Camping in the winter months

[Ruttdigger]

Hello everyone, I have been a lurker for a while but My wife and I bought a 3150 BHD in February. We have been "glamping" multiple times each month since and LOVE the life.

Now that we are getting into the cooler months I was trying to find some answers to questions and while searching I am not finding much.

1) We would like to continue using our trailer even in the winter and from time to time may go up in the mountains. Do you have to winterize your rig if you are going to use it say once a month? We live in Texas so we would love to be able to use it as often as possible.

2) We don't get too many really cold days here but if a good blue northern comes to DFW while we are in storage is there anything I can do to help with freezing pipes etc?

3) We have been boat people for years and used a engine block heater in the boat even during some week long 20* days and all was fine. Should I run the engine heater in the trailer?

Basically we want to be able to load up and go when the spirit moves us but winterizing would seem to limit our ability. We also don't want to plan to go to say South Dakota in January if we are going to have issues with the temps. I know the underside is insulated and covered but I didn't know really what that meant and our dealer here was not really knowledgeable. Any help is MUCH appreciated.


PS Just in case I didn't get this in my sig. 2012 Primetime Tracer 3150BHD towed with 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 LWB.

[KyDan]

You can always dry camp. We've been known to camp in freezing weather also.
You have to improvise. We use water from a 7 gal blue jug for coffee, cooking and hand washing and
dishes etc. We heat water for dish washing in a stove top percolator after we've made the morning coffee. I empty the gray tank into a bucket and dump that down the toilet
in the nearest out house. IF they have heated bathrooms your golden! Take showers
and other personal hygiene in there. For those middle of the night pee trips we use the toilet and have a gallon jug of water sitting in the shower or tub next to it.
Just a splash down the john to "flush". Again, I empty the tank into a bucket for carrying to the
nearest outhouse or toilet.
IF ya gotta go #2 it means a walk to the nearest campground
restroom or vault toilet.

Don't forget to pour some RV antifreeze down any used sink drains to protect the J traps when you get home.

[Ruttdigger]

Thanks for the advice... What temperature and how long are we talking before it becomes an issue? Let's face it if I spent several 10s of thousands on a trailer I would like to be able to use all the facilities I paid for. If I don't have to winterize I won't. I do have the dealership look it over every 6 months and at the years they do a thorough inspection to catch potential problems.

[Glenn5995]

From your post it sounds like you store your trailer somewhere so this might not work for you, but this is what I do.

Living in Phoenix AZ, we have very few really cold nights. I have never winterized our trailer. Our trailer is parked next to our house so there is some radiant heat for it. When it does drop below freezing it is usually for only a few hours in the early morning. If the low temperature is predicted to be 30 or above, I do nothing. If the low is predicted to be in the 20's I'll set the heater in the trailer to the lowest setting, just to keep a little heat in it. I have only had to do this maybe 5 or 6 times in the 6.5 years we have owned the trailer. I have not experienced any problems related to freezing.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by Ruttdigger

Thanks for the advice... What temperature and how long are we talking before it becomes an issue? Let's face it if I spent several 10s of thousands on a trailer I would like to be able to use all the facilities I paid for. If I don't have to winterize I won't. I do have the dealership look it over every 6 months and at the years they do a thorough inspection to catch potential problems.

I can't give specific advice to you because I'm not familiar with your trailer.
MY trailer has holding tanks exposed and un-heated. I expect they could
freeze in just a few hours on a cold night. YOUR tanks might be covered
and heated?? You say you're in Texas. Well pardner that's a pretty large
state I hear. North Texas is gonna be totally different winters than say
Brownsville TX. You say maybe you'll go "to the mountains". Again, that
covers a LOT of territory.

I'm just telling ya what WE do in Kentucky and southern Indiana when
we want to "get out there" during the winter.
You can use Weather.com to find average temps in the locations you
are going to visit. Also check the same for where you will be storing
your rig.
Ask more specific questions here and hopefully folks will give you
more detailed answers.

Welcome to the group and as always----

[OldCoot]

Here in the Charlotte, NC area, I don't winterize, but if the weather is going to be below freezing either before or after we go to FL, we have an Eden Pure infrared elec. heater that we turn on and I added a switch to the furnace fan to circulate the air thru the floor ducts without actually running the furnace on propane. We also turn on the tank heaters as they are thermostatically controlled. So far, in the years we've been here, we've had no problems with anything freezing. Did have the water hose freeze in FL 3 yrs ago when it got down to 20° for a couple of hrs, but it was thawed out by 9:00 am and no harm done. We just used the water pump for morning showers & cooking/dishwashing. When we are parked, we usually fill the fw tank about 1/2 - 3/4 full just in case the city water has a problem.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

I don't winterize in the traditional method as we also camp frequently through the winter season.

While our camper is stored outside, if the weather gets below 32, beforehand I'll drain the lines by way of the low point drain plugs, then drain my hot water tank.
Just for precaution, I'll pour 1 cup of rv antifreeze in all drains and toilet (inside toilet bowl only). Done

Never had a problem using this method, like you I've always lived in the south so this works for our application.
When we go camping and it's below freezing, we'll run the furnace to keep floor, tanks and pipes warm and wrap our water line coming into the camper, that's it.

[Kariworld]

Curious...what is "glamping"?

[trudinator]

This is advice I received from a service tech at our dealership. He winter camps frequently, since he really can't get away during the summer months. And he winter camps in northern Wisconsin, where it is COLD, and I suspect much different from where you're going to be camping.

Fill your fresh water tank FULL. It takes a looooong time to freeze that much water. Use your tank heaters, although he said they aren't that much good. If you use your toilet in winter, flush with a small amount of RV antifreeze instead of water.

If it were me, to give me peace of mind, I'd open the low point drains, empty the water heater and blow out all of the lines every time you store it, just to be on the safe side. Saves you from having to buy tons of RV antifreeze. We used that method here in Wisconsin last year and it worked perfectly. We only used a small amount of the antifreeze to pour into each drain and the toilet to keep the seal from freezing.

[Ruttdigger]

Thank you all for the advice!

We live in Dallas and we have usually less than 3-4 straight days where we are freezing. I do store the trailer at a lot. I currently don't have a power supply when parked but I could upgrade if need be.

We are going to the smokie mountains in late October and want to go up into Oklahoma (Beavers Bend) in late November. We also were going to go over Christmas and in January too.

I know the tanks are all covered and insulated but not sure if there are "tank heaters"

I don't want to have to put the trailer up and not use during the winter as for the most part in North Texas the weather is around 40 but I also don't want to have water freezing issues.

Oh and "glamping" = glamor camping.

[rjshiflet]

Ruttdigger, I live about 60 miles west of you and what I have always done is the air-compressor method of blowing out lines and pouring a bit of RV anti-freeze down the drain pipes, so it's not a major deal. My wife has a business (booth at Canton First Monday Trade Days out east of Dallas) and this summer we started taking our 5th wheel out there and camping all week.

So - this winter, come freeze or whatever - we'll be camping at "First Monday" from Sunday thru Sunday. On our new Columbus, we have tank heaters, but my only real concern is going to be the freshwater water hose and whether or not we can keep it from freezing.

Remember Super Bowl weekend a couple of years ago when D/FW got 9" of snow? That was a Canton weekend and not sure how we'd handle an episode like that. Thankfully that's rare for this part of North Texas.

Blowing out the water lines with an air compressor (be sure to watch your pressure and keep it below 30 pounds - and don't forget to open and drain the outside shower) can be done in just a few minutes and doesn't take gallons of RV anti-freeze, and then you're back in business pretty quickly "when the spirit moves you".

[Ruttdigger]

How much antifreeze do you use and which drains do you pour down. That seems like a fairly easy way to do it and wouldn't stop us from going out again on a moments notice.

[ldmcmahan]

We are about 10 miles northeast of you. (The Colony) And we do the same as rjshiflet. We blow out the water lines and drain the water heater. Also don't forget the water filter and outside shower. Then poor some antifreeze down the drains and also into the potty. But don't flush it.. It's fast and easy and like rjshiflet said your back in business fair quick.

[rjshiflet]

When you blow out the lines, a bit of water collects in the P-Traps and/or in the gray or black water tanks. I generally will pour about two or three cups down each drain...a bit more in the shower and toilet.

That way you're not having to flush your drinking water lines each time to get all the antifreeze out.

The absolute only problem I've ever had was "operator error" one year when I failed to open the outdoor shower and blow it out. The next time we hooked up to the water at an RV park...flooding coming from the shower area and behind. Evidently there was enough water and it froze hard enough to crack the faucet connections. I managed to fix it myself, but it SHOULD have been avoided by opening those faucets before blowing out the lines.

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by rjshiflet

So - this winter, come freeze or whatever - we'll be camping at "First Monday" from Sunday thru Sunday. On our new Columbus, we have tank heaters, but my only real concern is going to be the freshwater water hose and whether or not we can keep it from freezing.

24 FOOT EASY HEAT WATER PIPE HEATING CABLE HEAT TAPE KIT 24' AHB-124 NEW | eBay

I've seen plenty campers using one of these along with the split type pipe insulation on their water hose. They're available at most Home Centers. Pipe insulation should be for at least 1" pipe due to space needed for heat-tape.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by rjshiflet

Ruttdigger, I live about 60 miles west of you and what I have always done is the air-compressor method of blowing out lines and pouring a bit of RV anti-freeze down the drain pipes, so it's not a major deal. My wife has a business (booth at Canton First Monday Trade Days out east of Dallas) and this summer we started taking our 5th wheel out there and camping all week.

So - this winter, come freeze or whatever - we'll be camping at "First Monday" from Sunday thru Sunday. On our new Columbus, we have tank heaters, but my only real concern is going to be the freshwater water hose and whether or not we can keep it from freezing.

Remember Super Bowl weekend a couple of years ago when D/FW got 9" of snow? That was a Canton weekend and not sure how we'd handle an episode like that. Thankfully that's rare for this part of North Texas.

Blowing out the water lines with an air compressor (be sure to watch your pressure and keep it below 30 pounds - and don't forget to open and drain the outside shower) can be done in just a few minutes and doesn't take gallons of RV anti-freeze, and then you're back in business pretty quickly "when the spirit moves you".

Rv market just came out with a heated freshwater hose that would solve any problems camping in below freezing weather...I've seen the hose for about $130-150, believe it's 50' in length...you just plug into park power pedestal.

[Ruttdigger]

So the consensus is when parked at the storage blow out lines and a few cups of the antifreeze in the drains should do it.

When camping all should be good with normal heater as long as the hose is insulated and heated to avoid freezing.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by Ruttdigger

So the consensus is when parked at the storage blow out lines and a few cups of the antifreeze in the drains should do it.

When camping all should be good with normal heater as long as the hose is insulated and heated to avoid freezing.

You got it... Your ready for Winter camping!

[cheatham09]

Hello all, we live in north Carolina and enjoy winter camping, we purchased a heated water hose the make is. PIRIT Heated Hose
Look it up online it really works. Camped at temps down to 15 and 20 degrees and no problems.

[Ruttdigger]

Thank you all so much. Now we have a workable plan.