Winterizing?

[Ridgekid]

Wouldn’t it be nice if Forest River designed their RVs so winterizing was not required? There must be a way to design so the lines wouldn’t freeze. Maybe an underbelly that is sealed that you could still access the lines were needed? Freezeproof lines?
Heated tanks are helpful, but I think RVers would love to not have to winterize.
Thanks

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by Ridgekid

Wouldn’t it be nice if Forest River designed their RVs so winterizing was not required? There must be a way to design so the lines wouldn’t freeze. Maybe an underbelly that is sealed that you could still access the lines were needed? Freezeproof lines?
Heated tanks are helpful, but I think RVers would love to not have to winterize.
Thanks

They put wheels on them so they can be moved to where it is warm. Drive til you see palm trees.

[A32Deuce]

That's a great idea but, you still need some form of heat/power to keep it warm. I rather go south!

[NJKris]

Drive til you see palm trees.
__________________

Haahahaha!!! One day....

[timfromma]

It's easy. Never use water in your camper so there will be nothing to freeze.

[Ridgekid]

Originally Posted by AudiDudi

They put wheels on them so they can be moved to where it is warm. Drive til you see palm trees.

Our problem is that we love living where we do. Northern California offers back country skiing and ice-skating, which we enjoyed very much. That’s the problem – love both worlds, pine trees and cactus ..
So, our TT sits out front in below freezing temperatures most of the winter. I just think that it would be fairly easy to come up with a freeze proof design.. not sure why they don’t..
Thanks and happy travels !

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by Ridgekid

Our problem is that we love living where we do. Northern California offers back country skiing and ice-skating, which we enjoyed very much. That’s the problem – love both worlds, pine trees and cactus ..
So, our TT sits out front in below freezing temperatures most of the winter. I just think that it would be fairly easy to come up with a freeze proof design.. not sure why they don’t..
Thanks and happy travels !

The only way to freeze proof a camper is to either remove all water OR keep the all the plumbing above freezing. There are people who live in their campers year round who take some pretty extreme measures to keep their lines from freezing. I'm not sure how easy or inexpensive it is but it's possible.

[kenandterry]

Like anything else.....the more you do it, the better you’ll become.

Outside of the debate whether to blow the lines or use RV Antifreeze, I use the Antifreeze and can do our rig in less time than a half hour TV sitcom.

But I do prefer going South to warmer climates.

A friend of mine ties a kid’s snow shovel to his rear ladder. He then starts driving South until people ask “What is that?” Then he knows he’s far South enough.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by AudiDudi

They put wheels on them so they can be moved to where it is warm. Drive til you see palm trees.

That is exactly what I did.

Although, now I have to 'Summerize' (ie.- protect it from the summer heat).

First shot is from my place and the second shot a one-nighter experiment at the local Walmart parking lot with the 5'ver:

[TheWolfPaq82]

RV Anti-Freeze is "Non Toxic" so if you don't mind the taste, you could always fill your tanks with it. Or just load your FW tank with your favorite Alcohol and be the most popular RV in the park.

[5picker]

Where we live, we have months of below freezing temperatures.
There is no way to keep things from freezing over that time frame without the use of heat or antifreeze.

It would be VERY costly to keep our rig heated unless we would build a heated storage facility and that would be even more costly!

For us the cheap, easy to use non-freeze solution (pun intended) is R/V antifreeze.
It is inexpensive enough to do several times (if a quick winter trip is doable) and allows us to save our money for other camping needs besides heat.

[Iwritecode]

It gets so cold sometimes that pipes in actual houses freeze. There's really no way to make the lines "freeze proof" without removing the water somehow. It's just the way it is.

[A32Deuce]

Even if all the plumbing is inside and insulated, you still need heat to keep the water from freezing. In the winter, turn off the heat in your house when its below freezing and see how long it takes to freeze your water pipes! If your temps are only below freezing for a few hours, you may be ok as long as it warms up enough to get the inside warm.

[NJKris]

5picker, what a clever garage/RV port setup! I am so jealous! And if you ever get rid of the RV, you still have a hell of a porch! Can't believe there are no stanchions holding roof up, that thing must be engineered crazy strong!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Ridgekid

Wouldn’t it be nice if Forest River designed their RVs so winterizing was not required?

I think you mean, ALL RV manufacturers since all RVs require winterizing in colder climates.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by NJKris

5picker, what a clever garage/RV port setup! I am so jealous! And if you ever get rid of the RV, you still have a hell of a porch! Can't believe there are no stanchions holding roof up, that thing must be engineered crazy strong!

Thanks, yep... we spent some time engineering the cantilevered trusses to support the overhang. Makes a great place to park. Water/sewer and electric too!