|
|
12-26-2010, 07:48 PM
|
#1
|
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 78
|
Freeze protection question
Hi, y'all. This is our first "A" ('03 Fleetwood Southwind) and we're needing some advice on winter. We want to use it during the winter and early spring because we'll have some nice weather, so the all-out winterizing is right out if I can avoid it. We can get outdoor storage with electric power, but I don't know for sure if we have electric heat in the coach (haven't picked it up yet), but I don't believe so. I've seen lots of advice on this very subject, and it seems that if we had one of those oil-filled space heaters in the coach, it should keep things warm enough to not freeze, right? Or wrong? do we need heat in the basement as well, and if so, where? Our normal daytime temps are in the 40's to 50's, normal overnights down in the 20's, but we'll be down in the 'teens for a few days end of the week, so I need to get this sorted out right quick.
Thanks for the help.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
12-26-2010, 08:35 PM
|
#2
|
Moderator Emeritus
Winnebago Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner Coastal Campers Carolina Campers
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Conway, SC
Posts: 23,641
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAMCUDNEY
Our normal daytime temps are in the 40's to 50s, normal overnights down in the 20's, but we'll be down in the 'teens for a few days end of the week, so I need to get this sorted out right quick.
|
Since you have electric, you may want to consider blowing out the fresh water system with compressed air.
__________________
03 Adventurer 38G, Workhorse W22
F&R Track Bars, Safety+ , Ultrapower, Taylor Extremes, SGII
TST 507, Blue Ox, SMI, Koni FSD, CrossFire
RV/MH Hall of Fame - Lifetime Member
|
|
|
12-26-2010, 09:25 PM
|
#3
|
Community Administrator
Pond Piggies Club LA Gulf Coast Campers Outdoors RV Owners Club Entegra Owners Club Skyline Owners Group
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 40,507
|
Using a space heater will not keep pipes that run through the basement or bays from freezing. It will only keep the inside of the coach from dropping too low. If you must not winterize & you won't be around to run your propane heat, DriVer's suggestion to blow out the lines with compressed air is your next best bet. You can also put trouble lights in the service bay, water pump bay & any bay with pipes running through them.
Even with outdoor storage w/electric hook up, I would not want to leave a space heater on in my RV in storage when I'm not around. To me, that's just not safe.
Lori-
__________________
Lori (& Dave, my spirit guide) - RV/MH Hall of Fame Lifetime Member | My iRV2 Photo Albums
2016 Phoenix Cruiser 2350S, 2018 Phaeton 40IH,2006 Bounder 36Z, 2004 Cougar 285EFS, 2000 Aerolite 25FBR
There is great need for a sarcasm font.
|
|
|
12-26-2010, 10:06 PM
|
#4
|
Registered User
Vintage RV Owners Club Gulf Streamers Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 4,951
|
Agreed.. drain the pipes and water heater and blow them out..
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 05:48 AM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club Texas Boomers Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Don't mess with Texas
Posts: 3,118
|
This is what I do. I neither recommend it or know if it will work for you.
We have low temps of 20 for maximum of two or three hours. I place one 150W heat lamp in the plumbing bay on a heavy duty timer. It comes on around 6PM and off at 6AM. I open the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink and both bath sinks. There seems to be enough heat in the basement that radiates through the floor to keep the inside warm enough not to freeze anything. Last year this worked for me with overnight temps down to 15 degrees.
Like you, we use our MH all during the year and I don't want to go through the hassles of winterizing every few weeks. Its currently 26 and will be 58 by noon and we're leaving tomorrow for a week to bring in 2011.
__________________
Jim with Judy
2017 Newmar Ventana 4369, 2005 Jeep Wrangler (Rock Crawler), 2016 Jeep Wrangler (Mall Crawler)
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 06:22 AM
|
#6
|
Senior Member
Appalachian Campers Forest River Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 238
|
We also use our MH year round for short trips and don't want to winterize it. I dump the water heater and open all the low point drains and faucets. I place a heater inside the MH set to 56 and three 100w lights on greenhouse thermostats from Lowes in the basement to keep it warm down there. The lights come on at 36 and off at 45 no problems in over two years. Here is a pick of my easy HW heater drain.
__________________
David & Teresa
2017 Silverado 3500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab Dully
2017 Cedar Creek 37MBH
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 07:26 AM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 163
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkhartjim
This is what I do. I neither recommend it or know if it will work for you.
We have low temps of 20 for maximum of two or three hours. I place one 150W heat lamp in the plumbing bay on a heavy duty timer. It comes on around 6PM and off at 6AM. I open the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink and both bath sinks. There seems to be enough heat in the basement that radiates through the floor to keep the inside warm enough not to freeze anything. Last year this worked for me with overnight temps down to 15 degrees.
Like you, we use our MH all during the year and I don't want to go through the hassles of winterizing every few weeks. Its currently 26 and will be 58 by noon and we're leaving tomorrow for a week to bring in 2011.
|
We use our coach full time and camp in areas where the temps get into the mid 20's at night for some nights. We put a trouble light in the water service bay and the space behind the refrigerator to keep the pipe to the icemaker from freezing also.
__________________
2008 Fleetwood Providence 39R - Great Floorplan
2010 GMC Acadia Toad w/SMI Air Force One Brake - Roadmaster Stowmaster - 3 minute hookup!
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 10:24 AM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Nor'easters Club Workhorse Chassis Owner Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: MAINE, The way Life should be.
Posts: 1,092
|
If the temperature "could" get below 32 I would recommend either blowing out or filling with antifreeze.
Then again, if you want to gamble............
__________________
Tiffin Allegro Bus, 425 Cummins Freightliner XCR, Camp Freightliner, Acadia Denali, tow-N-4 Down, Blue-OX tow bar, TST Monitors, Seelevel II Monitors, Samsung Res Fridge, Progressive 50A-EMS, No Kids-No Pets, Full Time.
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 03:31 PM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 163
|
And how do you LIVE in a coach with the water blown out!
__________________
2008 Fleetwood Providence 39R - Great Floorplan
2010 GMC Acadia Toad w/SMI Air Force One Brake - Roadmaster Stowmaster - 3 minute hookup!
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 03:51 PM
|
#10
|
Community Administrator
Pond Piggies Club LA Gulf Coast Campers Outdoors RV Owners Club Entegra Owners Club Skyline Owners Group
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 40,507
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by EasyDoesIt
And how do you LIVE in a coach with the water blown out!
|
If you're asking that in regards to the OP, they didn't say they were living in it. They stated they wanted to use it when they have nice weather. They were asking advice for what to do during the times it was in storage plugged into electric, having below freezing temperatures & without using antifreeze.
Lori-
__________________
Lori (& Dave, my spirit guide) - RV/MH Hall of Fame Lifetime Member | My iRV2 Photo Albums
2016 Phoenix Cruiser 2350S, 2018 Phaeton 40IH,2006 Bounder 36Z, 2004 Cougar 285EFS, 2000 Aerolite 25FBR
There is great need for a sarcasm font.
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 09:37 PM
|
#11
|
Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Manitoba,Canada
Posts: 2,789
|
Quote:
We want to use it during the winter and early spring because we'll have some nice weather, so the all-out winterizing is right out if I can avoid it.
|
No, they said they wanted to use it during the winter in nice weather. That doesn't mean that it's not cold, it's just nice weather.
I watch these discussions with interest. I sit and look out my window while commercial Prevost buses drive down the highway with passengers on board. The buses have bathrooms, and heated basement storage. These buses do not have an on board generator. The temperature is -20.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering how I can get my coach out of the storage shed, and drive two or three days south until I hit warm weather, and be able to even heat the thing at all, not even considering being able to use the water system.
I think that our coaches are made for summer weather. There must be a way to solve this.
__________________
2016 Creekside 23RKS
2012 Ram 2500 Laramie 4X4 Cummins 6.7L
Canada, eh?
|
|
|
12-27-2010, 09:49 PM
|
#12
|
Moderator Emeritus
Winnebago Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner Coastal Campers Carolina Campers
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Conway, SC
Posts: 23,641
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by EasyDoesIt
And how do you LIVE in a coach with the water blown out!
|
The point is to winterize the coach and not live in it. You also could not winterize a coach with RV anti freeze and live in it if you expected to use the water systems.
__________________
03 Adventurer 38G, Workhorse W22
F&R Track Bars, Safety+ , Ultrapower, Taylor Extremes, SGII
TST 507, Blue Ox, SMI, Koni FSD, CrossFire
RV/MH Hall of Fame - Lifetime Member
|
|
|
12-28-2010, 09:13 AM
|
#13
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: West Palm Beach, FL. USA
Posts: 27,519
|
The main issues for the OP are the water heater tank, the bay with the water inlet & drains & pump, and the icemaker water line. None of those are well-protected even if the interior is heated with an auxiliary heat source like an electric heater.
I'd bypass & drain the water heater - not a big deal to reactivate if he wants to use the coach again. Put a 100W light bulb in the wet bay, using a Greenhouse plug to turn it on/off when it's cold at night. Or a simple timer.
The icemaker water line is a bit of a nuisance. If it has a shutoff under the kitchen sink (most do), I'd shut it off and drain it for the winter and forego the ice. If not, and the fridge is turned off, just wrapping the valve area in the back of the fridge with insulation may be sufficient. Or put a 60W light bulb in there and block off the access door vents with tape or cardboard. That should keep it above 32 in there, even though the top vent is open.
Last, drain the fresh and waste tanks and add some RV antifreeze to the waste lines to keep the residual water from freezing up.
__________________
Gary Brinck
Former owner of 2004 American Tradition and several other RVs
Home is West Palm Beach, FL
|
|
|
12-29-2010, 07:40 AM
|
#14
|
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 78
|
This is helpful. Love the water heater drain! I see a quick trip to Lowes in my future. Ditto shutting down the icemaker for the winter. Both will make winterizing much easier. Gonna go with Gary, shouldn't take me more than a cup of coffee to winterize or de-winterize (Is that a word? should it be "spring-ize?)
Thanks all.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
Similar Threads
|
Thread |
Thread Starter |
Forum |
Replies |
Last Post |
Montana LLC question
|
jbowlby |
iRV2.com General Discussion |
69 |
02-15-2011 04:22 PM |
Ball Hitch Question
|
CNCCornwall |
Trailer Towing and Tow Vehicles Discussion |
11 |
09-08-2009 09:07 PM |
Towing Question
|
Silversurfah |
Toads and Motorhome Related Towing |
5 |
07-20-2009 06:17 AM |
Toad Protection Question
|
donie |
Toads and Motorhome Related Towing |
4 |
06-11-2009 05:40 PM |
|
» Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|