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Grandcanyon · 02-10-2015, 11:37 PM

Hello Friends! I will be picking up my new MH the first week of March, the dealer that I bought it from is in Niagara Falls, I originally thought that the weather would be better in March but looking at the predictions it looks like cold and more snow on the week that I pick up! A quick question I will be bringing my MH back to Phoenix where it's already 80'F currently the MH is winterized I will ask the dealer to de-winterize it, one question what happens to the water in the water heater doing travel? Will it freeze? or does the water heater have enough insulation to keep the water from freezing I'm a little concern when it comes to the water heater! As for the rest of the coach I will run the rear heater until I'm out of the cold weather hopefully in March I will not have to drive too much south!! Thank you!

Dambuilder · 02-11-2015, 05:18 AM

We used our RED in cold weather on a fairly regular basis. Your probably gonna get two general recommendations here. The first and by far the safest and most conservative would be to leave it winterized until you get to warmer climates and used water jugs to flush the toilet. Nothing wrong with that approach, just not very user friendly.

The second option is to heat the motorhome while traveling which is the route that we chose. The rear furnace is the only heat source for the wet bay and you will need to run it on propane. Some will say you should not do that but many people do without consequence. I have always heard that you can not run a propane HW heater while traveling without risk of blacking up the side of the coach. No first hand experience with that since we chose to run the generator so we could use the electric side of the water heater. You probably do not need to continuously run the hot water heater since it is insulated pretty well; just no good way to monitor temps remotely so we just let it on all the time. I would also suggest you get a wireless thermometer so you can monitor temps in the wet bay while traveling. Otherwise you have no way to know how cold it might be getting. Since we were always running the generator when traveling in cold weather, we installed a small ceramic heater in the wet bay secured to the wall to provide more direct temp control in the wet bay. May not need that for a one time run to warm weather but food for thought.

allegro1x · 02-11-2015, 05:41 AM

If you have a ice-maker, be sure its off till you get to warm weather(best idea is to leave it off and you won't have any problems with it). I thought the ice-maker in my unit was off, but unfortunately it wasn't, so when I was draining the rv antifreeze out on the way to Florida I had a valve to ice-maker break. Anyway line to ice-maker is off now, problem solved. Dave

Hayman · 02-11-2015, 06:04 AM

We are native New Englanders and you must understand that area at that time of year can still be extremely cold. I would take the conservative approach and keep your new coach winterized to avoid any damage.
De-winterizing is easily done once you are safely far enough south at a campground . Just my opinion.

PushedAround · 02-11-2015, 06:21 AM

If you do decide to de-winterize it, make sure that you have your water heater propane switch turned on. We make the trek to the Keys every winter and I have to crank things back up again in January before we leave. Also, no problem running the propane heat while traveling down the road. The heaters use forced combustion air, and they really don't care if you're sitting still or going 65 mph.

wa8yxm · 02-11-2015, 03:27 PM

I would not ask the dealer to de-Winterize, Id' carry a jerry can or two of water (or gallon bottles) till I got to warmer weather then I'd de-winterize.

What happens to water in teh water heater.. That depends

IF the heater is turned off.. it freezes, expands and ruptures the tank on the water heater causing you to need to replace it.. I learned that lesson the easy way (It was NOT MY water heater but another client of my dealer's)

IF, on the other hand, you leave the water heater ON (ONLY DO THIS IF THERE IS WATER IN THE TANK) and burn a bit of propane... It remains hot.

Grandcanyon · 02-12-2015, 12:28 AM

Thanks for the information. The main reason I would like to have everything running is that I want to make sure everything is working correctly before I leave the dealer, unfortunately even when I was in Red Bay the MH was already winterized and I could not test anything that has to do with the water lines that is the main reason. I have already bought a wireless thermometer at Walmart to monitor the wet bay, if I only have to run the generator for a couple of days while I travel back to Phoenix then I will probably go that route I will also just leave the water heater on the electric mode if I'm running the generator this way at least I will be saving a little on propane! Again Thanks for the info!!!!

garykk · 02-12-2015, 11:22 AM

You did not mention how you are getting home, are you heading straight down south and then over? If so you will be in freezing temps maybe two days....personally I would run the propane furnaces and have hot water heater on propane as well. That way your MH will be warm....if it's cold enough, the MH engine heater just won't cut it, the back of the MH will be cold...
Do not dewinterize the icemaker unless you have extra insulation around the water line . You just spent a pile of $$, what's a few bucks in propane to insure a warm trip with no freeze ups??

Arch Hoagland · 02-12-2015, 11:42 AM

After you get home I suggest putting a yard sprinkler on a hose and pulling it the length of the motorhome, underneath it of course.

I'd do that several times to get most of the salt off.

nothermark · 02-12-2015, 02:20 PM

FWIW - Not sure which weekend you are talking about but it does not look too bad for either one right now. The worst stretch of road will be along the Thruway south of Buffalo to Cleveland if you take the suggested mapping program routed. Daytime temperatures will be high enough to clear the roads but there could be overnight ice. Leave late if the roads are bad. A couple of hours can make a big difference in morning road conditions. If they are talking about bad lake effect consider heading east then south. The main roads I'd consider 219 to 80 but YMMV. Assuming the weather is OK Cleveland is around 4 hours and then you get away from the lakes and start heading south. All you need to worry about then are the midwest storms. ;-))

Since you want them to de winterize the coach I would ask if they can make it part of the walk through. There is not a lot to it but seeing where the drains to close and valves to open are can help a lot if you ever need to mess with the water system. The process is basically close these open those put water in here and run the faucets. The trick is finding all the these and those. I would not dump as the residual antifreeze will help heading south. YMMV.

Grandcanyon · 02-13-2015, 03:20 PM

Thank You Northmark!!! I did not think of doing that, I was just going to use my pressure washer, but I do like your idea!!!! Thanks Again!!!

Grandcanyon · 02-13-2015, 03:42 PM

I really have not pin pointed the way home yet because as we all know the weather changes by the hour! But I will try to go the warmest way specially since I do not have too much experience driving in the snow or ICE!!!! I would take any suggestions from the veterans out there as the best way out of Buffalo if it's snowing or there is ice on the road, I guess I will be driving home SLOW!!!! Again I will take any sugestions as the best way out of Buffalo!!! Thanks to everyone Again!!!

PushedAround · 02-13-2015, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grandcanyon

i really have not pin pointed the way home yet because as we all know the weather changes by the hour! But i will try to go the warmest way specially since i do not have too much experience driving in the snow or ice!!!! I would take any suggestions from the veterans out there as the best way out of buffalo if it's snowing or there is ice on the road, i guess i will be driving home slow!!!! Again i will take any sugestions as the best way out of buffalo!!! Thanks to everyone again!!!

Go South!!!

Huey46 · 02-21-2015, 11:42 PM

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I to will pickup my new "RED"Next week in Louisville, Ky and then head south. We will probably head to Red Bay to take in the factory again.
I also planned to dewinterize just to be able to check all the systems before getting to Red Bay ...just in case. However I'm not sure it will be above freezing in Alabama.
But it is a long way back to Louisville from S. Florida.