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Winemaker2 · 02-14-2021, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awol50

As others have said, i would worry about the antifreeze not getting down into the drain line/valves.
Empty both tanks in a couple 5 gallon pails. And dump in your toilet at your house, or just cover and wait until freezing temps are over and dump both in your rv toilet.
We live out in the country and have 3 acres and i have a couple times drained tanks of a small amount into pails and just dumped in the woods 400 ft behind our house. Its not like its toxic. As i recall there really was no offensive odor either.

Thats my vote.
If you can't empty them I'd at least drain off some and test freeze point even if you have to dump it back into the rv toilet. That will help distribute AF into the drain valve which would be the worst place to freeze / repair.

Shadow5501 · 02-14-2021, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soppy

I would at least dump a gallon into each tank. Freezing water in the tank shouldn't damage anything , but if the drain pipes are full it could burst the pipe or valve. Even with some antifreeze in the tank the water will turn to slush first and lessen the chance of doing any damage. I left a jug of -50 antifreeze outside and it was all slush this morning with only -30 temps.

RV antifreeze turns slushy/solid around 0F but does not expand at that temperature. So it behaves differently than water which expands as soon as it freezes. The protection temperature of RV antifreeze is the point at which it begins expanding, not the point at which it begins to solidify.

noserider · 02-14-2021, 08:04 AM

Great info guys. Living in Houston we don't deal with hard a freeze to often. The low temps will be short lived. We are at 39F today. Tonight forecasted to drop to 25f with a high tomorrow of 28. Monday night we could see temps dip to 17F and then warm back up on Tues to 39F.

Outbound · 02-14-2021, 01:01 PM

I would also add antfreeze to tanks, cheap insurance as mentioned.

noserider · 02-14-2021, 03:30 PM

As it turns out there was no more pink antifreeze available in the stores around here. All the Wally Worlds were sold out and auto parts stores. I did go ahead and dump my grey tanks but didn't dump my black. The only vulnerable thing I have is the black tank valve. I did add about a half gallon of antifreeze to the blank tank yesterday when I flushed all the lines with pink. Hoping for the best.

ArtJoyce · 02-14-2021, 04:35 PM

If I have a couple of gallons black water in the tanks. Gray water, drain with a hargen hose. But for the black,I get a 5 gallon bucket and fill to about 1/2 then dump it in my toilet. May 1 - 3 trips. If it's more I drive to a flying j 12 miles away.

I put a cup an 1/2 of antifreeze down each trap.

GoHike · 02-14-2021, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lllkrob

The black and grey tanks do not need to be winterized if only a few gallons of water is in them. Yes they will freeze, but the tanks are so large the frozen water will have plenty of room to expand when frozen. Think of a ice cube tray. It does not crack because the water has room to expand when it freezes. Same principle of thermodynamics in both cases.

If your tank design has low points where liquid is in any constricted spots (like short sections of piping or valves) the liquid can freeze and cause damage. Verified 1st hand, same principle of thermodynamics.

noserider · 02-15-2021, 08:04 PM

I brought the MH to my house today. Lots of power outages here so I wanted to have it ready as a backup plan if we lose power. I'm running the MH furnace tonight and also put an electric ceramic heater in the wet bay to keep things thawed. Anyone see a problem with that?

awol50 · 02-16-2021, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noserider

I brought the MH to my house today. Lots of power outages here so I wanted to have it ready as a backup plan if we lose power. I'm running the MH furnace tonight and also put an electric ceramic heater in the wet bay to keep things thawed. Anyone see a problem with that?

Excellent plan. I consider our class A the same. A comfortable place to live for extended time independent of the whims of politicians and bureaucrats. And with wheels that can take you anywhere, an important benefit.
Earlier in california and now in texas. Rolling extended energy blackouts due to political mismanagement of our electrical grid. Welcome to third world energy policy.