I didn't "winterize" - what's going to happen?

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov

What - I'm screwed?

OK, you drained the water supply tank + water heater.Those are the main things.You drained low points.Hopefully, you'll just lose some fittings, not that big of a deal.if some of water out of spots, it can't expand totally and break.
Old Midwestern guy for decades, freezing can do less damage than expected sometimes.You drained the expensive parts, hope for best.

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov

How can I keep the furnace going? I'm not even around!



Is it enough to just visit once a day and run it for an hour? When we arrived in the morning the inside temperature was 32F. When we left it was up to about 60F.

Probably not. Airstreams have little to no insulation. You either keep it heated or blow the system out after things thaw. You could bed down there for the night and keep things warm.

BUT I kept furnace going when I wasn’t there. In fact when we camp in cold temps we leave with the furnace going all the time. Not sure what the problem would be; unless you don’t have enough LP. Just secure your generators. Or make sure your batteries are charged and use batteries to run LP furance. Then plug in the generators again and charge things up again. I know it is a hassle. But it would be less of a hassle then a new water pump, etc.

A 30lb tank of LP should keep the AS warm for at least a couple of days; 2 tanks probably 4 days. It will get you through the crisis.

[wmb]

We're in Austin right now too (full-timing), third winter we've been here and this weather has really been brutal (the kind we left the northeast to get away from)!

We're running the furnace at 50F, water heater on electric, and we also have a small space heater. While water is running fine from the fresh water tank (we filled up Thursday while still above freezing after we disconnected from city water), our tank valves have frozen shut and we get no reading from the sensors. We had two full tanks of propane on Thursday and supply hadn't yet switched over to tank 2 when I checked this afternoon.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be impossible to get to a propane refill tomorrow so I hope it lasts. Earliest consistent above-zero temps not expected until Saturday!

I may be able to get my hands on a couple of heat cables tomorrow - has anyone had any luck with those for thawing the tank valves?

[B. Cole]

The heat cable or heat tape ( I've used Frost King brand for decades) will work.
If you're full timing, it's a good idea to have multiple portable electric heaters for backup anyway, in case your propane furnace goes out.
Same goes for having a backup gasoline generator, in case power goes out.It just is what it is.
I don't like refilling propane tanks, so I'm all electric in my Landyacht Yard whale.
You have to crank the heat up anyway you can, in any RV,in these cold conditions, especially in these poorly insulated Airstreams.
Its heated mass that prevents freezing, as well as heat tape to prevent exposed water lines from freezing, like in any northern trailer / mobile home park.
A lot of people who don't anticipate possible cold conditions in winter, are learning the hard way with this polar vortex.

[doctorlewis]

I have never used antifreeze. Maybe in a few days I will wish that I had. I always drain the tanks and lines and leave the faucets open. When the weather is expected to get below 30* I always set a space heater at 40* in front of the opened kitchen cabinets and open the doors below the bathroom sink. This has always worked but with temps down into the single digits tonight and tomorrow night I am worried that I may have some damage.

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by doctorlewis

I have never used antifreeze. Maybe in a few days I will wish that I had. I always drain the tanks and lines and leave the faucets open. When the weather is expected to get below 30* I always set a space heater at 40* in front of the opened kitchen cabinets and open the doors below the bathroom sink. This has always worked but with temps down into the single digits tonight and tomorrow night I am worried that I may have some damage.

Maybe it's just me, ( old Yankee) but I don't understand setting electric portable heaters and furnaces on 40-50 in low temps, I see people doing it a lot here.
These Airstreams are poorly insulated, by design, it just is what it is.
Set to 70+ , to get some heating of the mass.
You have to crank the heat up and use heat tape in problem areas, in these aluminum tubes, in sub freezing weather.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by B. Cole

. . .
. . . These Airstreams are poorly insulated, by design, it just is what it is.
Set to 70+ , to get some heating of the mass.
You have to crank the heat up and use heat tape in problem areas, in these aluminum tubes, in sub freezing weather.

All well said IMO.

[Kalashnikov]

It's my fault. Yes we saw the forecast but for some reason it didn't gel, mostly because we'd never, ever had more than a single night of cold. It couldn't possibly happen.

One day it was shorts & t-shirt weather. The next day we had a half inch of ice on everything, most importantly the roads. No one without chains could drive. I was lucky to have chains and made it out to our AS to empty the tanks/pipes.

Originally Posted by BillfromWI

This works for me. A large compressor is not needed.

Good Luck!

That's a great guide! Saved


All of that it best done on the driveway, well in advance of a freeze. Lesson learned - the hard way. I'll have a bunch of pink slime on hand hereafter be prepared to go through the checklist next time.

[azflycaster]

Lived in Phoenix most of my adult life and never gave a second thought to freezing. Several years ago moved up to the area around Prescott at 5,000 feet and winterizing is a way of life.

[pivot463]

Hi , I pour 8 gallons of pink RV anti freeze into my water tank every year and run it through my water system each fall. And put some down my sink drain and shower works on my 1988 Excella 32ft.

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov

It's my fault. Yes we saw the forecast but for some reason it didn't gel, mostly because we'd never, ever had more than a single night of cold. It couldn't possibly happen.

One day it was shorts & t-shirt weather. The next day we had a half inch of ice on everything, most importantly the roads. No one without chains could drive. I was lucky to have chains and made it out to our AS to empty the tanks/pipes.



That's a great guide! Saved


All of that it best done on the driveway, well in advance of a freeze. Lesson learned - the hard way. I'll have a bunch of pink slime on hand hereafter be prepared to go through the checklist next time.

Travel trailers are a long learning curve.You've got plenty of company out there, with this polar vortex.Hopefully you'll get by with minor issues.

[fthopkins]

If you didn't brake anything, your the luckiest living being ever. Once I "winterized" my RV and forgot to drain the back side of the my brand new ceramic toilet. I missed about a table spoon of water and the back of the toilet exploded.



That was in Dallas, TX., years ago. Nothing like the cold we're having now. You should see my winterizing procedure now (every time I store my RV!) We travel all year round. I use "FUNGUS" list, twice!



Good luck, I hope all is well.

[AnnaBelle33]

I’ve got a Porcelain Toilet w/ Macerator in my ‘21 - 33. Any special thing or instructions needed to do to winterize that? You’ve got me worried now. Lol

[OTRA15]

What does your owner's manual say?

[AnnaBelle33]

Doesn’t mention the toilet. I’ve followed the owners manual & other things I’ve learned. Nothing anything special about the toilet though.

[lemley]

I live outside of Waco. About 90 miles north. It’s 5 degrees here as I write. We’d planned to head out to the coast in a couple of days so I wanted to keep Bella ready. And it’s been a good thing.

I blew out the water lines and filled the propane tanks. Skirted the bottom and put a 200 watt light under the fresh tank. Added a couple of electric heaters inside. I did not fill up all of my gas cans and that was a mistake.

FWIW I do have a big air compressor but all it took was a little from my portable tank. I have an adapter that connects the air tank directly to the water lines.

As it turned out we got hit pretty hard. We lost power for almost a day and since we’ve only had sporadic power about 10% of the time. There are many in the area with no power or water.

I’ve used the generator to keep a bit of heat in our guest house and to keep the Airstream cozy. It’s the warmest place we have and the fresh tank is our emergency water supply. Last night we cooked dinner and sat out there for a couple of hours.

So the Airstream has ended up being our lifeboat. I didn’t plan it that way, but between their design and a bit of readiness and good knowledge on cold camping from this list it worked out.

And, oh by the way, we live on a hill and 6” of fresh light powder made great skiing yesterday.

[BayouBiker]

Originally Posted by AnnaBelle33

Doesn’t mention the toilet. I’ve followed the owners manual & other things I’ve learned. Nothing anything special about the toilet though.

It has the same issues as a regular toilet. You need to protect the flush/fill valve so hope you blew it out with air or got some antifreeze in it. Macerator pump could use a bit of antifreeze also so hopefully you flushed a bit of antifreeze into the pump.

Edit: Bob, nice story about how the trailer is helping you cope with lack of power. Hope the gasoline supply holds up! Our trailer and inverter generator helps us get through the hurricane season.

[rmkrum]

I keep the airstream stocked with some food, water and propane. The inverter dual fuel generator is on a battery maintainer close by in the garage. If we lose power, because of weather, earthquake, or whatever, it’s always ready on our driveway as a shelter.

[B. Cole]

Originally Posted by lemley

I live outside of Waco. About 90 miles north. It’s 5 degrees here as I write. We’d planned to head out to the coast in a couple of days so I wanted to keep Bella ready. And it’s been a good thing.

I blew out the water lines and filled the propane tanks. Skirted the bottom and put a 200 watt light under the fresh tank. Added a couple of electric heaters inside. I did not fill up all of my gas cans and that was a mistake.

FWIW I do have a big air compressor but all it took was a little from my portable tank. I have an adapter that connects the air tank directly to the water lines.

As it turned out we got hit pretty hard. We lost power for almost a day and since we’ve only had sporadic power about 10% of the time. There are many in the area with no power or water.

I’ve used the generator to keep a bit of heat in our guest house and to keep the Airstream cozy. It’s the warmest place we have and the fresh tank is our emergency water supply. Last night we cooked dinner and sat out there for a couple of hours.

So the Airstream has ended up being our lifeboat. I didn’t plan it that way, but between their design and a bit of readiness and good knowledge on cold camping from this list it worked out.

And, oh by the way, we live on a hill and 6” of fresh light powder made great skiing yesterday.

That's the original design of these aluminum tubes, they are outdoor mobile survival pods.Like with millions of homes now in frozen Texas without power, many people have been forced to retreat to much easier to heat trailers+ RVs of all brands.
And a lot of long time Texans,have learned some tough lessons on being prepared for the worst low temps.
In all fairness, to people there who didn't winterize, they don't have the cold weather experience of northern Yankees.
I remember a two week stretch living in northern Michigan one winter, yrs ago, when it never got above zero for those 2 weeks.
Just saw this morning, that the low in Nebraska last night was 30 below zero, actual ( not wind chill ).
If you've never seen it, it's hard to describe those low temps.
It never hurts to keep 20 gallons of treated gasoline, for a generator, in case of winter problems.Always treat gas cans at the pump, with long term gas stabilizers, like Stabil or higher tech PRIG .
Just put it in vehicles in the spring, when cold weather threats end.
Hang in there Texas!

[fthopkins]

AnnaBelle33,
I'm sure there are many solutions to our ceramic toilet issue, but here what I did (after my big booboo):
1 - I put a brass "T - L" inline drain in the water supply line behind the toilet.
2 - when winterizing, I hold down the flush pedal while blowing the supply lines. Then I open the brass "T - L" inline drain.


I've attached a link for an online order for a 1/4 line. You should verify the inside diameter of yours toilet fill line. Don't forget a couple of clamps too.


Fairly simple to install. Cut the line, slide a clamp on each end of the cut line, slip each of the "T" into the cut line.





I hope this helps.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-6mm-Bra...YAAOSw-INdh2Os