I had a thread regarding tire chains earlier. Someone mentioned to report back but I thought it would be better to just start a new thread.
Anyway, I had an opportunity for some side work in South Eastern part of North Dakota. In the previous thread I had asked about chains for the DX3 because I had to traverse 4 mountain passes to get here in South Eastern, North Dakota. I was not able to obtain before departure time so had them shipped forward to a contact at the destination and packed up and left to go.
Didn't need chains but we did hit snow storms and very cold temperatures. I'm happy to say we got here safely but wanted to share some observations regarding how the DX3 performed in the cold.
First off the M2 chassis/power plant performed quite well. Stability on the road was excellent. We experienced blowing snow, ice, slush on roadway but the truck handled all without issue. We did slip a couple of times but nothing that caused white knuckles.
Overnight boondocks 3 nights was interesting. First night was also the first snow fall. Really wet stuff. We had all slides out. Coach stayed warm as did the water bay. Lowest temp was low 20's. Water bay stayed mid forties. Our unit has propane aqua hot system. it was running all night with temp set in bedroom at 63. front was at 60. settings were by choice to conserve battery power. We enjoyed the evening with temp set at 70.
Everything worked well. Batteries lasted all night and we kicked the genset off in the AM for coffee and a quick breakfast. Then we tried prep to leave. The bedroom slide and passenger side main slide moved in just great. When we tried to bring in the main slide on drivers side it was moving in just fine until just near the end it raised up quickly into the ceiling and stopped. The wood surround broke out on of the pieces on the corner but thankfully minor indentation of the ceiling. Found out the over slide awning (which is spring loaded retraction only) was not strong enough to role up the awning with the heavy snow on it. It bunched up and created an "ice dam" of slush at the top of the slide wall. OK I didn't have a ladder or any device to remove the ice/slush up there. We were at a Cracker Barrel facility and they lent us a 6 foot ladder and a push broom which I was able to remove the ice/slush and then retract the slide..Took an hour and a half to get that but some was waiting for the ladder. The folks at the Cracker Barrel in Missoula, Montana were very helpful.
Second night. We shut down to increasing bad weather around 5 pm at a Cabelas in Billings, Montana for the night. Temp now was in the teens and heavy snow. We had a great dinner. Watched a movie all while genset was running to make sure the batteries were charged up. Wet Bay temp by morning was in the high twenties. Not terrible but not good either. Aqua Hot on lp burner was not maintaining sufficient heat into the wet bay. This night we kept the main slide and the bedroom slide in. The passenger slide we had out and extended the main awning just enough to get past the slide. This kept the snow from building up on the slide awning. Again we set the temps to 63 in the bedroom and 60 in the front of the coach. Batteries did not last all night this time. We woke up to the genset coming on at 5 AM. So we turned up the heat and had coffee and a quick breakfast and get on the road. All went well but a concern was raised with the aqua hot not being able to keep the wet bay above freezing.
For all yous info The aqua hot on a DX3 37TS is just below the grey and black water tanks on the passenger side of the rig. This compartment is a passthru to the wet bay. I'm sure the residual heat of the aqua hot running and the fact that the aqua hot piping going thru the wet bay would keep these areas from freezing.
Alright third night we arrive at destination. Outside temp 9 degrees and wind. It is cold!
Tonight we have 30 amp shore power. I setup a small ceramic heater in the wet bay. It is on the lowest setting. Maintaining 41 degrees. Great, I don't have to worry about freezing up as long as I have shore power.
Aqua hot running, fireplace running coach is maintaining 65. That's livable and we can sleep in a cool bedroom not an issue. Thank heaven we have area rugs for the living area and sheep skin rugs for the bedroom because the floors are COLD! Only basement bays that have any resemblance of heat are the aqua hot and the wet bay. All others are frozen. Batteries themselves are warm but not enough to warm the bay. (It is open to outside for ventilation)
I am going to add another ceramic heater in the second bay on the passenger side which has an outside receptacle in it. This is so I can put some stuff that I don't want frozen outside rather then inside. Other compartments will have to be for stuff that the cold won't bother. Or some frozen steaks maybe.
Observations so far:
1. there needs to be a heat exchanger added in the wet bay on its own thermostat to protect the water system.
2. I need to have a ladder and a broom to clear snow from the slide awnings. I found a 12.5 foot telescoping ladder rated type 3 (300 lbs) at Acme tools in Fargo, ND. It collapses to 32 inches so storage is easy. And I got a thick wood handle small angle head broom that has a 5 foot handle to push snow off of the awnings if needed.
3. I now have 1 set of cable chains that cover the dually rear with tensioners for emergency purposes only. If the weather is bad enough to require chains I will stay over somewhere or choose a different route.
All in all, the DX3 in a winter camp is doable. It may not be like home but with some prep and precaution it will be quite adequate for this trip.
This may change as time goes, I will be in North Dakota weather till December.
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