Late October trip Chicago to S. Utah

[slimetime]

Doing one last trip for the year from Chicago to S. Utah. Was going to stop in Colorado and looking at historical low temperatures they are just below freezing.

Our Isata 3 is already winterized because it’s cold where I keep it in Wisconsin.

Question is, can I safely travel with no antifreeze in temps in the upper 20s? Run tank heaters & furnace? I like to travel with some water for toilet use.

[RolandRevenger]

Have you thought of bringing a five gallon container of water with and using that to flush with?

[JohnD10]

I think I'd be more worried about driving those mountain passes in the snow.

Does your motor home have heated tanks and underbelly?

If so, as long as you are rolling or plugged in, then you shouldn't have issues unless well below freezing temps.

[Bill Davis]

Originally Posted by slimetime

Doing one last trip for the year from Chicago to S. Utah. Was going to stop in Colorado and looking at historical low temperatures they are just below freezing.

Our Isata 3 is already winterized because it’s cold where I keep it in Wisconsin.

Question is, can I safely travel with no antifreeze in temps in the upper 20s? Run tank heaters & furnace? I like to travel with some water for toilet use.

I always travel with water in tank winter and summer. Never been a problem.

[ETF]

The weather is SO fickle.

We left Colorado a couple of weeks ago and they were having record HIGH temperatures!!!!!

As far as water is concerned, we travel with a 2-gallon jug for flushing. The dogs drink bottled water when we're on the move. I've never traveled with water in the tank. My S-I-L always travels with her freshwater tank 1/3 full and has never had a problem but neither of us are usually in cold climates unless we get caught. It's happened a couple of times but never caused any trouble.

[chroniekon]

We bought our I3 in Michigan. Drove it home to Oregon in March. It was in the mid 20's several nights and the upper teens one night and didn't get above freezing while traveling that day. The only problem we had, one of the dump valves was frozen shut. The next day it worked fine and no damage to the valve. If I was to do any winter travel in the future I would add some heat tape to the dump valves.

[elchilero53]

I don't believe that you will have anything to worry about. It has been unseasonably warm across most of the west and southwest. Colder temps are common but we've never had a freeze up of our water tank during late October. If it snows in the passes farther north, take a more southerly route. As an alternative, I suggest going through Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Farmington, Cortez, and Monticello. It is a beautiful drive. Snow usually isn't an issue before Thanksgiving time. And it is a bit warmer.

[McCormickJim]

Geortetown 31L5: Last winter I was traveling in January. One night it got down to 5 degrees after a full day of traveling in below freezing weather and strong cross winds. I obviously had the heat on and I had turned the tank heaters on when temperatures got down to 45 degrees, several days earlier. I had no freezing-issues while traveling in below freezing weather for three days.

When I reached my destination I plugged in to shore power, kept the tank heaters on, and set the thermostat at 60 degrees (I'd set it lower, but that is as low as it goes).

After three days of just sitting in below freezing weather I winterized the rig for storage. When I emptied the water filter cannister I found a small plug of ice in the top of it (no damage). This probably formed due to not flowing any warm water from the fresh water tank.

I added a heating pad to the fresh water cannister that comes on when I turn on the tank heaters. Now I'm ready to just let the rig sit with no fears of freeze up.

[Old_hippies]

Coachmen Leprachaun 260DSC: We’ve travelled quite a bit in cold weather and haven’t ran into any issues when driving with freezing temps. Fresh tank and water lines are in heated portion of the coach and we have tank heaters for waste tanks and the grey water pipe wrapped and heated as well. We did not run the furnace whils driving, just relied on cabin heater and kept water heater running. We also sat for several weeks in the Upper Penisula of Michigan in January and February where the day and night temps were below freezing and sub zero for a few days without problems. We had the mh skirted (with hay bales) and a heat lamp on underneath and survived just fine. I think if your prepared for it you’ll be fine.

[caswelld]

We traveled last January with temps in the low 20s. We didn't have to run the furnace when driving, the Mercedes heater kept the back warm. We had our tanks heaters turned on, and did not leave city water attached at night. Worked great, nothing froze

Slimetime, let us all know about your October trip to S. Utah. Would love to do that.


Dave

[slimetime]

Will do.