Frozen water line

[GBB]

No such thing as a Four Season RV unless it stays in Arizona or Florida.

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by CNPH

hamm2018- thx for the info. , each tank is about 1/3 full. I can’t do anything until we get some more reasonable temps. Was -1 earlier with wind chill -15, won’t be above freezing until Saturday. Just living on bottled water for now, thankfully I bought a couple extra cases prior so all good. Can’t depend on shore power with it continually going off so just praying my heater hangs in there...

Good luck dude hope this weather does not lasts too much longer for you guys.
I guess we picked a good spot this year for the winter. We have had some strange weather here in the last 2-3 weeks. We actually suffered awning damage and waiting on repairs, along with another 6-8 RVs here in the park.
We had a storm come through, hail, high winds brought down trees, power poles damaged several homes. Heck they had some snow in Scottsdale from this weather a couple of weeks ago.

[Off Road]

Here is the deal. Your fresh water line coming out of the tank is frozen. See my comments on the cold weather thread, my comments are there. One thing that you could do to get water for washing hands, dishes etc. take off the cover below your sink where you winterize the fresh water system. Turn the valve that allows your pump to pump antifreeze through the system, this is detailed in your owners manual. Do not turn the second valve that bypasses your hot water tank. Stick the pickup tube in a bucket or jug of water. Like get one of those at the grocery store that has five gallons to go on a water cooler. You will then have five gallons to use in your system, like a five gallon water tank pulling from the bypass line. I have done this before to get by for a few days until it warms back up.

[CosmikDebris]

Originally Posted by Off Road

Here is the deal. Your fresh water line coming out of the tank is frozen. See my comments on the cold weather thread, my comments are there. One thing that you could do to get water for washing hands, dishes etc. take off the cover below your sink where you winterize the fresh water system. Turn the valve that allows your pump to pump antifreeze through the system, this is detailed in your owners manual. Do not turn the second valve that bypasses your hot water tank. Stick the pickup tube in a bucket or jug of water. Like get one of those at the grocery store that has five gallons to go on a water cooler. You will then have five gallons to use in your system, like a five gallon water tank pulling from the bypass line. I have done this before to get by for a few days until it warms back up.

If this proves to be the weak spot in freezing conditions, any ideas on preventing it? Wrapping with heat tape or an electric heating pad? Just wanting to avoid this in the future.

[Off Road]

Originally Posted by CosmikDebris

If this proves to be the weak spot in freezing conditions, any ideas on preventing it? Wrapping with heat tape or an electric heating pad? Just wanting to avoid this in the future.

On my ORV I pulled down the plastic cover on the bottom and put heat tape and pipe insulation on the 4-5’ of pipe before it goes back up into the inside of the trailer. I used 120 volt heat tape because if it’s cold enough to freeze the water lines you need 120 electric service. Whether you get it from a generator or a campground service. I also put a 120 volt heat pad on my tank. 12 volt pads don’t generate enough heat.

[Brad Wilf]

Originally Posted by Off Road

On my ORV I pulled down the plastic cover on the bottom and put heat tape and pipe insulation on the 4-5’ of pipe before it goes back up into the inside of the trailer. I used 120 volt heat tape because if it’s cold enough to freeze the water lines you need 120 electric service. Whether you get it from a generator or a campground service. I also put a 120 volt heat pad on my tank. 12 volt pads don’t generate enough heat.

So at what point or temp do you decide to fire up the heat tape. Boondocking or dry camping. So far I’ve been out in -15c and have been good, just running off batteries. Don’t know if I want to go chillier than that, if i had a choice.How low can you go? Probably depends on wind chill also.

[CNPH]

Thx for all the info and suggestions, we’ve abandon the trailer. The area has been without power since late Monday night. My batteries were full and once we lost shore power I limited battery use to only the heater and heat pad. I did hook up to my truck and plugged in for 3 hrs not that it will help much but maybe. I’ll go back in the morning to check it. My volts showed 11.8 when I left, fingers crossed power comes back on.

For those that wonder I do have a generator just don’t have access to it currently. I didn’t think I’d need it since there was no boondocking in our plans. Plus almost impossible to find a station with power to get gas anyway.

I just have to wonder why this apparently known weak point in the system hasn’t been addressed by ORV, seems it wouldn't take much during construction to fix it. I know these temps are beyond what’s normal but I’d have probably been fine otherwise.

The majority of my neighbors lines and or tanks were frozen. There are many here much worse off including home owners who’ve had no power just as long. I was able to get a tank of propane filled after a 2.5 hr wait, only because the propane place was running on a generator. Most of the people in line were home owners just trying to keep warm. Many told me their water lines in the homes had burst.
For now just trying not stress about it and am thankfully the wife and I are safe and warm.

Hopefully the state figures out why the power companies here were caught so off guard and ended up just shutting off power totally. My neighbor in the park is a lineman and he said the weather was not the cause of the massive outages...

[Brad Wilf]

Originally Posted by CNPH

Thx for all the info and suggestions, we’ve abandon the trailer. The area has been without power since late Monday night. My batteries were full and once we lost shore power I limited battery use to only the heater and heat pad. I did hook up to my truck and plugged in for 3 hrs not that it will help much but maybe. I’ll go back in the morning to check it. My volts showed 11.8 when I left, fingers crossed power comes back on.
For those that wonder I do have a generator just don’t have access to it currently. I didn’t think I’d need it since there was no boondocking in our plans. Plus almost impossible to find a station with power to get gas anyway.
The majority of my neighbors lines and or tanks were frozen. There are many here much worse off including home owners who’ve have no power just as long. I was able to get a tank of propane filled after a 2.5 wait, only because the propane place was running on a generator. Most of the people in line were home owners just trying to keep warm. Many told me their water lines in the homes had burst.
For now just trying not stress about it and am thankfully the wife and I are safe and warm.
Hopefully the state figures out why the power companies here were caught so off guard and ended up just shutting off power totally. My neighbor in the park is a lineman and he said the weather was not the cause of the massive outages...

Stay safe.

[Off Road]

Originally Posted by Brad Wilf

So at what point or temp do you decide to fire up the heat tape. Boondocking or dry camping. So far I’ve been out in -15c and have been good, just running off batteries. Don’t know if I want to go chillier than that, if i had a choice.How low can you go? Probably depends on wind chill also.

I would use the heat tape anytime the temp gets below 15 degrees Fahrenheit. I have had my ORV freeze up around 10-12 but that was before I added the heat tape.

[Brad Wilf]

Originally Posted by Off Road

I would use the heat tape anytime the temp gets below 15 degrees Fahrenheit. I have had my ORV freeze up around 10-12 but that was before I added the heat tape.

I guess I got lucky, I had a feeling I was pushing it. One of these days when I feel ambitious, I'll get in under there and do something. Thanks for the info, that's a good mod, and a good warning on freeze points. Of course not written in stone but a good general idea.

[troutmandj]

Originally Posted by CNPH

I am currently in the DFW area and have been full time since Sept. The temps are way cold (9’ with wind) right now, the coldest we’ve ever been in a trailer. I am unhooked from city water due to the temps and have been using only the fresh tank. Even with my heat pad on I believe either fresh tank froze or the lines from it have frozen. I’ve kept the furnace at 65-70 which I was told when I purchased would keep things flowing, I guess not.
Is this something that happens even in a 4 season trailer when temps get this low?

i live in Alaska. 21RBS with 4 season package and heat wrap for fresh water tank. I also confirmed with my dealer that 4 season isn't winter everywhere. We routinely camp in temperatures ranging from 5 to -20 degrees. the bottom end of our comfort zone is -25F. at that temperature the way i set up keeps things working. I carry 3 250W heat lamps; when setting up i place two under the fresh water tanks under the belly. they run on generator. In cold that looks to threaten to stay -20 or maybe colder, i run the generator continually, topping off fuel as needed. the heat lamps keep the water from freezing. furnace runs at 75, i find that it's pointless in ultra cold to set it higher because it cannot reach any higher, sometimes i set it down to 70 for that reason. this last weekend we encountered -46F, so we packed up a day early and headed home. in the 3 hours on the road where temperature was -35 or colder, it froze our water (not all of main supply, probably the pipes). once home, a day on the heat lamps fixed it right up. all winter we've not had an issue with busted pipes, and we keep our water tank at 1/2 to 2/3 full max to allow for some expansion. the heat pad, it seems, on the fresh water tank is useful to just at 32F, maybe to 20 or so, but it hasn't worked much for me here without help. daily temperatures here in Wasilla are below freezing every day, at 5-25 on average during most of the winter, and the heat lamps do the trick. I think the water would freeze without the heat lamps supplement. I froze up early in December relying only on the heat pad. I think the pad does help, because when we disconnect the lamps for travel and drive for 3-6 hours our water is still in good shape; i also run the toilet and sinks a bit during rest stops to keep it moving. then, the heat lamps once we stop. i wouldn't travel here more than 6 hours max without stopping - rule of thumb untried. just a side note - we carry 20 gal drinking water as backup and have needed it on occasion. we always boondock in campgrounds open for winter without facilities. i dump in my home septic because there are no dump stations to be had right now. i use house water, the pipes being insulated right up to the spigot.

[irv2-rick]

We were snowed-in for a few days last week at Atlanta State Park, which is a few miles south of Texarkana. Our experience was similar to yours. We had hoped a 250-watt space heater in the wet bay would prevent freezing, but single-digit temperatures during the night and the three days of below freezing temperatures during the day resulted in a frozen water line somewhere in the system and the water pump freezing. Now that warm weather thawed everything out, I've been quite surprised to not find any evidence of a broken line or damage to the water pump. I do worry that a fitting might be damaged and fail prematurely.


Good luck with your situation.


Rick

[CNPH]

Crazy as it sounds my water pump came to life today! It’s been 6 days since we were below freezing. Once the freeze ended we were able to move back in as our park faucet finally thawed with the help of a heat gun. I have checked the water pump daily and I’d flip the power switch and nothing. Flipped it today and it made a little groan and started pushing water, very cold water! Hopefully all is ok but I will be checking as much of the lines as possible.

[troutmandj]

Originally Posted by Off Road

On my ORV I pulled down the plastic cover on the bottom and put heat tape and pipe insulation on the 4-5’ of pipe before it goes back up into the inside of the trailer. I used 120 volt heat tape because if it’s cold enough to freeze the water lines you need 120 electric service. Whether you get it from a generator or a campground service. I also put a 120 volt heat pad on my tank. 12 volt pads don’t generate enough heat.

how do you wire it in?