Water line froze, trying to prevent

[quicky06]

I have a 2018 coachman 283rks with enclosed
Underbody.

This weekend I went deer hunting. ( no hook ups just a generator)

One night the temps dropped into the high 20s or so. Oberything frosted over.

Heat was set to 70ish degrees ( don’t trust the thermostat). Well woke up to no water, found the line between the pump and the fresh water tank to be blocked/froze. Tried blowing through the line with my mouth and had no flow. So I️ opened up a couple windows and cranked the heat. Almost poured some hot water ( nearly boiling) down the blocked line. After a half hour the temp outside had risen above freezing and I had water back.

I was under the assumption that the enclosed belly should prevent this. But i has freezing air coming out of the hole the water lines take into the underbelly.

Is this wrong? We still have trips planned and can’t have this happen

Is something wrong, or does the tank need a heat pad

[Witch Doctor]

You need more then underbelly, do you have a 2" heat vent down there? If not install one. Pads might not help you being your boondocking. Also plug any holes that air can get in that area. Pretty basic things, not much more you can do, good hunting.

[hankpac]

Also consider wrapping with pipe insulation. Loosen the hold downs, or replace them with a larger diameter and apply the foam pipe insulation. As said before, seal all air gaps, and consider running a heater vent into the space.

[Flybob]

The good news is that the line from the FW tank and the pump is a nylon reinforced hose so it will not be damaged by the ice. As for the enclosed underbelly that is just Coroplast and will do little to hold heat in on a very cold night. The furnace may have a single vent in the underbelly, but may be located in the other end of the unit from the FW tank. Best bet when hunting in cold weather. Bottled water, outside toilet or porta-potti with a winterized unit.

[tdhanses]

Originally Posted by Flybob

The good news is that the line from the FW tank and the pump is a nylon reinforced hose so it will not be damaged by the ice. As for the enclosed underbelly that is just Coroplast and will do little to hold heat in on a very cold night. The furnace may have a single vent in the underbelly, but may be located in the other end of the unit from the FW tank. Best bet when hunting in cold weather. Bottled water, outside toilet or porta-potti with a winterized unit.

Yup this is exactly what I'll be doing when I go hunting.

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by Flybob

The good news is that the line from the FW tank and the pump is a nylon reinforced hose so it will not be damaged by the ice. As for the enclosed underbelly that is just Coroplast and will do little to hold heat in on a very cold night. The furnace may have a single vent in the underbelly, but may be located in the other end of the unit from the FW tank. Best bet when hunting in cold weather. Bottled water, outside toilet or porta-potti with a winterized unit.

Not much of an option if i want to keep my wife coming.....

I️ need to open the underbelly soon to beef up the water tank supports. I’ll just have to asses it from there

So far I’m looking into adding 120v tank heaters ( we run a 3500 watt inverter generator through the night to let things charge)

Dump valve heaters, tape heaters for the water lines under the trailer. And insulatingnall of it at the same time.

The way i figure 12v heaters will do me no good. Just kill the batteries.

[Skyliner]

Originally Posted by quicky06

Not much of an option if i want to keep my wife coming.....

I️ need to open the underbelly soon to beef up the water tank supports. I’ll just have to asses it from there

So far I’m looking into adding 120v tank heaters ( we run a 3500 watt inverter generator through the night to let things charge)

Dump valve heaters, tape heaters for the water lines under the trailer. And insulatingnall of it at the same time.

The way i figure 12v heaters will do me no good. Just kill the batteries.

You have a great plan and it should work well for you. I dropped my coroplast undercover and beefed up my insulation. I have heating ductwork under the floor which does a great job warming all of my holding tanks as long as the heater is running. One day I'll put some heat strips on the tanks and tape heaters for the drains.

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by Skyliner

You have a great plan and it should work well for you. I dropped my coroplast undercover and beefed up my insulation. I have heating ductwork under the floor which does a great job warming all of my holding tanks as long as the heater is running. One day I'll put some heat strips on the tanks and tape heaters for the drains.

My heat duct is the same way. Which is why i am suppressed it froze so easily.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by quicky06

My heat duct is the same way. Which is why i am suppressed it froze so easily.

One issue that has come up with belly heating is that there's is no air return from that space so there is no way for heated air to circulate there, thus no flow and many cold dead spots. If the pump line is freezing then just direct a heat duct in that direction, at least that Will address that issue.