356qbq pipes

[Angelbunnie13182]

Hello everyone. I know I will probably get a lot of flack for asking this question and making this post but I'm not sure who else to ask. Two nights ago it got really cold here in Tenn. No problem, we have heaters to keep us warm and a heated hose for the water. Although this morning my husband woke me up to the fact we have no running water in his bathroom at the end of the RV or water in the kitchen. I think our pipes are froze. It was 30 degrees last night. I thought in hindsite that we should have turned on the water to drip in the sinks and shower. Although the odd thing is my bathroom toilet and shower and sink work just fine and have hot water. So my question is are they frozen and if so what do I do? Just wait til they thaw? Please no rude comments. I know I should have thought this through better before hand but I didn't.

[RhoZeta]

Most likely your plumbing is very similar to the plumbing in my 327RES, if so the pipes for the water in the front area (bathroom and laundry) are ran inside the basement where it is very warm due to the heater ducted in it. My pipes feeding the kitchen (and I would assume going to a rear bathroom and/or outside kitchen if I had it) are in the underbelly area where they do not have near the insulation and heating that basement area does.
I would keep the kitchen sink dripping, may help from freezing up, I will be doing this on our upcoming trip...

[rracer5]

Looking at the brochure for your model, it shows (and states) enclosed and heated underbelly. What kind of "heat" did you use last night........on board furnace or electric heaters? In a heated underbelly, heat is blown into the underbelly area when using the furnace and is necessary to keep the lines from freezing. This is usually enough to keep the lines from freezing, especially at only 30 degrees. Check the underbelly to see if there are any heat ducts laying in that area and check for gaps around the edges and seal them up with expandable foam insulation.

By now, if the temp outside has risen above freezing, the lines should thaw but, I would find out why they are freezing and soon because an extended freeze could cause burst lines.

[Chewie]

Sounds like they are frozen. They are pex tubing and should be ok. When they thaw, check for leaks. Like mentioned before the underbelly isn't that insulated. Just covered up.

[jtstromsburg]

Originally Posted by rracer5

Looking at the brochure for your model, it shows (and states) enclosed and heated underbelly. What kind of "heat" did you use last night........on board furnace or electric heaters? In a heated underbelly, heat is blown into the underbelly area when using the furnace and is necessary to keep the lines from freezing. This is usually enough to keep the lines from freezing, especially at only 30 degrees. Check the underbelly to see if there are any heat ducts laying in that area and check for gaps around the edges and seal them up with expandable foam insulation.

By now, if the temp outside has risen above freezing, the lines should thaw but, I would find out why they are freezing and soon because an extended freeze could cause burst lines.

This is correct. On our Sabre. It's advertised heated and enclosed underbelly/tanks. The problem is there really isn't any insulation below the pipes, is all above. Even with just the propane furnace running, we froze up all lines behind the basement storage bay until it warned up dramatically. I used a space heater and hair dryer, under the kitchen sink, to force hot air into the underbelly and was able to thaw the kitchen lines.
I plan to drop the whole underbelly cover and add 2" rigid foam with silver liner, below the pipes. I'll also make sure there's plenty of ways for heat to get to that area. I added a circuit and switch to power the furnace fan to blow the electric warm air into the belly too.