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Old 11-25-2010, 06:47 PM   #1
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Wink Inside Waterlines Freezing....

ok, so its getting down into the single digits here!!

In my rv the city water is disconnected and i'm just running out of my tank and taking a shower in my dads house. Anyway, last night before bed i was going to do my nightly "duties" and had no water at the toilet... now the confused part of me was trying to figure out why i had no water.. it T's off of my sink faucet just 5' of pex line earlier. I had water coming out of the faucet at the sink, but no toilet. thought my water valve was broke on the toilet. today it still wasn't working so i was really lost. unhooked the waterline to the toilet, turned on the pump and had water at the faucet but nothing at the toilet. finally took the space heater and directed it at the water line and after about half an hour i finally had water at my toilet.

now why would my lines be freezing INSIDE my RV when its 60 in here... i know water is colder and all but c'mon... really... what can i do to prevent this? i have 2 electric heaters running, furnace running, and when i turn that 3rd heater on in the bathroom (keeps the seat warm lol) it trips the breaker... so what can i do?

one thing i do know i'm doing next week is sealing all my holes! couple cans of InstaFoam should do the trick, that outlet under the sink that faces the outside skin sure lets in some air!

Thanks again for the input everyone! Glad to be a part of such a wonderful bunch of people!

Happy Thanksgiving!

if anyone is to warm in Florida or California, ya'll can come park next to me here on the farm in Nebraska! right now at 7:45 its 12 degrees!
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Old 11-25-2010, 08:08 PM   #2
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12 degree's? Whats that?
Here in Socali it's 41 degree's at 7:00pm. When my wife went outside to see the kids off, she shivered and couldn't wait to get back into the sticks n bricks.
I'm worried about going full time. Afraid I will have to set the MH on fire to get it warm enough for her.
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Old 11-26-2010, 04:32 AM   #3
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Leaving all cabinet doors under sinks etc. help keep lines from freezing, the inside may be 60 degrees, but at the walls where pipes are inside the cabinets can be well below freezing. Also make sure that your storage bays are heated.
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Old 11-26-2010, 07:13 AM   #4
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Chris;

Welcome to iRV2. You have come to the right place for answers to your questions. I have heated compartments but they only get any heat when the furnace is running. I have to use the furnace as my main heat source and use electric heater as an auxiliary heater only or my lines will freeze. The coldest temp I have camped in was 18 and it was a challenge. IMHO I don't believe many motor homes are designed to have a functioning plumbing system when it gets that cold. I believe modifications can be made to accommodate colder temperatures.

Don
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Old 11-26-2010, 09:30 AM   #5
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Might want to try a 60watt incandescent light bulb in with the water lines - They put out enough heat to inhibit the freezing even when it gets really cold. Worked for me when it was -5F
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Old 11-26-2010, 09:46 AM   #6
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Open your cabnet doors. If you can, put a layer of Reflectix between the outer wall and the plumbing. My water line to the toilet froze up over night (probably around 5AM when it shows it was 13F). Now where it froze up was a "T" connection that is exposed to the cab section but there is very little insulation there. I need to fix that. I put a piece of Reflectix there and it thawed out in a few minutes. But the area is still very cold as it is just in a bad location. The cab section of my class C is not insulated and it gets very cold there. When it warms up today, I will place some insulation in there between the Reflectix and the outer wall & drivers door.
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Old 12-03-2010, 11:54 PM   #7
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sorry for the long delay on response... been tryin to stay warm lol

all the lines that were "froze" were in the open... i don't have to many lines behind cabinets, they mostly run under a piece of wood/carpet along the base corner of the wall/floor. as for adding lights, i can't... i'm running furnace on thermostat at 55, and running 2 electric heaters, plus tv, computer, and a few small LED overhead lights to see... i'm pushing 29amps just like that... then when i use the bathroom and turn on my 4.5amp pump... well, you can see that adds up over 30 amps on a 30 amp circuit... so adding any more usage to lights is out of the question. This summer in my "off season" (hate saying summer is off season lol) im going to be doing some serious electrical upgrading!! wanting to go to an "optional 50amp" and i'm going to redo a bunch of oulets and refigure my lighting situation! maybe next year i can have tank heaters, line heat, and a more sufficient furnace. i was able to make my a/c more efficient by finding holes everywhere that i was able to close off. i'm sure the furnace is the same way...

thanks again everyone! ya'll are freakin awesome!

if the guy that I spoke to in South Padre KOA campground back in July reads this on here please shoot me a PM, you refered me to this site and I am yet to tell you a sincere THANK YOU!
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Old 12-04-2010, 07:39 AM   #8
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Chris, running your main heater thermostat at 55* may be your problem if you are also using electric heaters. Most MH are designed to heat the closed spaces from the main furnace also this is how your tanks are heated. A lot of MHs run a separate duct to the tanks and other areas. So if the furnace is at 55* and not coming on enough and heating up enough because the electric heaters and working then this might be your problem. You should try turning your furnace up and your electric heaters down so your furnace is the primary source of heat on those real cold nights. If the primary source of heat is the electric heaters then there is no heated air flow to those closed spaces from the furnace.
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Old 12-04-2010, 12:12 PM   #9
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ya'll and your "compartment heating" lol you guys own to nice and to new of rvs lol

even if mine had compartment heat i would shut it off cause the seals on my bay doors are so shot i couldn't hold a bowling bowl in there... lol

i know the elec. heaters are keeping the thermostat warmer than what it should be but just running the furnace would put me at 1 tank of propane/ week... out here it has to get delivered by a truck and their not to fond of bringing out 40 gal lol they make runs of 250 gal minimum... every now and then they'll stop by if they see the RV on the yard and see if i need any, but usually i have to call and wait for another round for the truck, thats why i rely on elec so much more.

thanks again everyone!
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Old 11-01-2011, 04:19 AM   #10
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You wont be warm unless u put in a wood stove or pellet stove..read some of my posts...plus it will cost a fortune to heat with propane and electricity... And you'll never really be warm...everyone will tell u it's dangerous and cant be done...... But is propane really safe? Not to mention electric heaters that run non stop... Wood heat is free and you dont need any energy to run it.. In fact it creates energy... And gives u energy because you'll sleep like a baby at night. Lol
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Old 11-03-2011, 05:30 AM   #11
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Why not have a extended stay kit installed on your LP and use a larger tank externally? That is what many people do that use their RVs for extended winter use. RVs in several parks we have been in use the large tanks and they seem happy. Consult with the LP delivery company to see what tanks are available there for your use.

Your furnace definatly should be your primary heat source as already pointed out.
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Old 11-08-2011, 09:13 AM   #12
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Just spent 4 days in mountains with my 1983 pace arrow... Lol. Unmaintained windy mountain road to get there... I work 5 min from where i camped at night( coal mining).... I spent three of the four nights fighting to stay warm...the furnace isnt enough to keep u warm... Keep u from freezing yes but i want warmth! Only a wood stove can provide that sun like radiant heat.. Period...wire came off the breaker for the forced air heater and i had to run my generator all night and use my two electric heaters tp stay " warm" it was 6 degrees C when I woke up in the morning.., and it was only - 12 C outside. Thats not that cold for the rocky mountains of Canada..
So If others think that insulating, running propane heaters all day,installing huge propane tanks,having windows all foged up from wet heat of propane,etc etc is the way to go, then have at er... Lol when the batteries die, a wire comes off, the breaker quites working, the propane runs out or the heater fan quits, you'll be more than welcome to come over to my MH to stay nice and toasty warm by my woodstove, because it never breaks down! Haha..
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Old 11-08-2011, 05:27 PM   #13
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If you have more power available outside the RV, run an extension cord in and power one of the heaters with that.

Your water pump's 4.5 amps is DC amps from the 12v system, which translates to about 0.5 amp additional load on the 120vac system. Probably wouldn't even notice it, since the battery will pick up the extra in the short term, and the 12v charger would increase its power draw by only a miniscule amount.
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Old 09-23-2013, 08:50 PM   #14
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Wondering if this guy survived the winter.... Lol?
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