13) on my gauge means the turbo is doing its job well. Ive read other threads where people have stated that they had trouble getting 10lbs of boost.
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Old 12-27-2015, 02:21 PM   #326
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Oh ya, they have great heated shower facilities here at the campground and a nice laundry.
Hehehehehe, we HAVE been able to shower!
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Old 12-27-2015, 02:38 PM   #327
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I must admit when i replaced all my plumbing with expandable Wirsbo/Uponor Pex A it took most of the worry out of freezing pipes. It would be the pumps I would worry about most. May want to add some vodka into the tank as an anti freezing component and save your pump.

Cheers
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Old 12-28-2015, 06:34 AM   #328
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I always add vodka to my black tank, but I am not sure how effective it is in it's "post user" state...
Seriously though, we are planning some trips to altitude and I would like to worry less about freezing pipes and tanks. Maybe adding tank heaters and some insulation under there is an option.
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Old 12-28-2015, 06:54 AM   #329
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Just yesterday as I was removing the black water tank I found something interesting about my Argosies black and gray water tanks. The tanks are enclosed in sheet metal boxes and the boxes are lined with 1/2" white Styrofoam insulation on the sides and bottom. I did not notice this on the 310 and the 345 I dismantled.

I wonder why Airstream decided to eliminate the insulation for the tanks? It would seem to me with the insulation my Argosy is already set up for cold weather camping.

The other thing of note that was different between my Argosy and the 345 was my Argosy has 1" Styrofoam insulation between the plywood floor and the chassis. The floors of the Classic series Airstream motorhomes are made of a grid of 1" x 2" steel tubing with a sheet of galvanized sheet metal laid down on top of the grid and then the plywood (later rigs used OSB) is laid down on top of the galvanized sheet metal. The grid is open from underneath.

The Argosies had a sheet of aluminum laid down and then the grid was placed on top of the aluminum, 1" white foam board was placed inside the grid and then the plywood was laid on top of the grid. Much better approach in my opinion

Was it a cost cutting measure to eliminate the Styrofoam or did they find it to be ineffective? No matter how you look at it the Argosies were better prepared to handle the cold.


Brad
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Old 12-28-2015, 08:50 AM   #330
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Number 1 on the must have list when camping in this cold is warm slippers!!! The floor is ccccold.
This morning when I checked our gauges on the control panel, the propane is still reading nearly full. My gauge has been working fine and when I topped off wed it was reading 3/4 full. It took about 12 ga of LPG to top off the tank and the gauge responded and read full. I couldnt believe we hadnt used more propane than what the control panel was telling me this morning. So, I went out and checked the gauge on the tank itself and sure enough, it read between 3/4 and full. Im really surprised we arent using more propane than that. We havent been scrimping on the furnace use either. We keep it at 65 to 68 degrees. We have the two small electric heaters going and when the sun gets going the furnace doesnt kick on real often. But from 5:00pm till sunrise the furnace kicks on regularly. I guess I expected to be using a great deal more propane.
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Old 12-28-2015, 09:22 AM   #331
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I think it's an interesting topic, this cold weather usage and worthy of its own thread!
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Old 12-30-2015, 05:33 AM   #332
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We left Golden yesterday and headed north to Fort Collins. Stopped in the tiny little town of Lyons right on the edge of the front range. Its just about 30 miles from Estes Park. Heres the 310 parked on the street in downtown Lyons. "Downtown" is about a block long.
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Old 12-30-2015, 05:37 AM   #333
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And you took up 60% of the entire town's parking spaces! 😃
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Old 12-30-2015, 05:41 AM   #334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bkahler View Post
Just yesterday as I was removing the black water tank I found something interesting about my Argosies black and gray water tanks. The tanks are enclosed in sheet metal boxes and the boxes are lined with 1/2" white Styrofoam insulation on the sides and bottom. I did not notice this on the 310 and the 345 I dismantled.



I wonder why Airstream decided to eliminate the insulation for the tanks? It would seem to me with the insulation my Argosy is already set up for cold weather camping.



The other thing of note that was different between my Argosy and the 345 was my Argosy has 1" Styrofoam insulation between the plywood floor and the chassis. The floors of the Classic series Airstream motorhomes are made of a grid of 1" x 2" steel tubing with a sheet of galvanized sheet metal laid down on top of the grid and then the plywood (later rigs used OSB) is laid down on top of the galvanized sheet metal. The grid is open from underneath.



The Argosies had a sheet of aluminum laid down and then the grid was placed on top of the aluminum, 1" white foam board was placed inside the grid and then the plywood was laid on top of the grid. Much better approach in my opinion



Was it a cost cutting measure to eliminate the Styrofoam or did they find it to be ineffective? No matter how you look at it the Argosies were better prepared to handle the cold.





Brad

The 94-95 360s have insulated enclosures for the tanks with heat ducting to them. The floors are sandwiched metal-high density foam-plywood. They stay pretty warm.
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Old 12-30-2015, 06:42 AM   #335
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And you took up 60% of the entire town's parking spaces! 😃
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Old 12-30-2015, 12:27 PM   #336
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Hehehehehe yuuuuup! Ahhhhh yes, Lyons Colorado. Gateway to the Rockies. (At least thats what the sign said back in 1980, the last time I was there)
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Old 12-30-2015, 04:38 PM   #337
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Two blocks from my sons house in Fort Collins CO sits another 310 in someones drive. Doesnt look like its moved in some time. What are odds on that????


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Old 12-31-2015, 09:33 AM   #338
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Interesting parking brake
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Old 12-31-2015, 01:13 PM   #339
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Quote:
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Two blocks from my sons house in Fort Collins CO sits another 310 in someones drive. Doesnt look like its moved in some time. What are odds on that????


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He must be reading the forum, because it seems he is using my White masking tape method to remove the woody decal
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Old 01-01-2016, 10:30 AM   #340
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Couple of things I noticed on that 310...
Twin tailpipes coming out the rear?
Those rear wheel trims are different looking.
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