Visit our Popular Forums

Mike G · 09-13-2017, 08:41 AM

REALLY basic question- How do you keep your holding tanks from freezing while driving/camping in below-freezing temperatures? It won't be long before the snow flies in Canada, and I'd like to extend our season as long as possible . . .

uncle_bob · 09-13-2017, 08:49 AM

Hi

RV anti freeze seems to be one option. It probably does not help the bacteria in the black tank, but neither will freezing

One often overlooked issue is the intake plumbing and residual water in things like check valves. Another is the dump valves freezing independent of what's in the tank ( = run a bit of the anti-freeze through them). Lots of things to think over .....

Bob

Adventure.AS · 09-13-2017, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike G

REALLY basic question- How do you keep your holding tanks from freezing while driving/camping in below-freezing temperatures? It won't be long before the snow flies in Canada, and I'd like to extend our season as long as possible . . .

Running the furnace in our International while driving will keep the fresh water tank and inside plumbing from freezing while driving. When it is below freezing we avoid using the grey and black tanks and leave them winterized.

Shacksman · 09-13-2017, 10:03 AM

We keep a jug of rv antifreeze beside the toilet and use it to flush until we get far enough south.

Rich W · 09-13-2017, 12:43 PM

Our 23' has heaters in the gray, black and fresh tanks. They run on 12v, batteries will last about 3 hours, the owner's manual says. While traveling, the TV would provide some power to them, but when we travel I always dump the holding tanks before leaving a campsite and then add some RV anti-freeze to them. That way I don't have to worry about them or running the batteries down.

For the toilet, like others, we carry RV anti-freeze for flushing. Mostly, we depend on rest areas and Cracker Barrel rest rooms, rest areas being the best since they have dedicated cleaning staff.

For fresh water we just buy gallons of water for drinking, don't use the fresh water tank. A little residual water in any of the tanks won't be a problem for them, but pipes can freeze. It's best not to use the plumbing if you can avoid it. If you have room for a small compressor you could blow out the lines before moving on to the next stop.

I would think that pipes inside the trailer would be OK for travel unless you're in extreme cold or very long trips. You could also keep the furnace running.

ckcardwell · 12-28-2017, 08:16 PM

I have a 2013 27 FB. Is it safe to keep the furnace going while rolling down the road? Short 2-3 hour trip in possibly below freezing temps. I’m a newbie. Thanks for any advice

DryFly · 12-28-2017, 11:24 PM

Empty your tanks before taking off if you're worried about them freezing. If for some reason you can't empty them, try some RV antifreeze. Really though, if its that cold out, you'll probably have other, more urgent issues to address in your trailer than frozen gray water or black water. If your partially full gray water (or black water) freezes in your tank, you'll just have to wait until it thaws to drain it. If however, the water in your hot water tank freezes, that's a problem. Pee traps are also an issue, as is water in any of the drain lines. Potentially water in your water lines.

Airstreams are not a 4 season trailer.

uncle_bob · 12-29-2017, 07:38 AM

Hi

People obsess about running with the fridge turned on while rolling down the road. There are a lot of threads here about all of the possible issues involved.

One very basic thing about heating in motion: The "wind" from driving 60 MHP cools things down. You have stuff like the drain valves sticking out from the trailer. No amount of furnace heat is going to warm them up very much. Having one of them freeze and crack is not going to be a good thing.

That said, temperature matters. If it's 33F outside, nothing is going to freeze. If it's 31, it will take a *long* time to get into trouble. It was 7F outside last night. Run down the road for 4 hours at that temperature and you probably will have issues.

Next on the list - how much propane are you going to use? How hot are you going to keep the trailer? Turning the thermostat up to 90 sounds like one way to keep as much as possible un-frozen. That will drain the tanks pretty fast.

Simple answer (as noted above) - if you are in the part of the country where it gets cold this time of year ..... winterize the trailer. Mine got the treatment back in November. It will take about an hour if you know what you are doing and a couple of hours if it's your first time. First step involves an air compressor ....

Bob