Still too cold to de-winterize! Do I need to?

[GRGriffons]

Good Morning! We are ready to head to the Grand Canyon, but here in Michigan, I dare not de- winterize, as low temps are still in the 20s and travel through many states will be likewise. As I consider options, I wonder....if all of my stops are full hook ups, thereby by- passing my stored water, do I really need to de- winterize? The lines are currently blown through, and anti freeze is only in the drain lines. What am I not considering? Thx

[Philip Jones]

I am travelling thorugh southern Ontario and Michigan today en route to Florida. Expected lows tonight of -3 celcius. I am planning to partially fill my fresh water tank and leave the furnace on low while driving until we are south of Ohio. If you have your furnace on you should be OK dewinterizing, but you probably will need the furnace on low while driving.

[Adventure.AS]

When travelling through areas with freezing weather we usually do not use the water system in the trailer, although you could put water in the fresh tank if using the furnace. The furnace heat won't help keep the drain valves for the holding tanks from freezing though.

As well as keeping your inside plumbing above freezing, using the furnace will have the coach warm when you arrive at your evening stop. It is particularly nice to have your bed warm and dry as the furnace will help dry out the interior.

I personally find it more convenient to use a product like Wag Bags in the toilet and body wipes instead of the shower until getting to an above freezing climate. If your stops have heated bath houses use those facilities to keep your holding tanks empty until in a warmer area.

[GettinAway]

We are at 24 degrees here in Missouri, but that's nighttime temps. It'll be in the 40s today. I'd watch the temps and run the furnace if it gets below freezing. You could buy a couple of gallons of water to flush toilet and wash up, if you just wanted to wait until you got far enough south to de-winterize.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by GRGriffons

Good Morning! We are ready to head to the Grand Canyon, but here in Michigan, I dare not de- winterize, as low temps are still in the 20s and travel through many states will be likewise. As I consider options, I wonder....if all of my stops are full hook ups, thereby by- passing my stored water, do I really need to de- winterize? The lines are currently blown through, and anti freeze is only in the drain lines. What am I not considering? Thx

Originally Posted by Philip Jones

I am travelling thorugh southern Ontario and Michigan today en route to Florida. Expected lows tonight of -3 celcius. I am planning to partially fill my fresh water tank and leave the furnace on low while driving until we are south of Ohio. If you have your furnace on you should be OK dewinterizing, but you probably will need the furnace on low while driving.

After you have used ANY part of the fresh water/sewer system, leave the furnace on until you reach weather where there will be no freezing temperatures, or re-winterize every day.
The only time I ever had a frozen line was at the border of Georgia and Florida, where I stopped for an overnight and temperatures dropped below the forecasted temperatures. I turned the furnace off thinking it was safe to do that. Next day when I arrived in central Florida and connected to water, I found one of the water lines had frozen and burst.

[Wazbro]

If the temp gets above freezing at all during each the day and you sleep in and heat the trailer the fresh tank has nothing to do with any freeze damage. The damage would be in the water line which would be de-winterized if you hookup to city water, so no difference using city water or stored water.

For traveling with some potential freezing temps I take 3-4 gallons of water in jugs for flushing and washing and dump a gallon of RV antifreeze in each waste tank. Never had a problem when most of the days temps were getting above freezing.

[Rocinante]

If you expect temperatures to drop below freezing, do not leave your coach connected to shore water, as the hose could freeze.

When we know we’ll be camping in below-freezing conditions, we leave our coach winterized and use it like a “tin tent” until we reach warmer conditions. In that situation we live very simply and use campground restrooms, showers, etc. Even when camping dry like that, shore power is handy to run your heat.

[dkdouglas]

This week the temperatures around the Grand Canyon will be dipping below freezing at night and only upper 50's, lower 60's during the day. So things will still have a freeze potential. We were there last year at the end of March and it snowed on us one night. Severe storm blew through and knocked out the power for an area all around the canyon and some cities nearby.
That did make for some wonderful pics the next day of the canyon with all the snow.

[Rocinante]

Forgot to say, when temps climb well above freezing in the day and drop a bit below freezing at night, we go ahead and "water up" the system as long as we're committed to camping in it and keeping it warm enough via propane heat during the sub-freezing hours. "Warm enough" could be as low as 55 degrees at night inside the trailer. That's good enough as long as you are using the propane furnace to heat, which pushes warm air past the tanks and the water lines.

Still, when there's risk of sub-freezing weather at night, do not leave any water / sewer lines connected. Drain and put away water hoses after filling the fresh tank, same with sewer hoses after draining black & grey tanks.

Oh, and if it's going to be really chilly, relatively speaking, you might want to put some pipe foam insulation around the low point drains to keep them from freezing up, They kind of stick out under our trailer, so we like to protect them if it's too cold.

Ah, another thing: in colder weather it is possible your propane regulator could freeze up. To prevent that, as long as you have shore power you can wrap the regulator with a short length of electrical heat tape (the kind folks often use to protect exposed pipes from freezing).

[ChAs93]

We traveled for many years from eastern Washington to Arizona with SOB trailer usually in December or January. We kept the fresh water system dry and only ran the furnace at night. We carried several gallons of rv antifreeze stored in the shower to use for flushing the toilet for night time use. Dewinterized after getting as far south as Las Vegas.

[Wolf Alaska]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

If you expect temperatures to drop below freezing, do not leave your coach connected to shore water, as the hose could freeze.

When we know we’ll be camping in below-freezing conditions, we leave our coach winterized and use it like a “tin tent” until we reach warmer conditions. In that situation we live very simply and use campground restrooms, showers, etc. Even when camping dry like that, shore power is handy to run your heat.

Yes, I know this approach can be inconvenient, but not as much as a broken water line behind a wall. Without the water system, a trailer is like a metal tent, but it can easily be lived in.
Let's Roll !
Wolf

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by GRGriffons

Good Morning! We are ready to head to the Grand Canyon, but here in Michigan, I dare not de- winterize, as low temps are still in the 20s and travel through many states will be likewise. As I consider options, I wonder....if all of my stops are full hook ups, thereby by- passing my stored water, do I really need to de- winterize? The lines are currently blown through, and anti freeze is only in the drain lines. What am I not considering? Thx

We left Billings, Mt....We’d morning....8 degrees... no water ..non nada just antifreeze......until we got to Beaver , Utah and 60 degrees...no problems....all my plumbing is good...and I don’t have to fix anything.....LOL....that is how we do it.......and it works for us

[davidrrand]

Right now at time and date above, it is 28F in NW Georgia. Should be ok with your furnace running.