Cold Weather Problems

[RVsteve]

I recently spent a night in Gallup where the temp got down to 19. Despite having my heat on and running the faucets a couple of times during the night, the cold water line in the bathroom sink froze. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any damage, but I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem? Also, I was not connected to an exterior faucet and I put a drop light in the water pump compartment.

I'm guess that the water line is more exposed at that location because it is right over the wheel well.

Any ideas, or cold weather travel hints and suggestions?

Thanks!

[RVsteve]

I recently spent a night in Gallup where the temp got down to 19. Despite having my heat on and running the faucets a couple of times during the night, the cold water line in the bathroom sink froze. Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any damage, but I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem? Also, I was not connected to an exterior faucet and I put a drop light in the water pump compartment.

I'm guess that the water line is more exposed at that location because it is right over the wheel well.

Any ideas, or cold weather travel hints and suggestions?

Thanks!

[Renegades]

Steve,

If your parked and have the heater running or a small electric heater, open the cabinet doors under the sinks. This will allow the warm air to circulate in the cabinets and keep the pipes from freezing. I live in TN, I keep the furnace set at 50 degrees, a small electric heater in the bedroom area and one in the basement. Water tank is full and waste tanks are empty. I do keep the propane full so if we lose power for any length of time, wife can go to MH with the cats and keep warm.

Jim

[RVsteve]

Thanks for the info, Jim. I thought about opening the cabinet in the bathroom AFTER I had the problem.

Steve

[DSouthw524]

When you say you have the heat on do you mean the furnace? Many people use electric heaters only. Doing that does not allow for the heat in most modern MHs to circulate in the compartments and water storage areas.

I think you were given great advice on the opening of the cabinet doors.

[RVsteve]

Yep, had the furnace on as well as electric heater in bedroom. Don't know if running both may have caused a problem. I still suspect that the bathroom cabinet being over the rear wheel well contributed to that line freezing. There is no heat at all in that area. If I plan to do more cold weather travel, I will look at insulating that line. My immediate solution was to scurry back to Phoenix and 70 degrees.

Thanks for your reply.

Steve

[Lil'Darlin1972]

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">I thought that part of the country was safe from having to worry about that type of thing </span>

[chasfm11]

Steve, I didn't notice what type of RV you have so my comments may or may not apply.

In ours, the plumbing in the connection bay has frozen a couple of times when the temps dropped to 15 degrees here. I finally figured out why. The compartment door has a weather seal that is supposed to keep the cold air out but it had been bunched together in a couple of spots and, with the door closed, cold area was seeping past that seal. In addition, our sewer hose is stored in channel underneath the compartment and it comes up through a hole in the compartment floor. The only thing that was keeping the cold air out was the flip cover at the end of sewer hose outlet. In cold weather, I now completely disconnect the hose and put a large piece of insulation over that area. The pipes haven't frozen since I did that.

Our furnace heat is supposed to circulate through the enclosed tank and plumbing area and prevent freezing. While doing some work on our black tank, I had to remove some of the paneling that is supposed to retain that heat. I noticed that there were a lot of small gaps here and there. By sealing those gaps, I've provided more "containment" for that heat and, I think, improved the chances that the furnace output can do its job of protecting the pipes.

If I had a particularly exposed area of piping, I might consider additional insulation directly around the pipes in that area, an electric heat tape run along those pipes or both.