Just Registered

[Colton Hobo]

I just completed my registration. Thought I'd done that before but, apparently, not.
My reason for visiting the forum is to get some info on winter travel. We will be traveling from Waco, TX to Blythe, CA for the Hobo Rally in Feb. We will be taking the southern route (I-20/I-20) but, I still worried about the water system freezing while underway. Any suggestions?
BTW, I'm not exactly a newbie, I've been RVing about 16 years. I just don't know it all. Appreciate the help.

[Fyrzowt]

Hi Colton,
Welcome to the forums. I know this subject has been discussed here in the past. You may find it if you search for it, but the search function isn't always great. Plus, sometimes it pulls up so many threads that you would be reading all day.

There is not total agreement on this. The A/S heaters are designed so that ducted heat keeps plumbing from freezing in most cases. In order for this to work while travelling, you would have to leave the heater and propane on. I'm not personally comfortable with that, I turn my propane off while travelling. Others say that I (and others like me) worry too much, that they do it all the time, no problems. That will be up to you, and YOUR comfort level. If you are in truly cold country, that may be the only way of keeping things from freezing.

Others will chime in, probably tomorrow. The activity on the forum slows way down this time of night.

Good luck, good to have you here.
Dave

[Colton Hobo]

Thanks for the reply, FYRZOWT. I don't turn off my LP but I don't like running the furnace while traveling either. My primary concern is the water pump. When I retired and left Palmdale in Mar.'05 we traveled I-40 and hit some snow and cold weather. I learned later (rally at Springfield, MO) that my water pump had frozen and would leak. I don't want that to happen in our new trailer. As we will be going the southern route maybe I won't encounter weather that cold.

[CanoeStream]

Hello Colton Hobo -- and welcome to the Forums! Your 2006 no doubt has OPD compliant tanks. I believe part of that design is to limit outflow of LP if a line is opened wide downstream; eg, in case of accident you would not have unlimited emptying of the tank. (Somebody please correct me if I'm off base here...) Since you have your tanks open anyway (fridge running?), I don't see any further problem with running the furnace. A trailer's inside temp doesn't drop much if it is standing still but traveling with it can chill the inside quite well. You might want to experiment with thermostat settings (45 degrees? 55 degrees?) to determine the best way to keep it above freezing inside while traveling. I suspect you'd use too much fuel if you just left it at 65-70 degrees. I had a very successful late October trip in 20 degree temps. It didn't seem to have any problem staying lit, though I'd have very little way of determining exactly what was going on back there. I did go back into the trailer a few times to verify it was staying warm enough.

Dave is right that your furnace is the most effective way to keep the water system warm. Piping and the water pump are all on top of the floor. Some later model trailers have tank heaters -- does yours? Does your Dodge have an outside temp gauge? I suspect you could keep an eye on that and turn on the furnace only when necessary.

And by the way -- I don't see any other members registered at your current IP address, so maybe previous attempts at registration didn't succeed (or your email address has changed?). Also -- registrants who don't do the email registration confirmation are purged after approximately 3 months of inactivity. But you're in the door now, so no problem!

[CanoeStream]

Just had a thought -- Search Camping World on 'thermometer' and check out one of the inexpensive Wireless Temperature Stations, but put the sensor inside your cabinets alongside the water pipes and carry the homebase up in the tow vehicle with you.

[Colton Hobo]

Ok, Canoe Stream. I certainly appreciate the input from you folks. I might try running the furnace if it gets too cold. Yes, I have a thermometer in the pick-up and also one in the trailer. Hopefully, it won't be that cold the way we're going.