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11-03-2019, 07:40 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 145
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Outdoor shower and outdoor kitchen freeze precautions?
This is our first RV with an outdoor shower that has a manifold and shower hose/head in a compartment with a thin plastic door. It also has an outdoor kitchen with a sink and facet. We occasionally camp in areas where it is in the low 20s at night. I am concerned that these outdoor pipes and faucets might freeze. I had the showerhead in a previous RV crack when I failed to get all the water drained out during winterization.
I don't see any easy way to install a shutoff valve in either the outdoor shower or outdoor kitchen line. Has anyone had issues with these water lines freezing? Any suggestions on preventive measures while still using the campers water system?
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11-03-2019, 09:35 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Posts: 9,230
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The back side of our outdoor shower is in the area of our bathroom sink under the counter and below the drawer. There is a heat duct behind it. As long as the propane heat is on, it has not frozen down to 16 degrees.
__________________
2012 SunSeeker 3100SS Toad-1962 Futura Average 100 + days camping
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11-04-2019, 07:52 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 145
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A32Deuce
The back side of our outdoor shower is in the area of our bathroom sink under the counter and below the drawer. There is a heat duct behind it. As long as the propane heat is on, it has not frozen down to 16 degrees.
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Thanks. A closer look at our outdoor shower and it is located above the furnace intake and exhaust so it should stay warm enough not to freeze as long as we use the furnace.
The outdoor kitchen is in the slide behind the TV, so that is still a concern. We don't have a need to use the refrigerator in the outdoor kitchen so maybe a 40 watt light in the compartment will keep it warm enough.
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11-04-2019, 11:24 AM
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#4
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Trailer Park Supervisor
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,446
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I am stuffing some non-fiberglass insulation in my shower compartment behind the door. Mine is impossible to get to from backside as well. I already disconnected the hand shower from the hose and shook out as much water as I could. Been down to 25 here so far with 11 hours overnight below freezing and no problem yet. No outdoor kitchen on mine thankfully. I have a portable cook station I use with my grill and stove.
__________________
2019 Rockwood Geo Pro G19FD w/off road package
2015 Ford F150 XLT Super Cab 4x4 V8
Yes, I drink the water!
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11-04-2019, 03:21 PM
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#5
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Camping with Labs
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Jarrettsville, MD
Posts: 264
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Since it's only an occasional situation, would it make sense to winterize everything and use jugs of water for brushing teeth, washing hands, etc? You'd still need to add some RV antifreeze to the tanks, and drain those tanks when you return. You'd also want to add RV antifreeze to the traps, since water would replace your RV antifreeze as you used the sinks.
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Chris, Paula, & camping Labs, Shasta (RIP 8/10/20) & Cammie
2005 Yukon XL 2500 with 8.1 Engine, Allison Transmission, and 3.73 Axle Ratio
2019 Rockwood Signature 8335BSS with Hensley Arrow Hitch
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11-04-2019, 04:48 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 145
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CGK
Since it's only an occasional situation, would it make sense to winterize everything and use jugs of water for brushing teeth, washing hands, etc? You'd still need to add some RV antifreeze to the tanks, and drain those tanks when you return. You'd also want to add RV antifreeze to the traps, since water would replace your RV antifreeze as you used the sinks.
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Our situation is that we travel through the Mountain West and plains states from September through November. We can encounter a night or two of freezing temperatures at just about anytime during our trips especially when at higher elevations. I would not want to be winterizing and de-winterizing numerous times or relying on bottled water for an extended period of time. When the system is winterized, that would preclude using the shower and toilet in the RV which is one of the major reasons we like to travel in an RV. If I can find an access to the water lines going to the outdoor kitchen, I may put in shutoff valves or just cap the lines as I really didn't use the sink in the outdoor kitchen on our first 3 month trip with this trailer.
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11-04-2019, 06:22 PM
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#7
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Trailer Park Supervisor
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,446
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Quote:
Since it's only an occasional situation, would it make sense to winterize everything and use jugs of water for brushing teeth, washing hands, etc?
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Yes, and
Quote:
When the system is winterized, that would preclude using the shower and toilet in the RV which is one of the major reasons we like to travel in an RV.
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This too. I wanted to see if my trailer would still be functional during the freezing nights of late fall with wet plumbing. One of the things i did today was insulate the outdoor shower compartment and the low point drain pipes.
__________________
2019 Rockwood Geo Pro G19FD w/off road package
2015 Ford F150 XLT Super Cab 4x4 V8
Yes, I drink the water!
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11-04-2019, 09:32 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 17,285
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJKris
Yes, and This too. I wanted to see if my trailer would still be functional during the freezing nights of late fall with wet plumbing. One of the things i did today was insulate the outdoor shower compartment and the low point drain pipes.
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I put the same pipe insulation on my low point drains. My outside kitchen door got a large sheet of 1" thick R-5 "Pink Foamboard" insulation on it's inside and some of the same foamboard was carefully "sculpted to fit inside the O/S shower door.
All these areas are somewhat open to the heated area so it has to get really cold outside to get the temps down to freezing there will take a long time.
FWIW, I also added the R-5 foamboard to all the outside compartment doors.
Furnace run time on 30 degree days and sub freezing nights is noticeably reduced as well as frequency of tank refills.
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"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will." (Japanese Proverb)
"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"
2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2023 f-150 SCREW XLT 3.5 Ecoboost (The result of a $68,000 oil change )
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11-05-2019, 07:40 AM
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#9
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Trailer Park Supervisor
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,446
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Quote:
FWIW, I also added the R-5 foamboard to all the outside compartment doors.
Furnace run time on 30 degree days and sub freezing nights is noticeably reduced as well as frequency of tank refills.
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Good to know it made a difference. I'll do that down the road too. I have 3 smallish doors, would be an easy mod. How did you secure the boards, tape or adhesive?
__________________
2019 Rockwood Geo Pro G19FD w/off road package
2015 Ford F150 XLT Super Cab 4x4 V8
Yes, I drink the water!
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11-15-2019, 10:18 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 481
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Remove the hose and shower head from the outside shower. Everything else is indoor for the shower.
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