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Dave Emmerich · 01-12-2003, 06:34 AM

The contents of the holding tank on my 350 Classic are frozen so I assume it cannot be dumped. The coach is stored outside in the cold New England climate and I have not been able to find a heated garage to let it sit a few days and thaw. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do, if anything??

53flyingcloud · 01-12-2003, 06:48 AM

Dave,
You must have some vacation time on the books..
Why not take a trip to FL for a week~?
That would warm your soul and, thaw the tanks..
(just my.02 cents) <grins>

Or, let's assume you're not able to get away..Turn your furance on and, run it for several days or until the tanks thaw out..The hot air from the furance will circulate under your floor and thaw the tanks, etc.
Oh, man..I hope you didn't freeze the water lines too~?
Good luck to you from NH..
ciao

74Argosy24MH · 01-12-2003, 07:04 AM

How full are the tanks? If there is only an inch or so, you are probably ok. The hard plastic drain lines are 3" and will crack first. If there is more than that the drain lines or valves might have already broken and once thawed you need to get them drained quickly or deal with leaking sewage. If it is pretty full I would thaw them and find a place to dump before it ruptured the tanks. They are expensive and a lot of work to change. The furnace heats the holding tanks. If you have enough propane they will thaw.

John

Dave Emmerich · 01-12-2003, 07:18 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. Water lines are not frozen, I just bought the coach in November and had the entire vehicle looked at by a local RV service shop. They told me that the tank is about 50% full and when I open the drain valve it is about half full of frozen water. The seller claims it is grey water. If I pour non toxic antifreeze down the toilet will that break it up??

thenewkid64 · 01-12-2003, 07:34 AM

I do not belive the anitfreeze will break it up. It is designed to prevent freezing not reverse it. You may want to try some rock salt mixed in water dumped down the drains. One big concern I would have is the water in the traps. There is room for expansion there but if they are frozen as well it will be difficult to get any type of un-freezing solution to the tanks until you melt them.

71tradewind · 01-12-2003, 08:14 AM

Dave "Grey" water is not connected to your toilet , it is the water from you sinks and shower , The rock salt approach may not be all bad with the exception that mineral salt stops working somewhere around 17 degrees F. Good luck !

thenewkid64 · 01-12-2003, 08:35 AM

I was thinking the rock salt with a bit of running the heat should allow the frozen fluids to at least turn to a slush that could be dumped with some additional water.

The rock salt may quit working as a melting agent at 17 degrees, but I belive it wall act as a anitifreeze to at the very least stop the hard freeze that will break things. Also I would caution against using a chemical de-icer pellet to do this as you may damage the tanks or valves, and that is what you are trying to avoid.

john hd · 01-12-2003, 09:20 AM

make a temporary skirt for the trailer out of tarps then beg borrow or rent the biggest salamander heater you can get your hands on.

heat the under side of the trailer trapping in the warm air with the tarps. every thing should thaw in a matter of hours.

if it is in fact grey water, you could just let it run on the ground.

directing the hot air blast at the valves might work the best as i suspect this is where there would be the least amount of insulation around the tanks.

john

Pick · 01-12-2003, 10:18 AM

I vote for the trip to Florida!

ALANSD · 01-12-2003, 03:24 PM

JOHN had the same idea I was going to suggest- a heater in a "tent" of tarp to thaw, then drain, and then add rv antifreeze to the tank when near empty.

On a related subject, I drained my tank ( so I thought) by letting the water run into the grey tank until it seemed empty. Then I took the plug out of my water heater and used a shop wet-dry vac to suck out the water remaining in it. I had the valve open from the tank, and ended up vacuuming out almost 10 gallons! Freaked me out as I thought the tank was empty, and my info panel said it was empty also.
I added 2 gallons of antifreeze to the nearempty tank, and shut the bypass on the hot water heater. Phew!