Cold weather camping - Upgrades?

[doofoo]

So - Anyone here do any colder weather camping?

My wife and I are looking to travel pretty extensively this winter and were likely to hit a couple of cold locations along the travels.

Are there any upgrades we can do to make the travels and cold weather camping a little easier?

I have not picked up our 2015 Legacy 340BH yet, however I was thinking of course heat wrapping the fresh water lines - but curious what the legacy will be able to handle.

I think heating pads on the tanks will be a must (Don't think it has them) - however the entire basement isn't insulated or have any ducts for heat at all I assume?

What type of weather can we hope to survive? What are you guys doing in the colder weather situations?

We built a large garage (40x64 w/ 16' ceilings), insulated and heated - so storage is not a problem when we're here in MD, however we hope to be traveling a lot of the time and would hate to be dry for months.

[psw757]

Originally Posted by doofoo

So - Anyone here do any colder weather camping?

My wife and I are looking to travel pretty extensively this winter and were likely to hit a couple of cold locations along the travels.

Are there any upgrades we can do to make the travels and cold weather camping a little easier?

I have not picked up our 2015 Legacy 340BH yet, however I was thinking of course heat wrapping the fresh water lines - but curious what the legacy will be able to handle.

I think heating pads on the tanks will be a must (Don't think it has them) - however the entire basement isn't insulated or have any ducts for heat at all I assume?

What type of weather can we hope to survive? What are you guys doing in the colder weather situations?

We built a large garage (40x64 w/ 16' ceilings), insulated and heated - so storage is not a problem when we're here in MD, however we hope to be traveling a lot of the time and would hate to be dry for months.

I talked to Mitch at Forest River regarding some of this. I specifically asked if there was a duct in the wet bay somewhere and he claimed yes. I haven't been able to officially verify this as it is almost impossible to see much in there.

I am very curious about this.

[ajk123]

When I bought my 340KP last week, the dealer installed heat pads on each of the water tanks (free of charge).When he ordered them, FR told him to make sure the furnace vent to the water pump compartment was a certain size. It wasn't, according to FR, so the dealer enlarged the vent and inserted a vent hose directly from the heater to the pump compartment.

Also, I bought a multiple-sensor thermometer at Camping World. I put a sensor in the pump cabinet and one in the sewer drain cabinet. The main unit I have in the main cabin. That way, I can monitor the temps of both water cabinets. It seems to work well here in the Black Forest of Colorado (7800ft altitude). We're getting ready to make a trip to Minnesota next week for a couple weeks.

Another idea I had was to line those two cabinets with Styrofoam-type insulation. That should be fairly easy to do. You can get that stuff at Home Depot or Lowes.

I already drained the water lines and will put antifreeze only in the traps and the water pump, not the main water lines since I already blew them all out.

[ajk123]

Actually, the pump bay and the sewer bay are one big bay with the water tanks between them. So, if you heat one bay, your actually heating them both.

[ajk123]

PS: This will be our first trip with the new rig, so I want to be totally ready for anything, especially bad cold weather.

[psw757]

Originally Posted by ajk123

When I bought my 340KP last week, the dealer installed heat pads on each of the water tanks (free of charge).When he ordered them, FR told him to make sure the furnace vent to the water pump compartment was a certain size. It wasn't, according to FR, so the dealer enlarged the vent and inserted a vent hose directly from the heater to the pump compartment.

Also, I bought a multiple-sensor thermometer at Camping World. I put a sensor in the pump cabinet and one in the sewer drain cabinet. The main unit I have in the main cabin. That way, I can monitor the temps of both water cabinets. It seems to work well here in the Black Forest of Colorado (7800ft altitude). We're getting ready to make a trip to Minnesota next week for a couple weeks.

Another idea I had was to line those two cabinets with Styrofoam-type insulation. That should be fairly easy to do. You can get that stuff at Home Depot or Lowes.

I already drained the water lines and will put antifreeze only in the traps and the water pump, not the main water lines since I already blew them all out.

Any idea where this vent is actually located in that compartment?

[doofoo]

Originally Posted by psw757

Any idea where this vent is actually located in that compartment?

Interested in this as well - and how do you get to it? I'm all about insulating my lower compartments and/or adding heating.

[RAYSR]

In the last issue of trailer world magazine their is a article abour this must read if going camping is cold weather.

Raymond kalinsky

[ajk123]

Had a hard freeze here in Colorado last night, down into the teens. I set the Legacy thermostat for 50 degrees and turned on the tank heat pads. The rig is in our lot getting ready to go to Minnesota so we weren't camping in it, just experimenting. The cabinet with the water pump got down to 28 degrees. The sewer cabinet got down to 31. Going to need some extra insulation in those bays if were going to use water in freezing temps. Luckily, I blew out the lines a couple days ago, and put antifreeze in the traps and a little into the water pump itself. Unfortunately don't have time to change the engine or generator oil for the colder temps. Should I put Cetane additive in the diesel fuel to keep it from gelling up?

[doofoo]

Originally Posted by ajk123

Had a hard freeze here in Colorado last night, down into the teens. I set the Legacy thermostat for 50 degrees and turned on the tank heat pads. The rig is in our lot getting ready to go to Minnesota so we weren't camping in it, just experimenting. The cabinet with the water pump got down to 28 degrees. The sewer cabinet got down to 31. Going to need some extra insulation in those bays if were going to use water in freezing temps. Luckily, I blew out the lines a couple days ago, and put antifreeze in the traps and a little into the water pump itself. Unfortunately don't have time to change the engine or generator oil for the colder temps. Should I put Cetane additive in the diesel fuel to keep it from gelling up?

What outside temp did you hit to get those values in the bay's?

[ajk123]

Not exactly sure, but I think around 17 degrees.

[doofoo]

Did you already do any insulation to the compartments? Thinking to use some bubble stuff I used in my garage, r16 on a bubble wrap like roll.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[ajk123]

No, haven't added any insulation...yet. Light bulbs will definitely work, but that takes a lot of extra power.

[ajk123]

I read that bubble wrap has poor insulation resistance. I'm going to pack the water bay with either blankets or insulation batts for this first trip. When I return, I'll do a more peranent installation, like installing Styrofoam-type insulation that's used in houses. I figure lining the bottom and inside cabinet doors of the water and sewer cabinets should do the job very well. Combined with the heat pads on the tanks and the furnace duct into the water bay should give plenty of freeze protection to the tanks, water pump, and exposed water lines. Haven't addressed the water line to/from the water heater yet, and the washer/dryer. I have to work on those. I'll experiment during our trip to Minnesota. We're now planning on leaving Sunday afternoon.

[doofoo]

Originally Posted by ajk123

I read that bubble wrap has poor insulation resistance. I'm going to pack the water bay with either blankets or insulation batts for this first trip. When I return, I'll do a more peranent installation, like installing Styrofoam-type insulation that's used in houses. I figure lining the bottom and inside cabinet doors of the water and sewer cabinets should do the job very well. Combined with the heat pads on the tanks and the furnace duct into the water bay should give plenty of freeze protection to the tanks, water pump, and exposed water lines. Haven't addressed the water line to/from the water heater yet, and the washer/dryer. I have to work on those. I'll experiment during our trip to Minnesota. We're now planning on leaving Sunday afternoon.

The stuff I was talking about is actually prodex.

Prodex Total Insulation 48 Inch

I am using this in my pole building.. Figure I'll at least try it in the bays below on the MH.

Have a great trip! Be safe.

[ajk123]

I looked it up. Prodex is NOT "bubble wrap". It's not even close to it. But it does look like it would work well. I'm not sure of the thickness, but the ade says R-16 insulation resistance value. That seems high. But without seeing a saple, I don't know. Do the hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes carry it? How did it work for your pole barn? Is it costly?

[doofoo]

Originally Posted by ajk123

I looked it up. Prodex is NOT "bubble wrap". It's not even close to it. But it does look like it would work well. I'm not sure of the thickness, but the ade says R-16 insulation resistance value. That seems high. But without seeing a saple, I don't know. Do the hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes carry it? How did it work for your pole barn? Is it costly?

The R value of R16 is optimistic to be sure, however it is cheap for what it is. Works great in the pole building. Only cost around $1000 to do all the walls of a 40x64x16ft building. Doing blown in insulation for the ceiling.

Home Depot or Lowes do not sell this brand, however there is another brand very similar that they do sell. I can't remember the name though.

I'll be outfitting my coach with this (floors and exterior walls in the basement before the real winter sets in). Hoping I can actually do some cold weather camping.

[captnrick3]

Originally Posted by ajk123

PS: This will be our first trip with the new rig, so I want to be totally ready for anything, especially bad cold weather.

Wow. Good luck and I hope your first trip goes well. Way too cold for me though! Post any issues, we will all be watching.

[ajk123]

We left Sunday afternoon. After any 5 hours the engine battery went dead and engine started into shutdown mode. Had to stop so pulled into truck stop in Big Springs Nebraska on I-80. Called Coach net. Spent night in the rig in the parking lot. On Monday afternoon, got towed 75 miles to nearest Freightliner shop. They found and fixed a broken wire control lead to the alternator. Everything a go, so we drove a few hours and spent last night in a Nebraska rest stop. All is well and rig is doing well. I even learned how to set the automatic generator start so when house batteries go down, gender comes on to charge the batts. Works sweet! Ready to head out noe. Next stop is Council Bluffs Iowa. Winter storm warning for tonight in Nebraska so gotta go. Cheers to all!!

[psw757]

I have had two conversations now with forest river to find out if we have a hearing vent in wet bay. First conversation I was told yes and then yesterday I emailed to confirm and get an exact location and was told there isn't.

So what is the real answer?