Alternative to heated hose?

[LilBird]

We are leaving from SC for the west coast on Monday morning. We’re traveling via I-20, along which' it is forecast to be abnormally (and ridiculously) cold. Overnight, 20 degrees cold. We don’t have a heated hose and Monday is a holiday, so Amazon, Walmart, Camping World, etc, wouldn’t deliver before next Thursday. Of course, no one within a 50 mile radius has one in stock. Oh oh.

I assume we could fill the fresh water tank and operate in conservation mode for a bit. Could we just unhook the water connection at night and hook it back up in the morning? Any other ideas? The last thing I need is frozen lines.

For reference, we have a 2019 30RBT. I don’t know if that matters, but figured it might be useful information.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, through out the years, my fresh water hose has frozen several times. But having a full fresh water tank saved me. I have looked into buying a heated hose, but never did. Maybe use some pool noodles over your hose might work.

[BGClassic]

LilBird,

Does your Classic have tank pad heaters? We survived in 24F weather in Utah and Colorado using the pad heaters. Fill the fresh, and disconnect the hose at night.

You may also be able to get a pipe heat cable at a hardware store. Don't remember what they are called. Same thing that campgrounds use for standpipes. Safe travels!
https://www.homedepot.com/pep/VEVOR-...IaArkeEALw_wcB

[azflycaster]

We recently traveled from Florida to Arizona with sevral nights in the teens. We used the water in the tank and refilled it when needed. We also onlyu hooked up the sewer hose when it was time to dump.

[TitusNW]

Good advice in the previous posts, fill your fresh tank then drain the hose. It's currently 3.7° F in Christmas Valley, OR. Furnace set at 60°, galley and head faucets flowing fine.

The real reason I wanted to add to this string is your comment that you couldn't get the heated hose before you left for the West Coast. Consider Amazon Lockers. In the past I have picked a location along my path - 2 or 3 days ahead - and had my purchase delivered to a locker along my route. Works well.

Steve

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Even with a heated hose, the *right* thing to do is to never hook up except to fill the fresh water tank. Running straight off city water risks freezing that magic pressure regulator / back flow valve that's part of the city water intake. (Yes, it can freeze even if not in use ... blowing it out is part of winterization ...).

If it's way below freezing *and* you are roaring down the road ... yikes ... The fast moving air going under the trailer will cool down the tanks a lot faster than just sitting in a campground. Even with heaters, you can only get just so low. The good news is that a full tank has a lot of water in it. That takes a while to freeze. The bad news is that there's enough there to bust the tank when it does.

Alternative is to "run dry" for the trip and deal with water needs in various ways.

Bob

[smmckean]

All of the above is sound advice; although another option if hooked up to a water supply is to slow drip your faucets.

[Tim A.]

We have stayed for years in September in West Yellowstone, MT and it often freezes severely at night. Standard routine is fill the tank in the day, unhook the hose at night, run off the tank until well into the day, fill tank and run off hose until evening, then repeat. If days are freezing, we just keep filling the tank and use the tank water. Not difficult.

Tim

[LilBird]

Thank you! Y’all have saved this relative newbie so many times

[majorairhead]

I'd have everything buttoned up with a full freshwater tank and empty black/grey tanks. I'd dump a gallon of pink in the black and grey tanks. I'd travel during daytime or at minimum when temps are warmest.

Upon destination, I'd hook nothing up, if necessary though, fill fw tank and dump tanks. I'd keep some pink in the black and grey tanks to help prevent dump handle freeze up. I'd bubble wrap or insulate outside shower behind door, and overnight I'd open cabinetry in particular where fw inlet valve and black tank rinse valve are located. (I might even blow these out before nightfall)

Set furnace to run all night, make sure propane tanks are full, and keep water heater on.

I'm a bit OCD Here I am in Florida, and I STILL have 3 gallons of pink on hand, just in case!

[Florida239]

Make sure the campgrounds are not winterized. Many turn off water in winter and you need to fill up at truck stops. If you are ever hokked up in really cold weather you need to insulate the tap connection so it doesn’t freeze not just your hose. I spent a season at Yellowstone and we needed to insulate the connection into the trailer and water tap ends. We used pool noodles. You can get heat tape run down hose and insulate it with pool noodles or pipe wrap.

[kb0zke]

As I write this it is 30* outside, and won't get much warmer. I filled and dumped yesterday. All hoses are stowed. It was down to 17 overnight, and will be like that the next two nights. We'll be fine. Tuesday I'll dump and fill again, and stow the hoses. This is our normal practice.


Our SOB had tank heater pads. When I opened up the belly I discovered that none of them were actually in contact with the tanks. We had already been through one winter without problems, so I'm not sure that those tank heaters actually did much good. Keep your furnace running, not just electric heaters. Yes, you will use some propane, but your tanks won't freeze. Dump and fill mid-afternoon when the temps are the warmest.


Some campgrounds may have the water at the sites turned off, but there is usually some place where you can dump and fill.

[LilBird]

I just heard from the owner of the campground. They checked our site today and decided to move us to a sunnier site. They haven’t turned off their water, so we will fill the tank on arrival and immediately disconnect the hose. I checked the Alde system this afternoon — all is working perfectly. Let’s hope it stays that way!

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by LilBird

I just heard from the owner of the campground. They checked our site today and decided to move us to a sunnier site. They haven’t turned off their water, so we will fill the tank on arrival and immediately disconnect the hose. I checked the Alde system this afternoon — all is working perfectly. Let’s hope it stays that way!

Hi

The same issue of "they shut it all down" also applies to dump stations ....

Bob

[strangepod]

Personally we just use the fresh water tank and when possible fill it back up if needed. Also make sure you drain all of the water out of the hose..

[ksteve06]

We just spent a month in the Raleigh NC area and it was down to the teens and 20’s almost every night. We have a 24 classic and just turned the tank heater pads and battery warmer on, used the fresh water and pump and just dumped the grey and black tanks as needed and it worked out good. I was a little nervous because we have never cold weather camped before but it was all good.

[Northsite]

This winter, after 20+years of winter camping, I bought my first heated hose. I decided that when available, it would be nice to have city water. When on the road I do use the fresh tank. As for the black and grey tanks, I monitor them closely and dump when it warms up a bit.

[LilBird]

We bought a heated hose which is still in the box Perhaps we’ll use it someday… Turns out that the fresh water tank works brilliantly, the tank heaters did their job, the battery heater worked, and we were just fine.

Again, my thanks to all for your advice!