Community Forums

Zinnie · 02-11-2021, 08:30 PM

Looking for the best option when traveling from 30° weather to Miami?
Can I fill up with water before I leave without it freezing? ( I live in Southern Indiana, about 4 hours south I should be above freezing)

If I can't fill up, where would I fill up on the way down to Miami?

Or do I just wait until I get there?

Thank you

Jthigh · 02-11-2021, 09:12 PM

It would take a long time a well below freezing to be a problem for the fresh tank. Water lines would freeze before large mass of water in the fresh tank. Not sure about your coach but all your lines and tank should be enclosed in basement area which is probably heated. So keep the furnace on in the coach for that. If not, you can put light bulbs in the wet bay to keep the lines warm overnight if you have access to power. I would wait and fill the day you leave so you just need to keep the water lines warm.

Ray,IN · 02-11-2021, 09:46 PM

I'm about 80 miles North of you. When we wintered in FL I would de-winterize and fill the fresh water tank the night prior to leaving and run the LP furnace to provide heat to the wet bay and plumbing. i never had a frozen plumbing issue.
I always drove I 65S en-route to FL, my first night we stayed at Northgate RV travel park which is not fancy just a basic overnight FHU site. If I didn't have a chance to de-winterize at home I did so at that bare-bones RV park.

theroc · 02-11-2021, 09:48 PM

Your water won't be freezing at 30° so as Jthigh said, I wouldn't even be worrying about it ...or even if the temperatures are in the 20's. This is assuming that you'll be living in the coach while underway with the interior and basement being heated. When you're traveling in a very hard freeze, you'd have to take some precautions.

We traveled multiple times in the winter from colder northern areas to the desert SW and never had a problem being on the road as normal or finding water. We'd travel with slightly more or sometimes less than a half tank depending on how long we planned to be on the road so we could use water while underway and it always lasted for several days while we were traveling ...quick showers of course and using public toilets once in awhile. A few times, we even filled the tank to capacity as it always feels good to know you have a full tank but most times we didn't think we needed a full tank and wanted to cut as much weight as possible for some other reasons.

But we'd still pull into RV parks or campgrounds on some of those trips too so we always could replenish water at those times.

Zinnie · 02-12-2021, 05:59 AM

Thank you very much for this information. This is our first cold to beautiful Florida sun trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jthigh

It would take a long time a well below freezing to be a problem for the fresh tank. Water lines would freeze before large mass of water in the fresh tank. Not sure about your coach but all your lines and tank should be enclosed in basement area which is probably heated. So keep the furnace on in the coach for that. If not, you can put light bulbs in the wet bay to keep the lines warm overnight if you have access to power. I would wait and fill the day you leave so you just need to keep the water lines warm.

Zinnie · 02-12-2021, 06:00 AM

Thank you very much for this information. This is our first cold to beautiful Florida sun trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theroc

Your water won't be freezing at 30° so as Jthigh said, I wouldn't even be worrying about it ...or even if the temperatures are in the 20's. This is assuming that you'll be living in the coach while underway with the interior and basement being heated. When you're traveling in a very hard freeze, you'd have to take some precautions.

We traveled multiple times in the winter from colder northern areas to the desert SW and never had a problem being on the road as normal or finding water. We'd travel with slightly more or sometimes less than a half tank depending on how long we planned to be on the road so we could use water while underway and it always lasted for several days while we were traveling ...quick showers of course and using public toilets once in awhile. A few times, we even filled the tank to capacity as it always feels good to know you have a full tank but most times we didn't think we needed a full tank and wanted to cut as much weight as possible for some other reasons.

But we'd still pull into RV parks or campgrounds on some of those trips too so we always could replenish water at those times.

Zinnie · 02-12-2021, 06:01 AM

Thank you very much for this information. This is our first cold to beautiful Florida sun trip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

I'm about 80 miles North of you. When we wintered in FL I would de-winterize and fill the fresh water tank the night prior to leaving and run the LP furnace to provide heat to the wet bay and plumbing. i never had a frozen plumbing issue.
I always drove I 65S en-route to FL, my first night we stayed at Northgate RV travel park which is not fancy just a basic overnight FHU site. If I didn't have a chance to de-winterize at home I did so at that bare-bones RV park.

Zinnie · 02-12-2021, 06:04 AM

We hit 65 in Bowling Green. Then 65 all the way down. Thank you

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

I'm about 80 miles North of you. When we wintered in FL I would de-winterize and fill the fresh water tank the night prior to leaving and run the LP furnace to provide heat to the wet bay and plumbing. i never had a frozen plumbing issue.
I always drove I 65S en-route to FL, my first night we stayed at Northgate RV travel park which is not fancy just a basic overnight FHU site. If I didn't have a chance to de-winterize at home I did so at that bare-bones RV park.

Zinnie · 02-12-2021, 06:10 AM

What part of Florida do you go to, pan handle? We are heading down to Miami. I was hoping to hit Atlanta around 8 pm and stop on the south side for the night.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinnie

Thank you very much for this information. This is our first cold to beautiful Florida sun trip.

2cyber71 · 02-12-2021, 06:14 AM

We leave Northern Pennsylvania winterized and get to Richmond VA our first day on the way down. I just hook up at the campground and turn on the water.
I add about 30 gallons in my fresh water tank at the campground for the rest of the trip.
So by the the time I drive 8 hours south it's frost free usually.
We did the trip Dec 28th, came back Jan 17th and winterized at home the next day.
Just left my heat on overnight.
I do it every year.

Zinnie · 02-13-2021, 03:24 AM

Awesome, thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2cyber71

We leave Northern Pennsylvania winterized and get to Richmond VA our first day on the way down. I just hook up at the campground and turn on the water.
I add about 30 gallons in my fresh water tank at the campground for the rest of the trip.
So by the the time I drive 8 hours south it's frost free usually.
We did the trip Dec 28th, came back Jan 17th and winterized at home the next day.
Just left my heat on overnight.
I do it every year.